Hot Spiced Cranberry Punch

I decided I needed to make this recipe before the weather got too nice and it's no longer appropriate to make warm drinks. So exciting that we're getting to that time of year! It just makes me want to be back in The City, walking down the street with the restaurants all open to the air. Perfection!

But before the warm weather loveliness, we have hot spiced cranberry punch, which tasted like mulled wine more or less. I decided to get fancy and make cranberry compote instead of canned cranberry sauce: it would have been good if I had blended it before putting it in the punch. As it was, the whole cranberries were kind of awkward in the glass, and it all turned into a sludge in the bottom of the mug at the end.

You might be wondering if I drank this whole punch myself, but I did not. I was smart enough to invite a drinking buddy. We each had a mug and played video games before moving onto other drinks. More on that later ;-)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

3/4 tsp cloves

2 cans jellied cranberry sauce

2 cups light rum

-Bring sugar, 1 cup water, salt and spices to a boil. Blend cranberry sauce with 3 cups water and add to hot ingredients and add the pineapple juice. Add rum.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Beachcomber

My version did look surprisingly similar to this picture, so hooray for me! Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the blending thing down very well yet, and nothing I make comes out with the right consistency of a blended drink. Is it me or is it my blender? The soul searching continues...

Beyond the texture, the beachcomber simply joins the ranks of drinks I don't remember very well and that I took no notes on. Too sweet? Too strong? Boring? Pretty good? No idea. I imagine it wasn't as delicious as the recipe makes it sound or I would've had clearer memories.

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce lime juice

2 dases grenadine

-Blend with ice and pour into wine goblet.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Quickie

The drink in which I discover that I really like bourbon, a fact I'm quite pleased about for no better reason than that drinking bourbon sounds cool. Compared to other whiskey I've had, bourbon is smoother, a little less spicy, but not because it seems watered down. I'll report more when I have further experience.

I introduce bourbon because that's the dominating flavor of a quickie, a drink whose name is pretty to the point. This is one to down only if you want to be buzzed in the most immediate of futures.

1 ounce bourbon

1 ounce light rum

1/4 ounce triple sec

-Mix with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Banana Daiquiri

Oh banana daiquiri, you are so delicious...in theory. The reality, a little disappointing to be honest. The banana and lime combined in a weird way that was drinkable, but not scrumptious like I was expecting. And when you make a daiquiri, you're not looking for something that's going to challenge your palette. It was my first blended drink though, and that was a success.

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1/3 ripe banana

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

3-4 ice cubes

-Blend in a blender and pour into cocktail glass.

I think I used too ripe of a banana...maybe. Given the chance, I might try this in a bar or restaurant to see if it has potential that my budding bar tending skills couldn't bring about.

Also, bought a bottle of gin today despite severe lack of funds. Look forward to endeavors in that direction very soon.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Eggnog/Soynog

So one of the recipes in my book that I've been thinking about for awhile is eggnog: I'm vegan and I couldn't decide if I should take a veg-break and make this properly or just buy some Silk soynog and call it good. I obviously went with the latter:

4 ounces soynog

1 ounce whiskey

1/2 ounce rum

-Mix ingredients together in rocks glass or mug.

The nog is good with or without the alcohol, but I was surprised at the interesting change in flavor that the alcohol provides. Without booze, the nog is just sweet and delicious. With booze, it has a more complex and layered flavor. A definite thumbs up from me!

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Mulled Wine

News flash: mulled wine is amazing! If you're throwing a holiday party, you should definitely make this! It is guaranteed to provide warm fuzzies.

Peel of 1/2 lemon, cut into curls

Peel of 1/2 orange, cut into curls

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. ground allspice

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground cloves

3 cups boiling water

2 bottles full-bodied red wine (cabernet or bordeaux, for example)

2 ounces light rum

-Pour boiled water over peels, sugar, and spices and let simmer for 10 minutes. Heat wine until just before boiling and combine with spice mixture. Pour into punch bowl and add rum.

El and I drank this during game night and it added a sense of seasonal joy...even if it's still October. It resembles spiced apple cider, but stronger and...different? I can't describe it, so you'll just have to try it!

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Pedro Collins

I will admit that the above picture is actually a TOM Collins, but they look exactly the same. Expect to see the same photo again when I make a Tom Collins, haha.

His friend, Pedro:

2 ounces light rum

1/3 ounce simple syrup

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Soda water

-Put lemon, syrup, and rum into iced highball glass. Fill with soda water and garnish with lemon wedge.

This drink is so nice and refreshing! It would be great in the summer: light and crisp and bubbly. I highly recommend. There are many different versions of Collins, which I will make my way through. You can really substitute almost any liquor for the rum and it will be a delicious version of a Collins. Do it!

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Mojito

Mojitos! Yay! Something I've had at a bar before so I have a frame of reference! And I have to say, I think mine was pretty damn good. Very traditional, but definitely did the job. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1/2 ounce simple syrup

1 ounce lime juice

soda water

mint leaves

-Muddle mint leaves with simple syrup in the bottom of the glass. Add cracked ice, rum, and lime. Fill glass with soda water and garnish with more mint.

This was really refreshing and delicious and definitely recommended. However, you should learn to know and love this recipe as it is something bartenders don't like to make: takes too long when there's a group of people waiting for drinks. At least according to this article: Making friends with your bartender.

That's all for now. Enjoy and bottoms up!

Bacardi Cocktail

Only one cocktail this evening, and it was a good one! Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 ounces Bacardi light rum

Juice of 1/2 a lime

Dash of grenadine

-Mix in a cocktail shaker over cracked ice and pour into chilled glass.

Now, since I couldn't really taste the grenadine, this pretty much tasted like the daiquiri I had awhile ago. Delicious, but pretty basic. Thinking about the better drinks I've had, I guess I just like lime with about any alcohol. Good to know. I should say that this is really supposed to have Bacardi rum in it, but I don't think it's that big a deal. I made it with Bacardi because that's what I had.

In other news, vote in my poll! Please? It's up there in the corner waiting for you to click on it.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Hemingway's Floridita Daiquiri/Blue Velvet Martini/Wild Blue Yonder/Extra Dry Martini

Yes, all of those were from last night in a relatively short period of time. I am currently in bed recovering, eating the crumbs of my tortilla chips since I have no food in the house. I actually ended up writing notes to my future sober self in order to remember what to blog like a less riveting version of Memento. The notes are, however, surprisingly coherent and very helpful.

Hemingway's Floridita Daiquiri:

2 ounces light rum

2 ounces grapefruit juice

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1 ounce simple syrup

-Mix in cocktail shaker, pour over crushed ice.

Pretty girly drink, eh? Not really that surprising: his books doth protest a little much in the masculinity department. Despite my distaste for grapefruit juice, this was really yummy! I actually juiced my own lime as well, so that was fun and delicious. I didn't have crushed ice though, so mine was with cracked ice. I drank this while chatting with one of my besties from NY on the phone, which made the drink that much sweeter ;-)

Blue Velvet Martini:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1/4 ounce blue Curacao

Dash of Rose's lime juice

-Stir over cracked ice and strain into cold cocktail glass.

To be honest, this drink and the next one have blended together in my mind and I don't really remember it that much. My notes tell me that I am learning to appreciate the burn of vodka when it's not mixed with much. Maybe I will start enjoying martinis. This drink should have been my last of the evening. I really hadn't eaten enough to have four drinks in quick succession while sitting down.

Wild Blue Yonder:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1/4 ounce peach schnapps

1/4 ounce blue Curacao

-Shake with cracked ice in cocktail shaker and strain into rocks glass over ice.

This drink was hindered by my terrible peach schnapps. I'm going to say that no one should buy Potter's Peach Schnapps. You will regret it. This and the previous drink were about the color that my blue Hawaiians were supposed to be, so I think I get points for presentation. Still, even with good peach schnapps, I don't think this one is anything particularly special.

Extra Dry Martini:

2 3/4 ounces gin (or vodka)

1/4 ounce dry vermouth

-Stir with ice cubes and strain into chilled glass.

So I don't think I could have tolerated this without the previous 3 drinks. Talk about the burn of vodka...It was really intense and not very enjoyable. Good if you want to get drunk fast and don't mind the pain. Unfortunately, I was already pretty drunk at this point, talking to myself while watching Project Runway. Complete disaster. I think this is the point when I started looking up strictly platonics on craigslist. Yikes.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Blue Hawaiian/Purple Haze

So these are both from a couple days ago...I'm getting to be a bit of a lazy blogger already! Thursday night El and I decided to sit around the apartment drinking cocktails and watching Top Chef, which is a pretty magic combination if you ask me.

Since El isn't a big drinker, I thought I would go for something tropical and girly. Blue Hawaiians seemed to fit the bill:

1 ounce light rum

1 ounce blue curacao

1 ounce cream of coconut

2 ounces pineapple juice

-Mix in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice and strain into an iced highball glass.

Okay, seems like it should be pretty delicious, yeah? NOPE! This was the first drink that I didn't finish. I gave it several sips and poured it down the drain. Mine did not resemble the above photo AT ALL. For those of you who have seen Bridget Jones' Diary, it was pretty much like the blue soup she makes for her birthday dinner. To make this drink better, I would go with coconut milk or water instead of cream of coconut. I even went with the more expensive version and it was still awful. Yuck.

The purple haze, however, was pretty decent. It's not one that I would go out of my way to order, but it was pretty good. Decidedly bluish in color and not purple, it still satisfied nicely:

1 ounce vodka

1 ounce blue curacao

cranberry juice

-Mix vodka and curacao in cocktail shaker with cracked ice and strain into iced glass. Fill with cranberry juice.

Curacao is a liqueur with an orange flavor. It can be blue or white and, as far as I can tell, is only blue when you want the drink to be blue. Kind of cheesy, but there you go.

I'm also taking the week off from cocktails so I can get some legit work on grad apps and GRE studying done. Also, I overindulged in wine Friday night and now alcohol is less than appealing. Should be updating by Friday or Saturday though.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Basic Daiquiri/Sea Breeze

Well, I'm certainly making progress on this project. I don't know how I should feel about being ahead of schedule: proud for sticking with the project or afraid for my waste line that I'm drinking so much more than usual. I will say that it's been more than 6 weeks since I made a drunken fool of myself, so that seems promising.

The basic daiquiri actually came to fruition last night, and it was a minor success. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1 ounce lime juice

1 tsp sugar

-Shake well with cracked ice and strain into glass.

The drink was generally good, but there was a problem with the sugar. I don't think I took the "shake well" instruction seriously enough so I ended up with a bunch of sugar that wasn't properly incorporated into the drink. By the end of the drink I had a sludge of sugar at the bottom that was not at all like the milk at the end of the cereal bowl. Next time I would shake more or use simple syrup.

So the above picture is more conceptual than literal: I'm vegan so I would never drink a bird no matter what my cocktail book told me to do. Here is the recipe for a sea breeze:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

2 ounces cranberry juice

2 ounces grapefruit juice

-Shake in cocktail shaker and add to iced glass.

This is a case where I bought the quality mixer and it turns out that I just don't like grapefruit juice. This drink was overall okay as in, I think it was made properly, but I didn't particularly care for it. If you like grapefruit, then you'll probably like this drink since that's all it tastes like.

When I'm not drinking cocktails for this project, I am mostly drinking wine. Tonight, post sea breeze, I had a glass of pinot gris from A to Z in Newberg, Oregon. Very nice. I am no wine expert (another project for another year), but I am enjoying this one.

Also, while I'm reviewing things, I'll put in a plug for No Logo by Naomi Klein. Yes, it's 10 years old and a little out of date at times. Yes, if you've spent enough time with Maria B or in Eugene in generally, you probably know a lot of the information in there. However, I still think it's a really good and important read, especially the first three sections. I've dedicated most of my summer to reading this and Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise," and both were worth the time commitment.

Not to end the post on a down note, but I have to give my movie choice for the evening, the 2002 version of The Importance of Being Earnest, a thumbs down. I thought this movie adaptation didn't play to the play's strengths at all. I know that English people in the countryside saying clever things isn't always movie magic, but trying to infuse the movie with additional locations and fantasy scenes was unnecessary. Boo.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Silk Panties/Cuba Libre/Rum & Coke

Okay, I didn't drink all three of these in one night...I just forgot to post about my experience last night, which was particularly special.

Silk Panties-

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1/2 ounce peach schnapps

-Mix with ice and pour into shot glass.

Well, I don't actually own a shot glass so I just had to use the regular glass I had available. I really doubt the proper glassware would have made this any better though: it was the worst so far. I'm not really that into shots, but SoCo and Lime is okayish. This burned my throat and lungs, which is not the alcohol experience that I'm personally looking for. Worst of all, it was definitely more than one shot's worth, so after I took one painful gulp, I had to go back for seconds. Just please, don't do this to yourself.

Now we go from the worst to some of the best!

Cuba Libre-

2 ounces light rum

Juice and fruit of 1/2 lime

Cola

-Squeeze lime and throw into chilled glass with ice. Add rum, then fill with cola.

Rum and Coke-

1 1/2 ounces rum

Cola

-Add rum to iced glass. Fill with cola and garnish with lime.

Both these drinks were pretty ballin', let me tell you. These were the first that actually tasted better when I made them than when I ordered them at a bar, which is quite the accomplishment I think.

Some info: I bought some pretty basic Bacardi rum...it was clear so I was pretty sure it was "light" rum. I didn't really see anything labeled as light rum, but I mostly just assumed anything that wasn't marked as "dark" must be light. Dark rum has more molasses in it, so it's sweeter, whereas light rum has a drier taste. I can tell you more about the different experiences when I get to some drinks with dark rum.

Also, you'll notice that these two drinks both include lime, so what's the big difference? Well, truthfully, they weren't that different. However, when a recipe calls for a "squeeze" or a "garnish" of lime (or lemon) that generally means 1/8 of said fruit. To do this properly, one cuts of the ends of the fruit and cuts into parts. The bartender should not do the squeeze herself but should cut a slice through the section and stick the lemon/lime on the rim to let the drinker do it him/herself. Therefore, the difference between 1/8 and 1/2 a lime is certainly discernable, even to my novice tongue.

Aside from all these technical details, I will tell you that I was not drinking alone tonight! Well, nobody else drank alcohol, but I was in the presence of other people while I was drinking. Betsy, my lovely roommate, and I hosted a game night in our apartment. Sure, it was just the two of us plus Ben and Eleanor, but we had an absolutely splendid time. There were snacks (including some failed chocolate chip cookies) and two new games! We played "In a Pickle", which none of us had ever played before, and we read the instructions incorrectly. We ended up playing the game completely wrong but still having fun. We also played "Oodles of Doodles": a Pictionary-esque game, but easier. This was an event that is sure to be repeated.

Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day Weekend! Bottoms up!