Ice + Clink + Drink

There are pros and cons to cocktails. One of the pros is how the alcohols and mixing agents combine to create new, fabulous tastes. But the con is that strong drink equals drunk. Now that my friends and I are getting just a wee bit older, getting sloshed isn’t usually a goal at a party.  Not that it can’t still be fun (get that girl a microphone!). 

 So, sometimes a pitcher drink with a wider ratio of non-intoxicating ingredients to alcohol can be the right prescription. Sip this DRY soda Rhubarb Mojito at your 4th of July BBQ and you’ll still be conscious for the fireworks (notice I said sip and not guzzle!).

Rhubarb Mojito* Pitcher (8 servings)

Muddle mint in a pitcher, add rum, simple syrup and lime juice. Refrigerate to chill. Just prior to serving add chilled Rhubarb DRY Soda and stir gently. Serve in ice-filled glasses.

DRY Sodas come in a variety of interesting flavors and are found at many grocery stores, including Amazon Fresh. While using the DRY soda is a convenient option for easy entertaining, a mojito would also be fabulous using the rhubarb syrup I posted last year.  Try this: 

Rhubarb Mojito, Take Two

 Cheers, ICE

 *Created by Matthew Walker & Devlin McGill for Bellevue, Washington’s 0/8 Seafood Grill. Original recipe can be found on the DRY Soda site. 

 

Halloween Drink #1 of 2…

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, hence the name for this drink. This one is my own creation, using my newest find: black vodka!

I may be all very “2000 and late,” as Fergie would sing, but Blavod black vodka was a revelation to me. I didn’t know such a thing existed. Perfect for Halloween, it added enough darkness to this drink to get it close to that blood red quality I was looking for. By the way, I created the Bloody Sunday for a friend’s party, so the store-bought sparkling pomegranate juice made for easy mixin’.

Bloody Sunday punch — serves 16

Stirring gently, mix all ingredients together in a pitcher or punch bowl. Serve with crushed ice.  Note this recipe change: When scaling this recipe I used 2 oz of absinthe, but after playing with it a bit, I recommend starting with only 1 ½ oz, stir, taste and add more if desired.

The Bloody Sunday, along with Blavod in its spiffy wet suit…in case you want to go diving with your vodka? You can see the black hue of the vodka in the shot glass.

Blavod (aside: What a lame name. Oh, and it comes in its own wet suit. Huh?) is vodka tinted by the bark of black catechu, which is used for a variety of medicinal and commercial purposes, including as dye.  The black catechu doesn’t add much flavor, so it can work in any vodka drink.

As a responsible blogger, I tested the Blavod and can assure you that, a) it will not discolor your teeth while drinking, like black food coloring certainly would, and b) if a sloppy guest spills some on your cream carpet or sexy nurse’s costume, the vodka won’t leave a stain. Whew. 

Cheers, ICE
 

 

Ha, I’m betting my headline misled that I’m posting vampire-related drinks, what with the Twilight Eclipse movie releasing this week.  Given that I lean Team Jacob, any cocktail would have to have garlic in it – which sounds just gross — and a Bloody Mary seemed too obvious.  So instead the bite is about spicy…

As my liquid weekend in Portland confirmed, I love the drinks with heat. Not torched-mouth heat, just the kind with a nice burn in the back of the throat.  Apart from muddling a jalapeno or adding a little Serrano pepper juice, I haven’t worked much with peppers at home. After pulling this recipe out of my stash so many times, I decided to attempt both the pepper-infused syrup AND turning a single cocktail into a pitcher drink.  Ooh, this could have been dangerous.

Heat to just before boiling and sugar is dissolved, and then remove from heat. After 5 minutes off heat, scoop out peppers. Allow remaining mixture to cool and strain out ginger. Keeps in refrigerator for 3 weeks in a sealed container. Makes 10 ounces.

Since I didn’t find habañeros at the store, I substituted two Serrano peppers per instructions on various Web sites about peppers and cooking substitutes. I also used 3 tablespoons of jarred sliced ginger because I have no idea how to cook with fresh ginger. These were fine substitutions because the end syrup was delish. It was also wonderfully easy to make.

Next came the challenge of scaling the cocktail recipe to pitcher proportions. The original recipe is The Chadwick and was created by bartender Adam Seger at Nacional 27 in Chicago.  Since I had only 10 oz of syrup and the original recipe called for 1 oz, I knew I had to multiply the other ingredients by 10 as well. This was easily done with this particular recipe, although I chose to add a little extra of this and that in the end. I also opted to use 3 ounces of lime juice rather than muddle 20 lime quarters.

Here is my pitcher version of The Chadwick:

Muddle mint leaves with lime juice, add in all ingredients except club soda to chill in refrigerator. Add club soda before serving.

In hindsight, I could have added all dark rum, as the original listed, and more of it. Considering how quickly the pitcher was drained, no one at the BBQ seemed to mind, though. I was left wishing I had doubled the syrup recipe so that I could have made a larger pitcher AND been able to try this non-alcohol Nojito from the same creator:

Pomegranate-Ginger-Chile Nojito

Moisten the outer rim of a collins glass with 1 ounce of the pomegranate juice and coat lightly with sugar. Fill the glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime quarters with the mint leaves and Ginger-Habanero Syrup. Add ice and the remaining 1 ounce of pomegranate juice and shake well. Strain into the prepared collins glass and stir in the club soda.

These drinks are sure to add heat and praise to your 4^th of July function!

Cheers, ICE

 

Little League has wound down, but I’m still thinking about pitchers…of the drinking kind, of course. I brought the following to my son’s end-of-season team party and it disappeared quickly.

Bon Appetit is not my usual read, but flipping through the June issue I found its recipe for the Leland Palmer, which uses layers of juice, liquor and tea to create a unique, adult Arnold Palmer (usually half iced tea and half lemonade). As usual, I was missing an ingredient – jasmine tea – and forced to improvise, but I think it was successful. The TimberRattlers’ moms gave many thumbs up. 

 Here is my approach to this pitcher drink. Because there is plenty of time for the sugar to dissolve, simple syrup isn’t a necessity.

Combine all and chill for 3-4 hours to let the flavors meld. Stir well before serving. A taste test will let you know if you need to add more sugar/simple syrup to the end product. Serve on ice and garnish with lemon wheels. Makes approximately (10) 6 oz drinks. Created by bartender Damon Boelte of Brooklyn.

Or another option…

One friend, who liked it because it isn’t alcohol-strong, recently served this at a volunteer function at her home.  She made further changes to my version, using decaf green tea instead of black tea and ruby red grapefruit, as well as bottled lemon juice.  Again it was popular and her guests quickly drained the pitcher and asked for more, proving this a versatile recipe. I have to love a drink that allows goofs, substitutions and day-of mixing –while I might plan ahead, I don’t always shop and execute ahead. I can now consider this pitcher drink to be my back-up plan.

Cheers, ICE