Posts Tagged ‘drinks’

THE CULT FOLLOWING OF SCHWEPPES BITTER LEMON

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Recipes
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Schweppes Bitter Lemon is a carbonated beverage that was invented in 1957 and was available in the United States for a while, but poor sales forced Schweppes to withdraw the product from US store shelves.

Fanatics, however, have kept the demand up for Schweppes Bitter Lemon, and so you can now find the import at websites like amazon.com and britishdelights.com. Some say that a proper Pimm’s cup is not made with ginger ale, but with this stuff. I was curious, so I bought a few bottles and started out with a simple vodka + Schweppes Bitter Lemon: refreshing, and a wonderful twist on the basic vodka-and-tonic.

So I’m hooked.

One of my favorite new drinks of the summer is this recipe that I found on line and tweaked the proportions of the ingredients to make my own. For the light rum, I like to use the new Caliche Puerto Rican rum from the Serralles family of rums, makers of Don Q and Captain Morgan. And second to Angostura bitters, Peychaud’s bitters, invented by famous New Orleans apothecary Antoine Peychaud around 1830, should be a staple of any home bar, especially since it is a key ingredient in making the perfect Sazerac cocktail. It works equally well here.

banana1

BITTER BANANA COOLER

Ingredients:

3 oz light rum

3 oz of ripe banana

1 1/2 oz pineapple juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Schweppes Bitter Lemon

 

In a blender (no ice) combine all ingredients except Schweppes, and blend until smooth: just a few seconds will do. Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a 16 oz glass filled with ice. Top off with Schweppes Bitter lemon.

banana2

 

 

THE CLASSIC SCORPION BOWL

Posted: November 7, 2012 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, mixology
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I went on line and looked at many websites that claimed to have the “real” recipe for a Scorpion Bowl…you know, the classic drink you get in a large Trader Vic volcano glass with a little cup in the volcano for the 151 rum that you take a small hit of before you suck down more of the drink? I tell you what: it makes the Asian food you’re eating that much tastier and the world around you spin that much faster!
Most of the recipes I’ve found on line don’t match the one that I’ve been using for many years. This recipe comes from a bartender (whose name I can’t remember–too many Scorpion bowls, I guess) from a long-gone Chinese restaurant, China Garden, that was located in Warwick, Rhode Island. A car dealership now stands in that location. This is the best Scorpion Bowl I’ve ever had…and continue to have!
Make sure to use top shelf booze for this or you’ll be a Suffering Bastard the next morning! (A little drink humor…)

Look carefully, and you may see the flame coming out of the volcano! Hope I don’t need to tell you not to drink the 151while it’s lit!

SCORPION BOWL
2 oz. light rum (I use Don Q silver)
2 oz. dark rum (I use Mt Gay)
1 oz. gin (I use Bombay Sapphire)
½ oz. brandy (I use good ol’ E&J)
½ oz. Disaronno Originale
½ oz. Cointreau
6 oz Pineapple juice
6 oz Orange juice
½ oz. Bacardi 151 rum for the little cup in the volcano

In a blender half-full of ice, add all the alcohol, except the 151 rum. Add the pineapple juice and the orange juice.  (Use less if you like it stronger.) Give the drink a quick 1-second pulse in the blender, and pour with ice into Scorpion Bowl or very large glass. If you do have a Scorpion Bowl with the volcano in it, add the 151 rum to the bowl in the volcano. If not, you can mix the 151 into your drink.

Don’t drive!

THE BEST ESPRESSO MARTINI

Posted: September 19, 2012 in Cocktails, drink recipes, espresso, MARTINI, mixology
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One of my recent mixology projects was to finally create my own version of the perfect espresso martini…one that has been developed from painstaking research (that means drinking a lot of other espresso martinis.)

My favorite local espresso martini here in Rhode Island comes from Asterisk in Newport. They sell thousands of them in the summer season, and part of their success is using freshly brewed espresso.

But overall, my favorite espresso martini was one that I sampled a couple of years ago at the Le Parker Meridien hotel in New York City. It featured an Irish cream liqueur called Coole Swan. The bartender was nice enough to write down the recipe for me, but I guess I had a little too much to drink…because I lost it! So it was up to me to come up with my own combination.

So here it is…

ALZ ESPRESSO MARTINI

3 oz. good quality vodka, like Belvedere
3 oz. freshly brewed espresso
1.5 oz. Kahlua
1.5 oz. Coole Swan

Chill your martini glasses. Pour all ingredients into a large shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Pour into chilled glasses. Makes 2 martinis.

Let me tell ya…this tasted as good the first time as it did several martinis later!

I’ve found that using a high-end vodka really does make a difference in the quality and taste of the martini…as does brewing your espresso just before assembling the drink.

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