Potables

Mixed-up, muddled, shaken, and a little verklempt

Jen’s V-Day gift to me (mko will be so envious):

Mixed Up, Muddled and Shaken: A Curious History of the American Cocktail

Presented By: Dale DeGroff, David Wondrich
Tuesday, April 18 2006, 6pm to 8pm
The Balance
215 West 28 Street
New York, NY 10001

Dale DeGroff, author of The Craft of the Cocktail, and David Wondrich, Esquire magazine’s Drinks Correspondent and author of Killer Cocktails and Esquire Drinks, will escort you through the highways and byways of more than two centuries’ worth of cocktail history, as you learn how to make some of the finest examples of the bartender’s art. Drinks will include the original “Cock-Tail,” the Brandy Smash, the Enchantress, Champagne Cobbler, General Harrison’s Egg Nog, and other great classic and original drinks.

Enjoy this hands-on seminar and the wonderful collection of cocktail memorabilia at The Museum of the American Cocktail’s new location in New York.

Cocktails on the patio

cocktails on the patio, originally uploaded by Jenblossom.

Squeeze 1 1/2 oz lime juice into a 9-oz. glass. Add 1 1/2 oz gin and 1/4 tsp sugar. Stir. Fill with ice and seltzer. Garnish with 1/2 lime shell. Enjoy on patio of your choice.

Recipe adapted from Internet Cocktail Database (cocktaildb.com).

Mary: Evil, hot, and bloody

8 oz. organic tomato juice
8 oz. vodka
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Evil Hot(TM) brand habanero hot sauce
1 tbsp. horseradish
1/2 tsp. clam juice
1 1/2 tsp olive juice
3 dashes bitters
1 dash onion powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pinch salt
1 twist black pepper

Stir ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Serve in a tall glass over ice. Garnish with a wedge of lemon, an olive, and a pinch of ground celery seed.

Makes 2 servings.

Bloody Mary

2 oz. (¼ cup) vodka
4 oz. (½ cup) tomato juice
dash Tobasco
1½ tsp. horseradish
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
dash lemon juice
½ tsp. salt
4 twists pepper

Shake together. Pour over olives and ice. Sprinkle a pinch of ground celery seed on the surface.

Glenmorangie, 15

Purchased for Thanksgiving, but opened early for “quality control,” this 15-year-old single malt is light on the smokey peaty notes that characterize other scotches. The Glenmorangie is heathery or floral, with notes of nutmeg and allspice, vanilla, chocolate, and almonds. As I sipped, it slightly zapped the tip of my tongue and the back, but it went down smooth with no burning.

[This is my first attempt at trying to describe the flavor and mouthfeel of scotch. Bear with me.]