Sunday Cocktail

The bold and delicious Sidecar

Published by admin on Tue, 02/25/2020 - 1:00pm

The Sidecar is the Rodney Dangerfield of cocktails. It gets no respect. It had a promising start, being named as one of the six basic drinks in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks in 1948. The other drinks on that list, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Daiquiri, Martini, Jack Rose, all enjoyed popularity beyond the initial publication of the book. The Sidecar fell off the radar for a generation or two, it's time that we bring it back.

Prepare the perfect Hurricane this Mardi Gras

Published by admin on Mon, 02/17/2020 - 3:26pm

Fat Tuesday is upon us, and with it comes brightly colored masks, funny hats, beads, and it wouldn't be Fat Tuesday without the quintessential Mardi Gras cocktail, the Hurricane.
Contrary to popular belief, the Hurricane was not invented for Mardi Gras, or any other New Orleans festivities. The Hurricane actually came about as a solution to a problem, it just happened to be delicious.
I love a cocktail with a good back story, this is one of my favorites. Exactly what problem did the Hurricane solve? Too much rum. Yes, Pat O'Brien had a “too much rum” problem.

The sweet and sour Gin Sling

Published by admin on Mon, 02/10/2020 - 4:00pm

Some classic recipes go back so far that nobody is certain of origins, ingredients, or the proper way to serve the drink.
The Gin Sling is one such recipe, first appearing around 1790 with four defining characteristics: must include gin, must be sweetened, flavored and served cold. As a result there are literally hundreds of Gin Sling variants, today we will reconstruct this long forgotten and often overlooked classic.

Raise a glass of this Kansas City hometown favorite

Published by admin on Mon, 02/03/2020 - 1:43pm

Congratulations, Kansas City Chiefs! For the first time in 50 years, you are Super Bowl champs! This is the second Super Bowl victory for the Chiefs, but the 5th championship for the franchise. The Chiefs franchise won three AFL championships before the AFL/NFL merger, and the first of those was won as the Dallas Texans in 1962.
Chiefs fans have some long overdue celebrating to do. There will be barbeque, beer, more beer and barbeque, a run on Patrick Mahomes jerseys, a parade, and plenty of Kansas City Ice Water, or “KC” Ice Water.

Which ‘Sunrise’ came first — the song or cocktail?

Published by admin on Tue, 01/28/2020 - 11:13am

On Dec. 8, 1976, the Eagles released their most successful studio album, Hotel California. Successful may be a bit of an understatement as the album has sold over 32 million copies worldwide and is now the third best-selling album of all time. Fans of the Eagles, in particular fans of the album are in for a treat in 2020 as the band will be playing the Hotel California album in its entirety on their upcoming tour.
This may or may not be a “farewell” tour, but we'll toast the band anyway with an Eagles cocktail, the Tequila Sunrise.

Color your palate with the Floradora

Published by admin on Mon, 01/20/2020 - 2:56pm

It's a new year, and as we raise a glass to 2019 all eyes in the mixology world are focused on 2020.
The consensus among many spirits columnists and bloggers is that after a decade of sitting on the sidelines, gin is going to have a breakout year in 2020. I am hopeful that many of the classic gin cocktails get a new lease on life this year.
There will be many an afternoon Gin and Tonic, “Slings” from Singapore to New Orleans, and countless Martini spinoffs. During the coming gin renaissance I hope that we can find room for a long forgotten classic, the Floradora.

Mamie Taylor: The roots of the Mule

Published by admin on Mon, 01/13/2020 - 4:00pm

The ginger beer based Moscow Mule has been a mainstay of mixology since the 1950s, recently peaking in popularity and showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, the “Mule” platform is so popular that many bars and restaurants feature Whiskey Mules, Gin Mules, and any old kind of Mule that your heart desires and your liver can handle. The Moscow Mule may seem like a recent cocktail phenomenon, but adding an 80 proof spirit to ginger beer and fresh lime juice is an idea that can be traced back more than a century to the end of the 19th century. Ladies and gentleman, Mamie Taylor!

Fun Ship: The must-have cruise cocktail

Published by admin on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 4:00pm

Happy New Year, and happy Wave Season!
For those unfamiliar with the cruise business, wave season is the “Black Friday” of cruise packages, and some of the deals are quite good. Cruise lines use these incentives early in the year to book as many cabins as possible for the coming year. Keep an eye out for drink packages when booking cruises, and if cruising with Carnival be sure to try their signature cocktail, the Fun Ship cocktail.

Toast to the new year with a Champagne Cocktail

Published by admin on Tue, 12/31/2019 - 8:00am

Many of us take literally only a few sips of champagne during the course of the year, more than likely those sips are taken as we ring in the New Year. I can take or leave a stand-alone glass of champagne, but I look forward to my annual Champagne Cocktail.
Before we get into the Champagne Cocktail, let’s talk sparkling wine.
Champagne is a sparkling wine, one that comes from the Champagne region of France. Other sparkling wines are also named for their regions of origin, such as Prosecco, Franciacorta, Trento DOC, and Cava.

Taste the high life with the Test Pilot

Published by admin on Mon, 12/16/2019 - 4:15pm

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a Test Pilot? The cocktail platform that would evolve into the iconic Jet Pilot was once a Test Pilot, and like many first incarnations of popular drinks, they had it right the first time. Fasten your safety harness, put your helmet on, we're flying back to the early age of jet air travel!