Bitters? Sweet!

May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 46 Comments

Week 20 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously! Artisanal Bitters.

Just so you know, I’m on vacation this week, muddling along with my LTE data plan for Internet. I’m not complaining, mind you, unplugging from civilization is a delight once in awhile. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to jump on with my Toast Tuesday post this week because last week was such a fail. This week’s potent potable is one I can endorse with complete confidence. Bitters — a classic cocktail ingredient.

Friday evening, I was scrambling around packing all the gear… Clothes, shoes, food, booze, not necessarily in order of importance. Getting the place clean for the house-sitter, taking the dog to the kennel. Did I mention it rained torrentially while I was doing all this? So hell no, I wasn’t making dinner on top of all that, somebody say takeout Chinese? I was stressed enough the way it is. I needed a good laugh and a good cocktail.

What better way to unwind and start vacation than with The Graham Norton Show I recorded from Tuesday (thank you BBC America) and a nice martini. And no, not one of those sweet abominations they are calling martinis these days. I’m talking gin, dry vermouth and bitters, with two big beautiful Spanish Queen olives to garnish. (And provide enough nutrition for me to feel smug).

And just like James Bond, (hopefully the next iteration of whom [of which?] will be either Tom Hiddleston or Aidan Turner, or maybe Idris Elba…) What was I saying…? Martini, yes… Hmm, wait a minute… The world’s worst spy doesn’t actually drink a classic martini does he? All right forget Bond, here’s what you do:

Add ice to your glass to chill it (then discard)
Add ice to your shaker
Splash in a few drops of bitters (I use Angostura, can’t go wrong)
Shake to coat your ice thoroughly
Add 2 shots of gin (pick a good one — I drank Bombay this time)
1 shot dry vermouth
Shake it again and pour into your chilled martini glass
Add 2 or more olives (a little of the brine too, if you like it dirty)

Drink and ahhhh, enjoy!

Ok, I’m getting in the hot tub. Got to soak my sore muscles and get ready for another day of hiking tomorrow.
Don’t forget to visit Harp, Lula Harp... To see how she used bitters this week!

Ok, it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon not a martini…

What the pulque?

May 10, 2016May 13, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 41 Comments

Week nineteen in the Year of Drinking Adventurously! Pulque and it’s a fail!

Pulque is another product of the agave plant — the result of fermenting the nectar, and skipping the distillation process. It goes back all the way to Aztec culture in Mexico. What results after fermentation is a slightly sweet, milky, viscous liquid that is tradtionally served by dipping your mug into the communal vat. The places where pulque is served are called pulquerias. There is one in New York City, but…

My friend Jeff, I believe this was destined to be a fail because according to your book: “Pulqueria is one of the very few places in New York (or most of the East Coast, for that matter), where a drinker can actually taste the real deal.”

and: “Right now pulque’s virtual lack of availability in the states has proved to be one of its greatest assets.”

My chances of finding pulque in the suburbs of Philadelphia were astronomically low to non-existent. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Lula doesn’t have a Pulqueria in Memphis, either. However, she is a resourceful gal and thus I will not underestimate her in this endeavor! So go visit her blog to make sure! Now, if you are really interested in tasting this other product of the agave plant, you can visit Pulqueria when you are in New York City. And for info, you can find it on Yelp! and Open Table.

Despite the pulque fail, the weekend brought me some adventure. I had friends over for food and drinks on Friday night, Saturday was the Kentucky Derby party and the once a year imbibation of mint julep. Once a year is enough – a little goes a long way. So in lieu of pulque, here is the recipe for the classic mint julep:

1 oz simple syrup (1 cup sugar in 1 cup water and heat till dissolved)
sprig of fresh mint leaves
3 oz bourbon (use a Kentucky bourbon, accept no substitutes!)

In a glass, muddle the mint leaves in the syrup. Add to a shaker filled with ice and bourbon. Shake and serve in a rocks glass or better yet, a silver cup!

And this weekend’s best adventure of all? I got to read. An actual book. To me that is one of the best adventures one can have!

Edmund C. Tarbell – *Girl Reading, 1909*

Another tequila sunrise…

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 44 Comments

Week 18 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously – TEQUILA!

Yes, tequila, my old friend… we have some stories, don’t we?

I think of tequila as the official party booze. (And rum, too. But that’s another chapter.) Who doesn’t love a good Margarita on a hot summer day? Don’t answer that — it’s rhetorical. Thursday is Cinco de Mayo – not Mexican Independence Day, like most people think. Rather it’s a day that commemorates a decisive battle won against the French Army. And an excuse for Americans to get drunk on someone else’s holiday. (We do that for St. Patrick’s Day, too. Any old excuse works, really…)

Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, must be distilled in Mexico to be classified as tequila, but may be bottled elsewhere. Not all tequila is 100% agave tequila, so read your labels. The finer tequilas, like my current bottle, 1800 Silver Tequila Reserva, is 100% agave. This is one spirit I would never cheap out on. You will pay dearly for it, after the fact.

So how do I like to drink tequila? Well, I do love me a Margarita -Meg is short for Margaret, after all. But the first tequila cocktail I ever had was a Tequila Sunrise. And yes, it was because of The Eagles’ song of the same name. Obviously I discovered The Eagles before Jimmy Buffett or I’d have been Wastin’ Away in Margaritaville… And I might not have been of legal drinking age at the time. And I might have sneaked off to New York City with my friends. To see Siouxie and the Banshees at Radio City Music Hall. Epic…

The Tequila Sunrise:

3 ounces orange juice
1 1/2 ounce tequila
1/2 ounce grenadine

In a tall glass or Collins glass… The drink is mixed by pouring in Tequila, ice, then the juice and, lastly, the grenadine. The signature look of the drink depends on adding the grenadine without mixing with the other ingredients. A spoon may be used to guide the syrup down the glass wall to the bottom of the glass with minimal mixing. Oh! Pretty!

Of course tequila makes for a fun shot, too. You sprinkle salt on the space between your thumb and index finger, have a lemon wedge ready, pour a shot of tequila, and “lick, drink, suck.” That is lick the salt, throw back the shot, and suck the lemon wedge, people. I heard you all snickering.

Oh and the whole worm thing? You know, eat the worm at the bottom of the bottle and you’ll have hallucinations? That’s a myth. Skip the worm, that’s just gross, sorry.

So mosey on over to Lula’s blog and see how she tequila’d!