Nov 12, 2009 -
Jump-start your Thanksgiving with a bold, flavorful cocktail like this appropriately named pear and rum concoction, spice. It's a mixture of dark spiced rum and pear and lime juices. Freshly grated nutmeg is a special garnish that makes it particularly festive.
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Oct 02, 2009 -
This October, instead of being bummed about Summer's departure, I've decided to get excited for Fall. I've changed the background on my phone to an image of autumnal flowers, I've searched FabSugar for Fall-look inspiration, I've decorated my house with white pumpkins, and most importantly, I've starting sipping this apple cocktail.
Apples are a quintessential ingredient at this time of year, thus a stimulating concoction made with apple cider and dark rum seems seasonally appropriate.
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Sep 21, 2009 -
Since Party recently professed her fondness for Appleton Estate rum, I'm here to share my affinity for another fantastic everyday rum, Cruzan Light. Recently, a rep from Cruzan challenged me to taste the spirit against other light rums in its class. Incidentally, I had a couple other brands in my liquor cabinet, so I had Cruzan face them off in a taste test.
- 1 Comment
Aug 27, 2009 -
From kalimotxo to caipirinhas to sangria, I've made a lot of interesting cocktails this Summer. One I haven't enjoyed, yet, I plan on serving them at my End of Summer barbecue, is the dark and stormy.
A refreshing mixture of rich, dark rum, and fizzy, slightly spicy ginger beer, the dark and stormy is a classic cocktail.
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Aug 14, 2009 -
Last Thursday I got an email from a girlfriend asking me if I would make mai tais for a party on Friday night. Considering my profession, and the fact that I take pleasure in crafting specialty cocktails for my friends and family to enjoy, this is not an uncommon request. However, her email was more like a quickfire challenge because it wasn't just any old party, it was her rehearsal dinner and 78 people had RSVPed — that's a lot of mai tais.
- 1 Comment
Aug 12, 2009 -
In my continuing quest to think outside the spirit box, I have developed not only an appreciation for gin, but also one for rum. Well not just any rum, Jamaica's finest Appleton Estate rum. Earlier this week I was invited to an tasting at Spruce restaurant in San Francisco, and I got to sample the rich caramel-colored liquor neat in four different cocktails.
- 5 Comments
Jul 30, 2009 -
When Fab first asked me to help host her technicolor luau, I envisioned serving a fabulous layered tiki cocktail. However, deep down, I knew there was no way I could offer this kind of cocktail because it's too much work and I would end up spending the entire night behind the bar! To make things easier, I'll serve a tropical rum punch instead.
- 1 Comment
Jul 29, 2009 -
Waiting for a table at a Caribbean joint a few weeks back, my friends and I were enchanted — possibly a bit too enchanted — by the ginger mojito on the cocktail menu. Fresh and crisp like the traditional rum drink but with a kick of aromatic ginger to balance the tang of the lime and the coolness of the mint, these mo'gingeritos were so good, I had to replicate the recipe.
While I have no idea how the restaurant made its cocktail, my at-home version tasted remarkably similar.
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Jun 22, 2009 -
One of the best seminars I attended at last weekend's Aspen Food & Wine Classic was a cocktail class that focused on tropical cocktails. The lesson was led by Julie Reiner, the owner and bar genius behind such Manhattan hotspots as the Flatiron Lounge, Pegu Club, and the Clover Club.
Julie started off by giving us a primer on one of America's favorite drinking pastimes, the tiki bar.
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Jun 11, 2009 -
Kick-start your farmers market feast with a potent, fresh-fruit cocktail in the form of a watermelon-rum mash. Cubes of melon are pureed and mixed with mint and rum. The final concoction is refreshing and conversation enhancing.
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