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Come Party With Me: All Hallow's Eve - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:00:46 -0700

It's T minus two days until your big Halloween party! Since nobody wants to spend the entire night mixing cocktails, serve a punch. It's quenches the thirst of a crowd and is easy to make. All you have to do is dump the ingredients into a cauldron and stir. This potent concoction is a mixture of passion fruit vodka, cranberry juice, ginger ale, and sparkling apple cider. To achieve a smoldering affect, you'll have to get your hands on dry ice, but if you don't have time to seek it out, the punch is still enjoyable without the smoke. Also, stock up on beer or order a keg. To check out the apple punch recipe, read more.

Wicked Witch Apple Punch
From Skky

Ingredients

1 750 ml bottle Skyy Infusions Passion Fruit
1 750 ml bottle sparkling apple cider
1 64 oz. bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1 Liter ginger ale
2 cups pineapple juice
Red apple slices

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large black witch’s cauldron with ice and stir.
Garnish with large slices of red apple floating on top and if desired, dry ice.

Serves 12-14.

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Happy Hour: Eyeball Highball

YumSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:29 -0700

All month I've been fixated on trying my hand at as many spirited Halloween cocktails as possible. And with only five more days until the scariest night of the year, I wanted to shake up something that was more frighteningly festive than anything else I've made.

I was going for something creepier than my slime rickey, but not as gross as the infamous brain hemorrhage. I found a happy medium in the eyeball highball, a riff on the classic martini that's bobbing with radish-and-olive eyeballs. Put a seasonal slant on America's most beloved cocktail when you read more.

Come Party With Me: Vampire Party - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:00:45 -0700

At my vampire party, I'll be offering guests dressed like Buffy and the Cullens an assortment of vampire-themed drink options.

Red wine is a no brainer: it's the color of blood. To tint beer red, I'll use the same technique I employed on St. Patrick Day's only with red food coloring instead of green.

I'll also offer this dessert cocktail. It's a mixture of raspberry vodka, white chocolate liqueur, and half and half. The dripping blood rim is made from strawberry syrup and the ingenious garnish? Plastic fangs! To get the recipe keep reading.

Happy Hour: Candy Corn Cordials

partysugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:00:43 -0700

Are you ready to get in the Halloween spirit? Then I have a spirit for you, candy corn-infused vodka! Don't be afraid, the candy corn slightly sweetens the vodka and gives it a vibrant orange color. Use the candy corn vodka to make a cocktail by combining with orange liquor, lemon juice, and an egg white. The egg white is necessary; it provides a rich frothiness to the drink. The candy corn cordial ends up tasting like a sophisticated orange soda. It's not cloying, but rather smooth, drinkable, and slightly potent. To get the recipe for this festive cocktail, read more.

Candy Corn Cordials
From Food Network

Ingredients

For the infused vodka:
1/2 cup candy corn
1 1/2 cups vodka
For the cordials:
2 ounces orange liqueur
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 large egg white
Candy corn, for garnish

Directions

Infuse the vodka: Combine the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container; set aside for at least 3 hours, then strain.
Make the cordials: Add 4 ounces of the candy corn vodka, the orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Strain into 2 chilled martini glasses and garnish with candy corn.

Makes 2 drinks.

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Happy Hour: Firefly Mint Tea Vodka

YumSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:00:38 -0700

Last week, Party and I attended a tasting showcasing winners of this year's San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The high moment of the day occurred when I got a taste of something I've been dying to try: sweet tea-flavored vodka made by South Carolina-based Firefly Distillery. I'm a fiend for Southern cuisine, and that includes sweet tea, a drink so ubiquitous that it's just referred to as "tea." Southerners also love to spike their tea, so it seems natural that someone would come up with tea-flavored vodka. That genius would be Jim Irvin, a distiller based in Wadmalaw Island, SC. Irvin, also a winemaker, distills the vodka four times, imbues it with tea grown from a plantation five miles away, and sweetens the finished product with sugarcane from Louisiana.

We tried one of the distillery's newest vodka flavors, Mint Tea, which won a Double Gold Medal in the competition. It has a natural minty finish that tastes both soothing and refreshing. It was so easy to drink alone that I'm almost certain I could enjoy an entire pitcher before realizing the product's full effects. I can't wait to buy a bottle for myself!

Have you tried Firefly's tea-flavored vodkas? What did you think of them?

Happy Hour: Raspberry Shag

partysugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:00:38 -0700

As much as I love experimenting with new spirits, sometimes I just need a girlie pink vodka cocktail with a fun name. Enter the raspberry shag.

Don't be fooled by the vibrant color. This drink - a mixture of sugared muddled raspberries, vodka, lemon juice, and soda - is not overly sweet. It is smooth, refreshing, and fruity.

The original recipe calls for strawberries, but I decided to try raspberries instead. I think any berry, like blackberries or blueberries, would work well in this concoction, so use what you have on hand. To check out the recipe, read more.

Raspberry Shag
Modified from Sips and Apps by Kathy Casey

Ingredients

1 to 2 large sprigs of fresh basil
1/4 cup sugared raspberries, with juice (recipe below)
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 to 4 ounces chilled soda water
fresh raspberry, optional for garnish

Directions

In a cocktail shaker, press the basil and strawberries together with a muddler to release the basil's flavor.
Fill the shaker with ice. Measure in the vodka and lemon juice. Cap and shake vigorously.
Pour into a large glass, top with soda water, and stir. Garnish, if desired, with a raspberry.

Makes 1 drink.

Sugared Raspberries

1 pint fresh raspberries
1 1/2cups powdered sugar

Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl and let sit for 15 minutes before using.

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Would You Rather Drink a Gin or Vodka Martini?

partysugar — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:30:29 -0700

Source: Flickr Users flymolo17 and Mr. T in DC

Happy Hour: Peach Donkey

partysugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:00:34 -0700

Although this cocktail recipe has a weird name, the ingredients are pretty ordinary and the flavor is absolutely sublime. It's similar to the classic bellini - because it combines peach puree with effervescence - but, thanks to the addition of vodka and Canton, it's much more potent. When blended together, the sweetness of the peach offsets the subtle heat of the ginger. The final cocktail is refreshing and easy to drink. For a rustic feel, serve in mason jars! If you can't find ginger beer, simply substitute sparkling water. Sound interesting? Get the recipe when you read more.

Peach Donkey
From Food & Wine Cocktails 09

Ingredients

1 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce ginger liqueur
3 ounces peach puree or nectar
Crushed ice
1 ounce chilled ginger beer
Peach slices, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a highball glass, combine the vodka, ginger liqueur and peach puree; stir.
Add crushed ice and stir again. Top with the ginger beer and swizzle by spinning a swizzle stick or bar spoon between your hands. Garnish with peach slices.

Makes 1 drink.

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Happy Hour: Pink Torpedoes

partysugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:00:54 -0700

Inspired by a cocktail class I recently attended, I decided to make my own strawberry-infused vodka. The technique is simple: all you have to do is slice a bunch of strawberries and combine them with the vodka and a little sugar. Then you let it sit for a couple of days until the vodka has a vibrant pink color. Unlike store-bought-infused vodkas, this homemade variation has a sweet-tart berry flavor that's neither syrupy or cloying. Once the vodka is ready, you can sip it solo or make a pink torpedo like I did.

This fizzy-girlie drink combines the vodka with limoncello and sparkling wine. If you don't have sparkling wine, you can substitute sparkling water. It's a fabulously refreshing concoction perfect for enjoying on a warm afternoon. To look at the recipe, read more.

Pink Torpedoes
Modified from Everyday With Rachael Ray

Ingredients

2 cups vodka, chilled
1 1/2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Limoncello
One 750-ml bottle sparkling wine or sparkling water, chilled

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together the vodka, two-thirds of the sliced strawberries and the granulated sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the vodka turns pink, about 6 hours. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
Fill 6 glasses with ice. Strain the vodka and divide among 6 tall glasses.
Add a splash of limoncello to each glass and top off with the sparkling wine or sparkling water. Garnish with the remaining strawberry slices.

Makes 6 drinks.

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Come Party With Me: Memorial Day - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:50:39 -0700

No Memorial Day celebration should be without strawberries. The plump juicy berries are at the peak of their season now, so take advantage of them! You could incorporate them into an appetizer, salad, or dessert, but why not use this luscious fruit to mix up a tantalizing cocktail? This punch recipe serves a crowd (18 people!) and is packed with vibrant flavors. Vodka is combined with Cointreau and ginger ale to make a drink that is fizzy and refreshing. Although it calls for frozen cherries, if they have already popped up at your farmers market, substitute fresh.

Don't forget plenty of beer, wine, water, and sodas - it is a party! For the recipe to the jewel punch, read more.

Jewel Punch
From Every Day With Rachael Ray

Ingredients

1 liter ginger ale, chilled
Three 12-ounce bags frozen cherries
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
3 cups purple grape juice, chilled
1 1/2 cups vodka
1/4 cup Cointreau or triple sec
Ice, for serving

Directions

Combine the ginger ale, cherries, strawberries, grape juice, vodka and Cointreau in a punch bowl or large pitcher and stir well.
Pour into ice-filled glasses and enjoy!

Serves 18.

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