Girl Drink Drunk

Yeah, I'm mostly phoning it in at this point. My buddy Dan found this one and I wanted to share.

Mixing a cocktail while Schumacher drives

Schumacher's brief return to Formula One was only the beginning! Now he's got a guy mixing cocktails in the car as he tears around a closed course.

Getting Democratic on The Democrat

I've had my share of days bartending and even more than my share of days of weeding through the crap that companies publish about their products in the name of "breaking news."  I mean, really, do we NEED a tequila recipe that commemorates Columbus Day? 

My solution lately?  I've been hitting the classic cocktails hard, buying the old books, and bugging all the people I know that are good at this on how to do something.  Thus cometh The Democrat.

Now, The Democrat is one of those cocktails that I call a "Crossover Cocktail."  Why?  Because it's one of those drinks that has something in it that people will say they hate, something like bourbon, and it will win them over and get them started on path to righteousness.  Other cocktails I include in this are a Cucumber Gimlet, an Aviation, and a few others. 

So, here's the old recipe for The Democrat. 

2oz Bulleit Bourbon
1oz Democrat Syrup
3/4oz Fresh Lemon Juice

The Democrat Syrup is really the key here.  It's one part warm water, one part honey, and two parts peach liqueur all mixed together.  Then you let the syrup get to room temperature (or chilled) before you use it in the cocktail.  Combine the ingredients in a Collin's glass and then stuff the glass full of crushed ice.  Tasty. 

I wanted to mix it up a bit and see what I could do to change up the flavors.  So, I made what became The Ted Kennedy

2oz Rye Whisky (I used Hirsch)
1oz Kennedy Syrup
3/4oz Fresh Lemon Juice

For the Kennedy Syrup, I wanted to use a pear liqueur so I lowered the ratio of the honey so it wouldn't get overpowered.  So, it was one part warm water, one part honey, and 2 parts pear liqueur.  Using the rye whisky really brought out the flavors of the pear as well.  A nice mellow blend. 

The beauty of this one?  You can try it for yourself very easily.  So, you know, you might want to get on that. 

Whisky Connosr Launches

The nice thing about web developers is that, sooner or later, they're going to build a website based on their interests and make it pretty nice.

Jean-Luc Thiébaut did just that with Connosr, the social networking site for whisky lovers. Now, because whisky snobs are, well, snobs, having their own site to talk about the vagaries of pungency and mouthfeel will keep Them off the backs of the gin drinkers. One can only hope.

The site allows you to setup your own profile and then works in a lot of the same ways that the wine cataloging sites work. You can write notes on spirits you've tasted, put in ones you'd like to taste, see what your friends are saying about their experiences, and be called a "Rookie" by those that disagree with you.

Check it out via the Web or iPhone.

Connosr

Yoga seems to be every bit as good as alcohol!

Looking to get the peace and comfort that only Yoga can give?  Well, head on over to your nearest watering hole and get the flexibility you've always wanted!

See more great moves here!

Review: Absolut Boston

Flavored vodkas are so hit or miss.  I've found very few to be mediocre in nature, most of them are completely awful or pretty tasty and unique.  Luckily, Absolut Boston falls in to the latter category.  Absolut Boston is a black tea and elderflower flavored vodka that shows a bit of tongue-in-cheek, unlike some of the other flavors in their city category.

On The Eyes
The bottle is pretty straightforward and looks like your regular Absolut bottle but has "Boston" on it.  Easy enough.

On The Nose
This is kind of crazy:  It looks like vodka but smells like black tea. There's absolutely no scent of the alcohol or elderflower in there and it's that same refreshing smell that you get when you take a whiff of a cold, sun-made, iced tea.  Every person trying it had a response of "It smells gooooood."  'Nuff said.

On The Tongue
Well, it tastes like black tea.  Unfortunately, there's almost no hint of elderflower in there.  I'm an elderflower lovin' brutha thanks to St. Germain but I just couldn't find it in here and I tried.  Now, there is a bit of sweetness that could probably be attributed to the elderflower but that's about it.  If you get past this part of the vodka then you're going to be very pleased.  It has a lot of potential for some great cocktails using the black tea flavor.

On The Chest
It felt like most other vodkas do when I poured it on my chest.  However, I believe the black tea flavor may help with the removal of skunk scent should you need it.

On The Brain
How about a Long Island Iced Tea that actually tastes like iced tea?

Strong Island Iced Tea
2 oz Absolut Boston
1 oz Rum
1 oz Triple Sec
Splash of orange juice
Squeeze of fresh lemon

Assemble all ingredients in a tall glass with ice.

I just made that up!  I tried it!  It tasted good!  You should try it too!

Absolut Boston

Bartending School?

Bottom line:  Don't go to bartending school.

Why?  Well, Darcy over at Art of the Drink has some pretty good reasons and even got in to some back-and-forth with a PR Moron at National Bartending Schools.  Morgenthaler has some good reasons too (and a way to get a bartending job without that experience).  Joe Bartender went to a school and wrote about his experience (including a conversation with an instructor at a school who though the curriculum was crappy too).

I did attend National Bartending School and did get a very cool little bag with a cocktail shaker, a recipe book, a jigger, and a strainer in it for my troubles.  That's pretty much the only thing I came away with of any real use.

Do you doubt?  Go talk to the head bartender at your favorite bar (No, not at TGI Fridays) and see how they got in the business.  You'll be hard pressed to find someone who did it via bartending school and if they did, they'll be embarrassed to admit it because they know it was a waste of $500.

Normally, I wouldn't pipe in on something like this, but National Bartending School's response to Darcy was just ridiculous.

Jagermeister's 6-Pack Cooler

Jägermeister's got the hook-up for toting all those cumbersome bottles of Jägermeister around.

Buy six bottles of Jäger and you get this sweeeeeet cooler that holds those babies and has the Jäger Tap Machine Technology built right in. It even comes loaded with Jäger shot cups! This is the stuff that DRIVES Girls Gone Wild [sic]!

Hey, if you're going to get alcohol poisoning, you might as well go with Jäger, you're going to hate it later anyway and this will just make the transition easier.

Six bottles of Jäger run about US$120.

Say It With Flowers (And Booze)

I <3 Camper! 

Check it out.