Next on the list of lame two-ingredient cocktails (at least they’re easy to make!), one of my favorite ingredients! Let’s see if it rescues the drink.
Let’s see, how can I put the words in this cocktail into a story about the Olympics? Which is clearly the important news right now… Here’s an interview with the “team mom” for a lot of Team USA – Sherry Von Reisen. Boom.
Another cider concoction this week. This is actually the original cocktail that the 115. Soda Cocktail was based on, just with cider instead of soda water. I guess they must have drank this in New Jersey?
There was a big thunderstorm that rolled into New Jersey Friday night, which I found a number of stories on. However, that’s a pretty lame piece of nes. But, what happened during the dark stormy night? That’s a little more interesting. Someone dumped a body on a residential street, wrapped up Laura-Palmer-style in a bag. Did anyone hear or see anything? “Residents said they could only hear thunder and lighting last night, and heard nothing else out of the ordinary.” MYSTERIOUS!
I’ll get back to Jerry Thomas soon, I promise! This is another dinner party drink, this one St. Patrick’s Day themed. I found this gem of a cocktail when investigating drinks that weren’t Irish coffee, car bombs, or generally green in color.
Probably the most important (American, as opposed to Irish) news that came out recently is of course the fact that the Republicans in Congress could not agree on their own health bill, and Obamacare / the ACA remains in place for the foreseeable future. I actually like this news for two reasons: one, I am a fan of Obamacare, but two, I actually appreciate that for once people were not just blindly voting on party lines. Granted, some of the Republicans that would have voted no would have done so because it was TOO similar to Obamacare, so that’s not quite what I’m going for, but at least it’s a start.
So, turns out this is pretty much the same as one of his others, the Brandy Cocktail, just in a bottle. I guess if you made it the actual size he wanted (we cut it down considerably) it’s more useful as a separate recipe, for storing and whatnot. Aged cocktails are certainly a thing now, though I haven’t yet tried the little bit of this we have left, so I don’t know if it improved with age. Either way, I got to use my new bitters!
Not really any keywords to go on for this one. Hm. It’s also really tough for me to not always default to “terrible things that are happening with our government.” So, instead, let’s go for “interesting things that are happening with other governments.” Earlier this week, Kim Jong-Un’s half brother was killed in Malaysia. The mystery surrounding this continues, as a somewhat exciting intrigue/conspiracy plot with North Korea suspected of carrying out the killing. If it weren’t real life, I’d enjoy reading it in a spy novel!
Today’s interlude is brought to you not by Jerry Thomas, but by the New Year’s Eve party I made this for. This is a (very tasty) recipe, modified in this particular occasion, from Saveur magazine, presented below. I’ve made this a few times now, though, and it’s always a hit. A little dangerous alcohol-wise, and addictive, but hey, it (was) New Year’s Eve. Might as well!
For those of you in the northeast, be warned! Your houses are about to be chilled again with a “one-two punch” (their words, not mine, so it’s okay) of more bad weather this weekend. It’s times like these I really miss being back home. Which is weird, I know, but it’s just how I am. Will hopefully be up in the snowy California mountains soon, which is almost as good. Anyways, wait out the storm with a hot cider and then you’ve got all three words in one blurb! I mean… a good drink. Both.
Well, this drink finally puts to rest the question of whether or not you can have too much of a good thing. The answer is, undoubtedly, yes. A disappointing answer, but the answer nonetheless. I’ll have to think up a new favorite alcohol. Sorry, Angostura.
This one’s a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. We’ve had too many articles about Brandy, so I tried Champerelle. Nothing. But, “champerelle” sounds like “champignon” which is French for “mushroom.” BOOM. (Sorry. I’ll do better next time.)
Another variation on the Old Fashioned theme, this one a little more out there than the others. Why? Well, it’s exactly the same but with champagne instead of a hard liquor. So it adds bubbles and sweetness, among other things. A very different experience.
Apparently this year’s Champagne harvest was very bad, so we could see increased prices and limited supply in the coming years! Horror of horrors! Luckily, the wineries tend to have a big reserve, so it shouldn’t hopefully have a gigantic impact. But we’ll see…
It’s time for another twofer! The first is this Gin Cocktail, and the second (tomorrow’s) will be the Fancy Gin Cocktail, which is the same but served slightly differently. I’m not entirely sure why these count as two separate drinks, but I guess he can do what he wants.
While this will not be keyword-y and punny, the big news story of this week is of course the Brexit, with continuing ramifications as the days go on. In short, Britain voted to leave the European Union soon, causing stocks and currencies to tumble, and generally uncertainty and despair. Also a sad commentary on what “real” people think about politics. However, I learned today that the vote isn’t actually the final word on this — they could hold another vote, or just… not do it. Apparently. Not that that wouldn’t also cause many issues, but it’s an interesting thought. So, uh, drink gin and contemplate.
After having five different more-or-less terrible light beers (more on that to come!), I decided to tone it down a little with the next – non-alcoholic – mixture from Mr. Thomas. This is actually a variation of his 114. Jersey Cocktail, which is the same thing but with cider (presumably alcoholic cider) instead of soda water, but we’ll get to that at a later point.
The following came up in a Google News search for bitters, so while it is not news, it’s actually pretty fascinating and therefore I think it counts. Everything you ever wanted to know about Angostura bitters. Check it out! Also I really want to try that Angostura Sour they mention, but I’ll need to buy another bottle for that.
Happy summer everyone! Right now I’m in Palm Springs and it is appropriately hot and sunny. So, a drink to celebrate the new season, whether it’s already arrived where you are, or if it’s coming soon.
Tasting Notes:
BN: I liked this more than the individual ingredients. The apple soda which was too strong and candy-esque (tasted just like a Jolly Rancher) was nicely tempered by the lime, and altogether it was a really nice summer drink. Sort of like a slightly appley margarita. The bitters are AWESOME, and if you can get your hands on them, do!
PiC: I love tequila, and I love key lime, so the chances were good that I would like this – and I did. It was almost like drinking sour apple candy (big fan of the sour candy over here) but still crisp and refreshing. I would drink many of these.
The Boozy Newsie 