Strawberry Basil Margarita

On February 23, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals2 Comments

Strawberry Basil Margarita - Hero

One of my new year’s resolutions this year was to have more dinner parties. And so, I have been working on that! To that end, here is a drink we served, taken from a cocktail book I received as a Christmas present.

Since I’m actually writing this article day of, it’s a little easier to find news. Mexico, the home of the margarita, is having some issues with the US. What’s new? Particularly because of the changing opinions (and laws?) on immigration, we’re seeing relations get a little bit frosty. If that’s a word you can use for two countries that border on a desert. Anyways, a meeting earlier today between Mexican officials and our new Secretary of State showed some animosity, but nothing that can’t be handled. Hopefully.

Strawberry Basil Margarita - Ingredients

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106. Bottle Cocktail

On February 17, 2017February 16, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's CompanionLeave a comment

106. Bottle Cocktail - Hero

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!

106. Bottle Cocktail - Ingredients

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Chilled Cider Punch

On February 11, 2017February 10, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

Chilled Cider Punch - Hero

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.

Chilled Cider Punch - Ingredients

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130. Porter Sangaree

On February 5, 2017February 3, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's CompanionLeave a comment

130. Porter Sangaree - Hero

This is an alternate version of one we’ve already tested, the Ale Sangaree. This one is better.

Hopefully, the most important thing that will happen today in the news is the Super Bowl, this afternoon between the Patriots and the Falcons. Being from New England, my choice here is clear, and so I will be a porter of Pats spirit even here in LA — or let’s face it, most places — where people kind of hate them. At press time, the odds are 61% in favor of the Pats (according to FiveThirtyEight) so I’m okay with that. Have fun watching!

130. Porter Sangaree - Ingredients

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134. Whiskey Toddy

On January 30, 2017January 30, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's CompanionLeave a comment

134. Whiskey Toddy - Hero

Ol’ Jerr-Jerr is playing fast and loose with these cocktail names. First a Flip that doesn’t seem to be a flip. Granted, I don’t really know what a flip is supposed to be, but still. Now, it’s a… cold toddy? Since a hot toddy is basically any alcohol with water, sugar, and maybe citrus, I guess this is an acceptable cold toddy but who really wants to drink that?

Neither of these words lends itself to even a vague connection with the news, so instead, a top story today. A shooting at a mosque in Quebec yesterday left six dead and many others wounded or in critical condition. However, they’ve now detained two people in connection with the attack, one a suspect, and the other a witness (the man who dialed 911). To me, though, it seems odd to detain a witness, is that a typical procedure? I don’t know much about police work, and I know even less about police work in Canada, but hopefully it will lead to resolution quickly and effectively. I should have made this drink with Canadian whiskey, in solidarity.

134. Whiskey Toddy - Ingredients

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176. White Lion

On January 24, 2017January 23, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's CompanionLeave a comment

176. White Lion - Hero

Okay, so I thought this was a wintry drink, due to where it was in the book, as well as its name. It is not. This also marks the last use of the raspberry syrup (may it rest in peace) that I made a while ago. A poor last use, in my opinion.

While I could probably find a lot of news about white people, or talk about the movie Lion which is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and is a movie I really want to see, instead I found this story first, so here goes. In Japan, two animal handlers were mauled by a lion from Shonan Animal Production, a company that owns animals for use in film and television. Unclear as of yet if this was provoked, or just lions being lions. After all, they are wild animals.

176. White Lion - Ingredients

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150. Brandy Flip

On January 18, 2017January 18, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's CompanionLeave a comment

150. Brandy Flip - Hero

Oddly, this has nothing to do with the other flips that we’ve done so far, which generally use egg whites, as I understand it. Which I thought when I chose this one for today, still in the depths of winter. Oh well. This, instead, has a different, singular feature, which is the worst.

The “Search for MH370” switch has now been flipped from on to off, three years after the Malaysian Airlines plane went missing. The officials in charge decided early on that if the wreckage was not found after 120,000 square km were searched (Wolfram Alpha tells me this is a third of the size of Germany) that they’d have to call it off. And, they’ve hit that limit. One day, we’ll be able to magically map all the oceans and be able to find it, but until then, it will remain a mystery. I for one, though, didn’t realize how much wreckage (primarily in Africa) we had actually found of the plane, so we actually knew a bit more than I thought.

150. Brandy Flip - Ingredients

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177. Locomotive

On January 6, 2017January 5, 2017 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion1 Comment

177. Locomotive - Hero

Welcome to 2017! Continuing the eggnog trend, we’ve got a super weird but very tasty combo of red wine and eggs. It also involves clove essential oil, which I had to buy at Whole Foods. It was kind of pricey, but it did make this a very nice quaff. I imagine it was served on wintry train rides? Or something?

This year, I’m going to try to get back into the news game. I’ve been doing the stories, of course, but I’ve been sort of slacking in terms of reporting actual news. Not that the Boozy Newsie is ever going to be known for its hard-hitting investigative journalism, but stories just about people drinking alcohol are kind of lame. So, instead, here’s this rather depressing story… A train (or locomotive) crashed into a platform two days ago in Brooklyn, injuring 100 but luckily there was nothing worse than a broken leg. Which is still bad, but considering the alternatives, not terrible. They’re investigating the crash, including a drug test for the engineer, though I don’t think it’s actually the big news that this story is implying; more likely it is just routine. But we’ll find out! Hopefully this will push the system to add more safeguards and so on to our public transportation.

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A Toast!

On December 31, 2016December 28, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals1 Comment

Cheers!

2016 was probably not the best year. A lot of bad stuff happened, but there was a lot of good stuff too.

I, for one, managed to churn out more than my goal of 52 posts, so that was fun for me — and hopefully for you too. I learned more about how to make drinks, what to do and what not to do, and what flavors or combinations are probably best left in the 1800s.

So, on to the next one. Here’s to the year that passed, the year that is coming, and that each one will always be better than the last.

Happy New Year!

Pouring GIF