While the Carousel Punch was the star of our Autumnal soiree, we also put together a small cocktail menu and made drinks available on request. The cocktails featured plenty of brown booze and spice in what was a deliberate shift toward cool-weather imbibing and away from light, citrusy summer drinks. Though the libations all fell... Continue Reading →
To celebrate the Autumnal Equinox and herald the arrival of cooler weather, we held a Harvest Party at the Lauer household (incidentally, a well-timed cold front dropped the temperature by ten degrees in Georgia on the night of the 22nd). Accompanying the pulled pork, German potato salad, mac n' cheese, and quick pickles -- all of... Continue Reading →
We're back to that time of the month once again: Neighborhood Cocktail Night! It being May, we were going to have a Cinco de Mayo night, but the date kind of crept up on us, and it was moved to the 26th. No matter, the theme was retained, and we have a couple of Mexico-inspired cocktails to sip... Continue Reading →
The quintessential New Orleans cocktail is, without a doubt, the Sazerac. In fact, it's the city's Official Cocktail. It was also the subject of our seventh cocktail night, being the host's favorite drink. We mixed up two versions of it -- one with rye, one with cognac -- while offering a taste of absinthe to anyone... Continue Reading →
It's February...and it's time for another cocktail night! We're scaling back a wee bit and mixing up two drinks, rather than our usual three, to give more attention to our chosen cocktails and allow everybody to sample the ingredients, not to mention some homemade limoncello. Well, OK, it's also to give the bartender (me) a... Continue Reading →
Arrrr, it be time for more rum drinks, me hearties! This time, we're covering a broader spectrum of this sugarcane spirit and delving into dark and spiced rum. The cocktail club is nowhere near covering the full range of rum -- a nearly impossible feat -- but we're getting there! Tiki Drinks will wait 'til summer, methinks.... Continue Reading →
The Lauer household has been decked out for Christmas and logs are busy crackling away in the fireplace (or rather, they will be, if the temperature drops to the 40s during the day...not likely). There also happen to be a fair number of drinks being made to stave off the cold weather. While we won't be mixing any hot drinks... Continue Reading →
Almost time for the second meeting of the Heron Social Club! This time our crew of cocktailians will be focusing on drinks made with bourbon and rye whiskey. Neighbor Dave G. and I spent an evening testing out a few drinks, narrowing down the choices to the following (in the order that they'll be mixed):... Continue Reading →
The next meting of the Heron Social Club approaches! The theme? Bourbon and Rye. When you're looking at base spirits, whiskey is arguably right up there with gin, a well-established spirituous foundation on which rests a large family of cocktails. Choosing a whiskey can, however, become quite a dilemma, as each variety of this spirit... Continue Reading →
Gin is good. Cocktailians like gin, mainly for one reason: it plays well with nearly everything you can toss into a drink. Citrus? No problem. Herbs? Easy, it's already infused with those. Bitters? Perfect. Aromatic wines? Hey, I already mentioned it works with herbs, fruit, and bitters! It's a neutral-esque spirit that can easily hold... Continue Reading →
Tempered Spirits 