Yes, it is officially Autumn, and though the leaves are turning and there's a slight chill in the air, things are still pretty green down here in Georgia. There's the 70-something temperatures, the fresh basil, the continuing crop of peppers and eggplants, the sound of lawn mowers beating the grass into submission -- life is... Continue Reading →
A little while ago, I picked up a copy of Food & Wine: Cocktails 2012 (at a local Kroger, of all places): contained within it was a drink called "Tea At Three," which infused gin with black tea and then combined it with sherry, lavender, and an assortment of berries (see p.148, if you have a copy). Reading... Continue Reading →
A couple of weeks ago, the Lauer household was inundated with tomatoes. The gardens were cranking 'em out in July, and we could only consume so many of them. Our stomachs replete with red fruit, we offered them up to neighbors and co-workers, and with their stomachs replete, we had to move on to long-term storage solutions...along... Continue Reading →
If you were to ask me what my favorite cocktail is, I'd be hard-pressed to answer your question. If, however, you were a bit more specific and asked me what my favorite Tiki drink is, then the answer would be clear: the Mai Tai. To me, no other faux-tropical tipple encapsulates the entire genre in... 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 →
Drinking in season? Not today we're not. It's a hot year down here in Georgia: 90 degrees in May...who'd-a-thunk-it? So I'm rebelling against Mother Nature and mixing up two drinks best served (in my mind) during Fall or Winter. Both make use of aquavit, and I'm excited to share them because drinks that feature the... 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 →
Ah yes, the Hurricane. Like many faux-tropical drinks, it has a messy history, though it's not quite as convoluted or controversial as those of the Mai Tai and the Zombie. For one thing, we know the time and location of its origin -- Pat O'Brien's Bar in the French Quarter, circa late 1940s (though I have found... Continue Reading →
Following on the heels of the Vieux Carré is a drink with remarkably similar ingredients but a drastically different taste: the Cocktail à la Louisiane. Like the VC, it was salvaged from the pages of S.C. Arthur's Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em, deservedly brought back from the edge of the unknown by fellow cocktail geeks: Cocktail à la... Continue Reading →
Well, Mardi Gras was last Tuesday, and I'm sure everyone in the drink blogosphere has been getting an ample dosage of information on the Sazerac, the official cocktail of New Orleans, but nothing doing on this blog...we'll save it for Cocktail Night VII, during which we'll mix up three different versions of the famous drink. In... Continue Reading →
Tempered Spirits 