Hello, Blogosphere! (Does anyone still use that term, anyway?) Have you missed me? Don't worry, new posts are in the works. In the meantime, I've spent some time fiddling with the idea of a video series. Consider the following a pilot episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBKYbmz_b6g Give it a watch and see what you think. I chat about... Continue Reading →
Mixology Monday? Again? So soon? Well, well, time for a drink...one that is almost, but not entirely (un)like a Martini. At least, that's what Dagreb over at Nihil Utopia has asked us cocktailians to concoct... This month’s Mixology Monday theme is that which is almost, but not quite, a Martini. Perhaps there are dashes (or... Continue Reading →
A couple of weeks ago I was perched on a bentwood bar stool at my favorite local watering hole, trading thoughts on cocktails with bartender David, when the phrase "Astoria Distilling Company" was casually dropped into the conversation. It took half a moment for the words to make their way around the cocktail I was... Continue Reading →
Time, once again, for Mixology Monday! It seems that us cocktail bloggers have been bitten by the fresh produce bug -- after vegetables and herbs, we've naturally moved on to fruit. Andrea, at Gin Hound, is acting as this month's host, and she has a particular fruit in mind: cherries. As Andrea mentions in her... Continue Reading →
Vegetables? It's too early for vegetables! At least, it's too early for veggies from our garden -- we'll be waiting two months, at least, for fresh, homegrown tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Rowen, of the Fogged In Lounge, however, has asked us drink bloggers to mix up vegetable-inclusive cocktails for the latest Mixology Monday. [Update, 24... Continue Reading →
When I think Spring, I think gin cocktails. Gin sours, to be exact, though I never seem to drink a plain ol' gin sour -- it's always a variation, like the Aviation, the Fitzgerald, or the Tom Collins...or that praise-worthy classic, the Southside. Southside Cocktail 2 ounces Gin [Plymouth] 3/4 ounce Lemon Juice 1/2 ounce... Continue Reading →
Way, way back in 1916, a little-known Bavarian-born bartender named Hugo Ensslin self-published a wholly unremarkable little book. Covered with stiffened, nondescript brown paper and given an unassuming title -- Recipes for Mixed Drinks -- the book contained the recipes for over 400 libations that were being mixed at bars across the City of New York. Many... Continue Reading →
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 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 →
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 →
Tempered Spirits 