Mixology

Rolling out with a ‘Rol & Rye.

2016 is finally winding down and frankly, it can’t end soon enough. This has been a pretty crappy year on a number of levels, and the icing on the cake for me was getting a 16 penny nail through the sidewall of the driver’s side tire on my car today. Can’t be fixed, so that means I’m buying a new tire. I’m sending 2016 out with a bang this year and starting January 1, 2017, I’m giving up the booze. Yes you read that right, I’m quitting drinking. (this is where all my friends and relatives roll their eyes and say “I’ll believe it when I see it.) The goal is to make it June 1 and just like when I quit smoking cold turkey January 1, 1992 it’s a goal I intend to keep.

One of the things I intend to do between January 1, and the first day of summer is document the physical changes the lack of alcohol will have on my body. I intend to take a photo a day of myself, weigh myself, and take note of any positive and or negative effects it has on me. Hopefully, come June 21, 2017 I’ll have something interesting to report. Maybe not, but the challenge is on in a little less than 48 hours.

Since I’m choosing to “Lose the Booze” in 2017, I thought it would be fitting to post a nice New Years Eve cocktail recipe that everyone can make and share. Behold the ‘Rol and Rye. It’s easy to make, easy to drink, and easy to share. Enjoy.

rolandrye

Out of the Jar.

Out of the Jar by Gestalten is a new book about the best, and some of the most unusual spirits from small distillers around the world. These are spirits made by a new generation of distillers who are using combinations of rare fruits, herbs, grains and spices to reinvent and reinterpret high octane recipes for alcoholic drinks. The book features distillers that are crafting these by hand from the distllery to to bottling the final product. The video above introduces a hands-on whiskey maker from a prohibition-era distillery in Brooklyn, a passionate mezcalero who doesn’t chicken out from an unusual recipe, and a Berlin-based artisan whose rum is taking the world’s best cocktail bars by storm. It’s a nice little video short with quality production value, and it makes me want to go find some of the booze featured here.

The Twelve Cocktails of Christmas.

It’s Friday the thirteenth, and twelve days until Christmas. What better way to tell your superstitious fears to take a hike, than by having a cocktail! There are twelve cocktail recipes on the image below. Some are easy, some are a bit more involved. All of them are doable. All of them are tasty. So, Mix them up, drink them down, and have some holiday cheer.

Sorry about the image size. It’s fairly large so you can actually read the tiny type on it.

For New Year’s, the Ritz Old Fashioned.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and that calls for cocktails. Tasty tasty cocktails made with fine spirits, and the delicate touch of a well trained mixologist. For this years New Year’s cocktail endeavor, I’ve decided to try a new take on an old standard. The Ritz Old Fashioned. This is really a basic Old Fashioned with a few extra ingredients to give it some extra snap. As always, the better the booze, the better the taste. You can substitute any of the brands here, but I’m sticking with the good stuff.

2 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey
2/3 oz Grand Marnier orange liqueur
1 tsp Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp egg white
1 large sugar cube
1 dash Fee Brothers Orange bitters
1 oz soda water
2 Griottenes Brandy Infused Cherries
1 Orange slice
1 Lemon Slice
Sugar in a saucer for the glass rim.

Rim an old-fashioned glass with lemon juice and sugar.
Place a teaspoon-sized sugar cube into the glass, and saturate with Fee Brother’s Orange bitters.
Fill the glass three-quarters of the way with chipped ice. (Medium sized cubes will work)
Shake other ingredients (except soda) and strain into the glass.
Top with a small amount of soda water if desired.
Add two Griottenes Brandy Infused Cherries on a cocktail skewer, with half slices of orange and lemon.
Drink.