Valencia Cocktails Twist A Tale Of Oranges and Origins The Agua de Valencia drink calls for Spanish Cava, a sparkling wine which can’t be called Champagne because its produced outside of that region in France and the Valencia martini calls for a fortified wine which can only be called sherry if produced in that region of Spain. Finally, the Valencia orange is named for the city in Spain but was actually hybridized in Santa Ana, California and its successful production in that region along with efforts to promote a semi-tropical paradise to encourage immigration led to the naming of Orange Co ..read more

Belmont Park’s Long Forgotten Cocktail The stakes to crown a winning drink for Belmont Park have been almost as high as the thoroughbreds running the third leg of the Triple Crown over the years. Long before the White Carnation, the Belmont Breeze and the Belmont Jewel were the signature cocktails of the Belmont Stakes another drink reigned supreme. The 1920s Belmont Park Cocktail with Bacardi, egg, port and sugar is a twist on the Coffee Cocktail with rum instead of brandy. Its the horse race’s namesake nip from yesteryear, but was it the first to stake this claim? More on that later. Beh ..read more

Bacon, Ground Beef & Hot Dog Turtle Burgers Nothing says man cave like bacon, hamburgers & hot dogs. But why waste valuable time cooking your heart healthy bar snacks separately when you could be watching the game and entertaining your friends? This ingenious culinary masterpiece solves that common pub food preparation problem by combining all your favorite meats into a single burger that looks like a turtle. And, these pond sliders have all the four major food groups: beef, pork, poultry and cheese.* Although, you might want to grill some bacon wrapped shrimp on the side to add a ..read more

O Me, O My O - Horse’s Neck Cocktail Toasts Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo Since the Kentucky Derby is always the first Saturday in May and Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for the “fifth of May” it stands to reason these two events would fall on the same day every seven years. If you include the years where they fall on the same weekend as Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday combos its nearly half the time. How are you going celebrate them both? If your home is host to a Kentucky Derby party you can’t go wrong mixing up some Mint Juleps to drink along with the chocolate bourbon balls a.k.a. southe ..read more

What’s A PickleBack? A pickleback is a shot of whiskey followed by a chaser shot of pickle juice brine. Yes, you read that right. You take a perfectly good shot of whiskey and wash it down with that yellowish green liquid leftover in the pickle jar. Hopefully with the floaters strained out. Its No Surprise - A Pickleback Is Not Surprisingly Refreshing You might think its kind of like eating a pickle, but its not. The tsunami of sour taste from the wave of salt water rushing down your throat chases away any umami* or other flavors from your palate leaving you puckered up with a strange, sic ..read more

“What time did you say you want me to start drinking?” The holiday feast is still being prepared and the chaos of family and friends sitting down to turkey dinner hasn’t even gotten comical yet. However, when it is finally time to relax, you can see if there’s any wine left over after cooking or try one of these Thanksgiving or Christmas themed cocktails and remember to follow the rules for holiday drinking. Right On Schedule Football fuels the holidays too. The pros battle for a playoff spot on Thanksgiving, sometimes with an extra gridiron gift on Xmas, and college bowl games decide cha ..read more

Are You Eyeballing Me? Want your home bar to host a Gothic black tie event for the ghosts and goblins of Halloween? These ghoulish Gibsons are pretty gruesome looking Martinis and should do a great job grossing out your guests with their gory eyeballs. A Gibson is a Martini which substitutes a cocktail onion instead of an olive as the garnish. In this case, two onions per drink. Listed below are dry and extra dry recipes from classic gin & vodka Martinis and Thanksgiving Martini cocktails with slightly different portion sizes from each other. Behind The Bar - How To Make Ghoulish Gibso ..read more

Adonis Cocktail Stimulates Fortified Wine And Food Pairing The Adonis Cocktail is mixed with dry sherry, sweet vermouth and orange bitters. The lone combination of Spanish and Italian fortified wines makes for a nice low alcohol aperitif to stimulate your appetite before pairing with dinner, but doesn’t exactly match any man cave expectations you might have had for a drink called Adonis. Drink Named After Greek God’s Burlesque Broadway Play Like the Rob Roy, the Adonis Cocktail was one of a great many drinks named after a Broadway play. In fact, the burlesque style musical was the first sh ..read more

What’s On Tap At Your Home’s Bar? Beer is definitely the first choice on most people’s list, but it doesn’t need to be the only beverage on tap. Put your other summer drinks on a spigot too by turning your watermelon into a cocktail punch keg. How To Make A Watermelon Keg Start with a watermelon that’s a little more round than oblong and cut a small section of rind from the larger base end to form a flat area which will keep your future fruit keg container from tipping over. Be careful not to poke all the way through since the melon shell will actually hold the punch liquid. Just take thi ..read more

Classic Summer Cocktails Book Review Having fun in the sun also works up a thirst for a cool summertime drink. Classic Summer Cocktails by award winning mixologist Salvatore Calabrese has over one hundred recipes to quench your craving. Heritage Hammock Hooch This book focuses on those frosty cold adult beverages which remind you of the hammock on the beach in some exotic destination to simply relaxing outside on the porch at home. Traditional favorites such as the Tom Collins, Mojito and Salty Dog are included along with drink recipes for contemporary cocktails like Sex on the Beach and Co ..read more