TALK DRINKS

Cocktail & Martini Recipes

Here are a few recipes for you to play with at home. Cheers.

Cucumber Watermelon Martini
2oz. any premium vodka
0.5oz. simple syrup
2 chunks watermelon (about 1 inch cubes)
1 chunk cucumber Peeled (about 1 inch cubes)
Muddle cucumber and watermelon, shake over ice with vodka and simple syrup, strain into chilled martini glass or serve over ice. (You can pre muddle watermelon and cucumber if you wish. Use about 3 cucumbers to 1 larger watermelon.) Just strain out the left over pulp. Garnish with cucumber wheel.

Strawberry Martini
2oz. Kettle One Vodka
0.5oz. simple syrup
4 fresh strawberries
Remove tops from 3 strawberries and muddle. Shake over ice with vodka and simple syrup. Strain into sugar rimmed martini glass. Garnish with other Strawberry.

Diablo
2oz. Partida Blanco Tequila
Juice of half a lime
0.5oz. Chambord
Ginger Ale
Build drink As follows:  Fill Collins Glass with ice. Pour Partida Tequila, fresh lime juice, then fill with ginger ale. Top with chambord. Do not shake!!! Garnish with lime wedge.

Peach Martini
2oz. Stoli Peach Vodka
0.5oz. Monin Peach syrup
1oz. orange juice
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled martini glass.

Greater Chicago Club Manager Association Expo - Windy City Post

Recently, I was invited to attend a trade show at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg, IL. This was a show for the members of the Greater Chicago Club Manager Association to meeting their major sponsors for an afternoon of new product and service demos. They had vendors from financial services, eco-friendly golf carts, finer foods, and let's not leave out the reason for attending; the wine & spirits section. Our friends at the William and Grant table were eagerly sampling Reyka Vodka, Hendrix Gin, Balvenie, and Glenfiddich. Needless to say we had a fun and very educational afternoon. Cheers - Alex

Adobo Grill in Wicker Park - Windy City Post

The other night, I hosted a cocktail evening at Adobo Mexican Grill. Adobo is an authentic upscale Mexican restaurant with three locations in Illinois and one in Indianapolis. They have great managers and a knowledgeable, fun staff. At the Wicker Park location, Jonathan, the main bartender has a love and passion for premium tequila and mixology. He is young and still learning the endless craft of cocktail creation. He created an excellent new cocktail for us called The Cucumber Viper. The lime and cucumber make this drink incredibly light and refreshing with a bit of sweetness but has a bit of kick from the Tequila and chili piquin. Have fun playing with this recipe. Salud - Alex   

The Cucumber Viper
3 half inch slices of cucumber
2 lime slices
1.0oz. fresh lime juice
1 cube sugar or 0.25oz agave nectar
1.5oz Partida Blanco
0.25oz Gran Torres Orange Liqour
Dust of chili piquin
Muddle the first four ingredients. Add the rest and top with ice.  Shake and strain into martini or over rocks in old fashion glass.

Cocktails in Los Angeles

How things have changed? Just as early as last year, L.A. was a difficult place to get a well balanced fresh cocktail. Now there are some serious cocktail bars that have opened and there are more coming. It seems that allot of this is happening in the revived downtown area. Seven Grand the whisky bar has been open now for about a year or more and have been popping out some serious cocktails by masters like Damian and Marcos. Recently, a very exclusive cocktail bar has opened by the same owners called The Doheny. Vincenzo who use to work at Providence is the Bar Manager and the crazy mind behind the cocktail list. One of my favorite drinks is the Smoke of Scotland which brilliantly blends Laphroaig Cash Strength with Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and Averna. You have to try it and it will blow you away. They also have a very serious spirits selection of only the best of the best in every category. Eric Alperin formerly from Little Branch in New York and Osteria Mozza in L.A. teams up with Vincenzo at Doheny behind the stick and they are Masters at their craft to say the least. If this is a sign of things to come in LA, you will be seeing me down in LA for cocktails more often.

Cheers to The Doheny - Jacques

The Irish Coffee

Recently, here in San Francisco about 40 of the best bartenders the city has to offer went on a Historic Bar crawl of S.F. lead by David Wondrich. We all started the day at the home of The Irish Coffee, The Buena Vista Café. As a resident of SF, I don't visit the Buena Vista enough. It is a beautiful corner saloon dating back to the 1890's and is known as the home of the Irish Coffee.

Tiki Night in Tribeca - The Big Apple

As I arrived in the Oser Bikini Bar, I was greeted and laid. I walked up to the bar where I was handed a drilled out coconut with some delicious tiki concoction that seemed like it was bottomless, never ending.

I felt like I was thrown back to the 1960’s at Trader Vics with Elvis Blue Hawaii playing on a flat screen and a bunch of classic tiki style relics as far as the eye could see. To top it all off seasoned veterans and rock star mixologists Jim and Don from PDT along with the one and only Angus Winchester were behind the stick pumping out fresh beautiful tiki cocktails, with umbrellas, for us all night. Cheers - Willy (Contemporary Cocktails Inc.)

Oser Bikini Bar
148 Duane St,
(bet Church & W. Broadway)
New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 571-6737

A Couple Tequila Recipes - Welcome to Miami

Here are few delicious Tequila recipes to try out during the holiday weekend. Welcome to Miami - Marita

An Apple a Day
1.5oz Reposado Tequila
0.5oz Apple Schnapps
0.5 oz Ginger Syrup
1.5oz Organic Apple Juice
Shake all ingredients and serve chilled in a martini glass. Garnish with Slice of Apple.

Very Berry Partida
5 Blueberries
3 Blackberries
0.5oz Organic Agave Nectar
1.5oz Blanco Tequila
1.5oz Organic Cherry Juice
Splash Strawberry Sparkling Water
Muddle berries in highball glass. Add agave, tequila and cherry juice, top with ice. Shake well. Top with strawberry soda

Cocktail Night @ Sam’s Wine & Liquors - Windy City Post

I was chosen to participate in the 1st ever "Cocktail Night" at Sam’s Wines & Spirits in Downers Grove, IL.  Sam’s, in an effort to kick-off the spring and summer season, have collaborated with the top distributors to invite new and exciting suppliers to present fun and exotic cocktails. There were over 50 products from spirits, liqueurs, and mixers being sampled through the evening. 16 tables throughout the store had their representatives eagerly talking about their products and mixing up interesting cocktails. Partida featured the Partida Margarita and the Ruby Partida cocktails.  Other interesting cocktails came from DiVine Vodka, Tangueray Rangpur Gin, and Rio-D Cachaca just to mention a few.  A great night for all that attended, especially the new Partida fans.  In the Windy City - Alex

Jaffurs Barrel Tasting & La Super-Rica

Bartending isn’t only about cocktails; it’s an all encompassing service of beverages and libations to thirsty guests, one of those libations being wine. With a virtual plethora of producers making a variety of styles with what seems like an endless supply of choices of grape varieties but much of the process is left to nature.

The weather, the soil, the temperature, and even the direction the grapes face can contribute to the final product. That being said, last weekend I went to learn about some of the contributing factors in the production of wine that can be controlled. For instance, the cause and effect relationship between different styles and methods of wine making using similar grapes. Different yeast strains and barrels from different forests in different countries and tasting the wines as separate components of the finished blended wines. But mostly because it was a road trip to Santa Barbara and great Mexican food.

"Bartender" vs. "Drink Maker": Where Does Mixology Belong?

Back on Nov. 8, my fellow mixologist Marita Leonard wrote a very good entry called "Bartender" vs. Mixologist. As a response, I'd like to add my two cents. Nowadays, I feel most people working behind a bar are drink makers, instead of bartenders. They aimlessly sling drinks at a rapid pace. They are complacent and show no passion for what they do. A true bartender is hard to come by. .....