Ice Cream Toppings

One would think upon returning from a trip to the Crescent City for Tales of the Cocktail, my first post back would be about two “D” words – detoxing and dieting.

This post will, fortunately for you readers out there, touch on neither topic. Instead, we’ll be talking about ice cream. And alcohol. And ice cream with alcohol.

But there’s other means to achieve this divine dessert combination besides just grabbing the blender and making a mudslide (although the spiked milkshake seems to be just about on every burger restaurant joint’s menu in the country these days). Here are a few ideas:

Beer  –

Why not play around the idea of a Beer Stout? I’ve made these at home on several occasions in the past and have really explored a gamut of beer options in the making – chocolate stout is a favorite that comes to mind off hand. I’m also tempted, I must say, to give this combination a try and pointed out to me by Cocktail Hacker; “strawberry ice cream with a blueberry beer”? Yes, please!

Cocktail –

While there is no actual ice cream in this Banana Split, the name is very fitting for the context of this post. I like Colleen’s insight in that this drink can be very customizable – from using a flavored vodka to changing around the garnishes:

Banana Split Martini – from About.com Cocktails

• 1 1/2 oz vodka (I’ll nod to ABSOLUT here)
• 3/4 oz creme de banane or banana liqueur (from Hiram Walker)
• 3/4 oz creme de cacao (Hiram Walker, again, makes both a dark and white Cacao)
• Banana slice for garnish

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a banana slice.

Keep it Simple –

Let’s just take things nice and easy and drizzle a bit of liqueur over some ice cream, now shall we? Here are a few options I have found to be quite delightful:

• Hiram Walker Original Cinn over vanilla ice cream
• Kahlua over vanilla ice cream
• Hiram Walker Raspberry Schnapps over lemon sorbet

Any other suggestions to combine these two most glorious dessert and drink combinations? I’m always open to suggestions 🙂

Cheers,
SJ

Feeling Peachy Keen

Summertime and the livin’s easy. Especially when you’re presently in The Big Easy and at Tales of the Cocktail.

Tales has been a phenomenal showing again this year and I am so glad to be back and reconnecting with all the great people that make this industry so special and fun to be a part of. With that said, I think peachy keen is a nice summary of the weekend’s events.

Need a peach-inspired cocktail to go with all that mushy stuff I just wrote about? 😉

Here’s a nice cocktail recipe to put on your weekend picnic or barbeque menu, the Peach Paloma:

Peach Paloma

• 1 part Gold Tequila
• ¾ part Hiram Walker® Peach Schnapps
• 2½ parts Fresh Sour Mix
• 1 part Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a salt-rimmed 14 part glass w/ ice. Garnish with a Lime Corkscrew and serve.

I’ll get around soon to posting some recaps from Tales of the Cocktail events this week, so check back again soon.

As always, cheers!
SJ

Drinks Best Served in a Hurricane Glass

Citrus Peach Fuzz Cocktail from Hiram Walker

Preparing for Tales of the Cocktail makes a lot of traditional New Orleans drinks come to mind: Sazerac, Vieux Carre, and Pimm’s Cup (OK, well that’s if you’re a fan of the Napoleon House in NOLA, like I am!) are among the many that come to mind first.

Yet there is no drink that better embodies the spirit of Bourbon Street than the Hurricane. The rum-filled concoction served in the glass of the same name comes from the famous Pat O’Briens bar.

But this bears the question: What other types of drinks can be served in a Hurricane glass?

Here are a few suggestions served up from the Hiram Walker recipe database, but I would welcome more of your insightful cocktail recipes as well!

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon Cocktail

• ¼ part Hiram Walker® Blue Curacao
• 1 part ABSOLUT® Vodka
• 1 part Pineapple Juice

Blend with ice until smooth and serve in a hurricane glass.

Citrus Peach Fuzz

• 1 part ABSOLUT Citron® Vodka
• 1 part Hiram Walker® Peach Schnapps
• 1 part Cream
• Fresh Peach slices

Pour all ingredients into blender; cover with crushed ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a Hurricane glass and garnish with a fresh peach slice.

Cheers!
SJ

Pernod Ricard Events at Tales of the Cocktail

We’re just one day away from one of the biggest cocktail gatherings of the year. If you’re headed down to NOLA, keep this list of events handy so you can participate in some of the great drinking opportunities throughout the week presented by Pernod Ricard USA.

Pernod Ricard also will play host to two opening and closing parties that flank a plethora of other events at Tales of the Cocktail for 2011 – the Beefeater Welcome Reception on Wednesday and the Plymouth Bartender’s Breakfast on Saturday evening into early Sunday morning.

Here’s the rest of the handy list:

• Absolut San Francisco Tasting Room
  2:30 PM to 4 PM, Wednesday
  The Iberville and Bienville Rooms, Hotel Monteleone

• Absolut Bloody Mary Bar
  9 – 10:30 AM, Thursday & Friday
  Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar

• Kahlua Coffee Bar
  8:30 – 10:30 AM, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
  Hotel Monteleone Mezzanine

• Irish Distillers Tasting Room
  2:30 PM to 4 PM, Thursday
  The Iberville and Bienville Rooms, Hotel Monteleone

• Pernod Absinthe Green Hour
  3:30 PM to 5:30 PM, Thursday & Saturday
  Hotel Monteleone Mezzanine

• Negroni with a Twist Party
  4:30 PM to 6 PM, Thursday
  Acadia Suite, The Royal Sonesta Hotel

• Ricard Petanque
  5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, Friday
  300 Block of Royal Street

• The Spirited Award Ceremony sponsored by Pernod Ricard USA
  8:30 PM to 11:30 PM, Saturday
  Mahalia Jackson Theatre

A visit to Tales of the Cocktail on the web here or a download of the mobile application is the perfect way to keep a running tab (pun intended!) of all the week’s happenings.

I look forward to seeing many familiar and new faces in NOLA this week. Definitely feel free to shoot me an email so we can try to cross paths, or follow my action via Twitter at @stephaniejerzy.

The End of My Youth As I Know It

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past several months*, the second installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows starts showing to delighted HP fans everywhere at midnight tonight. This theatrical debut is a bittersweet occasion for me, ringing in what can officially be marked as the end of my youth.

I will surely once again be stirring up a cocktail to celebrate the final chapter in The Chosen One’s crusade to defeat the Dark Lord. But why try to reinvent the wheel? I enjoyed this magical (Snape’s) Cinn & Pom Tea I wrote about for Part I’s November opening, so why not serve it again? This time, since the weather is a bit warmer, I’ll perhaps serve this cocktail as an Iced Tea beverage instead. Here’s the recipe:

(Snape’s) Cinn & Pom Iced Tea

• 1 part Hiram Walker Original Cinn
• 1 part Pomegranate Juice
• 3 parts Brewed Tea

Brew tea as package indicates. Chill tea and then build in a Collins glass over ice.

Looking for a little variance? Grab yourself a chunk of dry ice and check out Pegu Doug’s offering of The You Know Who cocktail, too.

Enjoy the movie, theater-goers, and, as I said last time, “Cheers to more movie and cocktail magic!”

-SJ

*Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Friday’s Feature Cocktail – The Island Breeze

There’s no beating around the palm tree with this one, folks, so I’m just gonna jump right into it today. Our Featured Cocktail for this Friday is the Island Breeze, a perfectly thirst-quenching ode to summer in a tall glass. Here’s the recipe:

Island Breeze:

• 1 part Hiram Walker Peach Schnapps
• 1 1/2 parts Malibu Coconut
• 1 part Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 part Cranberry Juice

Shake with ice and serve over fresh ice in a tall glass.

This seemed to be the perfect recipe this week, given we are now in the height of summer and, following a Monday holiday, it seems that a lot of people decided to extend their “Out of Office” replies to cover most of this week as well. Yet I’ve felt as busy as ever, so that’s my poor excuse for not posting any updates (though the “vacation” sounds nice right about now, too!).

Peach is an essential ingredient to summer and I’d love to find more uses for it in cocktails over the next few weeks; August as a whole is dedicated as Peach Month, in fact! In the spirit of all those friends and peers of mine still soaking up sun, the Island Breeze is a tribute to you. Or, rather, those of us stuck at home can escape for a while with this cocktail in hand!

Cheers and have a great weekend!
SJ