Friday’s Feature Cocktail – Peach Cran Cosmo

A round of Peach Cran Cosmos, featuring a collection of ABSOLUT and Hiram Walker products.

Happy Friday and Happy June, Cocktail Culture readers! Even having been a shortened week, I’m still itching for the weekend and the chance to mix up my next cocktail. Here’s what’s on the drink menu: Happy Hour and cocktail inspiration struck yesterday afternoon and I developed this Peach Cran Cosmopolitan that I’m anxious to share with you.

Peach Cran Cosmo: Created by Stephanie Jerzy

• 1 part ABSOLUT Vodka
• 3/4 part Hiram Walker Peach Schnapps
• 1/2 part Hiram Walker Triple Sec
• 1/4 part fresh lime juice
• 1 part cranberry juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

It’s a very simple twist on the traditional Cosmopolitan recipe (1.5 parts Citrus Vodka, 3/4 part Triple Sec, 1/4 part lime, 1 part cranberry) and I think I could perhaps even modify this recipe to make it a bit simpler. I’d be open to trying this without the Triple Sec and adding in an extra 1/4 or 1/2 part of vodka to give the drink a little more zing. However, my coworkers and I did enjoy the balance of sweet and tart that this ratio offered.

What are you itching to sip on this weekend? As always, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

Cheers to a great weekend!
SJ

Friday’s Feature Cocktail – Golden Delicious

I like the Golden Delicious for its versatility as a drink to sip slowly or as a shooter to enjoy with a group.

Rounding out the apple craze that is October, I thought I’d share one more idea that you may find intriguing to incorporate into your upcoming weekend sure to be complete with Halloween festivities.

One of the trends most commonly associated with Halloween is that of bobbing for apples. And while the idea seems, well, kind of unsanitary at its best in hindsight, the game lives on.

To up the adult-appropriate level of fun for this Halloween classic, may I perhaps suggest the idea of invoking a group together taking a Caramel Apple-flavored shooter? Both involve jerking your head backwards with roughly the same amount of force, no? And both offer the same delicious prize upon winning — revelers get to enjoy a similar treat of caramel apple. I think I’ve made my tasty point. 🙂

The Golden Delicious recipe is extremely easy to make and can be readily prepared for a group in a few moments time.

Golden Delicious Shot:

• 1 part ABSOLUT Citron
• 1 part Hiram Walker Caramel Apple Liqueur
• 1 part fresh sour mix

Shake well with ice to chill and strain between two shot glasses.

Enjoy the shooter recipe and have a fun Halloween!
SJ

Midnight Martini Photo Shoot

Mouth watering yet? It should be. This “Friday’s Feature Cocktail” was among the top picks in our office happy hour where I stirred up a variety of Caramel Apple cocktails. To help whet your appetite a bit more, here is the cocktail recipe for the Midnight Martini, featuring Hiram Walker Caramel Apple Liqueur:

Midnight Martini:

• 3/4 part Hiram Walker Caramel Apple Liqueur
• 3/4 part ABSOLUT Vanilia
• 3/4 part Kahlua Rum and Coffee Liqueur
• 1 part Half & Half

Shake with ice and serve in a chilled martini glass.

Also, for garnish, I dusted a bit of ground cinnamon on top.

I highly recommend taking this one for a test drive at your own home bar!

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.

What the Traffic Spike!?

What does a Mocha Martini (pictured above) have to do with Cocktail Culture web stats? Keep reading to find out!

Upon arriving back into the office this week I noticed that I had quite the jump in my traffic over the weekend, as made available from the handy WordPress stats. Inquiring minds need to know: what caused the traffic spike? While I’d like to imagine that the few of you readers out there not named My Mother felt compelled enough to share my clever wit and writing style on this blog amongst your friends (cough cough!), I delved a bit deeper into the WordPress statistics…

I quickly discovered that “Kahlúa” and many of this site’s previous blog posts with Kahlúa cocktails happened to be the major trend. And then – it clicked! In addition to Sunday being a night to pay homage to Hollywood’s greats at The Oscars, it was also a night to pay homage to that most “delicoso” treat from Veracruz, Mexico. That’s right, I totally missed that Sunday was National Kahlúa Day.

…Fail.

So now to offer those readers coming for Kahlúa recipes a little something in return for visiting me here at Cocktail Culture – RECIPES! However, I am going to defer from the “delicioso” website offerings and the more-than-expected White Russian, and offer some cocktails with more imaginative uses for the liqueur that combines 100% Arabica coffee and sugarcane.

Salúd!

Mocha Martini

• 2 1/2 parts ABSOLUT Vodka
• 1 part Hiram Walker White Crème de Cacao
• 1/2 part Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake for at least ten seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Banana Mudslide - an imaginative dessert with the flavors of Hiram Walker and Kahlua

Banana Mudslide

• 1/4 part Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
• 1/4 part Irish Cream Liqueur
• 1/2 part Hiram Walker Crème de Banana
• 1/2 part ABSOLUT Vodka
• 1 part Milk or Cream

Add all ingredients with ice to a blender. Completely blend and serve in a highball or double Old Fashioned glass.

Un cuento histórico

Today, my dear readers, I thought I would share with you one of the greatest legends of lore. Here’s the historic tale:

Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Veracruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever exported out of England at the time. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were distraught at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.

Insert heavy sigh here. I think you guys have deservedly earned a few cocktails recipes for reading through that terrible excuse of a joke.

PomRita:

1½ parts premium tequila
1 part Hiram Walker® Pomegranate Schnapps
¼ part Hiram Walker® Triple Sec
½ part lime juice
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Shake or blend with ice into salt-rimmed margarita glass.

Absolut Mango Margarita:

1 part ABSOLUT Mango (Yes, a margarita with vodka – I think you’ll really enjoy it!)
2 parts lime juice
1 part Hiram Walker® Triple Sec
1 part mango puree
Fill a shaker with ice cubes. Add all ingredients. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add rim with a mixture of a sugar base with salt and Lucas Mexican chili powder.

¡Disfrute amigos!
– SJ