Send in the Highballs – Rd. II

Looking to shake up your Tall Drink routine? Start with this impressive looking and great tasting Blackberry Twisted recipe.

As a follow up to my post last month,  I return once again to those thirst-quenching tall drinks of summer. While on their own I find some sodas and colas to be sticky-sweet and unappealing, I will most graciously opine in their favor during the refreshing warm weather months. That is, if used well in a cocktail 🙂

An ingredient like Cola is multifaceted this time of year. Here are two tall drink recipes that call for the use of Cola and various Hiram Walker cordials in the instructions; however, the similarities practically end there.

Butterfloat

• 1½ parts ABSOLUT Vanilia Vodka
• 1 part Hiram Walker Butterscotch Schnapps
• 5 parts Cola

Serve over ice in tall glass, garnish with cherry.

Blackberry Twisted (pictured above) 

• 2 parts Hiram Walker Blackberry Brandy
• 1 part Cranberry Juice
• ½ part Lime Juice
• 1-2 parts Cola

Pour brandy and juices into ice filled tall glass. Stir and add splash of cola. Garnish & serve.

While unrelated to my post, it just so happens that the Mixoloseum’s Thursday Drink Night theme for this week is Tall Drinks. Unfortunately, I won’t be near a computer that night to watch the action as it happens in the chat room, although I imagine some fantastic drinks will come out of the evening (as per normal!).

I’d love to keep featuring some tall drinks on Cocktail Culture all summer long! So tell me – What’s your favorite tall drink recipe?

Cheers!
SJ

Cocktail Musings with Beefeater Summer Edition

You finally got yourself that bottle of Beefeater Summer Edition Gin, right? Oh, come on, summer is nearly half over! It’s time to get on your A-game and pick one up before this limited edition bottle is no longer available.

But what will you make with this light and airy gin? I’m so glad you asked. Beefeater Summer Edition recently sponsored an evening in the Mixoloseum chat room with members of the CSOWG for Thursday Drink Night. With this summery gin as the muse, we had some fantastic recipes developed throughout the evening. Here’s a few cocktail ideas to put that bottle to good use; however, I would be sure to revert back to these guys’ own posts, as they explain their own madness behind their musings.

Pinky Nutscadero, By Camper English
2 oz Beefeater Summer Edition
1 oz Castries
4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters.
Shaken, served up.

Thames River, By Frederic Yarm
1.5 oz Beefeater Summer Edition
.75 oz Pimms #1
.5 oz lemon juice
.25 Crème de cassis
.25 simple syrup (1:1 ratio syrup and water)
Shake/strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I’m also excited to share that I will be attending the Beefeater Welcome Reception at Tales of the Cocktail on Wednesday. If it’s anything like the display they had as part of the Opening Gala at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, I’m sure the combination of Beefeater, Beefeater 24, and Beefeater Summer drinks will be off the charts!

Kahlua’s Featured Brunch Cocktail: Black Paloma

"Black Paloma" cocktail from Rick Stutz, as prepared by Meaghan Dorman of The Raines Law Room, NYC.

The time has come to finally reveal the drink Kahlúa has selected to feature at Tales of the Cocktail. It’s Kaiser Penguin himself, Rick Stutz, and his exciting “Black Paloma” cocktail!

In case you haven’t been following along at home, Kahlúa coffee liqueur offered up a challenge to participants in the Cocktail and Spirits Online Writers Group (CSOWG.org) online chat room event – The Mixoloseum – to create a Kahlúa Brunch Drink perfect for the industry’s premier cocktail festival that starts up July 21 in New Orleans. Then we let loose Head Bartender and 2010 Tales Apprentice Meaghan Dorman of NYC’s The Raines Law Room to stir up the beverages for our thirsty judges. A panel of beverage industry and marketing professionals together selected Stutz’s “Black Paloma” from a group of finalists, many of which I featured here, here, here, oh, and here.

Kahlúa, the world’s number one coffee liqueur, will be serving delicious java and Kahlúa concoctions daily from 8:30 – 10:30 am at the Tales of the Cocktail Kahlúa Coffee Bar in NOLA. Along with an assortment of hot and iced brews, Stutz’s “Black Paloma” recipe will be stirred up by bartenders from many notable New Orleans hot spots.

“Rick’s drink stood out to us for its exciting fusion of citrus and tequila, and because the Kahlúa shined through so beautifully. Also, we thought it would pair well with classic brunch foods,” said Kahlúa Senior Brand Manager Michelle Sanders, “On our recent trips to Veracruz, Mexico, where Kahlúa has its deeply-rooted history, we’ve found that Kahlúa is often paired with fresh lime juice. It’s something you wouldn’t expect, but it’s phenomenal, and speaks to the drink’s versatility.  Rick’s ‘Black Paloma’ recipe perfectly captured that very same essence.”

Black Paloma By Rick Stutz:

Black Paloma, By Rick Stutz

1.5 parts blanco tequila
1.5 parts Kahlúa®
.75 part Fresh Lime Juice
.5 part Fresh Grapefruit Juice
Pinch Salt
Top with Club Soda
Glass: Collins
Method: Fill the glass with ice and add the tequila, Kahlúa, salt, and juices. Top it off with club soda.

Congratulations to Rick for his phenomenal Kahlúa Brunch Drink recipe. We can’t wait to start each day with a Black Paloma at Tales! And many thanks to Meaghan and Kyle of Raines Law Room for stirring up all of our delicious finalists.

Cheers!
SJ

Kahlúa Now and Then

My mom's winning ad sketches for Kahlúa campaign back in 1979. Way to go, Mom! Makes me thank our lucky stars for design software today.

Don’t adjust your dials, cocktailians. The old Kahlúa ad you have just stumbled upon is surprisingly not a feature on A Dash of Bitters , it’s still me here at Cocktail Culture.

Back in “nineteen-seventy-mumble-mumble…” (well, that’s how she says it!) my mother was an aspiring graphic design student at Syracuse University. Kahlúa approached her class with an opportunity to make some sketches for an ad campaign. Her sketches were selected and she was generously paid the sum of $300. Oh, how the times – and, drinks! – have changed. There is so much more variety for the original coffee rum today than just a White Russian, Black Russian, or Kahlúa Coffee. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Here are two more drinks that were submitted during a Kahlúa-sponsored Thursday Drink Night in the Mixoloseum and were up for consideration to be featured at the Kahlúa Coffee Bar at Tales of the Cocktail.

Dolemit, By Gabriel Szaszko
4 oz whole milk
1 ½ oz brandy
1 oz Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
½ oz Trader Tiki’s Vanilla Syrup

Look at all that attention to detail!

½ oz Benedictine
2 dashes mole bitters

Shake/strain into a pint glass half-filled with ice. Top with grated nutmeg and 3 cardamom speared on a cocktail pin.

Breakfast Bracer Flip, By Paul Clarke
1 ½ oz Maker’s Mark
1 oz Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
1 whole egg

Shake with ice, strain, and garnish with a grated coffee bean.

My next blog post will highlight the cocktail to be featured at the Kahlúa Coffee Bar during Tales of the Cocktail.  Keep the drum roll humming (just like your Vuvuzelas) for just a tad bit longer. I promise this drink is nothing like Mommy Dearest’s sketches (sorry Mom!)

Beefeater Summer to Shine in TDN Tonight

On the heels of the summer solstice occurring this week, Beefeater Summer Edition gin is sponsoring tonight’s session of Thursday Drink Night. TDN is the brainchild of The Mixoloseum, home to a group of the most admired cocktail and spirits bloggers in the industry. Bloggers, aficionados, and home enthusiasts alike will gather in the chat room to discuss the limited edition gin and sample it in a variety of original drink recipes.

Never been to the Mixoloseum chat room before? Well, Thursday Drink Night is the perfect opportunity to check it out! And, new members are always welcomed. Just proceed to the web site, create a user name and password and – voila! – you’re logged on. The event gets underway around 7:00 p.m. (Eastern time) and lasts into the wee hours of the morning. If you’re not around for the chat, you can also follow the action in the Mixoloseum via Twitter. I’m sure I’ll be tweeting up a storm as well.

Join us early in the evening, if possible, to catch Pernod Ricard’s Director of the Gin Portfolio, Clare Kanter, as she shares with us her insights and admiration for the Beefeater line of gins. It’s an evening not to be missed!

We hope to see you in the chat room!

Kahlúa and Fernet: A Lip Smacking Combo

If there was one ingredient I was excited to see in the Kahlúa-sponsored Thursday Drink Night (well, besides the Kahlúa, duh…) it would have to be the appearance of Fernet Branca. Yes, Fernet, that bitter Italian digestif, has a soft spot in my heart.

Here are a few more submissions for the Kahlúa Brunch Drink Challenge that spurred from the Mixoloseum chat room, capitalizing on the Kahlúa-Fernet duo. Maybe you’ll see one of these tipples featured at the Kahlúa Coffee Bar during Tales of the Cocktails! You’ll have to come by and find out.

Cheers!
-SJ

Veracruzan Swashbuckler by Rick Stutz

1.5 oz aged rum (Zaya)
1 oz Kahlúa
.5 oz orange juice
.25 oz Fernet Branca
1 dash absinthe

4 Stars by John Hearn

1 ¼ oz. Lairds Bonded
Lemon Peel
¾ oz. Kahlúa
½ oz. Fernet Branca
2 tsp Benedictine

Muddle lemon peel, add Lairds Bonded, Kahlúa, Fernet Branca, and Bénédictine. Shake & strain.

New Product: Beefeater Summer Gin

With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, the unofficial start of summer is upon us. What better way to celebrate than with a new gin!?

Beefeater Summer Gin is the latest creation from master distiller Desmond Payne, and this lighter style gin is perfect for the warm weather season. In addition to the 9 natural botanicals used in the original Beefeater London Dry Gin, Beefeater Summer Gin features elderflower, black currant, and hibiscus. It’s simply delicious! Stephanie and I were lucky enough to sneak an early taste of the product back in March and it knocked our socks off!

Beefeater Summer Gin will be sponsoring Thursday Drink Night over at the Mixoloseum on Thursday, June 24^th, so there are sure to be a bevy of new cocktail ideas to come, but there’s also something to be said for keeping it simple and letting this gin shine. For easy summer-sipping, it’s delightful when mixed with just Cranberry Juice and lime!

Beefeater Summer & Cranberry

1 part Beefeater Summer Edition Gin
3 parts cranberry Juice
Squeeze of fresh lime juice

Combine ingredients in a tall glass with ice. Garnish with lime wheel.

Serve a pitcher of that alongside some Blueberry Lemonade and you’ve got a festive red & blue look for Memorial Day!

Keep in mind, Beefeater Summer Gin is a limited edition product. It’s only available in 750ml and comes with a price tag of about $19. It will only be available in retail stores through the end of summer, so make sure to get your hands on some early and often! You won’t regret it!

Cheers!

-SH

Kahlúa Thursday Drink Night Cocktails

If you were unable to attend last night’s Thursday Drink Night, you definitely missed a great evening of cocktails and conversation. The TDN theme of the evening was Kahlúa (aka “I better go brew some more coffee”), and Mixoloseum members went to the nines in presenting original cocktails inspired by the rum and coffee liqueur.

Before moving forward, we must extend a huge thank you to Michelle Sanders, Senior Brand Manager for Kahlúa, for joining the chat room and educating us all on this product.  She shared with us photos from her excursion to Veracruz, Mexico, where Kahlúa boasts its rich history, along with her favorite recipe of the moment, The Kahlúa Sour.

Kahlúa Sour:

1 1/2 oz. Kahlúa

1 oz. fresh lemon juice

1/2 simple syrup

Combine ingredients over ice. Shake. Strain into rocks glass.

TDN participants had an added incentive to contribute their drink recipes last night:  a panel of both marketing and mixology experts will choose one beverage to be featured at a Tales of the Cocktail coffee bar. To find out which drink was chosen, you’ll need to show up to the Kahlúa Coffee Bar inside the Hotel Monteleone where the selected drink – credited, of course – will be available each morning, Wednesday -Saturday.

We will feature over the next several weeks a slew of the cocktails submitted for the Kahlúa Brunch Challenge. We’ll begin with the evening’s very first submission from our night owl, Tiare.

Sweet Wake Up:

1 oz chicory coffee
1 oz warm milk
0.75 oz Kahlúa
0.75 oz dark rum
Garnish Dark cocoa dust

Brew a cup of Café au Lait, add dark rum and Kahlúa and stir. Dust a little dark cocoa on top.

There was also this charmer, submitted by Chuck Taggart:

Levez-Vous:

1-1/2 ounces Sazerac Rye
1/2 ounce VSOP Cognac
1/2 ounce Kahlúa
1/2 ounce cold brewed coffee (NOLA-style coffee & chicory preferred)
1/2 ounce Torani Amer
2 dashes Herbsaint Original
1 dash Regans’ Orange Bitters

Combine with ice and stir for 30 seconds, strain into a large cocktail coupe and garnish with an orange peel.

Check back in to Cocktail Culture, as we will continue to share more recipes submitted for the Kahlúa Brunch Challenge. But don’t expect to see a selected brunch beverage any time soon – you’ll have to show up to Tales for that!

Cheers!
SJ

Thursday Drink Night with Kahlúa

Ladies and gentleman, today is Wednesday. That means – yea, that’s right – that tomorrow is Thursday!

Not whetting your appetite yet?

Being that tomorrow is Thursday, that means there is a new edition of Thursday Drink Night ready to be had, brought to you by the gang over at the Mixoloseum. This week’s event is sponsored by Kahlúa, so you can bet that I will be in the chat room stirring up coffee-inspired cocktails with fellow cocktail bloggers, bartenders, and enthusiasts.

Never been to the Mixoloseum chat room before? Well, Thursday Drink Night is the perfect night to check it out! And, it’s open to the public. Just proceed to the web site, create a user name and password and – voila! – you’re logged on. The event gets underway around 7:00 p.m. (Eastern time) and lasts into the wee hours of the morning. If you’re not around for the chat, you can also follow the action in the Mixoloseum via Twitter. I’m sure I’ll be tweeting up a storm as well.

Come chat, stir, and sip alongside us in this virtual community for an evening of fun with Kahlúa.

Kahlua Coffee Cream Video

Check out the video below. It’s from the Kahlua Coffee Cream-sponsored Thursday Drink Night event in Los Angeles. You’ll remember I attended the event and did a full wrap-up back in September. Take a look!