I’ve got a god damned MOUSE in my apartment!

…or rat. I’m not sure which. So i’ll call him “Matt”, which is a little of both. He’s here; I saw his tail disappear under the stove this morning. So this EVENING, the place is lined with traps. In honor of how CRAZY this damned ‘Matt’ is making me, I’m having this banana-crazy cocktail which I pulled from Tiki Drinks by Adam Rocke.

Fucking Matt.

Jamaican Me Krazy

1 ounce Jamaican Rum (Appletons?)
1/2 ounce Coconut infused Rum
1/2 ounce white Creme de Cacao
1/2 ounce Banana Liqueur
1 ounce cream
1 tablespoon gold rum
3 ounces of crushed ice

Combine everything in a blender except for the gold rum – save that for a second. Pour the mixed drink into a chilled glass (a hurricane glass would work great) and then float the gold rum on top.

Cheers,

JJ.

Got home from work late tonight – I feel like something simple that doesn’t require too much effort (and I’ve got to use the Maraschino cherries before they go bad) so I’m fixin’ myself one of my “go-to” after work cocktails – the Manhattan. This recipe comes from Ben Reed’s Cool Cocktails book.

The Manhattan (Ben Reed’s “Perfect” version)

2 ounces Rye Whisky
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
dash of Angostura Bitters
Maraschino cherry for garnish.

Shake over ice, decant into pre-chilled Martini glass. You *DO* have a Martini glass in the freezer, don’t you? I hope so. Savage. Plunk in the cherry once the ‘Tini is decanted.
Cheers,

JJ.

I’m feeling in a retro mood – for some reason I started singing a Dean Martin classic (Volare) while walking home from work; that morphed into a Frank classic (Luck be a Lady). All this singing had me somewhat parched, though, and after mumbling a few more lounge classics as I hiked home I found I was developing a hankering for a Martini. So I picked up the pace, arrived at my tiny little 500 square foot home, and broke out the shaker.

I dove into my favorite cocktail book – for inspiration – which if you don’t have, you should go buy RIGHT NOW, because Simon Difford is a class act and his book is the FUCKING BOMB. Here, I’ll even stick in a pretty little graphic of the book that will earn me eighty-something cents in Amazon credit if you buy it. Seriously, it’s beautiful.

To that end, please feel free to explore the various goods and services suggested here on this site! Each offer leads to a fine product or service by good people which are well worth your time. You know?

Anyhow.

So the drink. I’m feeling like something classic, something swanky. And BOY, did Simon Difford not let me down. I came across this little number and let me tell you, it is one BEAUTIFUL Martini when it’s all said and done:

I gave this one a whirl and ladies and gents DAMN! It is one tasty, attractive beverage!

It’s got Sloe Gin, which is made from Sloe berries – which are, I guess, red (I’ve never seen them in the wild – just juiced, in gin form). It’s this amazing crimson color… and in a martini glass? This drink is just BEAUTIFUL. It looks like somebody shot you in the neck and then quickly caught your highly oxygenated neck-blood in a martini glass and then served it to you. Thankfully, that’s not the case… because, you know, “shot in the neck” and all that.

Anyhow! Enough banter! Go now and make the damned cocktail already! Simon calls it a “Classic Retro cocktail whose origins are unknown”. I call it beautiful, tasty martini goodness.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Dean Martin’s “Canadian Sunset” at the back of my throat and it needs to be belted out. Only the best for my annoying downstairs neighbor.

The Blackthorne English

1 1/2 ounces Sloe Gin
3/4 ounce of Plymouth Gin
3/4 ounce of Cinzano Rosso (sweet) vermouth
3 dashes of orange bitters (I only had regular bitters, it seemed to work out alright)
1 ounce of chilled water

Shake it all up with ice, strain into a chilled martini glass. If you’re entertaining, you might fine-strain it to take out some of the froth; but as I’m drinking alone tonight, I could care less. I’m already going to bed with me regardless of how the drinks work out.

Cheers,
JJ.

Now and then, I make & serve drinks at my “normal” workplace on the odd Friday afternoon (Yes, JJ has two jobs – tending the Tiki Bar, of course, and another more “nine to five” one. And YES, the bosses are ok with the consumption of cocktails at work so long as we limit it to one drink, and we keep it as a “special occassion” kind of thing).

One of the ladies at my office, the lovely and ever-so-organized Lori, is a HUGE fan of the Bellinis they serve at this local restaurant chain called Milestones. However, Milestones uses this ten thousand dollar machine to spit out this peachy slushy treat (of which they must serve hundreds a day, if not thousands). I, of course, have no such machine at my disposal – I’ve got a funny hat and a metal shaker. Undaunted, I wanted to make a Bellini-esque treat for Lori (and forty of my co-workers) so I set out to find a Bellini emulating recipe that could be created with my stainless steel cocktail shaker (and not the ten thousand dollar machine).

I eventually hunted down a recipe from another cocktail podcast called “The Art of the Drink“, which is hosted by BarStar Anthony Caporale. He’s also aided by a fleet of what seem to be very nice girls, but between you and me and the fencepost, these girls? They’re no Lala, if you know what I mean (and by that I mean they have NEVER exhibited the slightest knowldge of robotics, or the displayed any sort of skillz regarding the inner working of “l33t culture”).

Still, Anthony does have some dandy recipes, so I borrowed his recipe for a “Beach Bellini” and tinkered with it a bit – upping the booze ratio a little (because I was making three at a time and wanted an even number to work with – and, well, because I like booze). It seemed to work – Lori snuck back and quietly asked for a second one!
so here’s the recipe for…

The Bellini you can make in a cocktail shaker!

1 ounce of Lemon Rum
1 ounce of Peach Schnapps
4 ounces of Peach Nectar (or regular Peach Juice in a pinch)
2 ounces of Champagne / Sparking Wine

Add all the ingredients except the bubbly to a shaker and fire away for about 30 seconds. Toss the Champers in a tiki mug at the bottom, then pour in the beverage. Add some ice to make it nice, throw in a straw, sit back, and enjoy.