Grateful Cranberry Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. cranberry-honey syrup (recipe below)
Green tea flavored ginger ale
Frozen cranberries
Crushed ice

Fill collins glass three-quarters full with crushed ice and frozen cranberries.  Pour in bourbon and syrup, then top off with ginger ale.

Cranberry-honey syrup

Boil equal parts water, honey and cranberries. Strain out solids, then refrigerate the liquid syrup.

more Holiday Cocktails & Punches
more Drink of the Week cocktails

Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails will help entertain like a pro this Holiday Season. The books covers party basics, supplies lists, and has 78 recipes ranging from ‘Hot and Steamy’ to ‘Party Punches’. In addition, ‘Trade Secrets’ from bartenders are sprinkled throughout the book. If your planning a holiday cocktail party or you are a just cocktail book collecting geek like me, Mr. Boston, Holiday Cocktails is worth checking out.

Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails

more Holiday cocktail books …

Skyy Vodka supplied the cocktails created and served by several of San Francisco’s top mixologists.

The weekend was a wonder of gastronimic delight. It started with rooftop party at The Hotel Vitale, followed by a dinner of SF street food at the Ferry Building. And that was just Friday, the next day began with brunch at the Ferry Building Farmers Market.

Next, it was on to the afternoon tasting at City View Room in the Metreon, imagine a room awash with cocktails, micro-brews, amazing food and products. That night, Greenleaf Produce Warehouse hosted a dinner and awards ceremony. The event wrapped up with a nice Sunday brunch, complete with a DIY Bloody Mary Bar, which came in handy after Saturday night.

At the Metreon we ran into Dominic, who was shaking up batches of a savory cocktail called the “Dolce Rosso”. Made with muddled SKYY Vodka, Mezzetta roasted peppers, fresh strawberries, fresh basil, agave nectar, orange juice and spices, the Dolce Rosso comes out a dark orange or red depending on strawberry content. The peppers and basil give it quite a savory kick that plays well with sweetness of the strawberries.

Take a look as Dominic makes the Dolche Rosso in this video.

I’m working on getting the exact recipe, stay tuned…

Related articles:

• Skyy’s The Limit Cocktail Competition (drinkoftheweek.com)

Drink up, the Earth needs you to! Now when you drink, you can say you’re doing it to help the environment.

Finlandia has some specially marked bottles that can be redeemed for a donation to plant one tree in your honor, through non-profit Trees for the Future. So drinking one bottle of vodka means adding one more tree to the planet.

In stores, look for bottles of Finlandia original, lime, mango, wild berries, grapefruit, and tangerine vodkas with pictures of trees on them. This promotion runs through the end of the month.

Finlandia Vodka
Trees for the Future
Via Mother Earth News

Spiced Tea Holiday Punch

3 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs. vanilla extract
10 whole cloves
10 cardamom seeds
2 tbs. ginger
2 tea bags (black tea)
1 bottle red wine
1/4 cup dark rum
Boil water, honey, sugar, spices and vanilla in a large saucepan, stirring frequently until honey and sugar are dissolved.

Remove from heat and add tea bag, steeping for five minutes. Strain it into a bowl and add wine and rum.

Can be served hot or cold. If serving it hot, simmer mixture until warm again. If serving cold, chill mixture in refrigerator then serve over ice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

more Holiday Drinks & Punches

Anchor is known for using traditional distilling styles that differ from what’s in the mainstream now. In this case making a 17th-century-style of Dutch gin with a grain mash with juniper in a copper still rather than employing the now-popular 19th century redistilling method that produces a more neutral spirit we call London dry gin.

It’s appropriate that I tried Genevieve Gin at Whiskyfest, since it is more like a juniper whiskey than the smooth and bright gins you’ll find in martini glasses around the nation. It has a very strong juniper nose to be sure. However, it has more of a thick whiskey mouthfeel and a hot kick not usually associated with gin.

So this one isn’t for gin and tonics or a martini. But it is great for mixed drinks.

Here’s a particularly good one to try:

The Gin Fix

2 oz Genever gin
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1 tsp. simple syrup
1 tsp. raspberry syrup

Fill a glass with crushed ice and build the drink over the ice, stirring thoroughly. Top off with more ice and garnish with raspberries.

Anchor Distilling Genevieve Gin

There’s a shortage of angostura bitters.

Patrick Sepe, chief executive of the US distributor, Angostura USA, said the production line ran dry in June and was only just getting back on track. “There has been a shortage,” said Sepe. “You can’t just turn on and off supply of bitters. It’s not like producing bottled water – it’s a very delicate, intricate process.”

Guardian UK- bitters shortage article

At 17 proof it is tame enough to enjoy all night.

Straight up or over ice, Kahlua Coffee Cream makes a mighty fine after dinner drink. It goes great over vanilla ice cream too!

On the more serious side, it is mighty fine when mixed with vodka, I will refer to as the Black & White Russian. New York based Mixologist, Julio De Los Santos created a few cocktails to enjoy with Kahlua Coffee Cream.

Kahlua Cognaccino

1 part Kahlua Coffee Cream
1/2 part Amaretto
1 part Martell V.S. Cognac
Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into
a flute dusted with nutmeg.

Kahlua Mexicano

1 part Kahlua Coffee Cream
1 part Kahlua Coffee Liqueur
1/2 part Sambuca
Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Serve over ice in a
coffee mug.

Kahlua Coffee Cream will be available nationwide October through December for a suggested retail price of $17.99

Kahlua Coffee Cream

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• Pumpkin Caipirinha (drinkoftheweek.com)

Texan Hot Chocolate

1 oz Tito’s Handmade Vodka
1/2 oz Paula’s Texas Orange Liqueur
1/3 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2-1 teaspoon Sugar to taste
8 oz Whole Milk
Marshmallows
A Fresh Orange

Combine Paula’s Texas Orange, chocolate chips, sugar and milk in a pot and bring to a slow boil over low-medium heat as to not burn the Milk. Remove from heat and add Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Pour into favorite coffee/cocoa/tea mug and top with marshmallows. Garnish with an orange twist and shaved/grated chocolate

Created by Russell Davis, Peche
Recipe & photo courtesy Tito’s Handmade Vodka
more Drink of the Week cocktails

What challenges lie ahead?

The Wheel:
Reflexes floundering after a few too many? Sit back and let The Wheel decide your fate. Place your marks and watch as the monkey and his martini shaker decide Who’s Buying…and who still has his clams.

Multiball:
Up to four players can jump in this Polynesian-themed game of ping-pong. The first to let a flaming ball in their goal will find their totem in the woodchipper and their wallet empty.

Bounce Back:
Take control of a tiki and blow your coconut into your opponent’s goal in this Hawaiian-style air hockey game. Who’s Buying? Well, that would be the first person to swallow.

I’m  not sure I need this app, since my rule of thumb is you’re paying.

Who’s Buying (via Liquor Snob)