After a search on the Internet I found a company called Zaca which is already marketing this kick ass  concept.  The cost is $19.99 for a 6 patches, with discounts available for larger purchases.  At over $3 per patch it isn’t exactly cheap but it can be less than the price of even one drink at the bar.  I figured if I was going to buy 12 drinks to make me feel terrible, the cost of one drink to make me feel better would totally be worth it.

After no deliberation I immediately went ahead and placed my order.  Within minutes, I received an email from Mark of Zaca with some immediate, pressing concerns.  Since I live in Canada and the product was shipping from the US he wanted to give me the heads up that my order may not arrive for St. Patty’s Day, which was just around the corner.  Right then and there I could tell that I had made the right decision.

Approximately a week later (just missing my St. Patty’s boozefest) I was excited to receive my hangover patches in the mail.  Of course, it didn’t take long to put those patches to a good challenge as the next Friday was yet another piss up.   After cracking my first bevy I slapped a patch on my left shoulder and proceeded to party like it was 1999.  An entertaining night flew by and after a solid dozen or so drinks I found myself stumbling home with a big slice in hand coming to a crash in my bed where the room spun me to sleep.

The next morning I awoke, still feeling intoxicated as the patches do not suppress alcohol (thankfully).   After grabbing a cup of Joe and whipping up some eggs and toast I found my body really rebounding from the night before.  Normally hangover + exercise = booze sweats + nausea but not today, nor any of the days that I have used the patch.  I actually went for a solid 8 km (5 mi) run that day and felt great afterwards.  After going through 5 sessions with the hangover patch now I can tell you the results are very consistent.

I do have one complaint, and its that I still feel the ‘blahs’ the next day.  Those emotional lows related to depleted seratonin resulting from excessive drinking.  After some research I wasn’t surprised to determine the patch is missing the ingredients that may have dealt with that issue.  Here is a quote from a website talking about the effects alcohol has on stress / depression:

“Certain nutrients are needed by the body in order for it to manufacture chemicals that dampen anxiety. Alcohol causes depletion of vitamin B6 and Folic acid, the very nutrients needed for us t0 be in optimum psychological health enabling us to cope with stress. It also stimulates the release of the stress hormone adrenaline and interferes with the amino acid tryptophan which is used to manufacture serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical involved in sleep and mood regulation.” – http://stresshelp.tripod.com/id13.html

The patch has a lot of great ingredients but no B6 or Folic Acid (Maybe in the Hangover Patch V2???).  Here is the 11 different organic ingredients who’s benefits in reducing your hangover are described here:

So in conclusion your hangover isn’t eliminated, but your body will thank you for wearing these patches while you drink.  No longer will alcohol prevent you from eating a good meal, or exercising the next day.  If you want to give it a go, try ordering the hangover topical patch from Zaca and post back to the blog to let us know how it worked for you.

Now, I haven’t tried Iceberg Vodka and after investigating this ‘award’, nor will I ever.  I did some research and there was a very casual vodka tasting event at the Cannes FILM festival and here is the list of winners. Now I don’t even care who won that competition as the number of companies participating was tiny, the event was informl and was more of a PR stunt rather then a real competition.  Even more notable is the fact that Iceberg Vodka wasn’t even a participant.

I contacted the company asking them why they had this claim in their sign hoping that I had overlooked something but was completely ignored by them.  Its too bad they didn’t realize their poor customer service skills would result in negative publicity on a popular bartending website.

As a result of this entire ordeal I figured JoeBartender.com would hold its own tasting competition.  Real people testing real Spirits.  Lets get a consumers opinion on what is good and what isn’t, forget about these weird competition with so called experts.  What matters is when people like you and I order a Vodka water or a shot of Whiskey at the bar it tastes great.  Now despite emailing every North American distillery asking them to participate I did not get one company willing to enter.  What a crock!

Iceberg and the entire North American distillery industry should be ashamed.  A lot of these awards and competitions are a farce to drive up sales.  I guess the only way to determine what is good is to sample a variety of alcohols until you stumble upons something you like.

Now 95, he has been bartending at Cammarata’s, a bar he started since the stroke of midnight, April 7, 1933. What’s even more amazing about this, is that this was the very second prohibition ended in the United States. Check out more on an interview with him here.

Does it really need an explanation?

I’ve lived in 7 different places, and in each place I’ve always found a bar that becomes ‘my spot’. After about the 10th visit the bartenders start to recognize you, you get comfortable at the same table, and you’re going on a regular basis. In good times or bad, your regular hang-out can be a place to vent, celebrate, or just relax.

For me at my current spot that is about once a week, usually for a Hoegaarden or two. I recently got a kick-ass coffee table (or bar top) book, purely made up of photos of regulars (aptly titlled The Regulars) which is what got me thinking about the topic.

Sarah Stolfa is an extremely gifted photographer who took all the pictures as a student while bartending at McGlinchey’s bar in Philadelphia. Each photo depicts one person sitting at the bar where she worked, but they are more than just pictures. From all walks of life, and covering the spectrum of human emotion I find myself flipping through the book regularly, just picking a page and studying the image for a few minutes. Some look confused, some happy, some enthralled in work, some smoking an endless amount of cigarettes; every picture tells a story.

I find myself now trying to spot regulars at the bars I frequent. I think there’s a few key factors that draw me to the same bar more than once:

* the bartenders: I want a crew that can remember my name, make my drinks extra stiff and give me some ‘Regular’ attention when it gets busy
* the crowd: ah, the scenery; everyone loves a good view while you enjoy a pint or two but they key is laid back people you can talk to
* the environment: show me a patio with palm trees and Christmas lights. I’m sure some people prefer the classical dingy atmosphere you can find in the Regulars but I go out to escape. I want to feel like I’m on vacation.
* the location: If I can stumble home on the two foot express while grabbing a slice of pizza on route, then my night can be complete.

I wonder if I would make an interesting still life? Probably not.

What about you guys? What moves a bar from a one time visit to a routine stop?

You can grab the book I’ve been shamelessly plugging here:

Kudos to the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris for this recipe. It’s the best take on the mojito I’ve ever had.

Ingredients:
- fresh mint leaves
- crystal sugar
- brown sugar
- fresh blackberries
- lime juice
- grapefruit vodka
- blackberry liqueur
- raspberry liqueur
- soda water

Directions:
- Watch the video to see the proportions for this delicious cocktail. Some tips from Joe: Use 4 blackberries per mojito in a highball glass, and garnish with just 1 blackberry split in two. It’s likely you don’t have the same ingredients as our friend Thierry Hernandez, so you can substitute a wild berry or field berry vodka (from the Smirnoff/Absolut flavored series).comment on this

Back in the 1800s, Absinthe, which was incredibly popular at the time was used as a scapegoat for the murderous rampage of some individual and banned in France.  Many countries followed suit.  In the 1970s an incorrect research paper claimed thujones had the same molecular shape as THC found in marijuana and thus the same chemical reactions.  All these elements have shrouded the spirit in mystery and misunderstanding.

Enough with the science.

One thing is for sure: Absinthe gets you messed up.

However, the reason being is it’s high alcohol content (45 – 75%).  After drinking it, some people report a different sort of buzz and I’m going to agree.  I’m sure many of you have found that drinking whiskey vs wine vs beer all provide a different drunken experience.  Absinthe is no different.

JoeBartender was lucky enough to have some free samples of  Le Tourment Vert sent to us to test out (Thanks Kayla).  I had my drink after a few beers and there is no doubt, it kicked my ass.  My delicious Sundance Lift zoned me out and sent me to bed for the night.

Often Absinthe is mixed with water and some burning carmelized sugar, but there are actually some tasty recipes out there.  Here are a few provided by Le Tourment Vert branded Absinthe:

Le Tourment Vert Poison Apple Martini
Le Tourment Vert Triple French Martini
Le Tourment Vert Tourment Trance
Le Tourment Vert Green on Main
Le Tourment Vert Sundance Lift

For those of you who have tried Absinthe how did it make you feel? Did you see the lucky charms leprechaun flying around the room after a glass, did it get you wasted, or did it just make you sleepy, or maybe wasted and sleepy?

Let us know!

For me I’ve always hated hard liquor shots. Rum, Rye, Vodka, Gin, Grappa… Gross! Tequila is the exception, especially a fine Petron, lemon preferred. It is really the only hard liquor I can withstand, never mind actually desire.

As for the less ‘manly’ spirits, I used to enjoy a good Jagermeister. Maybe there was a night of excess I can’t recall but today that stuff just tastes like Buckley’s Cough Medicine to me – ‘Tastes bad but it works.’. I’ve had quite a bit of Southern Comfort in my day and i can still force a few down but the sweetness just screams migraine-style hangover. As a SoCo alternative I don’t mind the similar but smoother Disaronno.

Now onto the Petron Black coffee liqueur. This tequila based shot still sits at 35% alcohol so it definately packs a punch. When you first down the chilled black liquid you feel the shotgun blast warming head rush you normally expect from Tequila but with a delightful coffee aftertaste. Instead of having to neutralize your pallet by chugging a beer, you are going to want to savour the flavor of this decadent alcohol. With such a unique taste I certainly wouldn’t want to overdo this shot, especially with its expensive price tag but for now order me up another round.

What is your favorite shot?

Sure health officials may warn against the magical combination of depression and booze, but sometimes it just feels like the right thing to do.  So now that the Dow has crashed, your boss has warned of impending layoffs and your Citibank margin purchase is haunting you, what will provide you the necessary salvation?

To try and visualize a good recommendation for the Joe Bartender readers, I tried to rember what alcohol is used in the movies.  You know, what would a regular dude order at bar when his family and friends have been murdered by a rogue govenment agency after he accidently witnessed a top government official get offed?  There is only one drink that came to mind.  That is Whiskey – Straight Up.

Now to get a little more specific, what type of whiskey should I drink.  Well since the American economy is the source of the pain its got to be an American Whiskey.  There are three types that fit the bill and they include:

Bourbon whiskey
Rye whiskey
Corn whiskey

and

as of 1941 good old fashion Tenesse Whiskey with the most famous brand of all:

- Jack Daniels -

Directions:

Shoot it (Dow Jones down 200)
Pour it over ice (Dow Jones down 201 – 600)
Sip it neat in a Brandy Sniffer (Dow Jones down 601 – 850)
Hell, drink it straight from the bottle (Dow Jones down 850+)
 
Try enjoying some other Jack Daniels drinks from Joe Bartender

http://www.joebartender.com/tag/jack-daniels/

 
JB Economy is tanking Stock Pick:

Altria Group, Inc. (Public, NYSE:MO)
Industry: Tobacco
Nov 26 – Close: $15.87

Now I know a lot of the Joe Bartender followers are bartenders themselves.  What do you see pissed off folks drinking up after a hard day?  What is your ’stress reliever’ drink?

COCKTAIL CALORIE WAR #1:

Mojito (160 calories, 15 g sugars)

vs.

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA (700 calories, 40 g sugars)

Skip the LIT and go for a Mojito and you’ll be saving 520 calories. That’s pretty substantial.

COCKTAIL CALORIE WAR #2:

COSMOPOLITAN (150 calories, 12 g sugars)

VS.

MARGARITA (500 calories, 32 g sugars)

That’s a substantial difference – 350 fewer calories. Sure the drinks aren’t exactly the same, but the typical Margarita is loaded with calories and sugar due to the sweet & sour mix.

COCKTAIL CALORIE WAR #3:

Bloody Mary (150 calories, 10 g sugars)

vs.

Pina Colada (625 calories, 75 g sugars)

This one is pretty much common sense. Avoid the sugary syrupy sweetness of the Pina Colada and you’ll save 475 calories.

With a little restraint and clear thinking, it’s possible to really reduce the amount of calories the next time you hit your favorite bar.

Source: Men’s Health

Photo by Frederic della Faille.

World’s greatest invention of all time? I thought so too. Although does this mean I might be out of work soon? First my job as a bank teller and now this. In all seriousness, this robot was created at Total Manufacturing Company in Lincoln Nebraska, America’s new Silicon Valley.

I’ll try and update this page from now until Halloween with some clever drink recipes to both scare an intoxicate your Halloween party guests this year. Bookmark this page for an in-progress list of all our Halloween cocktails. Here are a few to get you started:

Halloween Drink Recipes

Black Witch

Flaming Pumpkin Pie

Salem Witch

Green Ghost

Witches Brew

Tags: halloween, halloween cocktail recipes, party, mixed drinks

Here’s a drink I whipped up for some friends this week. It had some great reviews:

Pumpkin Pie Martini
Ingredients

12 oz of your favorite vodka
1/3 can of pumpkin pie filling
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
5 drops of vanilla
whipped cream

Directions
Mix together the vodka, pumpkin pie filling, vanilla, and cloves in a large bowl or bottle (something you can seal later). The pumpkin pie filling will be quite thick, so ensure you give it a thorough mixing. Add in cinnamon stick, seal it up, and leave it for at least 24 hours in the refridgerator.

When you’re ready, open up the mixture and filter out the pumpkin infused vodka. strain the vodka to a martini glass and top with whipped cream. For extra credit, crush up some ginger snaps and use as rimmer on the glass, or top with a fun Halloween cookie from your mom.

1.  Basic Drink Finder

2.  The Advanced Drink Finder

 

The second tool is the custom developed advanced drink finder.  Here you can select any of the ingredients you have laying around your home and the drink finder will look through our huge database of drinks looking for a match, and list all the possibly drinks you can make given your ingredients.  It’s been a lot of work getting this tool to function so that it benefits people the most.  Please post your feedback and we will keep making adjustments.

 
3.  Results

 

Regardless of how you search you will be directed to the same resuilts page.  It provides the drink names, and ingredients of the matching drink results sorted by rating.

Now you may notice that not a lot of drinks have currently been rated yet and thats because our rating system is new to!  In order to rate a drink simply click on a drink and click on the number of stars you would like to give it.

Ok, so now that I’ve taught you how to use some of the new Joe Bartender features, try them out and let us know what you think!

- JB

According to some highly scientific calculations, the winner of this challenge will, in fact, end up winning the US election; so vote with your heart (and your taste-buds).

First up is a drink in honor of Mr. Barack Obama:

The Obama Slamma

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Blue Curacao
• 4 oz Florida Orange Juice
• 3 oz Chilled (cheap) Champagne
• 1 Maraschino Cherry

How to Make it:

You will want it ending up in a blue tinge as any true democratic drink should be, so mix the curacao and orange juice accordingly. Since it’s necessary that Obama win the state of Florida, ONLY Florida squeezed orange juice is acceptable. Barack has 1 car, and 1 house, so fill the Collins glass up with a dash of the cheapest champagne you can find. Garish with one bright red maraschino cherry to show some bipartisan support.

The McCain Maverick

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Prune Juice
• 1 oz Light Rum
• Crushed Ice from your favorite melting glacier (Alaskan if possible)
• 5 Drops Red Food Coloring
• 1 Maraschino Cherry
• 1/4 tsp Superfine Sugar
• Red Lipstick

How to Make it:

Since this drink is designed for those over the age of 72, prune juice is an essential (and challenging) ingredient. Mix the prune juice, sugar, light rum, and food coloring in a glass. The mixture should turn from a brown to Republican red color. Travel to Alaska and crush some ice from a glacier of your choice. Mix everything together in a plastic cup (since it is essentially made out of oil) and garnish with a maraschino cherry. Put some lipstick on the rim to signify that Sarah Palin approves. Best enjoyed while watching the movie Top Gun or any other film including a brazen Maverick.

Vote above to to impact the map: 

I’m sure many of you have played this game, and probably given it a much better title then I have however for those of you that have not please read on. That night, our objective was to have everyone invent a drink by a set time, for us it was 11:00. At that time, everyone divulges the name / ingredient of their potential creation. The group then casts their vote for their favorite and orders it from the bar, the inventor of course gets their drink paid for. I certainly can’t remember what the losing drinks were (including the one I made up) but the winner is a favorite we get pretty much every time we head to the bar:

— THE TWISTED STACHE —

Here is how it’s made:

Directions: Pour half a shot of vodka into a shot glass and top it up with Southern Comfort. Drop the shot glass into a half glass of red bull and slam it back.

Now I know its not the most complex drink in the world but its the best our drunken conglomerate could come up with. Irregardless, it’s damn good and I recommend ordering it to jump start your night. Make sure you reference by the name ‘Twisted Stache’ at your local bar and help get one of our favorite drinks known worldwide.

Joe

I think I like making drinks based on movies. If you haven’t seen Pineapple Express I’d definitely recommend taking a look. It’s an interesting cross between a stoner comedy and action flick. The following is a take on a tropical favorite that includes some greenery .

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 oz. coconut cream
• 1 1/2 oz. gold rum
• Pineapple stick
• Mint leaves

How To Make It:

Take all your ingredients except for the fruit/mint and throw them in a shaker or blender with some cracked ice. Mix it up until it is a nice slushy consistency. Pour mixture into a chilled Collins glass. Use the pineapple stick to push the mint leaves towards the bottom of the cup. Leave the pineapple stick in the glass and top it off with an extra mint leaf. Bonus points if your mint leaf looks like a cannabis leaf

1 part Vodka
2 parts Sprite
3 parts Lemonade
Fresh sliced Lime

Directions: Mix together first three ingredients and then slice fresh limes and place in drink, then allow to sit for at least one hour. This drink is to be made in a large quantity, so the limes may “take effect.”",”Punch bowl,Alcoholic,Vodka,Sprite,Lemonade,Lime

In honor of the latest kick-ass chapter in the Batman movie series, here is a simple drink you can make to show your love for the bat.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz of your favorite cola (diet or regular)
• 1-1/2 oz of Sambuca or Uzzo
• 1 maraschino cherry
• 1/2 oz of grenadine

How To Make It:

Mix Cola and Sambuca together. Add ice and drizzle grenadine over the cubes. Top off with the maraschino cherry and enjoy with the company of your greatest arch-nemesis or super villain. Best served in a rocks or old fashioned glass.

Since our last post about low-calorie cocktails, we’ve been inundated with people requesting more low-calorie mixed drink recipes. This isn’t something I had given a lot of thought to in the past, but if the readers demand it – I aim to deliver.

Here’s a video from Van Gogh vodka (haven’t tried it so I can’t give you a review) in which they make vodka drinks using low-calorie mixers.

These are the low-calorie recipes that they demonstrate:

Raspberry Ice Light

• 2 oz Van Gogh Raspberry Vodka
• 3 oz Crystal Light Raspberry Ice

Oranje Fresca

• 2 oz Van Gogh Oranje Vodka
• 3 oz Fresca

Pineapple Citrus Twist

• 2 oz Van Gogh Pineapple Vodka
• 3 oz AquaFina Sparkling Citrus Twist Water

These drinks probably aren’t going to set the world on fire, but if you’re looking to stay slim and still be a professional drinker – these might not be a bad place to start.

One other note to VanGogh vodka. Next time, spring for some professional video production. Sure, it’s the web, but there’s no reason you can’t class up your presentation a little bit.