Cocktail: Rum and No Coke
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that everyone has had a Rum and Coke. Sure, it’s not my go-to drink, but it is for thousands of people. I wanted to make a cocktail that was accessible in taste and didn’t require a secret language to order. Since “gimmearumancoke” just rolls off the tongue,…
Cocktail: The Blonde Joke
This cocktail didn’t start seriously. My friends and I were at the great restaurant Wolcott’s and a few people decided to try one of their drinks that was similar to a Dirty Blonde. Of course, I had to take a sip and thought it was passable, but it inspired me to take the idea back…
Cocktail: Aperol Spritz
There are a few classic euro-cocktails out there that everyone needs to try, and the Aperol Spritz is one of them. I put a little more orange into the flavor, but not so much that it becomes sweet and heavy – it stays light and refreshing. If you find yourself with a leftover bottle of…
Cocktail: Mochatini
The last course of my cocktail party this week was the Mochatini. The last few chocolate and coffee flavored drinks that I did were a big success, so I continued on with this great recipe using a lot of local North Carolina products. This doesn’t come off overly-chocolate, and it definitely tastes more like a…
Recipe: Cranberry Mixer
For Thanksgiving, I prepped my making a Cranberry mixer that had all of my favorite flavors in it. I canned these in mason jars for use in all my upcoming Thanksgiving week cocktails, and it worked out perfectly. To start I took 64 oz of Cranberry cocktail juice and set it on the stove to…
Cocktail: The Bronx
You know a cocktail has to be a classic if it’s on “The World’s 10 Most Famous Cocktails in 1934” list. Some things evolve over time, but this recipe is more or less the same as what it was back then. This drink is actually a little older than that, though, and dates from somewhere…
Cocktail: Macchiato Martini
I usually despise anything that calls itself a “martini” that isn’t gin and vermouth, but this cocktail just seems so classy and delicious I’ll let this one slide. I was looking for a solid coffee-influenced cocktail for the winter months, especially one that could be served after a nice big meal in lieu of a…
Cocktail: The Martinez
What came first: The Martini or the Martinez? If you dig into the history there are a few different legends surrounding the origin of the Martinez, mostly from the San Francisco area in the mid-late 1800s. It definitely appeared around that time, since it’s in the 1862 Bon Viviants guide. The question is, did the…
Cocktail: The Chocolate Orange
When I was a kid I loved Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, and not just because the label says “Whack and Unwrap”. The instructions seem pretty simple. I usually got these guys around the holiday season, and the orange-milk-chocolate flavor is something that’s been ingrained into my taste buds for quite a few years. Coming into…
Cocktail: The Revolver
I’ve been on a coffee kick, thanks to Durham Distillery’s Damn Fine Coffee Liqueur, so I’ve been finding more and more great cold coffee drinks. This one is relatively new, sometime in the last few decades, attributed to Jon Santer, of the Prizefighter bar. Of course I had to experiment a little bit with it, and…