Monday, November 26, 2007

Drink #15: Screwdriver

Nothing can quell the hammer beating in your head from a morning's hangover quite like a Screwdriver. At once healthy, refreshing, and headache healing, the Screwdriver has been the savior of the weekend warrior for decades.

And it's easy to make.

Here's the recipe.

1 1/2 oz vodka
4 1/2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice, ice cold
1 tsp lemon juice

Combine in tall glass filled with ice cubes and stir. Most people overlook the teaspoon of lemon, but it gives the drink that extra citrus oomph.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Drink #14: Blue Lagoon

Drinking a Blue Lagoon makes you feel like this picture.

Blue Lagoon drink recipe:

1 oz vodka
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
lemonade
1 cherry

Pour vodka and Curacao over ice in a highball glass. Fill with lemonade, top with the cherry. Drink.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Drink #13: Gimlet

Raymond Chandler, in his book The Long Goodbye, memorialized the Gimlet as "half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else." He was right, but he forgot the lime wedge. But I guess that's implied. Chandler was just too hardboiled to talk about a squeeze of lime.

Here's the gimlet recipe:

* 2 oz. gin
* 1/2 ounce Rose's lime juice
* Garnish with lime wedge

For a vodka gimlet, substitute gin with vodka. Don't use both. Have some class.

Drink #12: Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour is an old classic.

Here's the recipe:

2 or 3 ounces whiskey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 or 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
3 or 4 ice cubes
1 orange or lemon slice or peel
Maraschino cherry

Pour all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake heartily. Strain into a Delmonico glass (if you have it--it's like a diner's juice glass) and garnish with orange or lemon and toss in a maraschino cherry.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Drink #11: Adios Motherfucker

Before you take your first sip, say Adios. It'll be the last coherent thing you say and will lead you through a long unremembered night of calling every ex-boyfriend or girlfriend you had since grade school and confessing your love to them while most likely dancing on a bar naked and nearly getting into a fight.

If you can handle the mayhem, go for it.


Adios Motherfucker recipe:

1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz rum
1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
2 oz sweet and sour mix
2 oz 7-Up soda

Mix all ingredients in an ice-filled glass. Top off with 7-Up and stir.

Remember: your only limits are the phone numbers you have in your cellphone.

Drink #10: Blue Ball

Not only the name of the condition you experience when coming home from a bar alone, the Blue Ball is quite an alcoholic concoction. Guys, if you order a Blue Ball at a bar, you will leave home with two of the same. Only mix in the comfort of your own home.

Ladies, you should also never order one of these. It sends the wrong signals to everyone involved. But, my god, what a conversation piece. Nothing gets the party started like a Blue Ball.

Blue Ball recipe:

1 oz raspberry vodka
1 oz coconut rum.
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

Pour one part of all three ingredients plus ice into a shaker. Mix well. Serve as double shots.

Drink #9: Gin and Tonic

Is there any drink more refreshing than a good old G and T? I think not. So refreshing is the Gin and Tonic that in the mid 17th century it was used as a medicine in the Netherlands.

But enough history. Let's concentrate on the here and now. The here consisting of your need for refreshment. The now consisting of your desire to get blitzkrieged and have a blast doing it.

Gin and Tonic Recipe:

2 oz gin
5 oz tonic water
1 lime wedge

Pour the gin and the tonic water into a highball glass almost filled to the top with ice. Stir. And of course, garnish with a lime wedge.

Drink.

Drink #8: Amaretto Sour

Amaretto Sour recipe:
1 1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1 to 2 splashes of sweet and sour mix

Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice, then pour in the amaretto liqueur. Add one or two splashes of sweet and sour mix. Shake. Pour contents into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry or slice of orange. Drink.

Drink #7: Midori Sour


1 oz Midori® melon liqueur
1 oz Whiskey sour mix
2 oz Sprite® soda
2 or 3 cherries

Fill a highball glass 3/4 of the way up with ice. Add midori, sour mix, and sprite. Mix. Drink.

Midori, a melon-flavored liqueur, is very sweet, even though it's around 20% alcohol, so be careful not to add too much--unless you like a really sweet drink.

Drink #6: Cape Cod

You probably had one of these last night. You just didn't know it was called a Cape Cod. All it is is Vodka and Cranberry.

1 1/2 oz vodka
4 oz cranberry juice

Pour into a highball glass with ice. Add a wedge of lime. Drink.

Drink #5: Rum and Coke

This one requires no explanation. Here it is, pictorially.



...and...



Just mix to taste. But if you want some numbers, here are some numbers:

1 1/2 oz Captain Morgan® Original spiced rum
4 1/2 oz Coca-Cola®

Serve in a highball glass. Stir over ice. Mix until drink starts to fizz. Then drink.

Drink #4: Long Island Iced Tea

Sometimes you really need to get to that special inebriated place quickly. In those cases, what you're looking for is a Long Island Iced Tea.

Long Island Iced Tea recipe:

1 part vodka
1 part tequila
1 part rum
1 part gin
1 part triple sec
1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix
1 splash Coke

Mix in a glass over ice, then pour into a shaker for one or two shakes. Pour contents back into the glass. Garnish with a lemon slice. Drink.

A note about triple sec: it's an orange-flavored liqueur made from orange peels. Popular brands are Countreau, Grand Marnier, and Curacao.

Be careful with these. I mean seriously, vodka, tequila, rum, and gin. You Long Island lush, you.

Drink #3: Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary is a well-known morning hangover standby. It's refreshing while giving you just enough of the "hair of the dog that bit you" to face a full day of recovery.

Here's how you make it.

1 1/2 oz vodka
3 oz tomato juice
1 dash lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 drops Tabasco Sauce
1 lime wedge

Use one stalk of celery to mix.

The Bloody Mary is another "mix to taste" drink. Some like the Bloody Mary spicy, so they add pepper and a variety of hot sauces. Others like to keep them tame, just basically focusing on tomato juice and vodka--which is completely respectable. But in my book, you can't make a Bloody Mary spicy enough.

Drink #2: White Russian

Okay, if you don't know what a White Russian is by now then you haven't seen one of the best movies to use a drink in a plotline--The Big Lebowski. Drop everything right now and go get The Big Lebowskistat, and catch up on your pop culture.

Then mix one of these puppies and see if you can drink just one.

White Russian recipe:

2 oz Vodka
1 oz Coffee Liquer (generally Kahlua because of brand recognition)
1 oz Cream

Serve over ice in an old-fashioned glass (the glass seen in above picture) and enjoy.

The recipe is more of a loose guideline because white russians are generally mixed to taste. Some people prefer light cream, less cream, less vodka, or even Stoli Vanilla Vodka.

Drink #1: Cosmopolitan Martini

Here's how you make a cosmopolitan martini, homes.

4 parts vodka
2 parts triple sec
2 parts cranberry juice
1 part (or just a splash of) fresh lime juice

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy your drink.

Wait...what did you say? Did you just call it a...Cosmo? Please don't do that again.