Posted by Paul Clarke, May 16, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
If you read the headline and thought, “Starbucks,” you’re missing out on something here.
While my knowledge of coffee history is sorely lacking, I’d still wager that this Americano predates the now-familiar mix of espresso and hot water. First served in Milan around 1861, this fizzy aperitif became popular among American tourists and expatriates in the early 20th-century, thus earning its name.
The Americano is sometimes derided as an emasculated Negroni; that overlooks the drink’s enduring charms. While less potent in flavor and effect than the Negroni, the Americano is a very agreeable companion on a warm day, especially in the late spring when the barbecue is being brought out of winter storage and the weather invites you to linger outside. Engagingly bitter, slightly sweet, and above all, tall and cold, the Americano suits the season.
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Posted by Alaina Browne, May 3, 2008 at 10:34 AM
The michelada is a spicy beer cocktail that first became popular in northern Mexico. The cocktail's name is derived from "mi chela helada," or "my cold, light beer" and as the name suggests, is perfect for sipping on a hot summer day.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, April 25, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Before there was tiki, there was tropical. Back in the 1930s and early ‘40s, as Don the Beachcomber was spawning what was to become a wave of openings of Polynesian palaces, bartenders and restaurateurs were filling up their liquor shelves with rum and experimenting with new concoctions.
One of the earliest to be influenced by the Beachcomber was Victor Bergeron, who saw what Donn Beach had started in L.A. and took the idea home to Oakland, revamping his old Hinky Dinks watering hole and renaming it Trader Vic’s. In 1947, Bergeron published Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, an extensive recipe guide detailing hundreds of drinks, including many proto-tiki mixes that reflected the experimentation that had been going on in earlier years.
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail has a few of the tropical essentials: first, it’s based on rum; second, its flavor is fleshed out with fresh lime juice and the little-known syrup called falernum; and third, the name has both Caribbean and nautical overtones. It’s a few steps short of a full-blown Nui Nui, Sumatra Kula or Pearl Diver’s Punch, but there’s no shame in that. On a warm spring day, when the mood for something bright and tropical hits you but you’re not quite up for breaking into full luau mode, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail fits the bill quite nicely.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, April 4, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Let’s admit up front that the name could be a problem. "Tuxedo" is a perfectly fine name for this cocktail, given the crisp formality of its austere dryness; however, it’s such a fetching name that other cocktails have used it as well. It should also be pointed out that this drink has traveled under different sobriquets—CocktailDB.com lists similar recipes under names such as the Cutest One, the Fino Martini, the Golden Girl, the Straight Law and the Roe a Coe Cocktail, and that’s without even breaking a sweat. But it’s best not to get too tangled up in the etymology of a drink; instead, take the many versions as proof that dry gin and fino sherry are destined to be together.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, March 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Mothers & Menus is a New York City meal delivery service designed for families living through those first few crazy weeks with a new baby. Its founder, Karen Gurwitz, was frustrated after the birth of her first child: she wanted to lose her pregnancy weight, but since she was breastfeeding she worried about cutting out too many calories. Wouldn’t it be great, she thought, if someone else would figure out what she should eat and deliver it to her every morning? Such a service didn’t exist, so she invented it and committed to using whole and organic foods as much as possible.
Mothers & Menus sounds wonderful and flexible. But if it doesn’t fit into your budget (it certainly doesn’t jibe with mine) and you like making your own food (as I do), you might want to take a look instead at Gurwitz’s cookbook, The Well-Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, March 13, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I must admit, I’m kind of a St. Patrick's Day scrooge: parades bring out the agoraphobic in me, I look terrible in green, and I detest shepherd's pie. I usually boycott the holiday entirely, staying in while my friends head out to pubs to guzzle pints of dyed beer.
I do, however, have a soft spot in my heart (stomach?) for Bailey's liqueur. It’s one of my booze shelf staples: I use it to bake brownies, and I often add it to hot chocolate for a special late-night treat. So this year, I decided to see if I could create a festive drink that would put even a cynic like me in the mood to celebrate the shamrock. Inspired by the knock-it-back-fast classic, the Irish Car Bomb, I came up with this beer float, using Guinness stout and Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide. A marriage of alcohol and ice cream—what could be more delicious?
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Posted by Paul Clarke, March 7, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
If you’ve ever been to a luau-themed party or exotic bar, or sipped your way through a beach vacation, chances are you’ve been served a mai tai. Unless you’re especially lucky or just happen to have a thing for tiki drinks, however, chances are even better you’ve been served a fraud.
Spawned from the rum-soaked genius mind of “Trader Vic” Bergeron, the mai tai is one of the most regal refreshments in the exotic-drink universe. Originally made with 17-year-old Jamaican rum, imported French orgeat, Dutch curaçao and fresh-squeezed lime juice, the mai tai quickly became a phenomenon; it also quickly became perverted. Hordes of Trader Vic-wannabes took wild stabs at recreating Bergeron’s long-secret recipe, and the result is what we all-too-often experience now: a sweet, murky drink filled with assorted fruit juices and syrups, with little resemblance to the original swoon-worthy concoction.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, February 13, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Valentine's Day is less than 24 hours away, and wine shops everywhere are busting out the Champagne. But before you blow a wad of cash on an expensive bottle of bubbly, why not consider a carton?
That’s right: a carton of wine. Don't worry, though—this boozy treat bears no relation to the 5-liter boxes of Chablis that may haunt your collegiate past. Each pint packs up to 5% alcohol by volume, and there are currently six varietals to choose from: Rosé, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Sangria Rojo, and Champagne.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, February 1, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail from Paul Clarke to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Regardless of what Punxsatawney Phil happens to see when he’s persuaded to emerge from his burrow in front of a battery of television cameras at Gobbler’s Knob this weekend, there’s plenty of winter yet to come. To keep seasonal affective disorder at bay, sometimes it’s wise to embrace the season for its good points: steaming plates of comfort food are all the more comforting in the winter; you can build crackling fires in the fireplace to drive away the chill; and deep, brooding cocktails seem to provide extra solace at a time when daylight is still at a premium.
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Posted by Jenn Sit, January 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Manhattan
- makes 2 drinks -
Ingredients
4 1/2 ounces rye or bourbon whiskey
1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 Maraschino cherries
Procedure
1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, pour the whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Mix until outside of shaker is very cold to touch.
2. Place a maraschino cherry in each of two cocktail glasses. Strain the contents Dividing evenly, strain the contents of the shaker over cherries and serve immediately.
Posted by Jenn Sit, January 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Cape Codder
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz Vodka
3 oz Cranberry juice
1 wedge Lime
Procedure
Pour vodka and cranberry over ice and stir. Serve with lime wedge.
Posted by Paul Clarke, January 25, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail from Paul Clarke to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Drinks such as the Manhattan have recipes that are so engaging and enduring that the cocktail moves straight from inception into the classic column; others, such as the Harvey Wallbanger, enjoy a brief flare of popularity then mostly disappear. Then you have the undead: the drinks that enjoy a certain degree of fame for years or even decades then succumb to changing tastes and disappear from view, only to pop up again on the cultural radar long after being presumed dead.
Enter the Corpse Reviver #2. Part of a class of “corpse reviver” cocktails—so named because of their purported ability to bring the dead (or at least painfully hungover) back to some semblance of life—this drink was a staple of bar manuals back in the 1930s, only to fall off the map in the last half of the 20th century. Then, thanks in large part to cocktail historian Ted Haigh (aka “Dr. Cocktail”), the Corpse Reviver #2 was rediscovered by a generation of 21st century cocktail geeks.
High time, too. Delicately balanced, not too powerful, with a lingering, mysterious flavor, the Corpse Reviver #2 is enjoying a well-deserved second wind.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, January 18, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail from Paul Clarke to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Before anybody nabs me on it, I confess: it’s not really a cocktail—and by that I mean there’s not a single drop of liquor in the glass. That’s okay, because there’s plenty of excitement going on in this drink so the harder stuff will never be missed.
The Black Velvet’s name perfectly describes the experience and sensation of drinking one: thick, rich, luxurious, decadent and probably a little bit dangerous. I was apprehensive the first time I came across the recipe, but I was quickly won over: the drink marries the stout’s ferrous tang with the dry, fruity crispness of Champagne, and makes itself all the more drinkable by cutting the beer’s robust richness with all those manic bubbles.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, January 17, 2008 at 3:30 PM
It’s too bad we’re not all in rural Carhampton right now, or Gloucestershire, or really any Western European village with an apple orchard celebrating Apple-Wassailing Day. Rousing apple trees from sleepy wintertime, in hopes of a bountiful crop later this year, is a sport for many Brits on January 17th each year. As apple cheerleaders, they carry torches and bang on pots and pans to wake-up napping Fijis and Staymans.
At the core (heh) of this, is the hot wassail, a spiced drink that falls somewhere between cider, punch and mulled wine (each village has their own recipe, some with dry sherry or beer). Villagers rally around the biggest apple tree then pour hot wassail all over tree roots and finally break out the shotgun to scare away evil, crop-ruining spirits.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, January 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail from Paul Clarke to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Not every occasion calls for something as strong as a Martini. Sometimes you need a drink that's a little softer and more gentle, one that slowly works out the kinks from a long day yet has enough character and sophistication to make it clear you’re not taking any short cuts.
There are several drinks that go by the name “Trilby;” I don’t know where this one originated, but I really like it as an aperitif, and keep one at hand when preparing a weekend dinner. It’s simple, yet elegant, and soft but not too much; if you’re looking for an engaging pre-dinner companion, you could do a lot worse.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 31, 2007 at 7:30 PM
Another delicious cocktail from the fertile imagination of Mario Batali to toast the new year with. Think of it as the liquid version of Larry Gonick's Oranges Campari. Let's raise a glass to the Serious Eats community. We love hanging out with all of you, chewing the fat about our mutual food enthusiasms and passions. May the new year be filled with all things delicious. Happy New Year, Serious Eaters!
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 30, 2007 at 12:30 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's clever take on an adult fruit cocktail perfect for the holiday season. Oranges are in season now and campari is a perfect foil for them. These Oranges Campari should come with a NC-21 rating. They are a holiday libation in a bowl.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, December 28, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
For many people New Year’s Eve means breaking out the bubbly, but all too often the bottles are kept socked away until midnight. That’s a shame—good Champagne and other sparkling wines are great to enjoy throughout the evening (in moderation, of course). And as a bonus, modest wines easily take on a new, more luscious character with just a little help from the liquor cabinet.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 28, 2007 at 4:15 PM
You don't normally think of Mario Batali as a mixologist, but I came across this Balsamic Bloody Mary recipe in his cool little book Holiday Food. If you're throwing a New Year's brunch or party this weekend, make a pitcher of these and offer one to every guest that walks in the door. You'll kick-start your party in a major way.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, December 21, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) that's perfect for Christmas. Cheers and ho! ho! ho!
As Yuletide traditions go, they don’t come much more classic than the Tom & Jerry. Bowls of this rich, boozy warmer were a staple at countless 19th century saloons after the season’s first sign of snow. As a Christmas tradition, the ritual of breaking out the Tom & Jerry mugs lasted well into the Eisenhower administration; the link between the drink and the holiday was such that it was immortalized by Damon Runyon in Dancing Dan’s Christmas, in 1931:
This hot Tom and Jerry is an old-time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true.
Changing tastes left this venerable holiday drink behind, but pockets of devotees still remain. Today, the Tom & Jerry is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, as lovers of classic cocktails try their hand at mixing a bowl. Preparing the batter does take a little work, but it can be doled out all day (and night) at holiday parties and Christmas gatherings. Basically a sort of hot eggnog, the drink may seem unfamiliar to contemporary palates; no worry, Tom & Jerry has a way of making friends real fast.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 20, 2007 at 3:45 PM
For those of you who may have been intrigued by the Charleston Punch but do not have plans to entertain groups of 300 people over the holidays, consider this saner yet festive alternative from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
.* Matt Lee and Ted Lee are Charleston denizens, but Matt developed the prototype of this punch for a black-tie holiday dinner at a Harvard eating club, so make of that what you will. It is possible that lower indigenous levels of gentility call for lower levels of alcohol.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 20, 2007 at 3:00 PM
The response to the New Orleans Junior League eggnog suggests that within the Serious Eats community there is a hitherto unexpressed interest in the alcoholic concoctions of nice Southern ladies. And why not? Without a flutter, they present recipes featuring booze in quantities that would make Dylan Thomas blanch. Witness the Cotillion Club Punch from the aforementioned Charleston Receipts. To make about 300 servings, you'll need:
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