Fuego, originally uploaded by chrisjara.

Here is the recipe for a Fuego as served at Tres Agaves in San Francisco:

Ingredients:

1/4 seedless jalapeño pepper

3 strawberries (stems removed)

1 ounce Tequila Don Julio Blanco

1/2 ounce Velvet Falernum liqueur

1/2 ounce lemon juice

5 ice cubes

1 slice seedless jalapeño pepper for garnish

1 strawberry for garnish

Preparation:

1. In a highball cocktail glass, muddle jalapeño pepper and strawberries.
2. Add Tequila Don Julio Blanco, Velvet Falernum liqueur, lemon juice and ice cubes to glass. Garnish with seedless jalapeño pepper slice and strawberry.

Ideal Serving Glass:

Highball cocktail glass

Yield:

1 drink

Technorati Tags: cocktails, day of the dead, halloween, liquor, tequila, tequila don julio, tres agaves, san francisco, recipe

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Widow’s Sangrita, originally uploaded by chrisjara.

Ingredients:

1 ounce Tequila Don Julio Reposado

2 cups orange juice

2/3 cup salsa

1 pinch salt

3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1/2 ounce grenadine

1 lime wedge for garnish

Preparation:

1. Add Tequila Don Julio Reposado to one-ounce tequila shot glass.
2. Add orange juice, salsa, salt, Worcestershire and grenadine to a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour enough contents from blender to fill a two-ounce tequila shot glass or “caballito.”

Widow’s Favorite Sangrita (continued)

4. Garnish Reposado with lime. Enjoy by alternating sips.

Ideal Serving Glass:

Caballito and one-ounce tequila shot glass

Yield:

1 drink

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While the largest festivity takes place in the magical southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the ancient holiday of Day of the Dead is fast becoming an occasion that many celebrate here in the United States.

Día de los Muertos begins on October 28th and ends on November 2nd. Traditionally each day of the holiday is a time to honor Mexican ancestry and departed loved ones with the biggest celebration taking place on November 2nd, the official day of Día de los Muertos. Today, Día de los Muertos is a joyous holiday that combines feasting on tasty Mexican cuisine, enjoying tempting beverages and dancing the night away.

Recipes are coming up!

Technorati Tags: halloween, oaxaca, mexico, day of the dead, dia de los muertos

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About a month ago, I had a PR Rep for Airforce’s Nutrisoda contact me via reading Kitten Couture and See Pretty Things. As you know both of these blogs that I run are about fashion. Due to my love of fashion, he informed me that his client had
partnered with Bono’s line Edun in a partnership to Dress for Success which is an organization that assists women in lower economic structures by providing them the information needed to get a job and to dress the part for their interviews. I thought that it was a fabulous opportunity and reported the information on both blogs and forgot that he had promised me a case of their beverages.

Well, I just received it and I was blown away by the taste and also the ability for it to be mixed with various alcoholic beverages! This then became an obvious addition to the blog and to spread the word about this
great product. There are 8 products with these energy drinks that are beneficial to your body. Each of these are ideal to create a beverage of your choosing or to enjoy alone.

Focus is Peach and Mango and assists in mental alertness and concentration - perfect for studying or making plans., Flex is a mixture of Black Cherry and Apple and helps you stay mobile. Calm (which I have to admit that it made me feel better) contains Wild Berry and Citron and allows you to deal with the stresses of life. Immune contains Lime and Tangerine and makes sure that you stay healthy and battle against being sick. Energize is a mixture of Mandarin and Mint and boosts your
energy. Slender has Pink Grapefruit and Guava and allows you to manage your weight and Radiant Pomegranate and Blackberry which makes your skin look awesome and keep it’s firmness. This drink did make me feel refreshed as well. There are a lot of vitamins in these drinks and although these statements are not proven by the FDA I have to say that it feels healthy to drink these colorful containers.

Now that you have an idea of what these drinks do, we need to know what they really do when they play with a few friends. Here is a sample of each one :

The BIKINITINI is a mixture of Absolut and Citron with Slender. Radiant and sparkling wine create the FACE LIFT. JUMPING JACK FLASH which sounds like a kick in the pants includes Energize and Jack and Coke. A drink that I would love to try because I am a fan of Calm is AMETHYST which includes Blue Raspberry Vodka. The APPLE FLEXTINI merges Flex, Belvedere
Cytrus Vodka and Sour Apple Pucker together. Enter the TROPOSPHERE with Focus and Bacardi Rum. I’m loving the sound of the IMMUNARITA which is Gold Tequila, Triple Sec, lemonade and Immune.

So visit the website to learn more about the drinks, the recipes of the
beverages and of course the fusion with Edun where proceeds from the
sale of the t-shirt goes back to Dress for Success.

Technorati Tags: spirits, beverage, liquor, cocktail, tequila, rum, vodka, bono, edun, nutrisoda

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Eminent Domain reviews Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Technorati Tags: beer, lager, sam adams, samuel adams, winter lager, review, liquor

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Caroline on Crack lives it up at Casa Del Mar’s Veranda Bar in Santa Monica, CA

Technorati Tags: carolineoncrack, bars, casadelmar, santa monica, santamonica, cocktails, boardwalk

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Thanks to Blavod Black Vodka, you have your Halloween drinks planned for you. They’ve allowed us to provide you with these cocktail recipes which sound great.

FRANKENCOSMO
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
2 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1oz Triple Sec
Splash of cranberry juice
Splash of fresh lime juice
Shake then strain into martini glass and garnish with sugared lime wheel

BOO BOMB
Fill rocks glass with ice and pour
3 oz Energy Drink
Layer 3 oz Blavod Black Vodka

BLACK WIDOW
Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour
3 oz cranberry juice
Layer 3 oz Blavod Black Vodka
on top of juice. Garnish with a lime

MUMMY MARTINI
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
4 oz Blavod Black Vodka
In martini glass pour a few drops of dry vermouth. Swirl and discard
Shake then strain vodka into martini glass and garnish with bleu cheese stuffed black olives

BLACK EYED PUMPKIN
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
3 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1 oz Pumpkin Schnapps
Shake and strain into martini glass. Garnish with skewered candy corn

SCREWED UP SCREWDRIVER
Fill chimney glass with ice and pour
3 oz chilled tangerine juice
Layer 3 oz Blavod Black Vodka Garnish with a licorice stick

BERRY SCARY MARTINI
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
2 oz Blavod Black Vodka
2 oz cherry juice
Shake and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with skewered raspberry and blueberry

BLACK APPLE BOBBY
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
1 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1 oz Players Extreme Green Apple Vodka
1 oz Players Extreme Caramel Vodka
Shake and strain into a chilled
martini glass. Garnish with skewered candy corn

BLACK CAT
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
1 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1 oz JagermeisterTM
Shake and strain into a shot glass

BLACK SPIDERWEB MARTINI
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
3 oz Blavod Black Vodka
In a chilled martini glass place a few drops of Vermouth swirl and discard
Stuff 2 medium Spanish olives with Bleu Cheese and skewer
Shake, then strain into martini glass and garnish with stuffed olives

GHOST IN THE GRAVEYARD
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
2 oz Blavod Black Vodka
2 oz crème de cacao or coffee flavored liqueur
Into a chilled rocks glass
Add 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Shake and strain vodka over ice cream. Garnish with a pinch of grated nutmeg

BAD MOON RISING
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
3 oz Blavod Black Vodka
Place white chocolate truffle in bottom of chilled martini glass.
Strain cold Blavod over truffle
and serve

BLACK WITCH
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
3 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1 oz ChambordTM liqueur
Shake then strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with long lemon curl

BLACK DEVIL
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
3 oz Blavod Black Vodka, Chill
In a chilled shot glass pour
1 oz Hot DamnTM or After ShockTM Liqueur
Shake, then strain vodka on top of schnapps. Garnish with a small Halloween size box of RED HOTS

TABOO
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
1 ½ oz Blavod Black Vodka Vodka
Splash Triple Sec
½ oz cranberry juice
½ oz sour mix
Shake and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry

BLACK MAGIC
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
1 1/2 oz Blavod Black Vodka
3/4 oz espresso liqueur
3-5 dashes lemon juice
Shake and strain into a chilled rocks glass

WITCHES BREW
(PUNCH)
2 Liter Bottles Blavod Black Vodka
1 Gallon Orange Juice
½ Gallon Orange or Peach Sorbet
1 Bunch peeled Black Grapes
Sugar to taste
1 Liter Lemon-Lime Soda
Small pieces of Dry Ice
Floating plastic eyeballs for garnish
Combine Blavod and orange juice in large punch bowl. Scoop sherbert into bowl until it has produced a nice scum over the top. Add sugar to taste if desired. Float peeled grapes and eyeball garnish in bowl. Drop in pieces of dry ice for steaming effect, but note that no one should put dry ice in his/her mouth. If you want to raise or lower the alcohol content in the punch, add vodka or clear soda respectively.

BLACK VELVET HAMMER
Fill martini shaker with ice and pour
1 1/2 oz Blavod Black Vodka
1/2 oz White crème de cacao
Splash of Cream
Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with chocolate espresso beans

VAMPIRE KISS
In a tall chimney glass pour in order
1 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
1 oz chilled cranberry juice
½ oz chilled soda
1 ½ oz Blavod Black Vodka
Garnish with a maraschino cherry

MIDNIGHT GHOSTBUSTER
1 oz Blavod Black Vodka
½ oz Bailey’s Irish Cream®
½ oz Kahlua®
In a rocks glass filled with ice pour Blavod, Kahlua® then Bailey’s®

SPOOK-TINI
In the bottom of a chilled martini glass place
2 dashes Blue Curacao
1 dash Grenadine
Fill halfway with chilled orange juice
Layer 2 oz chilled Blavod Black Vodka on top of orange juice
Garnish with a tiny piece of dry ice

OUIJA-TINI MARTINI
Compliments of MartiniArt.com

9 oz of freezing Blavod Black Vodka
2 oz chilled Blue Curacao
1 oz chilled banana schnapps
2 small gummy worms (chilled)
1 copy of the Vincent Price movie The Tingler
Pour the Blavod black vodka into a shaker half full of cracked ice. Shake for a half a minute. Add the Blue Curacao and continue to shake for another half minute. Strain your cocktail into 2 freezing martini glasses. Into each glass pour a half ounce of the banana schnapps. Stir each glass with its own chilled gummy worm. Dim the lights, start the movie…sip and get ready to scream!

SWAMP WATER
(PUNCH)
2 liter bottles Blavod Black vodka
½ gallon orange juice
½ gallon pineapple juice
1 quart cranberry juice
2 cups triple sec
Fresh squeezed lime juice
Let the spent lime rinds float in punch along with optional garnishes. Garnish with chilled gummy worms and green swedish fish floating on top with chocolate pretzel sticks for driftwood.

Technorati Tags: blavod, vodka, halloween, cocktails, cosmo, martini, drinks, spirits

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About six years ago, a friend had been dating a Russian ballerina and had told me about a great tradition they had - trying ice cold vodka with chocolate. I was skeptical at first and asked around - I couldn’t get verification of this odd combination.

Fast forward to 2006 and this just may be a new hot trend.

From the Distilled Spirits Council:

“The Distilled Spirits Council hosted a unique event that excited the palate by pairing seven of the world’s most renowned vodkas with freshly made gourmet chocolates prepared by Jacques Torres, Mr. Chocolate, at his New York City chocolate factory on Tuesday, June 13th.

“The distinct flavors and characteristics of super-premium vodkas have made them the fastest growing segment of the industry’s leading category.” said Shawn Kelley, Director of Public Relations for the Distilled Spirits Council. “Coupling high-end vodka with the leader of the confectionery industry seemed like an interesting pairing to explore.”

New York City hotspots are getting in on this emerging trend. Double Seven lounge pairs cocktails with the day’s shipment of Debauve & Gallais chocolates while Del Posto restaurant offers a chocolate tasting paired with aged rum on its dessert menu.

The Distilled Spirits Council event featured specialty cocktails by master mixologist Brian Van Flandern of PER SE restaurant using super premium vodkas such as Ciroc and Belvedere and flavored vodkas like Grey Goose La Vanille, Absolut Peppar, Finlandia Mango and Stoli Blueberi. Each cocktail was paired with a delicious chocolate innovation from Jacques Torres like his Wicked Fun, Passion Hearts and Heavenly Hazelnut.

“The super-premium vodkas possess an exquisite smoothness that works extremely well with the chocolate,” said Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolate.

Mr. Chocolate and Van Flandern will provide background on their individual creations and their collaborative effort to design complimentary pairings.”

Technorati Tags: vodka, cocktails, chocolate, ciroc, belvedere, finlandia, stoli, absolut, grey goose, spirits, liquor

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As promised, the Rum Fest in NYC may have only been one night; however, due to the variety of vendors that attended it’s nice to know that there will be a lot of information posted on here. By focusing on participants, you’ll be able to learn a little more about the alcohol. In addition, it is my hope to attend more events and share it with you. Finally, I will continue to post about bars since this is the best time of year to go to bars - I love when it’s colder and you visit bars that have fireplaces and other features that are perfect for going out to feel like you’re staying in. Anyway, that’s a little scoop, but pressing forward - back to the Rum Fest!

Some of you know that I used to do some promotional work as did my sister and we had the opportunity to work with a variety of beverages. My sister worked with 10 Cane in the city and although I had seen their bottles before, her work with them officially introduced me to them. Fortunately, I had another opportunity to learn more about this rum.

When I think of rum I think of such locales as Jamaica and Puerto Rico; however 10 Cane hails from Trinidad. Due to the process of creating this smooth and light tasting beverage from virgin Trinidadian sugarcane and lack of molasses - these are the distinctions that provide its unique taste that separates it from other rums. In addition, the rum is aged for 6 months in French Oak Barrels - this was something that was new to me, although for those who are rum aficionados this may be general knowledge. I do love that taste that you get when something has been distilled in oak, I believe that it gives it
more depth.

My favorite way to enjoy it is on the rocks or with tonic. I happily enjoyed my samples from the other night both ways. I also enjoyed how 10 Cane’s representatives were knowledgeable about the product and explaining a variety of ways to enjoy it. I think that for those that enjoy alcohol, you like to learn
how to hone your taste buds to taste all the components that make a beverage great. I look forward to learning and enjoying more of this great rum.

Technorati Tags: liquor, rum, cocktails, 10cane, 10+cane, trinidad, newyork, newyorkcity, new york, lvmh

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On Monday October 16th, I had the opportunity to be a part of the 2nd Annual Rum Fest hosted by Verbella Restaurant (in the Meat Packing District), The Rums of Puerto Rico and Polished Palate (much love to Polished Palate for allowing myself and Greg to attend), which creates a variety of tasting events in NYC, San Diego, DC and Tampa.

To be honest I have not really had a lot of Rum since I left college. In college, I was the queen of Rum and Cokes or Malibu and Orange Juice. While I was in South Beach last spring, I was all about Mojitos and I have had a few since then but I must admit that it is not the alcohol I think of when I go out. I was definitely interested in learning more about other Rums and how they were different from one another.

Upon entering Valbella Restaurant (which is a very sleek and contemporary space that has a long bar and boasts a variety of wines and spirits and is located at 421 W. 13th St), I learned that both levels were hosting this event and as my boyfriend and I walked around the room, there were a variety of alcohol companies participating in this event. Some were known, such as Bacardi, Captain Morgan, and Malibu. In addition there were others with a variety of locations: Appleton Rums from Jamaica (love them), Bambu Rum from Antigua, Santa Teresa hails from Venezuela and 10 Cane Rum from Trinidad.

At first I thought that I would focus on brands that I was not as familiar with; however, I am glad that I rethought this after visiting the Captain Morgan table which had an aged rum that was spiced that I had never seen before. My boyfriend and many of those participating explained that outside of the States, Rum is appreciated more due to its distilling and that by
participating in this event, it was their goal to show that Rum is as distinct and diverse as Gin, Vodka, etc.

Looking beyond the brands that I was aware of I enjoyed a new one, Agua Luca which is made in Brazil. It was a clear Rum (very cool bottle that incorporated the Brazilian flag). They were one of a few tables that provided a larger sample (which was nice since each table offered the option to sample it straight as a means to enjoy its distinctive qualities and also as a mixed beverage - generally I tried it both ways). I definitely loved this Rum since unlike many Rums it didn’t have the alcohol taste to it so it blended well within the drink (although you know that when you don’t taste something, you’re likely to drink it a lot more - thus the hangover).

I truly enjoyed visiting each table and of course sampling the food from the restaurant which was a great way to reset the palette for the next sample. I have to say that I learned a lot about the processing of Rum in general from a sugar cane to what we drink and how this is the determining factor from one beverage to the other.

I had two favorites of the evening, Agua Luca (loved the smooth taste and Ray was fabulous at making the drinks) and 10 Cane which had a warm, rich taste to it that makes it perfect for sipping. Fortunately, I will be able to attend future events about these groups. Third, I enjoyed Santa Teresa which makes a variety of beverages that are amazing for cooking and enjoying - this will also be a part of future posts. In addition, Greg (bartender and boyfriend) will include a post about the changes that have occurred in the industry with the rebirth of rums and their complexities.

I met a lot of distributors at this event that are excited to have me attend their events which will allow me to share more
information about the venues and their beverages. I hope you guys enjoy it and decide to pick up these tasty treats!

Technorati Tags: rum, rumfest, nyc, newyork, newyorkcity, new+york+city, verbella, bacardi, cocktail, liquor, captain+morgan, agua+luca, santa+teresa, 10+cane, polished+palate

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