Tag Archives: cocktails

Drink, Spirits

The Kamikaze Candidate Cocktail

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The Kamikaze Candidate Cocktail

To be totally transparent, it is a dream of mine to invent a popular cocktail that people order by name long after I’m gone.

How does a cocktail become a classic? Obviously it needs to be delicious. This is a necessary condition, but it is not sufficient: bartenders make delicious new cocktails all the time, and very few become classics. I suggest that there needs to be something else about the drink, as a concept, that engages people and says something about them or their current time. I am hoping that Alberta’s general dislike of Premier Jason Kenney can be just such an underpinning for my bid to invent a famous mixed drink. Allow me to present the case for … Continue reading.

Metro Demonstration Course: Introduction to Classic Cocktails

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The ingredients and equipment needed to make an interesting twist on the classic Blood and Sand cocktail.On Wednesday, July 18, 2017 I will be teaching a class for Metro Continuing Education called Introduction to Classic Cocktails.  Here’s the corny course description we wrote for the Metro catalogue:

The classic cocktail revival is in full swing in Edmonton. Catch the trend and learn about the history and ingredients of classic cocktails, as well as techniques for mixing like a pro. Develop an appreciation for what goes into a well-crafted libation, master old standbys like the sidecar and Manhattan and build a foundation for developing your own recipes and signature drinks. Demonstration course.

The plan is to spend roughly the first hour discussing the most important ingredients in classics cocktails, from the noble liquors like rye and cognac,

… Continue reading.
Coffee and Tea, Spirits

Kona Breeze Cocktail

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I could hear it coming, rustling softly through the coffee trees, stirring the monkeypods, and sighing through the sugar cane.

 

A Kona Breeze cocktail, with Koloa dark rum and Trader Vic's macadamia nut liqueur.For no reason besides my own creative enjoyment I am developing a set of Hawaiian-themed cocktails.

From the start I knew that one of my Hawaiian cocktails was going feature coffee, and it didn’t take long to settle on the other components, all classic Hawaiian flavours that pair well with java: dark rum, macadamia nut, and orange.

Kona is a city and region on the western, leeward side of the big island.  For many it has the perfect weather: warm days, cool nights, infrequent rains, and a nearly constant, gentle breeze.  There is a lengthy description of Kona’s balmy … Continue reading.

Drink, Greek, Spirits

Ouzo

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Ouzo is a strong, clear, anise-flavoured spirit made in Greece.  The taste may remind you of liquorice candy, or other anise spirits like sambuca, pastis, and Pernod.  The term is a protected regional designation within the EU, meaning that if it’s not made in Greece, it can’t be called ouzo.  It is usually about 40% ABV.

Ouzo is made by infusing a relatively neutral spirit with anise and other botanicals.  The neutral spirit is a grape pommace distillate, just like Italian grappa or French marc.  In most of Greece this grape pommace distillate is called tsipouro, though the Turkish word raki is also common, especially on the islands of Crete and Cyprus.  Tsipouro has been made for centuries, and over … Continue reading.