Sipster Submission: Le Tapis Rouge

My good friend and DC blogger Jeff Surprenant and his partner Ray sent over this fabulous drink they created for their Oscar celebration. They are kind enough to share it with us (see below) and don't forget to check out his blog District Chatter to see what is going on inside the beltway of our Nation's Capital!

Le Tapis Rouge (The Red Carpet)

1 Ounce of Surreal Red Berry Creme Vodka.

Fill 3/4 of the way with Champagne.

1/2 Ounce of Acai Juice.

1 Raspberry for garnish.

Sipster Submission - Skittles(R) Vodka

Every once in a while, I deviate from "high-end" mixology to bring you something just plain fun. I'm particularly prone to doing this if it comes from one of YOU! A sipster submission means that you are taking the time to send in something you find interesting... so that means more of you out there in cocktail-loving-land might find it a good read, too.

This Sipster Submission comes from Ben G. in Los Angeles. He came across these directions to infuse vodka with skittles candy. I personally suggest that this "candied vodka" only be used in the same proportions you would use a liqueur (about 3/4 of an ounce, tops). And, for crissakes, don't as 7-up as suggested in this post. I'd be inclined to shake it with an ounce of plain vodka, and a swirl of cream, maybe... or use it to make jello shots.

At the end of the day, bringing whimsy to alcoholic beverages never hurt anybody. Drinking is fun, remember?

*photo and skittles(R) vodka come from Mix That Drink

Sipster Submissions

San Francisco’s Victoria D’Amato-Moran shares her gorgeous Autumn-themed cocktail with us. Incidentally, this particular libation won FIRST PLACE in the "ri(1) whiskey" competition last Monday, in the City by the Bay.

Rumor has it that Victoria is about to start whipping up some luscious drinks for Michael Chiarello in Yountville (ie: Napa’s playground for wine-loving world renown chefs).

Fall-ing For You

1.5 oz ri(1) whiskey
1 oz. homemade spice syrup
3 oz Pumpkin/Apple juice

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.

This little lady also runs Cent' Anni, her cocktail consulting business. She has created 40 drinks for the Suntory Company (Midori, Yamazaki, Zen) as well as for magazines, websites, East Leaf Products, and so on.

Another Girl Cocktail Blogger Hits the Airwaves!

Please welcome Meaghan to our little neck of the woods. The NYC-based writer (and former bartender) blogs at Spirit Me Away.

Cheers, Meaghan. Happy to have you pull up a cyber barstool.

xo The Liquid Muse

Sipster Submission

Making the Most of a Troubled Economy

Los Angeles Sipster Erin Williams and her pal were recently laid off from their day jobs but still “big fans of food and drink.” How do they manage to maintain a hoppin’ social life while sticking to a budget? Here’s Erin tactic:

“We've managed to satisfy our taste for good food and boozing by going to Kabuki's happy hour where the rolls range from $2.50 to $5 on Mon-Fri from 3-6pm, taking advantage of the 2 for 1 cocktails at Tiny's from 8-9pm on weekdays, and the $4 extra dirty martinis at The Well until 9pm weekdays.”

How do YOU deal with a rough economy in thirsty times?

Sipster Submission: Triple Citrus Drop

It is always so much fun to meet kindred souls... those people who love to eat, drink and enjoy the bounty and talent our city has to offer. Last night at Whisper Lounge I met "Foodie HC" who covers things that you say "Yum!" from L.A. to the O.C.

When HC told me that he had been watching Alberta Straub's "Cocktails on the Fly" and decided to create his own libation creation called the Triple Citrus Drop. Cheers!

Sipster Submission - 21 Vegas Baby

Once again, the pages of The Liquid Muse Blog are graced by a Sipster Correspondent! LA-based writer Sara Shereen Bakhshian shares a little "finally over 21" fun from her Vegas celebration... (Photo: Birthday girl, Shayda with writer, Sara)

Twenty-one drinks, dares and so on have become staples for the eponymous birthday celebration. That wasn’t necessarily the case for my sister’s 21st, but we did spend a weekend in Las Vegas. A fairly relaxed trip for Vegas, which included our parents and nine friends, began with dinner at the flagship Grand Lux Café inside the Venetian Hotel.

The birthday girl, Shayda, ordered a classic Piña Colada (with Bacardi Silver, Cruzan Pineapple Rum, Island Juices and Coconut). Then the table sipped on Napa’s Mumm Cuvee with such dessert items as the Deep Dark Fudge Cake and the Fresh Strawberry Shortcake.

That night progressed upstairs with our friends at the Tao Nightclub, the younger sibling of a New York location. Shortly after our group of 11 got in, we split in half where Shayda and her friends ventured around the club’s three floors and the rest of us stayed downstairs.

We began ordering from a list of recommended drinks provided by a Tao insider, where the Asian Fusion take on the French Martini, the Tiger Lilly took first prize. This drink is made with 1 1/2 oz. Belvedere Vodka, 1/2 oz. Chambord, a splash of pineapple juice, a splash of sour mix and served up with a pineapple slice garnish. The drink’s victory is inclusion of fruit and juice that makes it sweet but doesn’t allow it to overpower one’s taste buds.

The TAO-tini also deserves an honorable mention. This cocktail includes 1 1/2oz. Absolut Mandarin, 1 oz. Stoli Raspberry, 1 1/2 oz. Malibu, 1/2 oz. Cranberry Juice, 1/2oz. Rose’s Lime Juice, a splash of sour mix and served up with three skewered raspberries. In line with the classical Cosmopolitan, the TAO-tini is a strong signature piece with a smooth finish.

After about an hour my sister’s group decided to leave the club after feeling over-crowded and pushed around in the upper floors. However, my mix of friends ended up staying longer and avoiding the crowds. After finishing the current round of drinks on the first floor, we moved swiftly to the second floor balcony. This was where the short and sweet PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur shots were being distributed, as we overlooked the Las Vegas Strip. The evening ended later after a final stop at the cabanas on Tao’s third floor, where we sipped Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV Champagne.

Day 2 started late with appointments at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Rock Spa. After the various toxins were released in our bodies we walked on over to Pink Taco and munched on chips and salsa, tacos and tamales. Some of the brave ordered the Fine Casa Margarita (Sauza Gold tequila, fresh lime juice and other secrets) and the Pink Taco Margarita (a blend of Trago Reposado, fresh lime juice and their homemade Agua de Jamaica, a sweet extract from the hibiscus flower). Sipping a bit of each of these drinks was a positive flavorful experience for me.

Probably one of the greatest, and fullest, experiences on the trip was the Omakase Menu at Nobu that evening, after an early show at the Wynn. The late dinner at the Hard Rock restaurant Nobu included a mouth watering seven courses for $100 per person. Our particular menu included: Toro with spicy Miso and Caviar; a palate cleanser sorbet; Yellowtail Tartar; Black Cod with Miso; Beef Tenderloin; Mixed sushi; and the Bento Box — a flourless chocolate cake with white chocolate sauce, shiso oil and green tea ice cream.

The Champagne ’95 cocktail was a hit at the table as it was Moet & Chandon Nectar Champagne poured over Grand Marnier, Peach Schnapps and a pineapple puree with a raspberry garnish. A meal such as this could not be served without sake as the group shared the chilled Onigoroshi ‘Devil Killer’ and followed it with the warm Jyunmai, Nobu’s House Sake. Perfection, with some pangs of overeating, was how the evening came to be described by the diners.

All in all the weekend was a great celebration of Shayda and life.

Sipster Submission - Crush Time

I am excited to bring you The Liquid Muse contributors, from time to time. I’m fortunate to meet other writers who share similar interests and generously relay their intoxicating tales with us!

This story comes from Shannon Kelley Gould, who lives and drinks wine in Santa Barbara, California, where she is an associate editor, columnist, and photographer at the Santa Barbara Independent. Her work has appeared in the Arizona Republic, Woman’s Day, and Vanity Fair.

Crush Time

My skills as a wine drinker may be undisputed, but, as I learned during my one-day stint on the other side of the bottle, as a winemaker, well, not so much.

During my day at Jaffurs Winery, which was deep in the throes of Harvest, I narrowly escaped falling into a bin of fermenting Bien Nacido Syrah grapes while trying to wipe down the fruit clinging to the bin’s sides. I inhaled a whiff of the nosehair-incinerating carbon-dioxide-and-alcohol combo emanating from said grapes so potent it nearly knocked me into said bin. And I shot myself in the face with a hose whose nozzle, it must be stated, suffered from recklessly counterintuitive design. And all that before lunch. On the upside, I learned the proper pairing for pizza. Among this crowd, anyway, pepperoni goes perfectly with Syrah: in particular, Jaffurs’ 05 Ampelos and Alban’s ’96 Edna Valley.

It was a busy, seven-ton harvest day at Jaffurs, a small production winery in downtown Santa Barbara that specializes in Rhone varietals, and the winemakers were literally up to their eyeballs in grapes—which may serve to explain why even my novice hands were appreciated. We spent the morning tending the already fermenting grapes harvested earlier in the week, and, after the pressing down, wiping down, and covering up was complete, moved on.

Destemming was up next, and—like lots of things-- it’s done a little differently at Jaffurs. A small-scale operation can take the extra time to hand-pick out any errant stems, leaves, or garden pests from the grapes spit out by the destemming machine, and doing so proved to be great, grape-scented (and –stained) fun. I stationed myself under the churning machinery, and pretended I knew what I was doing as bin after bin of the chilly fruit cascaded down. The crew grew to include Ampelos’ vineyards’ owner Peter Work—delivering cool-climate Syrah grapes from his Santa Rita Hills vineyard, many of which had been picked that morning by a few of Jaffurs’ devoted workhorses-- and several handfuls of leisurely tasters, stopping by for a sip and sticking around long enough to be smitten by the process. One even asked me if I worked there. (Needless to say, she wasn’t privy to the hose-in-the-face debacle.)

At the end of the day, my hands, my clothes, and my shoes were purpled, which was a nice break for my teeth. A break that was remedied soon enough.

Introducing: Toasting Coasts

I am excited to introduce you Sipsters to Liza Weisstuch, a Boston-based scribe who contributes to the Boston Globe. Her writing on cocktails, dining, design, theater and other indulgences also appear in The Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, DailyCandy, and in an upcoming issue of Imbibe Magazine. Now, she is also an East Coast correspondent for The Liquid Muse, and generously sharing wonderful tid-bits from the Left Coast, where many cocktailian thrills are had. Below is Liza’s first article for us, so settle in for an intoxicating spin around the Boston Harbor, and raise a glass to the lovley ladies of LUPEC (preferably using the cocktail recipe at the end of this piece!)

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The cityscape sparkled along the Boston Harbor. On a recent crisp October night, the law-abiding urban dwellers going about their business in those buildings were completely oblivious to the sultry mischief the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endagered Cocktails were instigating. If you walked along the wharf and listened hard, you could hear some jazzy riffs and raucous laughter drifting from the seemingly unremarkable Louisiana Riverboat bobbing gently on the water. Gentle, however, was hardly the word inside. In upper deck quarters that looked like a downtown gin joint by way of the Love Boat, it was an all-out blowout – LUPEC style.

The LUPEC Boston Tea Party, a fundraiser coordinated by the organization’s Boston chapter, would have warmed the cockles of Dorothy Parker’s heart – and put some fire in her belly. The group’s ten members lassoed some of the city’s finest bartenders and chefs and fashioned a bona fide (albeit provisional) speakeasy on the boat – at least if the records of the era maintained by New Yorker columnist Morris Markey are any measure. Of a Wall Street secret watering hole, he wrote about the time warp effect prompted by “six white-coated fellows flinging the shakers up and down lustily to the tune of rattling ice….while the faintly sweet aroma of gin floated back through the crowd pressed against the rail.” Indeed, the faintly sweet smell of gin – not to mention whiskey – hung heavy in the air. And Golden Age glam ruled as revelers sported feathered headpieces, flapper-esque dresses, mink wraps, bobs and scarlet lipstick. (Sorry, guys, the ladies outdid you.) The debonair bartenders mixed up some serious vintage moxie – Bronx cocktails and Scoff-Law cocktails. Everything was offered in teacups, of course. How else to keep it on the DL?

Also among the tipples was the Flapper Jane, a concoction invented by the LUPEC broads (see recipe below). The Ladies are no neophytes when it comes to creating recipes. Founded in February by Misty “Hanky Panky” Kalkofen, bar manager at Green Street, a Cambridge neighborhood restaurant where the bar has a decidedly old school slant, Boston’s is the fifth LUPEC chapter. The group began in Pittsburgh with the mission of “Dismantling the patriarchy…one drink at a time.” Now each chapter has its own strategy for broadcasting women’s role in the history of spirits – and, by turn, the country. The Boston gals meet once a month around a particular theme and sample – and often create – relevant cocktails. Lest this be construed as your standard girls-night-out cocktail frenzy, take note that they study up on influential grand dames at each gathering. Creativity led them to create a gin cocktail that won a cocktail contest on salon.com; scholarly pursuits led them to exhume an article that ran in the New Republic in 1925 heralding the arrival of the new socialite, Flapper Jane; and social consciousness drove them to raise over $4000 at the Tea Party to donate to Jane Doe Inc, a nonprofit devoted to ending domestic violence and sexual assault.

And so at another historic Tea Party, another social mission was accomplished, (though thankfully nothing was hurled overboard this time around.) The night wore on, but few seemed to wear out. After all, everyone was fueled by the real McCoy.

While Fancy Brandy worked the crowd hawking LUPEC unmentionables and raffle tickets from a contraption reminiscent a burlesque cigarette girl, Kalkofen dashed about attending to her drink – and a few logistics. “Everyone’s saying ‘I couldn’t find the boat.’ It’s a speakeasy -- you have to look harder! And everyone’s asking ‘Can I take this on the dock?’” Kalkofen shrugged. “It’s in a teacup, isn’t it?”

Flapper Jane
1 3/4 oz Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Wu Wei infused Simple Syrup
dash of Peychaud Bitters
Shake in a cocktail shaker, strain into a cocktail glass, and toast your own fabulousness! (Their exclamation mark.)

Japanese Single Malt Whisky

Another fascinating Sispster, Chris Bunting, tells us about his passion for his favorite Japanese spirit! After reading his Sipster Submission here on The Liquid Muse, visit his blog, Nonjatta, devoted to Japanese Single Malt. Here's Chris:

My first experience of Japanese single malt whisky was inspired by loneliness. I live over here in a city on the edge of the Tokyo-Yokohama megalopolis with my wife and two-year-old son. She had gone abroad for a conference and I had just put my son to bed. It was a Friday night and I wanted a drink. My wife and I usually share a bottle of wine on a Friday but I didn't feel up to it on my own. I just wanted a glass of something a bit stronger than tea.

I don't remember what I did that night - probably siphoned off a snifter from my petrol tank - but the next day I took a detour round the spirits section in my local supermarket. There were little miniature 180ml bottles of single malt whisky: a Laphroaig, a Bowmore and two Japanese single malts. I went for one of the Japanese ones, called Hakushu, and the Laphroaig. That night I had a glass from each and it was a bit of a revelation. The Laphroaig was damn nice, but so, in a totally different way, was the Hakushu.

That was where my journey in the world of Japanese single malt began. I have been posting everything I have found out on my blog, Nonjatta. Although I've got a long way to go until I really get a handle on this fascinating corner of the spirit world, I've tasted many more Japanese whiskies since that first Hakushu. Not all of them have been great but I can say that Japanese single malts compete toe to toe with anything from Scotland, Ireland or North America. The Japanese are the second biggest producers of single malt whisky in the world and their drams are regularly winning international competitions these days. For anybody who is interested in this near 90 year old distilling tradition, I will finish this little write-up with a bit of bad news and a bit of good news. First the bad: at the moment, particularly in America, it is quite difficult to get hold of anything but Yamazaki single malt. The good news: there are many dozens of expressions from 10 different distilleries on the Japanese market just waiting to get on the boat.