Bartender Trapped In a Mason Jar

Confessions of a Bartender without a Bar.

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The Green Monster 2 oz Green Tea infused Cachaca .5 oz lime juice .5 oz Sage simple syrup Splash Sapin liqueur Shaken and served

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Had a large group of doctors come in and spend $2700 (yes you read that right) on three bottles of 18 year old Scotch tonight. So the drink of the night is a neat scotch with two drops of spring water to activate the flavor notes in their honor. But if you're looking for a cocktail, I'll share a tasty one I (unsuccessfully) tried to order after work tonight that sounded delicious (they were out of the infused liquor). Anybody Want a Peanut? (Credit to the 21st Amendment Bar in the French Quarter) 2 oz Peanut infused Makers .5 oz honey syrup 3 drops Xyletol Mole bitters As I didn't get to enjoy the drink I can't tell you whether it was up or on the rocks or if it had a garnish but do what feels right on your insides. And I'll be back to try the drink again and I'll share a full report.

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Had a tough night at work. We served a Flaming Strawberry dessert to a bunch of South African surgeons tonight. So I made myself my own "Flaming Strawberry" combo when I got home. But before that I had to stop by Cure in New Orleans to celebrate their fifth anniversary. If you're not familiar with Cure, they are one of the best cocktail bars in the city (arguably the country) so any time you get bartenders together talking shop, I'm in my personal heaven. Had two amazing cocktails there tonight. The Berlin in the 70's and a Ghost Dance. Both were completely incredible and being around great bartenders just makes me realize how much further I have to go and makes me want to up my game even more. So to that end I will continue to push my limits and share those experiences here in this space so stay tuned (?) (can you tune to a blog?) Cheers!

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Wanted to make an intriguing drink without much work after a long night on the job, so I whipped up this Spiced Madras tonight. 2 oz Huckleberry Vodka (any Berry vodka would be fine) 1 oz Sorel Spiced Hibiscus Liqueur 2 oz cranberry juice 1 oz orange juice Mix in a glass and add ice. Savor and enjoy. Cheers!

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Liqueur of the Month - St. Germain A couple days late but starting a new blog feature where I will be highlighting a new liqueur each month and using it in some cocktails. Might as well start with my personal favorite. A little taste of Spring. St. Germain is a sweet liqueur derived from Alpine Elderflowers, which are similar to honeysuckle if you aren't familiar. The recipe for St. Germain was originally created by monks and has existed for hundreds of years. Some bartenders call it "Bartender ketchup" because it's honestly good in almost any cocktail. Anytime you want to add a little sweet, floral flavor, it's always the first thing I reach for. Here's a couple recipes featuring St. Germain and I'll be sharing some more as the month go on. St. Germain Cocktail Glass of Champagne 1 oz St. Germain Lemon twist The ladies love this cocktail, but honestly, it's good no matter who you are. Add a little refinement to your champagne. And here's one of my own recipes that I've always loved that includes St. Germain Strawberry Blossom 2 oz. Stoli Strasberi 1 oz St. Germain Splash lemon juice Splash house made Hibiscus Pomegranate Grenadine Shake well and serve in a Martini glass. Top with champagne and sink a few more drops of grenadine, which will sink to the bottom and create a beautiful pink cocktail that is too good not to enjoy. If you like it sweeter just add some simple syrup but the goal is to let the liquors and champagne do most of the talking in this one. Cheers!

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Liqueur of the Month - St. Germain A couple days late but starting a new blog feature where I will be highlighting a new liqueur each month and using it in some cocktails. Might as well start with my personal favorite. A little taste of Spring. St. Germain is a sweet liqueur derived from Alpine Elderflowers, which are similar to honeysuckle if you aren't familiar. The recipe for St. Germain was originally created by monks and has existed for hundreds of years. Some bartenders call it "Bartender ketchup" because it's honestly good in almost any cocktail. Anytime you want to add a little sweet, floral flavor, it's always the first thing I reach for. Here's a couple recipes featuring St. Germain and I'll be sharing some more as the month go on. St. Germain Cocktail Glass of Champagne 1 oz St. Germain Lemon twist The ladies love this cocktail, but honestly, it's good no matter who you are. Add a little refinement to your champagne. And here's one of my own recipes that I've always loved that includes St. Germain Strawberry Blossom 2 oz. Stoli Strasberi 1 oz St. Germain Splash lemon juice Splash house made Hibiscus Pomegranate Grenadine Shake well and serve in a Martini glass. Top with champagne and sink a few more drops of grenadine, which will sink to the bottom and create a beautiful pink cocktail that is too good not to enjoy. If you like it sweeter just add some simple syrup but the goal is to let the liquors and champagne do most of the talking in this one. Cheers!

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Had a long day at work today and needed a refreshing pick me up. Had some green tea simple syrup left over, and some limes that needed using so whipped together a Green Tea Margarita. I used: 1.5 oz Green tea simple (I made it stronger in tea flavor and less sweet so I could use more at a time) 2 oz silver tequila 1 oz St Germain Half a lime, juiced with a hand juicer. A dollop of light agave nectar Shaken thoroughly over ice and strained or served on the rocks. Delicious as is, but as I was putting ingredients back in my fridge I found some lonely ginger. I cut off a chunk and put it into my hand juicer and squeezed til 4 or 5 drops of fresh ginger into my drink. Definitely dampened the green tea flavor but the green tea, lime, and ginger together definitely sang. Might have to try another and add some Angostura or Peychaud's and see what that does. Have fun with it. Become your own favorite bartender. Cheers!

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Happy Mardis Gras!

Happy Mardis Gras everyone! Hope you caught some beads and made some cocktails and maybe even watched a parade or two. If you aren't from Louisiana, then it might have just been another day for you. If that's the case, then I raise my glass to you as well. It's not too late to get into the season, however. I promised you a few days ago that I'd come clean with my King Cake Martini recipe, and Fat Tuesday seems like the perfect time!

(On an unrelated note, I'm seriously still obsessed with my Chaiconut Cocktail. Can't stop making them. And also can't stop myself from slurping them down the second I finish making them. Enter at your own risk. I don't have a drinking problem. I have a THIS DRINKing problem. You could always spice up your King Cake Martini with a little Chai. The flavors would work beautifully together.)

If you're not familiar with King Cake, it comes in many different flavors, but the essential King Cake is a gooey, cinnamon and cream cheese "cinnamon roll" type cake that gets covered in purple, green, and gold sugar, and sometimes with a baby Jesus stuck in it somewhere. No one said tradition and culture had to make sense.

You can capture the essence of this Mardis Gras tradition several different ways. Several vodka distillers now make a King Cake vodka, that you may be able to find. If you can, that's great. But if not, Vanilla vodka would be good, or even Cake vodka if you want to punch the "cakey" aspect of the drink. Add some Golschlager if you keep that around. It works even better since you're adding the Gold of the "Purple green and gold" of Mardis Gras. And it tastes like cinnamon to boot! I also used Godiva White Chocolate liqueur, but Bailey's, Tres Leches, Orchata (especially good choice for this drink) would all be viable replacements. A little milk, cream, or unsweetened coconut milk (if you're lactose intolerant or vegan) will help to smooth it all out and blend it together. I love bitters, so I wouldn't be able to resist a splash of Angostura for good measure, but that is optional. Shake the ingredients well over ice. Strain into a purple, green, and yellow sugar rimmed glass, and top with a dusting of cinnamon. Like so!

So my recipe, to recap:

2 oz King Cake (or Vanilla) vodka

1 oz Orchata (or Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur)

.5 oz Golschlager

Splash milk/cream/coconut milk

1 dash Angostura (optional)

Cinnamon dusting on top

Serve in a purple, green, and yellow sugar rimmed glass. Catch some beads, and have some fun. Happy Mardis Gras! Cheers!

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Had an amazing home cooked Steak dinner tonight. So my drink of the night pairs up with that. A nice glass of Washington State Cab. I will be going to a friend's to do some concocting this evening so you will definitely see what comes out of that session in the near future. I infused some roasted Beet vodka recently that we'll be taking out for a spin tonight. So get ready for that. Cheers!

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Working a crazy schedule during Mardis Gras. Bartending for bankers is just as awful as you would imagine. Staying at a hotel in the city tonight. Have to be up in 4 hours. Drink of the Day is the special at the bar around the corner I drank at tonight. Miller High Life and shots of Fireball. Cheers.

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14 hour workday today. Drink of the day is a double shot of Fireball and all the rest of the Rolling Rock in my fridge. Cheers.

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Came up with the best Chai Drink to date! Picasso had his Blue period. I'm having my Chai period. We'll eventually move on to something new, but until then, this is another Chaipter in the series of Chai. If you've ever had a Thai Iced Tea, this reminded me of that. 2 oz Malibu Rum 1 oz Orchata 1 oz Chai Simple .5-1 oz Unsweetened Coconut Milk 1 dash Angostura Bitters. The bitters totally rounds out this drink and really brings the spice notes of the Chai come through the coconut. This is one of my favorite drinks I've made in awhile. I hope you feel the same. Cheers!

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Went into the fridge to grab a beer and saw some lonely ginger I used to cook some Asian food for my girlfriends birthday and my sad orange I cut one slice out of for my Old Fashioned and thought they should be united together. Forever in Vodka. So here we go! I just zested my orange with a grater into my jar with approximately 375mL vodka. And I thinly sliced a peeled 2 inch section of ginger. That may be overkill on the ginger but I love it and the orange will always come through so I felt like being liberal with the ginger. Jar that jazz and store in a cool dark place for 3 days. After 3 days strain out particulates via microstrainer or paper towel or coffee filter and enjoy. Orange Ginger Cosmos. You could even use that Spiced Hibiscus simple syrup with it to create a real BTIAJ super special! Enjoy! When it's ready I'll post more cocktail recipes for it. I also thought about making this a Bourbon if that's more your thing.

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White | Black | Nola

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