Girlfriend Drinks: The Lavender Martini This drink will always and forever have a special place in my heart. Not only was it one of the signature cocktails we served at our wedding (which is hard to forget because we still have the giant gold and black sign hanging in our house), but this, my friends, was the first drink Brian ever made me. (Swoon). Right after we decided that maybe we weren’t “just friends” (for the...
Read MoreGirlfriend Drinks: The Elderflower Manhattan In case there was ever any doubt who is writing which post, today will be an easy one. Girlfriends. They’re the best. It’s pretty vogue to be the tomboy and exclaim “Oh, I only ever was friends with boys growing up,” but despite liking what’s vogue, that was never my thing. I had sisters, and was shy, and truly loved every stereotypical gender norm that one...
Read MoreFall Five: Apple Margarita & The Manhattan’s Apple Other fun fall drinks | Rosemary Bourbon Sour | Fall Ginger Smash | Spiced Rum Old Fashion | Pumpkin Pie Shooters Boots, puffy, vests, and leaves in every hue. That-plus the site of flannel (everywhere)-means that fall is here, and maybe ponchos are for awhile as well? I grew up in Southern California and my only real notions of fall was that was when school...
Read MoreSemi-Finals: The Reds Dolin v. Boissiere The contest between Dolin, the best Top Shelf Red, and Boissiere, the best inexpensive Red, for championship of the Red conference was our tightest yet. We both changed our mind several times. They’re very similar in taste, perhaps the most similar overall, in a category that actually had a lot of interesting variety. Both of them are sweet but complex, good for sipping and for cocktails....
Read MoreThe Great Vermouth Taste-Off: Top Shelf Reds Having proclaimed Cocchi Americano the champion on the dry side of our vermouth bracket, and having finally consumed or given away the contenders from the inexpensive sweet quarter, it’s now time for us to move on to top shelf sweet vermouths. Let me introduce you to the contestants: As I mentioned in the Top Shelf Whites post, Lillet is not technically a vermouth; but as a cousin to...
Read MoreWell, I’ve finally worked through the bottles of inexpensive white vermouth, one way or another (Gallo has been a suitable cooking wine replacement). So, it’s time to move on to the next bracket: It should be noted that in talking about vermouth ‘expensive’ is a relative term. I didn’t spend over $20 on any of them. It is possible to buy more expensive ‘vermouth’-a new breed of American...
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