'Tis the Season

New holiday drink recipes!

Winter Candy Apple
1 1/2 oz Pinnacle Whipped
3/4 oz sour apple schnapps
3/4 oz cranberry juice
3/4 oz Jose Cuervo Strawberry Margarita mix
1/4 oz grenadine

Also needed: mini candy canes

I know I've been a little heavy on the apple flavor lately, but this drink is basically a combination of everything I had left over from past events. It's named after my favorite sweet smelling Bath and Body Works lotion.

First, crush up two mini candy canes and use the pieces to rim a chilled cocktail glass. Be careful with this -- after several minutes, the candy cane pieces become sticky and form a sticky mass. Once this happens, the pieces will no longer adhere to the glass. Rim no more than two glasses at a time, then throw away the crushed candy canes and begin again, if making multiple drinks.

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into rimmed glass. Optional: hang an additional candy cane on the side of the glass for garnish.

This drink has a sweet & sour flavor, but basically tastes like candy. The peppermint aroma on the rim adds a festive, wintery touch.

Snowflake Shake
1 1/2 oz Absolut Vanilia
3/4 oz Baileys Irish Cream
2 scoops chocolate chip ice cream
4 oz milk
dash of Whipped Lightning German Chocolate Whipahol

Scoop ice cream into a highball glass. Continue to build Baileys, vodka, and milk. Stir together with a long spoon and top off with Whipahol. (Whipped Lightning is "the world's first alcohol infused whipped cream". It comes in nine flavors and is deserving of its own entry sometime in the near future).

Mistletoe Martini
1 1/2 Malibu coconut rum
3/4 oz Midori
1 3/4 oz pineapple juice

This is my favorite recipe from last Christmas, but I drink it year round. Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Throw in a cherry for garnish.

Candy Cane Cosmo
1 1/2 oz peppermint vodka
3/4 oz Cointreau
1 1/4 cranberry juice
splash of Sprite

Peppermint vodka is not that common and may be extremely hard to find. Try Tamoborine Mountain Distillery's Australian Native Peppermint. Combine vodka, cointreau and cranberry juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top off with chilled Sprite. Hang a mini candy cane from the glass for garnish.

Fruit Flavored Vodka

Special thanks to the Orlando Ale House for introducing me to the following fruit flavored vodkas: Belvedere Black Raspberry, Absolut Pears, and Smirnoff Blueberry.

Here are a few of my new recipes:

Four and Twenty Black Birds
(As in "baked in a pie". Yes, this drink is named after a nursery rhyme.)

1 oz Belvedere Black Raspberry
½ oz Black Cherry Bourbon (try Jim Beam's Red Stag)
½ oz Blackcurrant Liqueur (try Mathilde's Creme de Cassis)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
splash of cranberry juice
splash of ginger ale

Combine vodka, bourbon, lemon juice and cranberry juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Slowly pour in the blackcurrant so that it falls to the bottom, creating a two-tone pink/purple effect. Top off with ginger ale and garnish with a raspberry and black berry on a cocktail skewer.

The Cherry Berry
1 ½ oz Belvedere Black Raspberry
4 oz raspberry ginger ale
Dash of grenadine

Basically Shirley Temple meets Chelsea Handler. Build this drink in a high ball glass over ice. The name comes from the Cherry Berry, a Swedish Fish-like gummy I used to buy from penny candy stores as a child. If you have access to these, put a couple on a cocktail skewer for garnish. If not, a pair of cherries will suffice.

Autumn Sunset
1 ½ oz Absolut Pears
½ oz sour apple schnapps
½ oz Chambord
1 ½ oz white cranberry juice

Combine vodka, apple schnapps, and cranberry juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Slowly pour in Chambord, which should fall to the bottom. Garnish with a pear wheel.

Harvest Sangria
4 parts Riesling
2 parts Absolut Pears
2 parts apple juice
1 part peach schnapps

This would make a great Thanksgiving Day punch. Ingredients should be chilled before hand and combined in a punch bowl or glass pitcher. Stir in slices of fresh apples, peaches, and pears.

Triple Berry Lemonade
1 ½ oz Smirnoff Blueberry
4 oz lemonade
2 large strawberries
¾ oz Chambord raspberry liqueur

Muddle (mash) strawberries in the bottom of a shaker. Add ice, vodka, and lemonade. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Pour in Chambord. Stir in a few blueberries, raspberries, and little strawberry slices. Add a straw and serve.

Blueberry Cobbler
1 ½ oz Smirnoff Blueberry
½ oz real whipped cream
Brown sugar rim

Rim a shot glass with brown sugar. Shake vodka and whipped cream with ice and strain into a shot glass. Enjoy!

An Apple-tini a Day

So we’re going to take a break from our flavored vodka unit for an autumn-themed post. I like to keep my drinks seasonal. This means that during the fall, I almost exclusively drink pumpkin spiced lattes in the morning and apple-tinis as part of my late night festivities. In its October issue, the Food Network Magazine recently published an article called “An Apple a Day” which included 31 recipes -- one for each day in October -- that called for apples. Here is my own version – a different original apple-tini recipe for every day of the week. Enjoy!

Sunday -- Apple Pie à la Mode
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Whipped vodka
Splash of sour apple schnapps (try Lady Velvet)
Dash of real whipped cream
2 oz apple cider

Also needed: 1 Graham cracker, cinammon

This is my newest original recipe, and I don’t want to brag or anything, but it’s fantastic. First, pound a Graham cracker into fine crumbs. Rim cocktail glass with cracker crumbs. (You can do this by first dipping the rim of the glass into a shallow bowl of cider. The crumbs will stick to the moist rim.) Combine vodka, sour apple schnapps, cider and real whipped cream in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into rimmed glass. The result will be a creamy apple-flavored concoction – think cold vanilla ice cream melting on warm apple pie. The Graham cracker crumbs serve as the crust. Further garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Monday -- Candy Apple Martini
1 oz Skyy vodka
1 oz DeKuyper ButterShots
1 oz apple juice
1 oz cranberry juice

This has been my signature fall recipe for the past two years. This drink tastes like a smooth, sugary caramel apple and is red in color. Shake ingredients with ice and strain.

Tuesday -- Jack Sparrow’s Treasure
1 ½ oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
¾ oz Goldschlager cinnamon schnapps
4 oz apple cider

Also needed: Cubed apples and a cinnamon stick

I live in Disney. It was only a matter of time before I started naming my drinks after Disney characters. (Not to mention that I ride Pirates of the Caribbean at least once a week.) Also, Goldschlager contains real flecks of gold, gold = treasure …you see how I got the name. Combine ingredients in a high ball glass with ice and a few pieces of apple cut into cube-like shapes. Speed shake and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Wednesday -- Cran-Apple-tini
1 ½ oz Finlandia Cranberry vodka
¾ oz DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker
1 ¾ oz cranberry juice

This makes a great Thanksgiving Day cocktail and was inspired by the Boston Basher at Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk. Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Real cranberries on a cocktail skewer make a great garnish.

Thursday -- Apple Gingersnap
1 ½ oz Skyy Ginger vodka
¾ oz DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker
1 ¾ oz apple cider

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a dash of whipped cream and a mini gingersnap cookie. Optional sugar rim.

Friday -- Forbidden Fruit
1 ½ oz Smirnoff Green Apple Twist
¾ oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur
1 ¾ oz cranberry juice

Apple and pomegranate are probably my two favorite cocktail flavors. The name is a reference to both the Garden of Eden and the myth of Persephone, whose consumption of pomegranate seeds forced her to return to the underworld. (I was a Religious Studies major. I am also a dork.) Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh green apple wheel.

Saturday -- Caramel Apple Cider
1 ½ oz Bacardi Big Apple rum
¾ oz DeKuyper ButterShots
1 ¾ oz apple cider

Lace a cocktail glass with caramel sauce. Do this by taking a spoonful of caramel and drizzling it over the cocktail glass so that there are caramel swirls around the sides. Combine rum, butterscotch schnapps, and cider in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into caramel-coated glass. Garnish with an apple wedge dipped in caramel.

Bubble-licious

October is upon us, meaning that for the next month, any drink I make will either be orange colored or candy flavored. In that case, it seems like the perfect time to discuss Three Olives Bubble vodka.

I'm not a big fan of bubblegum flavored anything. I never used my quarters to buy gum balls as a child, I always avoid the Jelly Belly Bubblegum jelly beans, and I refuse to allow bubblegum flavored toothpaste in my mouth, even at the dentist's office. That being said, I wasn't in any rush to try Three-O's Bubble. But I received a bottle as a gift this summer, and, being the good little mixologist that I am, I decided to play around with it.

The first thing I did was default to The Intoxicologist, which is my favorite drinking blog and everything I could ever hope My Mid-Morning Martini could be. As expected, Cheri Loughlin did not disappoint, and set me in the right direction, especially when she suggested combining Bubble with cranberry juice and peach schnapps.

The Woo-woo is a somewhat old-fashioned drink that I learned to make in bartending class. It gained popularity in the 80s during the advent of the liqueur and is comprised of 1 1/2 oz vodka, 3/4 oz peach schnapps, and 4 oz cranberry juice -- basically a Sex on the Beach without the OJ. Here's my variation of the Woo-woo, using bubblegum vodka instead of regular.

Bubblemania
1 1/2 oz Three Olives Bubble
3/4 oz Peach Schnapps
1 1/2 oz Cranberry juice

Shake with ice and strain ingredients into a chilled cocktail glass. I use less cranberry juice than the traditional Woo-woo since this makes the drink stronger and turns it a soft pink color, as opposed to red. In this way, it looks that way you'd expect a bubblegum flavored drink to taste. The Intoxicologist recipe calls for Club Soda, but I think this waters down the taste of the vodka.

My friend Michele makes a signature drink she calls the Jolly Rancher. It consists of three basic ingredients -- vodka, club soda, and a fruity liqueur such as DeKuyper Watermelon or Sour Apple Pucker. By substituting bubblegum flavored vodka, you can turn the Jolly Rancher into the Blow Pop, perfect for a Halloween or back-to-your-childhood themed party.

Sour Apple Blow Pop
1 1/2 oz Three Olives Bubble
3/4 DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker
1 1/2 oz Sprite

Watermelon Blow Pop
1 1/2 oz Three Olives Bubble
3/4 oz DeKuyper Watermelon Pucker
1 1/2 oz Sprite

Shake vodka and liqueur with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top off with chilled Sprite. (I use Sprite instead of Club Soda for the extra sugar factor, since Blow Pops are significantly sweeter than Jolly Ranchers.)

In keeping with the Blow Pop theme, Bubble also mixes well with grape soda (1 part vodka to 2 parts soda) and in either cherry or watermelon Jell-O shots (following the recipe on the box and using refrigerated vodka instead of cold water).

Also, since October is breast cancer awareness month and the Gloria Gemma Flames of Hope Waterfire is almost here, here's a celebratory pink cocktail to finish things off. For my Christmas punch, I've always loved combining vodka, cranberry juice and champagne (or ginger ale, if you want less alcohol. Here's the same recipe with a Bubble-y twist:

Bit O' Bubbly
1 part Three Olives Bubble
1 part dry champagne
2 parts cranberry juice

Keep ingredients refrigerated before hand, then combine in a champagne flute. Adjust proportions if needed to achieve a light pink hue.

Just one taste.....and you're Whipped

Possibly the best vodka slogan ever. But more on that in a minute.

It would have made the most sense if I had updated this blog regularly while I was taking a bartending class. Unfortunately, this did not happen. My apologies. So now that I'm all settled in to Florida life and have a (somewhat) set work schedule, you can expect many, many retroactive posts.

Although this blog was created out of my love for flavored martinis, which are traditionally vodka-based, I've pretty much neglected the spirit up till now. So given this, and the recent rise in popularity of flavored vodkas, we will now begin a unit on some of the most interesting flavors out there. (Yes, a unit. Multiple blog posts!)

Let's start with my new favorite: Pinnacle's Whipped

Pinnacle is a brand of imported French vodka. They carry a long list of flavors -- 23 so far -- which include the usual apple, orange, and citrus, but also cherry lemonade, espresso, butterscotch, and COTTON CANDY (haven't tried it yet, or even seen it in a liquor store, but stay tuned for a blog entry about this sometime in the near future). Their newest flavor is whipped cream, and it's already gaining popularity in the US (at the liquor store last night, there were several other people also asking the cashier if they had it in stock).

The flavor is light and creamy - a great alternative to traditional vanilla vodkas.

I first tried Whipped over the summer at Kartabar, my favorite martini bar, located on Thayer St. in Providence. Their drink was based on a coconut cream pie, and included 1 1/2 oz of Whipped vodka, 3/4 oz Malibu coconut rum, and was shaken with ice and real whipped cream. There was no juice or mixer present, but the flavor and lightness of the spirit, combined with the Malibu and real whipped cream made the drink refreshing and easy to drink. The martini glass was garnished with an additional dash of whipped cream which was sprinkled with toasted coconut.

You could also make a banana cream pie version of this drink by replacing the 3/4 oz Malibu with 3/4 oz Creme de Banane.

Banana Cream Pie
1 1/2 oz Pinnacle Whipped
3/4 oz Creme de Banane
Dash of real whipped cream

First, rim a cocktail glass with crushed graham cracker pieces, then lace glass with chocolate syrup. Combine vodka, creme de banane, and real whipped cream in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into rimmed glass. Garnish with additional whipped cream and a banana chip.

Whipped is also the perfect spirit to take as an after-dinner shot. I tried this at Planet Hollywood about a month ago. The shot should be served ice cold and, acording to Pinnacle's recipe for the Whippit, it should be topped with a dash of whipped cream. Although presentation-wise, the whipped cream on top looks best, I think it tastes better when the whipped cream is thoroughly mixed with the vodka. Therefore, I would serve the shot with a demitasse spoon so that the drinker can blend the whipped cream into the vodka before shooting.

Given the flavor of and connotations associated with whipped cream, it seems that Whipped will be relegated to the dessert-beverage category. But it does make an amazing after-dinner treat. Here's one more recipe, just in time for Halloween parties, called the Monster Mash. The name is an ode to the Friendly's sundae of the same name, which was my favorite when I was about 11.

Monster Mash
1 1/2 oz Pinnacle Whipped
3/4 oz Green Creme de Menthe
3/4 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
4 oz milk

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled highball glass. Garnish with a dash of whipped cream and an Andes Candy. (This is my ode to the Olive Garden. Obviously.)

The Friendly's sundae was garnished with whipped cream and a Reese's peanut butter cup (which, cut in half, made the ears of the monster with the whipped cream serving as the hair). Whipped cream and a peanut butter cup would also be an acceptable garnish for the drink, especially if served at a Halloween party.

Wedding Toasts

For those of you getting married this summer, here are some alternatives to the traditional champagne toast.

I created the following recipe for the wedding of Erika Clark and Mark Bamat, as part of the final project for my wedding planning class.

Once Upon a Dream
1 oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur
1 oz Peachtree
splash of orange juice
2 oz dry champagne

Shake pomegranate liqueur, peach schnapps, and orange juice with ice. Strain into champagne flute and top with champagne.

The next recipe was featured on a Disney Destination Wedding special on WE TV by celebrity wedding planner David Tutera.

Something Blue
2 oz Blue Curacao
2 oz Prosecco
garnish with orange zest

**This drink will be a bright, medium blue. For a softer, more Tiffany blue color, try Hypnotiq instead of the curacao and garnish with a pair of blueberries.

The College Hill Cosmo

Created especially for the class of 2010.

1 1/2 oz Grey Goose L'Orange (in honor of Sydney Frank)
3/4 oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur
4 oz Cranberry juice
dash of lime juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

Beer Cocktails

Recently, pubs have been following a trend and incorporating mixed drinks made from beer in their menus. If made well, these drinks taste great, leave a lasting impression with the customers, and can justify charging a little more for a pint. Here are a few of my favorites.

Snakebite
1 part lager
1 part cider
topped off with blackcurrant liqueur (creme de cassis in the US)

At the Waterfront Bar at Kings College London, this beverage was mixed in a pitcher. The bartender filled the pitcher with half Carlsberg, half Strongbow (both on tap). The blackcurrant was poured directly on top of the foam, in an "S" or "snake" shape. The color bled down, turning the drink a pinkish-purple.

The Lava Lamp
1 part Magners Cider
1 part Guinness
raspberry malt float

To "float" something means that the ingredient is added last, gently pouring it over the back of a spoon so that it drizzles on top of the already made drink.

The Lava Lamp was created by Dan, the awesome bartender at the Duck and Bunny on Wickenden St. in Providence. This drink has an interesting look. The Guinness and Magners don't mix, so the Guinness bounces on top. The raspberry malt bleeds all the way through, greatly enhancing the color and overall flavor of the finished product.

Chocolate Covered Raspberry
3/4 pint Young's Double Chocolate Stout
1/4 pint Floris Framboise (a raspberry Belgian beer)

Featured at the English Cellar Alehouse on Angell Street in Providence.

Banana Split
3/4 pint Young's Double Chocolate Stout
1/4 pint Well's Banana Bread Beer

This drink can currently be found on the menu at Doherty's Irish Pub on East Ave. in Pawtucket.

Slammers and Sloe Gin

Alabama Slammer

1 oz sloe gin
1 oz Peachtree schnapps
1 oz orange juice
1 oz cranberry juice

This drink should be shaken well with lots of ice to make sure that it's very cold and that the liqueurs fully blend together. Both the sloe gin and peach schnapps are thick, and the drink has a syrupy sweetness to it, almost like liquid candy. The Slammer, which hardly tastes like alcohol, was a very popular feminine drink in the south during the 1960s.

Sloe gin is made from blackthorn plums, also called sloe berries. Despite it's name, it has none of the characteristics of actual gin. It is thick, sweet, and red in color. Containing only 15-30% ABV, it will most likely be found in the liqueur and cordial section of your liquor store.

Another recipe that makes use of sloe gin is the Sloe Gin Fizz. A fizz is an alcoholic drink that must contain both sour mix and soda. They were extremely popular in America between 1900 and the 1940s. The Sloe Gin Fizz, in particular, made a comeback in the late '80s when it was mentioned in the Aerosmith song "Rag Doll" which is from their 1987 album Permanent Vacation.

Sloe Gin Fizz
1 oz sloe gin
2 oz sour mix
top off w/ Sprite

Shake the sloe gin and sour mix, and pour over ice. Add the Sprite and serve.

Erin Go Bragh: Irish Cocktails Good Year Round

So I know St. Patrick's Day was a full week ago. But everyone's three best Irish friends - Guinness, Jameson and Baileys - can (and should) be enjoyed anytime of year, in a variety of different ways.

The three liquors are Ireland's most famous stout, whiskey, and cream, respectively. Obviously the easiest way to enjoy all three is through an Irish Car Bomb. This is made by dropping a shot (half Bailey's, half Jameson) into a half pint of Guinness and chugging it before the cream causes the Guinness to curdle. But once you get that out of your system, each of these liquors should be appreciated on its own, and can serve as the main ingredient in several other interesting recipes.

Guinness is usually drunk by itself and is a favorite of stout lovers. But if you're in the mood to try something different, go for a Black Velvet. This classy, Guinness based cocktail is one part champagne, one part stout. Though traditionally served in a beer mug, I would use a champagne flute, adding first the stout, then slowly pouring champagne on top. The result is interesting to say the least -- the velvety smoothness and familiar taste of Guinness combined with the light bubbles of champagne. This drink would be perfect for a toast at a wedding....or a funeral. Legend has it that the cocktail was created in London in 1861 to mourn the death of Prince Albert.

Jameson is incredibly smooth and can be enjoyed straight or with water even by those who aren't accustomed to whiskey. I like it with ginger ale (the so-called "London way") or cranberry juice (as is more common in Dublin). Whiskey added to ginger ale is the traditional American cocktail known as the Highball. It is best when garnished with a lime wedge. Jameson w/ cranberry is a good alternative for those who like vodka cranberries.

Jameson can also be used in breakfast drinks. Jameson in orange juice (garnished with an orange slice and cherry, served in a champagne flute) is a great alternative to a mimosa. Jameson and Baileys also combine in an Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee
1 oz Jameson
1 oz Baileys
6 oz hot coffee
1 tbsp sugar
heavy cream

Add some whip cream and a drizzle of greem creme de menthe on top for a more festive look.

Bailey's tastes like an iced coffee when taken on the rocks. It blends well with ice and can be added to most milk and ice cream-based shakes for a little something extra. Here's one such recipe from a British TGI Friday's menu.

Barnamint Baileys
1 oz Baileys
3/4 oz green creme de menthe
2 oz milk
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2 scoop crushed ice
2 Oreo cookies for garnish (crumbled)

Combine ingredients in a blender. Sprinkle cookie crumbs on top for garnish.

Personally, my favorite St. Patrick's Day drink is my own variation of the Barnamint Baileys, which I tried for the first time last year. Since it does not require blending, it is easier to make at parties.

Barnamint Baileys
2 scoops Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
6 oz Root Beer
2 oz Jameson
2 oz Baileys Irish Cream

Enjoy!

All About Brandy

If you've ever read Dracula or other late-19th century novels, you may have been surprised by the medicinal power of brandy. Feeling weak after a blood transfusion? Drink some brandy! Have a sore throat? It can cure that, too. This weekend, a few close friends and I decided to sample the spirit for the first time to see if it really is all it's cracked up to be.

Brandy is basically distilled wine and is often considered to be an after dinner drink. Its name comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine". Traditionally aged in wooden casks (though caramel color is often added nowadays to give it an aged look), brandy bottles contain an age rating. VS (meaing "Very Special", aged at least 3 years) and VSOP ("Very Superior Old Pale", 5 years minimum in a barrel) are the most common ratings.

We purchased Jacques Bonet Brandy, the finest bottle $9.95 could buy, which contained the VSOP stamp. We first drank it neat, that is, by itself, warming the glass in our hands to release the aromas and attempting to savor every last sip. It was awful. And it burned. We came to the conclusion that the only curative power the spirit had was that its after taste was so overwhelming that it distracted you from any ailment you could possibly be suffering.

Still left with a nearly full brandy bottle, we then set out to find the perfect brandy cocktail. Defaulting to my favorite website, www.drinksmixer.com, we tried three: the Sidecar and variations to the popular Brandy Alexander and Brandy Fizz.

The Brandy Alexander is perhaps the most well-known brandy cocktail. It is made from 1 part brandy, 1 part dark creme de cacao, a splash of half and half, and a dusting of nutmeg on top. It is a classy drink, served in a champagne flute. We tried an even more feminine version, the Brandy Alexandra, replacing the cacao with Kahlua, the nutmeg with cinnamon, and the half and half with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Still finding the drink to be too strong, we stirred in two additional scoops of ice cream, as well as a concoction of Hershey's chocolate and Autocrat coffee syrup. In a high ball glass, the drink looked like icy, frothy goodness. Once sipped, it tasted like cold, milky brandy. However, the ice cream made the brandy thicken and burn less, so, all in all, it was an improvement.

Next up was the Sidecar, a classic drink made from 2 parts brandy, 1 part Rose's triple sec, and a splash of lemon juice. This was actually good. If you try it, first rim your glass with sugar for a sweet&sour sensation.

Lastly, we attempted a Brandy Fizz. Instead of the usual sour mix and club soda, we substituted Sprite, the closest thing we had on hand. For novice brandy drinkers, 1 oz brandy and 7 oz Sprite turned out to be the perfect combination.

Brandy is extremely versatile. It can be combined with tea, lemon and honey to make a hot toddy, a traditional Christmas cocktail. Fruit brandies, including blackberry and apricot, are very popular in mixed drinks. Brandy can also be used in cooking meats and enhances the flavor of many apple-based desserts. I hope to develop a taste for it one day. But, for now, when I feel sick, I'm going to stick with orange juice.

Valentine's Day Cocktails

If you're looking for a festive drink this weekend, try this concoction created by Marian Jansen op de Haar, Director of Wine at Fleming's Steakhouse.

Valentini
1 oz Belvedere Vodka
1/2 oz Peach Schnapps
1-1/2 oz fresh Peach Puree
A squeeze of fresh Lemon Juice
Topped off with 3 oz Chandon Rosee

But for you college kids who either don't want to pay for Belvedere vodka or don't have the time or the means to puree peaches, here's a cheaper, less labor-intensive version:

1 oz Smirnoff Vodka ($17.99 per bottle vs. $39.99 for Belvedere)
1 oz DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps
A squeeze of lemon juice
Topped off with Andre Strawberry Champagne

Both variations should be served in a champagne flute and garnished with a pair of raspberries. (Because raspberries are aphrodisiacs. Cherries, the traditional garnish for every girly drink from a Rum & Pineapple to a Midori Sour has actually been shown to decrease sexual arousal in women. Check out this article in the New York Times on optimal Valentine's Day foods. It might surprise you.)

Here's the recipe for another festive drink (inspired by and named after last year's Halloween costume and my favorite character in Alice in Wonderland):

Queen of Hearts
1 part Stoli Raspberry vodka
1 part Chambord Liqueur
1 part Minute Maid Apple Cran-Raspberry juice
1 part Sprite

(Although this drink is heavy on the raspberry flavor, it has no actual raspberries in it. Therefore, I'm pretty sure it has absolutely no aphrodisiacal powers.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mardi Gras

Decorating for a Mardi Gras party is easy enough. Beads and decorative masks are a plenty this time of year and can be purchased at iParty or your local event supply store. The Mardi Gras colors -- purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power)-- can be incorporated, pretty cheaply, through balloons, streamers, and tablecloths.

But what types of food and beverages should be served? I like my drinks to enhance my color scheme. Colorful punches or pre-mixed drinks in plastic champagne flutes look great on a buffet table. Here are some recipes to get you started with planning your Mardi Gras party. They include three beloved spirits (vodka, rum, and tequila) and are purple, green, and yellow, respectively. All can be served in a punch bowl or pre-mixed and set out in individual portions.

Purple: 1 part vodka, 1 part Ginger Ale, 1 part grape juice
(In bartending books, this drink is known as the "Purple Jesus".)

Green: 1 part Malibu, 1 part Midori, 1 part pineapple juice
(Add more Midori as necessary to give this drink a true green color.)

Yellow: 1 part tequila, 1 part lemonade, dash of salt
(Basically a British tequila shot in one step.)

If this proves to be too much, grape, pineapple, and lime jell-o shots will also do the trick. Use vodka for the grape, tequila in the lime, and coconut rum with the pineapple.

For food, you could try your hand at making a King Cake. This New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition is typically made from a twisted ring of bread, sometimes with a filling like cream cheese or praline, topped with icing and purple, green and yellow sprinkles. A small toy baby, symbolizing the baby Jesus, is baked in. Whoever finds the baby must provide the next cake.

Here's a good recipe, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse and the food network.

If you can't get your hands on a traditional King Cake, a regular cake, cupcakes, or cookies with the appropriate colored frosting or sprinkles can be substituted