Singapore Sling

 I think I may have established that I love gin (Janet Collins, Ginger Mayhem. It is definitely my go to spirit, replacing vodka's long-held top spot as my boozy favorite. And my current favorite gin-based drink is this retro cocktail: the Singapore Sling. It's a fruity, sweet concoction that reminds me of Hawaii (even though I pretty much only drank Mai Tais and beer in Hawaii). If you're hesitant to give gin a try, this is the perfect cocktail.

Singapore Sling 
Source: Drinks Mixer 


Ingredients
1 ounce gin
1/2 ounce cherry brandy
4 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/4 ounce Cointreau orange liqueur
1/4 ounce benedictine herbal liqueur
1/3 ounce grenadine
1-2 dashes Angostura bitters
ice


Directions 
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Combine all the ingredients in the shaker and shake until the shaker is well frosted.

Fill a lowball glass halfway with ice and strain the liquid into the glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a cherry if desired.

 Makes one cocktail

Ginger Mayhem

I like booze. I like champagne, sweet wine, craft beer, and cocktails. I'm constantly seeking our new micro or craft brews to try,and buying champagne to fancy up ordinary dinners. I especially like making cocktails, and drawing inspiration from Mad Men, vintage cocktails. I've conquered the Singapore Sling, the Bahama Mama, and Rum Runners. If it involves gin, I like it.

The husband and I have built up quite the alcohol cabinet, from the basics (gin, vodka, tequila, rum), to the less likely (blue curacuo, cointreau, creme de cacao, benedictine), to a plethora of mixers (grenadine, Rose's sweetened lime juice, oj, pineapple juice, and club soda). Basically, we have pretty much whatever you need to make almost any cocktail.

So when we went out to a new restaurant/lounge and I tried their Ginger Mayhem, a strongly ginger-flavored gin cocktail, I knew I needed to try mixing it up at home. It's different than many other cocktails out there, but in a good way. The ginger is spicy and warm, but plays well with the botanical flavors of the gin, especially with good quality, small batch gin.

I've tried this with store-bought ginger beer and homemade ginger syrup. Each version is good, though the ginger syrup gives it a bolder, spicier, ginger flavor, whereas the ginger beer is a bit more mellow and cool. Either way, ditch happy hour and make these cocktails at home! :)

I like to play around with using lemon juice, bottled key lime juice, and fresh lime juice, with each variation slightly changing the final drink. You could also try Rose Sweetened Lime Juice for a sweeter drink. I also play around with different varieties of gin, form Tanquery, to Hendricks, to small batch Leopolds; again, each variety changes the end result, and all have been a success. That's what I love about homemade cocktails--the ability to tweak each drink to your own specific tastes.

With summer right around the corner, and finally some warm spring weather, this is a cocktail I'll be enjoying again and again.

Ginger Mayhem
Source: Inspired by the Ginger Mayhem at Ra Pour

Ingredients
3 shots ginger syrup or ginger beer
2 shots gin
1/2 shot lemon or lime juice
cubed ice

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and pour into a low ball glass with cubed ice.

Homemade Ginger Syrup

The husband and I are big Mad Men fans and, as a result, we've become increasingly interested in cocktails. I'm not talking Cosmos or Appletinis though; we like old fashioned drinks, preferably made with gin, like Singapore Slings and Sidecars. One of my favorite cocktails at a new restaurant/lounge nearby is their Ginger Mayhem; it's a gin-based drink with a strong ginger kick, made with their own ginger simple syrup.

I've been experimenting with creating the Ginger Mayhem at home, and my first tries used store-bought Ginger Beer, which turned out good results, but not a strong enough ginger flavor. I figured it couldn't be too hard to make my own ginger syrup, and after a quick Google search confirmed this, I was in the kitchen, boiling chopped ginger, water, and sugar.

Ginger syrup is incredibly easy to make, results in a nice golden-amber, spicy syrup, that can be used in cocktails or in homemade ginger ale (just pour it over ice with club soda). I poured mine in the Ginger Beer bottle I saved once the store-bought soda was gone.

Homemade Ginger Syrup
Source: Imbibe Magazine

Ingredients
2 cups unpeeled ginger, roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
6 cups water

Directions
Place all of the ginger in a food processor and process until ground.

Transfer the ginger to a large stockpot and add the sugar and water. Bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to medium and let simmer, uncovered, for an hour to an hour and a half. The liquid will reduce to half.

Pour through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a large pitcher. You may need to strain it twice. Once the syrup has been strained, pour through a funnel into a bottle or lidded jar. Store in the refrigerator.

"What's Not on Tap" Part One

So I've got something a little different here tonight. Instead of the usual recipe blog post, we'll be discussing beer. Specifically a beer tasting class I attended at Total Wine. Do you have a Total Wine near you? They're like BevMo, but bigger, and according to The Husband, better.



Total Wine does beer and wine tasting classes every month, and I've been wanting to attend one for quite awhile now, but either grad classes conflicted with the date/time, or I would just plain forget about the class until the day after is happened. Yeah, seriously, it sucks to remember you wanted to do something pretty much right when it ends. Lame. This month the stars aligned and I actually remembered before the class passed. (Well actually, we were at the store on Sunday, buying some new gin for an at-home gin taste taste, when I saw the sign and immediately signed up.)

The beer class was $15 a person and I went alone because the husband is a party pooper and didn't want to join. Well that and he has nearly zero listening comprehension skills, because no matter how many times I described the class to him, mentioning it was a beer TASTING, he thought it was a class on homebrewing. What??? I mean it makes a teeny tiny bit of sense because I have been talking about a desire to homebrew recently, but that never came up in the conversations we had about taking a beer tasting class. :/ I called the afternoon of the class, once he finally realized it was a tasting not a brewing class (which by the way, I think would be an awesome class to take!) and said he wanted to go too, but they were sold out. Ha! Maybe next time he'll learn to listen to me...who am I kidding, no he won't.

Anyway, if you've made it through that long intro, I applaud you; I'm sure you are thinking to yourself "when is she going to stop yapping about nonsense and get to the goods?!" Well, here we go.

As the title of the post suggests, this was not a tasting of Bud Light or Coors. (People of the world, put down your shitty beers!) Actually, I stole the title from the class, which was called "What's Not on Tap: Uncommon, Extraodinary Beers You Must Try". I was really hyped to try beers that would require CIA-like intelligence to find, but being as this was in Total Wine, a store that sells beer, it's not that hard to find them. Just walk down their aisle of beer, and there you go! However, you're not going to pony up to your local dive and find these on tap, so I guess there is some truth to the title.

Upon arriving and checking in, I found a seat at a long table, and then headed to the back for some fancy cheese (ok, it was really just regular ol' cheese from Fresh and Easy. but still good.). We were all given a packet of tasting sheets to record the beers we tried, along with our thoughts on their appearance, aroma, taste, and mouth feel, as well as 2 glasses, a bottle of water, and a cup to spit into (I choose to actually drink all my beer. Why would you waste perfectly good beer?!). We were also given a copy of the evening's PowerPoint which contained information on each style of beer, foods and cheeses to pair with the beers, beer trivia, and a few websites for more beerformation. Don't get wigged out by the PP aspect! It was not boring in the least, and was a good way to know what the heck was going on. Plus, having a copy meant I didn't have to write down all that info, but could instead focus on drinking-I mean tasting- the beers, and recording my thoughts on each. I was thankful for this because I felt the pourings moved at a bit of a quick pace and I wasn't always sure how to describe the beers, so referring to the PowerPoint, which listed characteristics, helped me out a bit.

Let's get into the beers, shall we? Just a quick note before you leap into judgement--all of these photos were taken with my iPhone. I didn't want to bring my DSLR and feel obnoxious or deal with trying to figure out the right settings while trying to enjoy the beer. Also, I forgot to take pics of a couple of the beers because I was too busy having fun drinking.

Beer #1



Name: Reissdorf Kolsh
Style: Kolsh
Country of Origin: Cologne, Germany (many of the beers I tasted were from Germany)
ABV: 4.5-5.5%
Recommended serving temperature: cold, 39-45 degrees
Food pairings: grilled food, spicy food, German food, chicken, fish, shellfish
Cheese pairings: Brie, Camembert, Montery Jack, Edam (WTF is that??)

Okkkkkkkk, I have like zero notes on this beer. LOL. It was a pale gold color, clear, with a diminishing, fizzy head. Since I have no notes, I can only deduce that it wasn't a favorite. I think I remember it was kind of bland and boring. Not for me. Maybe good if you're not a big beer fan? Though really, I think shitty beer is what keeps people from liking beer. Not that this is a shitty beer.

Some other beers in this style are one by Flying Dog, Tire Bite Golden Age, and Alaskan Brewing's Summer Style. Who cares. This beer was not in my top anything.

Ok, let's move on.

Beer #2



Name: Lost Coast something or other (helpful, right? Don't worry, I actually improve as we go on)
Style: Herbed/Spiced Beer
Country of Origin: no effing idea, but it is over 1,000 years old
ABV: varies, but low (what the eff type of information is this? Sorry, this is copied from the PowerPoint. Stick with me past this beer and I promise improvement here people. Besides, it's not like YOU paid $15; this information is free...Ok, sorry for the hostility there. Let's keep going, shall we?)
Recommended serving temperature: cool, 46-54 degrees
Food pairings: salads, desserts
Cheese pairings: none given...effin' Total Wine screwing up my blogging...

Alright, well with that intro this must be a promising beer. So an herbed/spiced beer means that the brewer added in plants and herbs beyond the normal hops to give the beer a sweeter taste. Informative, yes? So this technique, called gruit, is actually really old; they were doing this back in the Middle Ages before hops. Do you think serfs were drinking it up, or was it just a royalty thing? I'm sure Google could tell us, but let's move on to my assessment of the beer.

This beer was not as forgettable as the first one; it had a light, summery, slightly perfumey or herbal taste to it, with the hazy, pale straw color of an unfiltered beer. But again, not a favorite of mine. Too boring. Maybe I should mention at this point, I tend to go for dark, bold, flavorful beers. And sometimes Bud Light Lime. What, a girl's allowed to slum it sometimes.

Beer #3 No Picture.
Name: Pike Kilt Lifter
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy (what a cute name, wee heavy!)
Country of Origin: Scotland (say it with a Scottish accent for more fun!)
ABV: 6.5-10%
Recommended serving temperature: cellar, 55-57 degrees
Food pairings: roast/grilled lamb, game, pork, grilled smoked salmon, deli sandwiches
Cheese pairings: aged and smoked cheeses, asiago, gruyere (we had a smoked Gouda in class and it was really delish with this beer)

I enjoyed this beer much more than the first two, though I didn't take many notes beyond circling attributes on my tasting sheet. The beer has a honey/caramel color, with some cloudiness and a lasting head on the pour. It smelled caremely, but tasted more nutty, toasty, and slightly smokey, with a smooth moutfeel. This beer has a bit of warmth to it, but I wouldn't shy away from drinking it during a summer BBQ (cook out for those of you not in The Golden State) either. This was a nice, drinkable beer that I'd recommend for someone who is ready to move past the yellow fizz that is Bud and Coors and into a real beer. (Yep, I am a beer snob.)

Beer #4 No picture
This is about the time people started loosening up and the room got noiser and a bit rowdier. People were talking beer and having a great time. I was pretty quiet since I was there alone and the woman next to me disliked pretty much every beershe tried. As did the woman with her. WTF? Why come? Even two of the guys in their group weren't enjoying the beers. These were clearly MBC people (MBC is Miller, Bud, Coors for those of you not in the know.)
Name: Old Suffolk English Ale
Style: Old Ale
Country of Origin: England
ABV: 6-12%
Recommended serving temperature: 55-57%
Food pairings: baked ham, roasted/grilled game, lamb, beef (so, perfect for Easter dinner! Now when you need to bring sometime to a spring dinner, you can bring this beer.)
Cheese pairings: Asiago, Gloucester (an English cheese I haven't seen in the states. I was a big fan of this cheese during my stint in London.), Gorgonzola, Gruyere, Roquefort, Stilton (another English cheese I haven't seen stateside. Let me know if you know where to buy it!)

Ok, I actually took some notes about this beer. It is a brown ale with a diminishing head, and a sweet, chocolately, toasty, smokey, slightly spicy aroma. It had a sweet, chocolatey taste, with some dark fruity flavors, almost like a wine. I thought this was an enjoyable beer that I would drink again. It was very smooth with a balanced body and a long finish (you're still tasting it awhile after that last swallow).

Beer #5 Not pictured
Name: Weihenstephaner
Style: Weizenbock (meaning "strong-wheat")
Country of Origin: Germany
ABV: 6.9-9.3%
Recommended serving temperature: cool, 46-54 degrees
Food pairings: roast pork, roast beef, smoked ham, desserts
Cheese pairings: Gouda (including smoked....again MMMM!), Manchego (a hard, Spanish cheese)

Let me get this out there right away. I love wheat beers. Hefeweizens are a big favorite of mine. And actually, I thought all German wheat beers were Hefs, so it was pretty cool to learn that is not the case. According to my handy PP handout, Weizenbocks are stronger in alcohol and flavor character than Hefeweizen or Dunkleweizens, and are characterized by clove spiciness and fruity-banana flavors. Typically, I do not like wheat beers with banana notes, but this Weizenbock showed me that some beers can get it right.

The Weihenstephaner looks like your standard unfiltered wheat beers: golden color, cloudy appearance, a fizzy head. It has a clean, yet spicy aroma, which mimics the taste. (Look, I'm actually giving you some real information now! Aren't you excited? I'm excited.) It is slightly sweet, with a fruity, spicy/clove taste, and a small hint of bananas. Which, as I said before, normally I am not a fan of--nor do I like wheat beers that have a bubble gum taste (what the eff is up with that?! Why would you want a beer to taste like gum? Go drink a Jones soda if that's what you're looking for and leave the beer to those of us who don't want to junk it up!). But this beer pulls off the banana-clove taste very well.

If you're not a big beer drinker, but you're looking for a brew you can actually enjoy, I'd suggest giving a weizenbock a try. But don't get the one at Gordon Biersch; it has that weird banana-bubble gum taste. yuck.

What number are we on now?

Beer #6



Name: Spaten Monchen Dunkel
Style: Munich Dunkel Lager
Country of Origin: Germany
ABV: 4.5-5.6%
Recommended serving temperature: cool, 46-54 degrees
Food pairings: roasted meats, BBQ, sausages
Cheese pairings: Gruyere, Munster

So the first note I have at the top of my tasting sheet for this beer is *buy. Guess I liked it. LOL. So the Spaten Brewery has been around since 1397, which I guess means they know what they're doing. Here's another fun fact for you: Lager in German means "cellar" and lager beers are aged, or rested, to mellow out the flavor. What does that mean to you, a beer layman? Basically it means that this is a smooth, balanced, drinkable beer. It's an amber color, with a diminishing, fizzy head. It has a sweet, caramely, chocolately aroma, with a chocolately, toasty, and bisquity flavor. It has a very mild bitterness to it, which plays nicely against the chocolatey, bisquity, or bready, flavors.

I'd definitely recommend giving this beer a try, especially if you're looking for an easy to drink, yet flavorful beer. This is another one I'd like to see at summer BBQs and get togethers. Again, if more people were trying quality beers, less people would say they "don't like beer." Though then again, if those people keep thinking that way, it means there's more good beer for me.

Ok, since there were 13 beers sampled in the beer class, I'm going to break this up into two parts. Read about the rest of the beers on Monday! And it would be awesome if you commented and told me how much you're enjoying my beer roundup...or how lame you think this all is. I just like comments.

Strawberry Nectarine Vodka Collins Popsicles

Wow, that's a mouthful of a title, isn't it? What about strawberry nectarine boozesicles? Better? Summer vodkasicles? Ok, ok, I'm getting a bit ridiculous here, I know. Whatever you want to call them, go for it, but the important thing is that you make these. Soon.

These are extremely customizable too what you have on hand; the original recipe calls for peaches, but I had nectarines. I bet mangoes would be wonderful as well. I also used half white sugar, half brown sugar because I didn't have enough white. And now I'm thinking I want to try switching the vodka for Malibu rum next time for a tropical twist.

If you're making these for non-drinkers or kids, you could switch out the alcohol with juice. I bet Kern's Nectar peach would be fabulous.

I picked up my popsicle mold at Target for about $4, though I've heard they have them in their $1 spot right now (I checked 2 Targets and couldn't find any). If you don't want to buy a popsicle mold, you could also use Dixie cups or cordial glasses.

Note: The Husband and I agreed the vodka taste was a bit strong in these, but I am not sure if that's because I put 3 Tablespoons of strawberry puree in each, rather than the 3 teaspoons the recipe calls for, or that they really are just strong. My best guess is, with the right amount of strawberry puree, the vodka won't be an overpowering taste. I do want to try making these with gin soon!



Strawberry Nectarine Vodka Collins Popsicles
Source: Endless Simmer
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
10 strawberries, pureed
nectarine syrup (recipe at the end)
12 ounces tonic water
2 ounces plus 3 ounces vodka (divided usage)

Directions
Stir 2 ounces vodka into the strawberry puree.

Pour 3 teaspoons strawberry vodka mixture into the bottom of popsicle molds. Set aside.

Pour the tonic water into the nectarine syrup and stir to combine. Add the remaining 3 ounces vodka and stir.

Spoon the nectarine mixture into the popsicle molds over the strawberry puree. Stir to combine.

Place in the freezer for 8 hours.

Nectarine Syrup Ingredients
1 nectarine, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 cup water
1 cup sugar (I used half white, half brown sugar)

Directions

Puree the nectarine slices in a blender or food processor.

Combine the nectarine puree, water, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Janet Collins...My Spin on a Tom Collins

Have you ever watched Mad Men? The husband and I are big fans of the show, though we're a few seasons behind because we just started watching it on DVD a few months ago. I love the suave business environment with men in hats and liquid lunches. Well, let's be honest, it's not just liquid lunches, but drinks pretty much every moment of the day.

After watching 2 seasons of the show, and reading part of Boozehound, I decided it was time I venture beyond my standard vodka tonic and try something that would make Don Draper proud. As a classy bar in Vegas, all dark wood and bronze-vested barmen, I ordered a Mad Men classic, an oldfashioned. Wow. Just wow. It's basically just burbon, sugar, and muddled oranges and marishino cherries. Definitely a stiff drink. A little too stiff for me. I moved onto the Tom Collins, which I found to be much more up my alley. I was ready to join the Sterling and Cooper crew....I guess I'd have to be Peggy or Joan, since I'm not a guy.

I brought a bottle of gin down to my parents' house for a recent visit, promising to make a round of Tom Collins' for everyone, however, I failed to look up the recipe in advance, and wound up not having most of the needed ingredients. I summoned by inner Draper and improvised.

Janet Collins
Source: A Cooking in Cucamonga Original
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 shots gin (use the god stuff)
2 shots tonic water
3 shots 7-Up or Sprite
1 1/2 shots Rose's lime juice
juice of 1/4 lime
crushed ice

Directions
Pour all ingredients, except the ice, in a tall glass and stir to combine. Add additional 7-Up to taste, if desired.

Add crushed ice to two rocks glasses, and pour the liquid over the top. Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy.

Beer-A-Ritas

I have been to three 1st birthdays this summer. In a few weeks, I'll be headed to another. The husband and I do not have children (yet), so while I LOVE playing with my friends' babies, I always kind of feel like the creeper adult at these events. Unless they have booze. Then I can just drink some beers while chatting with my friends and cheering for the kiddos swingin away at the pinata.

At a recent 1st birthday party the husband and I attended, I learned how to make beer-a-ritas. That's right, I learned a new boozy beverage while in attendance at a child's birthday party. Well, to be fair, we arrived a day early and helped set up for the party, so the idea for beer-a-ritas was brought up before the party began. While L and I set up for the shin dig, the men folk were sent to the store to stock up on hot dogs, condiments, and beverages, which introduced the idea of making a batch of beer-a-ritas. We joked about having a VIP section with wristbands for the alcohol, so as not to offend the non-drinking adults in attendance, but once word got around about this wonderful beverage, people were lining up for a glass. Our first double batch dissapeared quickly, so I convinced L we should whip up another bowl-full.

Though beer and tequila mixed together might not sound too tasty, let me tell you, the two are a perfect pairing! So much so that the beer-a-ritas didn't taste boozy, making it easy to knock back one or two....or four. Just don't hurt your brain trying to figure out where the combination fits in with the old adage, "Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear."

A word of warning: Do NOT drink these on an empty stomach. Eat a couple of hot dogs or some birthday cake before imbibing; these bad boys pack a punch!

Beer-A-Ritas
Source: Our amazing friends!
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
12 ounces Newcastle beer (you can use other beer if you want, but the Newcastle is ah-mazing!)
12 ounces Tequila
12 ounces water
10 ounces frozen limeaide concentrate
ice

Directions
Pour all ingredients into a large bowl or pitcher and mix well.

Pour into a glass, add a bit of ice, and a squeeze of lime, if desired.