Category Archives: Drinks
Skyfall
I hear there is some big movie opening today. I’m not a big Bond fan, but I cannot deny that Daniel Craig is worth staring at for a couple of hours.
Alton Brown decided to celebrate with the perfect martini on his Facebook page
Skyfall – Midnight TonightMartini:
Fill a martini glass with some crushed ice and set aside.
Set one cup of crushed ice into a cocktail shaker.Pour in a 1/2 ounce of vermouth and swirl it around, making as much contact as possible with the ice.
Using a strainer, pour the vermouth out.
Add 2 1/2 ounces of gin and stir well to combine.
Remove the ice from the chilled glass and add 1 olive.
Using the strainer, pour the gin into the serving glass.Cheers!
Beer to the Chief
Ever since President Obama revealed he took “home” brewed beer on the campaign trail with him, people have been clamoring for the recipes. The White House released them today. According the the WH, they believe this is the first time alcohol has ever been brewed on the premises:
As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there’s no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition…)
For all the recipes and the whole story click here.
Iced Coffee Update
I decided early last week to go ahead and try Kirk’s Cold Brew method for a batch of coffee. The first thing that I realized was - it wasn’t as arduous as it sounds. I have 8 oz containers of ground coffee handy, so I did a half a batch. Let me tell you, it makes sludge. And I didn’t think to ask him if grind mattered, but my coffee was an espresso grind, a fact I realized after I mixed it all together. What I had when I as done was a thick liquid, even after I strained it twice.
Straining it was easy. I have a reusable coffee filter, I strained it through that using my glass carafe as the receptacle. The second time around I added cheesecloth – it didn’t make much of a difference. But it was easy both times. With the grounds that were left, I wished I had a compost pile to add it to. Good stuff.
The flavor is different, that is for sure. The best way to describe it, I guess, is that it’s more like what it tastes like to eat a coffee bean (sans the chocolate coating). It’s a rich coffee flavor, but decidedly different from hot brewed coffee. It is very good, just don’t expect it to taste like brewed coffee.
It is also very, very strong, but as Kirk states, it’s very drinkable because it’s not bitter. But the caffeine kick will do just that, kick you. I have an exceptionally strong tolerance for caffeine and can drink coffee late into the evening without effect. Not so with this, even watered down it packed a considerable kick for me and I had to give up any ideas of drinking it as an iced beverage. Even two parts liquid to coffee mixture was too strong for me and I was finding it difficult to sleep, even if my iced drink was in the afternoon. And at the two parts mixture, I thought the flavor a bit weak.
What I did find though, was it made for a nice, rich frappaccino. I could use a tray of ice cubes, about a 1/4 cup of the coffee brew, milk, touch of sugar and chocolate syrup and the taste was great. And for that reason and the idea that it holds up well in the refrigerator all week, I would do it again.
My next test will be the double brew method and how best to cool down the coffee without watering it down too much. Until then….
Iced Coffees
photo from Seattle’s Best
Yesterday friend of blog, Kirk Spencer, put up a post on iced coffee. He does a great job of explaining the different ways to approach it. He followed up (after a question from me) with a post on cold brewing, which was great, because I knew nothing about cold brewing and had only seen very expensive machines for the process. I’m going to give it a shot, probably on a small scale.
I love iced coffee in the summer. I do the ‘brew strong coffee and serve immediately over ice” process. I have yet to get the ratio perfect for my tastes. My standard is Dunkin Donuts, love their coffee, it’s one of the few big coffee 
shops I can say that about, and their iced coffee is just as good. Not from a mix, it is fresh brewed. They say they double brew it. Whatever, it works. Oh, and did I mention there is not a DD to be found around here? Though that is about to change in a big way. Yay!
I think I will work this summer at perfecting my technique. One advantage I have is the vita-mix and I can easily make smooth frappucinos. My goal it to make a mocha frappuchino that does not have 400 calories a glass.
So let the adventures begin. I’ll let you know how it goes. Until then….
Watermelon Coolers
I was searching for something new and different to do with watermelon. Found two drinks that sounded refreshing. I may be trying them this weekend. Give you an update then.
The first one is from the FoodNetwork:
From FoodNetwork.com
Watermelon Cooler
- 1 1/2 pounds (4 cups) sliced seedless watermelon, rind removed
- 1 cup lemon sorbet
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- Watermelon wedges and mint, for garnish
2 large glasses
In a food processor, blend watermelon, sorbet, and lemon zest until very smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cold water; cover and refrigerate until very cold. Serve over ice and garnish with watermelon wedges and mint.
The next one is a melon cooler with a kick. Definitely an adult beverage. I combined several options for this one:
Kicked Up Watermelon-Strawberry Cooler
- 4+ pounds watermelon
- 2 lb strawberries, washed and hull all but 6
- 1/2 cup vodka (more to taste)
- 1/4 cup Triple Sec (more to taste)
- 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 wooden skewers
Fine strainer or cheesecloth
6 glasses and 1 pitcher
Cut the watermelon in half and make 6 melon balls. Place one melon ball and one unhulled strawberry onto skewer. Set aside.
Remove rind and seeds from the remainder of the watermelon, cut into large chunks. Puree watermelon and strawberries. Strain out pulp, add alcohol, 3 tbsp limejuice and fruit juice to pitcher filled with ice, stir. Mix sugar and 3 tbsp of limejuice on flat plate and dip glass rims in the mixture. Pour into glasses, garnish with fruit skewers.
