“From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.” Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been MIA for a while now. No, nothing happened on my trip to Italy (other than confirming that I do not like Negronis, I do not like them, Sam-I-Am), I have not become disillusioned, nor was I just plain lazy (well, maybe a little of this one). Frankly, life just got in the way. Anyway, I am back now and will be posting quite a few, hopefully interesting, newsletters for you throughout the year. Replete with cocktail recipes and notes/comments in each post, I’m hoping to get into cocktail/bar book reviews, bartending tool ‘must haves’, various alcohol series’, how to throw a cocktail party (or two), sprinkled with a bunch of the fun/quirky/eclectic. Okay, speaking of fun stuff let’s get back to it, as according to Dr. Seuss, “Fun is good”….hard to find fault in that… Happy B-Day, Dr. Seuss!!

Green Eggs and Ham

½ oz cream

¼ oz rum

¼ oz vodka

¼ oz melon liqueur

¼ oz Jagermeister

¼ oz coffee liqueur

¼ oz crème de menthe (green)

1 splash orange juice

Shake ingredients over ice and serve in a highball or Collins glass.

Comments: If I didn’t have such a large liquor cabinet (I willingly take the bullet for you readers!) I am not convinced that I would go out and buy everything for this. I’m just sayin’… Oh, and obviously I didn’t serve it in a highball ’cause it was wayyyy too little liquid! I would either serve it in a lowball or in a large shot glass.

Tasting Notes: first word out of my mouth = ‘bizarre’; strange-looking (reminiscent of the Avocado appliances of yore); undertone of mint with a melon aftertaste; nice mouth feel/creaminess

The Grinch

2 oz Midori

1/2 oz lemon juice

1 tsp simple syrup

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with a maraschino cherry if desired.

Comments: I actually had planned on sharing this with you in my Christmas newsletter but it, um, got lost in the mail. We served this at a dinner party and the results were split between those who thought it was perfect and those who thought it was a bit too sweet. I quite like the flavour of this drink and find the almost neon colour gives it a quirky, somewhat fanciful quality. Dr. Seuss would have certainly considered this one ‘fun’.

Tasting Notes: lemon juice does a very good job of tempering the sweetness from the liqueur; not actually that sweet (certainly not cloying, by any means)

Pink Yink Ink Drink

1/2 cup frozen blackberries

1 cup milk

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

2 oz white rum

1 tablespoon honey

Put the blackberries in a blender and purée them. Pour into a highball. Put the milk, strawberries, rum and honey into the blender, blend until smooth. Pour the strawberry mixture carefully on top of the blackberry purée and serve with a large straw.

Comments: You can use fresh berries, but I suggest throwing them in the freezer for half an hour before you make this. Definitely use a big straw (e.g. a bubble tea type) otherwise the fruit will clog it up.

Tasting Notes: tastes like a mixed berry daiquiri (understandable, considering the ingredients are almost the same); using the straw to incorporate the blackberry purée makes it much tastier

 

 

 

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