Drink of the Week – Page 7

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Cadiz’s Grand Monaco – Irish home version

March 14, 2013November 20, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Grand Monaco - Irish home version NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS — Grand Monaco – Irish home version
NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS

“I like my drinks bitter, boozy and strong,” said bartender Sean Sepulveda, over at Cadiz. We were about to add, “That’s how we like our women too!” but thought better of it.

We had been thinking about St. Patrick’s Day and how most drinks are not made for sipping but for, you know, chugging. You can get an Irish coffee pretty much everywhere, too.

So possibly we could get something that could sate our coffee urges, our drinking needs, and get in a slap of whiskey, all the while allowing us a small respite from the weekend madness.

Mr. Sepulveda gave us a spin on his new cocktail Grand Monaco, a mix of Grand Marnier and bitter liquors like Campari. But while that is on the menu and a lovely smooth beast, this one is not official Cadiz biz: Swap out the Grand Marnier for a good Irish blend — like Mr. Sepulveda does at home — and you’re an Irishman in Monaco. (For example: Bono, who vacations there.)

It’s the coffee that makes the drink, really, and Stirrings Espresso is an astute addition; you need less than regular coffee, and it doesn’t murk up the cocktail’s look.

Try this while the crowds outside drink their car bombs — it’s our Drink of the Week!

GRAND MONACO – IRISH HOME VERSION
Mezcal (any kind will do), to rinse glass
2 ounces Bushmills Black Bush whiskey
2 ounces Dolin sweet vermouth
3/4 ounce Campari bitters
1 ounce Stirrings Espresso
Orange peel (1-inch slice)

Rinse cocktail glass with mezcal. Add other liquids to ice in shaker. Shake and pour into glass. Garnish with orange peel slice, making sure to squeeze oils into drink before adding.

Yield: 1 drink

Cadiz
509 State St. 770-2760 or www.cadizsb.com

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Uptown Bar & Lounge’s Uptown Girl

February 28, 2013December 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Uptown girl NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS — DRINK OF THE WEEK: Uptown girl
NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS

We’ve been waiting to check out Uptown Bar & Lounge for ages, but every time we rolled past, it was always going off, with a crowded bar, rawwwwwk music playing and general craziness. So when owner George Merino told us to stop by one night during a “quiet lull” in the proceedings — between the happy hour crowd and the evening rush — we did. And it was still crowded! This space that used to be Don’s John has never let up, it appears, since the grand opening.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: The Bourbon Room’s Kitty Coupe Deville

February 21, 2013December 9, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

We barely had a chance to mourn Meat ‘n’ Potatoes, the restaurant and bar next to the raucous Creekside, when it turned into something called The Bourbon Room. So we set out to investigate one wet, windy evening this week and found the place transformed: red leather booths, wallpaper and old paintings. It was like a speakeasy had landed in your mad grandma’s attic. Owners Anna Louise Sacks (of Wisconsin) and Alvaro Castellanos Rojas (of Milk & Honey and Alcazar) recently opened this restaurant and made sure the bar was ace. And it is. A majority of the drinks are bourbon-based. We tried a Bittered Sling, adapted from the one at Sly’s in Carpinteria, a simple mix of bourbon, sugar, and Angostura bitters with a slice of orange zest. The Wisco Old Fashioned muddles similar amounts of bourbon with cherries and orange. Nothing fussy. Just old school recipes. The two are most happy about their Kitty Coupe Deville, which uses bourbon, mint, sugar, cherry-infused bourbon and lime and mixes it into a lovely rocks cocktail both slightly sweet and mature.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Restaurant Roy’s Danny Boy’s Chocolate Martini MMM

February 14, 2013December 9, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

DANNY BOY'S CHOCOLATE MARTINI MMM NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS — DANNY BOY’S CHOCOLATE MARTINI MMM
NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS

Some months back, as we were sipping on a delicious and copper-cupped Moscow Mule at Roy, bartender Danny Scott sidled up to us, as you do at bars. “You guys like chocolate drinks?” he asked. Well, we like chocolate. And we like drinks. So yeah, I guess we do, we admitted.

“I’ve got this chocolate drink — check it out,” he said, before disappearing to make us a chocolate-filled cocktail. Maybe you’re reading this on Valentine’s Day. Maybe you’re reading it too late. But chocolate is always a winner. It’s an aphrodisiac! It’s an antioxidant! It’s good for you and your loved one!

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Red’s Bar & Tapas Strawberry Valentini

February 7, 2013December 13, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Hello young lovers, wherever you are! Are you ready to celebrate V-day with an exclusive cocktail just for your significant other? We called on our friend, Ali Reide, host of the cupcakes and champagne tastings at Corks n’ Crowns, to see if she was prepared for the big day. Indeed, she was, and soon we were meeting at an undisclosed location to try her Strawberry Valentini. OK, strawberries and chocolate scream Valentine’s, and we weren’t complaining because she had brought a whole container full of chocolate-dipped berries for garnish. You know, just in case the garnish wasn’t perfect.

The drink itself looks like said strawberry. Ms. Reide coats the inside of the martini glass with chocolate syrup, while the drink itself is a mix of vodka, 360 Double Chocolate vodka and strawberry puree. The rim is all chocolate; use a skewer or a careful slice to keep the chocolate-dipped strawberry on the rim. The chocolate hits the taste buds at the same time the strawberry puree aroma arrives at the nose.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Reds’ bloody mary

January 31, 2013December 21, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

When Dana Walters of Red’s Bar & Tapas, 211 Helena Ave., traveled back to her home state of Wisconsin she saw one of the craziest, gnarliest, most wonderfullest Bloody Mary’s possibly ever in the history of mankind. Boasting a serious amount of garnishes, it was half meal, half hangover cure. And it came in a glass boot. With a beer chaser. The memory was so epic that once she returned to Santa Barbara, she decided to set about creating her own version.

Now, as Super Bowl Sunday approaches, Walters has put the finishing touches on her Bloody Mary to end all … unless you travel to Wisconsin.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Roy’s Rum switchel

January 10, 2013December 20, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Bartender Dan “Danny Boy” Scott is back at Roy after a break of more than 15 years, back when the bar itself was on the other side of the room, the restaurant hosted live music, and the walls were a completely different color. We refrained from toasting him with a few verses of his namesake Irish song, but the pipes, the pipes were calling from our seaside town to wrest him away from Las Vegas.

In Henderson, outside Vegas, he ran the bar at the Black Mountain Grill, a popular restaurant with one of the same owners as Cold Spring Tavern. And he’s brought some of that establishment’s drinks back with him to Roy. But first we are going to take on Roy’s most popular drink for the six months it’s been on the menu: the Moscow Mule.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Rum switchel

January 3, 2013December 20, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

If all the partying of the holidays got to you, or you’ve got that head cold everybody’s been hacking about, you may need something healthy to kick off the new year. And so we’ve been looking into cocktails that are heavy on the health, low on the “to your health” alcohol. What we liked the best so far is the switchel. DOTW fans will remember the use of vinegar in drinks by Hungry Cat’s Patrick Reynolds, including pre-made reductions called “shrubs.” A switchel is similar, but uses apple cider vinegar. We’re fans of Bragg, which also happens to be a local company. We set out to make our own switchel, experimenting with different recipes and sharing at our own parties.

A variation we like comes from www.littlemisscruciferous.com, ran by Rebekah Carter, a blogger in the greater Boston area. The switchel takes about 10 minutes to make, contains apple vinegar, honey, and ginger, and makes a refreshing drink by itself once cooled. But mixologists also like to add alcohol. We think adding a dark rum to the proceedings complements all the flavors around it. Will it keep you healthy? Mmm, perhaps. That’s a question better asked at the gym.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Wine Cask’s Bronx Beet

December 27, 2012December 31, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Bronx beet NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS — Bronx beet
NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS

DJs drop sweet beats around this time of year … and bartenders do, too! That is, if we’re actually talking about beets. You know, the vegetable. OK, that’s our admittedly lame attempt at tying this drink to the festivities about to drop in four days time, but give us a break here at Drink of the Week central!

Matt Pickett at Wine Cask made this for us on a recent sojourn to his fine establishment, and we’ve saved this drink for a special occasion. Which is now.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Cadiz Tapas & Seafood’s Sean’s Eggnog

December 20, 2012December 31, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

If you’ve ever wondered why some people hate eggnog, look no further than what they think it is. From the most commercial brands to the healthier alternatives found at Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, the pre-packaged stuff is pretty dire and full of odd ingredients such as dipotassium phosphate and soy protein isolate (yum!). It’s thick, a bit too creamy and coats the mouth. If only there was a better way!

Well, of course there is, and by chance one night we swung by Cadiz Tapas & Seafood, 509 State St., on an errand and got to sample Sean Sepulveda’s own eggnog that he had made in batches for a private party.