Drink of the Week – Page 8

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Wine Cask’s The Lit Fir

December 6, 2012January 7, 2016 tedmills Leave a comment

Have you gone out to find a Christmas tree yet? Even if you haven’t, you can probably smell the pine needles in the nose as you hunt for the perfect one for your front room. That fresh green aroma influenced this week’s cocktail, created by Matt Pickett over at the Wine Cask. Mr. Pickett has been making cocktails at the restaurant for three months, having spent time before at Olio Pizzeria, also in Santa Barbara, and other cities to the north. At Wine Cask, he’s been able to get his hands on a number of intriguing alcohols, which lead him to Oregon’s Clear Creek Distillery. They make an Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir, created by steeping fresh pine needles into a grappa-like alcohol. And according to Mr. Pickett, they do this in the forest to keep it all fresh. How crazy is that?

Add to this some of Clear Creek’s apple brandy and a mix of vanilla bean and cinnamon simple syrups, as well as orange, cranberry and lemon juices, and you have this wintry cocktail with a slight hint of forest and a full nose of vanilla. But don’t stop there: Garnish this with candied apple peel and your guests will think this came straight out of the woods.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Cranberry granita cosmopolitan

November 29, 2012January 7, 2016 tedmills Leave a comment

Cranberry granita cosmopolitan NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS — Cranberry granita cosmopolitan
NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS

Thanksgiving is over, but we are not in any way done with cranberries. For some, they are tied to the holiday, but for us in the Drink of the Week camp, cranberry means cosmopolitans!

Joe Andrieu, one half of Repeal Day Santa Barbara (yes, it’s a blatant plug! Check page D1 for more shameless self-promotion), arrived at a recent holiday party bearing a small tub of cranberry granita (an Italian variation on sorbet). Giving props to Alton Brown, who first introduced the idea to him (by website), Joe made us cosmopolitans consisting of nothing but granita, lime juice and vodka. The granita, being straight from the freezer, provided the chill of ice without the ice. The resulting cocktail was thick with cranberry flavor, way more than any “cranberry cocktail”-filled cosmo we’ve had. Needless to say, many of these were ordered at the party, and poor Joe never left the kitchen, having no assistant available to give him a break.

Drink of the Week: PERSIMMON TO COME ABOARD

November 22, 2012January 13, 2016 tedmills Leave a comment

PERSIMMON TO COME ABOARD nik blaskovich / news-press — PERSIMMON TO COME ABOARD
nik blaskovich / news-press

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I have a weird thing with persimmons. I’ve been taught to eat them when they’re crunchy. But I never do that. By the time I get around to it, they’ve gone soft. Well, softer than soft. What’s the word for it? Gross, that’s the word.

There is a happy medium, though. The perfect fall fruit, persimmons are sturdy and willing to unlock their secrets if you keep an eye on them. Patrick Reynolds, who by now should be a familiar face in this column, likes them too, and so has made up a nice little fall cocktail for you, based on his love of coming home to a warm house filled with family, friends and the smells of the kitchen.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Cadiz’s Tipple of gibraltar

November 15, 2012January 13, 2016 tedmills Leave a comment

The relatives are gathered, the turkey’s in the oven, and all you really want is a drink. We know how you feel; we’ve been there.

But instead of reaching into your back pocket for your hip flask, why not whip up something much more appropriate for the season? Yes, this involves cranberry and turkey, and has been designed by Sean Sepulveda, formerly of El Cielito, and now of Cadiz, who is set to roll out a brand new cocktail menu soon.

DRINK OF THE WEEK: Killer B’s BBQ and Bar’s Killer apricot mai tai

November 1, 2012October 24, 2022 tedmills Leave a comment

The Mai Tai is one drink that almost encourages experimentation. While the original recipe — either by Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic — was shrouded in competitive mystery from its inception, everybody has had their own go somewhere along the way. And you know what? They’re all usually good. For epicure.sb, the Wildcat once again hosted a Mai Tai contest to award fame and fortune (well, mostly just fame) to the best tropical drink.

The winner, Liz Cross, works at Killer B’s and spent many a night perfecting her cocktail, aided by her boyfriend who seemed perfectly happy to have tried all Ms. Cross’ attempts on the way to perfection. The Killer Apricot Mai Tai was sweet, maybe too sweet for some, but the alcohol was hidden well. That could be dangerous! The thing that the judges — one being our own photographer, Nik Blaskovich — loved was the floating half a lime shell filled with Myers’s Rum. Ms. Cross pierced a hole in the bottom of the lime so the rum would slowly flow out into the drink.

Longboard Grill’s Volcano

December 17, 2010July 10, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

We keep waiting for that perfect moment when we can take a water taxi to the wharf for a drink at Longboard’s. It would be so apropos. In lieu of that, we drove onto the wharf for a return visit to this ol’ neighborhood establishment at the top of The Harbor Restaurant.

Because it is a part of the local chain of bars and restaurants that includes El Paseo, Tee-Off and Harry’s Plaza Café, we had no doubt that the drinks would be strong.

Sharkeez’s Cucumber Jalapeño Margarita

November 26, 2010July 1, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

“Recession? What recession?”

So says Ryan Leeper, manager of the Santa Barbara branch of that college drinking institution Sharkeez. Some blocks of State Street may be a bit quieter these days, but not the block between Haley and Gutierrez. With the Savoy across the street, and the numerous late night food establishments popping up here and there (thank you Santa Barbara for getting a clue about our stomachs), this block is buzzing.

And as we walked in on a Thursday, we were told that in an hour it would be College Night, so brace for the crowds. Well, we thought, that gives us an hour to get our drinks in before all chaos reigns.

Monty’s Flying Saucer

November 12, 2010July 2, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Looking to the far corner of the bar at Monty’s, we see a spaghetti kitchen. Or rather, the ghost of one. Before anybody can remember, this space in the Magnolia shopping center used to sling pasta and meatballs before it transformed into a neighborhood bar.

Now owned by the wife of the former owner, Monty’s Sports Bar gets packed during “da game,” Tuesday pool league nights and Thursday karaoke. But when we sauntered in, it was late and a bit slow. A few regulars are seated up to the bar, and we are greeted by Susie Crawford, who has been mixing drinks here for 17 years. If you’ve stopped by on a weeknight, then you’ve probably met her.

Old King Road’s Skeleton in the Closet

November 5, 2010July 6, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

After 11 years, Old King’s Road still doesn’t allow wankers through its doors, so I guess that’s a good sign for us. We just waltzed right in to stay. One of our Drink-of-the-Week-ers brought his parents along, and they promptly disappeared into the post-trivia, post-World Series crowd for a bit while we settled down to chat with Don Zaccagnino, who we immediately charmed by pronouncing his last name correctly.

Zaccagnino is one of three owners of OKR, along with Ross Cathie, the true Brit among the three, and Chris Faitel, the newest, youngest owner. We got into a little conversation about real fish and chips before Zaccagnino decided on his selections for us to try.

Roy’s Reckless Whistle

October 29, 2010June 25, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Last time we visited Esther Rogers, the bartender and mixologist at Roy’s, we surprised her and she was still able to whip up some mighty fine cocktails with a gourmet eye, the kind we expect from Roy’s menu. This time, she told us, she knew we were coming. But that wasn’t the reason she had a small cocktail menu printed out — that was for the RND evening last weekend that our crew managed to catch at the last minute.

If we haven’t mentioned it before, RND vodka is our favorite local spirit. It may be the only one too, discounting the bathtub of homebrew gin I’ve been keeping a secret. Anyroad, Rogers set out to show off the spectrum of RND and we sidled up a week later to try the cocktails and see what we make of them.