July10: National Pina Colada Day

from CNN's Eatocracy:


Do you like piña coladas? Or would you rather be caught in the rain? If you do, celebrate National Piña Colada Day, put the pineapple and rum in the coconut, and drink it all up.
The pineapple, coconut and rum concoction is wildly popular in Puerto Rico and wherever there’s hot sun, cold ice, and a Caribbean breeze.  Tracking down who invented a particular cocktail can be tricky, since everyone involved was drinking at the time. Depending on who you ask, the piña colada was invented in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1963 by Ramón Portas Mingot, in 1954 by Ramón Marrero or Ricardo Gracia, or in Cuba in 1950.

Variations on the recipe abound as well, but generally if you blend cream of coconut, light rum and pineapple juice together with ice, you’ve got a piña colada. Ironically, “piña colada” means “strained pineapple [juice]”, with no mention of the coconut component, and most piña coladas are blended rather than shaken and strained these days.

Get the full article here

Nothing says summer like Sex on the Beach

It's the first day of summer and one of the ultimate summer drinks is a Sex on the Beach.

Sex on the Beach is a fruity cocktail that is recognized as a standard by the International Bartending Association.

Though this drink actually has many variations, the standard recipe is as follows:

2 parts vodka
1 part peach schnapps
2 parts orange juice
2 parts cranberry juice

Pour all ingredients in a highball glass and serve on the rocks. Garnish the drink with an orange slice.

Now just to be different, I would love to try this with some of the flavored vodkas out there. I'm thinking pineapple or mango would make it a little sweeter and more tropical. But as the name suggests, this is the perfect beachside or poolside drink to enjoy your summer!

Peach Pie Moonshine

This morning I was searching for a peach pie recipe and came across this recipe for peach pie moonshine. (Thank you, Google!)

Surprisingly, though I am a Georgia Peach myself, I have actually never had any moonshine.

Judging from the ingredients, this sounds pretty good.
Ingredients:
½ gallon (64 oz.) Welch’s White Grape Peach Juice
1 ½ cups
White Sugar
1 can Sliced Peaches (15-16 oz.)
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 cup ( 4oz.) Peach Schnapps
1 cup grain alcohol

Out of trying not to completely steal content from someone who put more effort into this than I did, follow the link below for directions. He also has a lot of other good recipes, alcoholic and otherwise.
Get the recipe and more like it here

Frozen Pouch Drinks: Parrot Bay Daiquiris

As I was grocery shopping last week I noticed something new: Parrot Bay frozen drink pouches. Since I'm a big fan of Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay line, I had to give these a try.

The flavors I tried were Mango Daiquiri and Piña Colada. The mango is really good, but of course I also love Parrot Bay's mango rum. As expected, sweet with a little bit of tanginess.

The pina colada was pretty good too. I'll be honest, it's not the same as a pins colada with fresher ingredients and coconut rum on a beachside bar, but for the price (under $3, plus no tipping anyone or dragging out the blender) it's pretty damn good.

The other thing to keep in mind is just squeezing it or running hot water over it doesn't melt it fast enough (for me) though that does make it more like a snow cone with a kick and it might be a different story if I was drinking it by the pool in the heat of the day. I suggest letting it sit out an hour before drinking it.

Technically these are malt drinks so I doubt there's actually rum in them and I am very much a rum lover, but it's still a great drink, especially with the convenience factor.

It doesn't seem to pack too much of a punch (only 5% alcohol) it's probably a good bet for a party. All in all, these are pretty good, I will be trying some of the other flavors and will probably buy it again.

The best things in life: Booze, Bacon and Ice Cream

I found an article on cnn's eatocracy about the bacon flavored ice cream trend which included a recipe with Bourbon. It's definitely different. Very interesting but I don't think I'll be trying it. If you do/have, please comment below, I'd love to know how it is!

The full article can be found at that link.

Boozy, Nutty, Buttermilk Bacon Ice Cream
1 pound smoked bacon (not thick cut)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup pecans
2 Tablespoons bourbon
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces, dredge them in brown sugar. Scrunch pieces of aluminum foil to cover the surface of a baking sheet – the excess fat will drain into the channels. Lay out the bacon on the foil making sure not to overlap pieces. Sprinkle lightly with cayenne pepper, then bake in a 350°F oven until crispy.
After the first 10 minutes, check every 5 minutes to make sure that it is not burning. Remove, cool and set aside.
Chop pecans very finely and toast them in the same 350°F oven for about 10 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they do not burn, but give off a nice, nutty odor. Pour them into a single layer in a flat bottomed container and pour bourbon over them while they are still warm. Set aside.
Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until they are thoroughly mixed. In a saucepan, heat heavy cream and one cup of the buttermilk to 150°F. Pour a thin stream of the cooked cream and buttermilk mixture into the eggs and sugar, stirring until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Chill the custard for 4 hours or until very cold, but not frozen.
Once it has chilled, stir in the rest of the buttermilk, pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and mix until very thick. Turn off the machine and gently stir in the candied bacon and the nuts.
Spoon it all into a container with a tight-fitting lid. If there is a gap between the custard and the lid, press a sheet of plastic wrap against the surface of the mixture to prevent ice crystals from forming.
Remove ice cream from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.
If you don't have an ice-cream maker either place the bowl in the freezer and remove every half hour to beat with a whisk or electric immersion blender or pour the mixture into a 1-pound coffee can and seal it tightly.
Place that can into a 3-pound coffee can, layer ice and rock salt around it and seal that tightly as well. Roll the large can between your feet or between two people for 10-15 minutes.
Then open the can, take the smaller can out, clean it off, unseal, and stir the contents. Reseal the can, pack it into the larger can, place in more ice and rock salt and repeat the process until the mixture is semi-frozen. Pour it into a fresh container and place in the freezer until it reaches desired solidity.

Get the full article.

Deadli Concoctions: Pirate's Elixir and Pirate's Spritzer

One of my favorite things to do is just mix stuff together and create my own drinks. No, I'm not a mixologist or a bartender, but I am kind of a lush. I'm particularly fond of the Captain Morgan Parrot Bay line of flavored rums. They really go down so smoothly sometimes you can just mix a couple of flavors together and drink them on the rocks.

It was doing this that I came up with the following two drinks. Basically the Elixer came first and the Spritzer came when I thought I should make a version that wasn't pure alcohol and ice. I posted on Facebook asking my friends to name my drink, keeping with the pirate theme in honor of Captain Morgan and here we are.

Pirate's Elixir
1 part Captain Morgan Strawberry Parrot Bay
1 part Captain Morgan Lime Parrot Bay
serve on the rocks


Pirate's Spritzer
1 shot Captain Morgan Strawberry Parrot Bay
1 shot Captain Morgan Lime Parrot Bay
1 shot lemon juice
1 shot Sprite/Sierra Mist

Serve over the rocks and go relax.

These are perfect summer drinks because they're kind of fruity and not heavy on your stomach at all. Perfect for hanging by the pool with your friends, or a good drink at a summer neighborhood cookout. The Elixir can definitely pack a punch though so stay responsible.

CNN: Whisky whets investor thirst for 'neat' returns

CNN has a story on how Scotch whisky is becoming an investment. I guess that's good if you can avoid drinking the principal. In any case, this is an investment strategy I can relate to!

Single malt Scotch whisky, the centuries old Scottish liquor, has emerged as an attractive investment over the last four years, analysts and industry experts say, with high demand for rare luxury bottles driving record-high auction prices.
The recent opening of a lavish, Manhattan-based whisky club, and the $460,000 world auction record sale of the Macallan ‘Cire Perdue’ in 2010 are just a few signs of the trending single malt market.

Bonhams hosted its first U.S. whisky auction in 2008, and has since sold tens of thousands of bottles domestically. Whisky Highland is a Scottish company that independently tracks the UK auction values of thousands of whiskies. They provide detailed valuations of individual bottles and their sales, as well as statistical analysis of auction results.

Get the full story on CNN's Eatocracy