School’s in session. Time to restock your spirits book library (including some fiction!)
1. Mod Cocktails 2. Natural Wine for the People 3. Celebrate Rosé 4. Cocktails with a Twist 5. The Lager Queen of Minnesota 6. The Martini Cocktail 7. Spirits Sugar Water Bitters 8. All Day Cocktails 9. Last Call
Mom does not want a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant. Mom wants booze.
For every type of mom out there, we can all agree, if you’re looking here for gifts, she wants some wine. Accessorize that bottle with a hometown wine bag. Better yet, accessorize with some accessories. Earrings are always a good idea. Does she need a to-go cup for that last glass of wine? Yes, duh. Does she like to #earnherbooze? Does she need a tank top to proclaim this at the club gym? I bet her bestsellers book club would be impressed with a James Beard award book winner. And I think it’s about time you replaced that fancy punch bowl set of hers you broke in high school. Better bring her a spritz too.
1. Rosé pin 2. Aperol Spritz door mat 3. Champagne earrings 4. City wine tote 5. Champagne tank top 6. Wine tumbler 7. Cocktail Codex book 8. Wine chiller 9. Punch bowl set
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
Sun’s out. New cocktail books are out. Everything’s fine.
Throw open the windows, grab a chair, maybe some light up ice cubes, and indulge yourself with a new cocktail book. Making drinks for a crowd? You’ll need a pitcher, and upgrade those plastic straws already. Rather get whisked away to a tropical island? Tiki it up with some new glassware and a place to put all your tiny umbrellas. You’ll find me under a giant umbrella outside, bookmarking recipes with my new to-go drink container.
1. Light up ice cubes 2. Coral flask 3. Glass straws 4. Pineapple bar spoon 5. Swan glass 6. Cactus pitcher 7. Calories container 8. Batch Cocktails book 9. Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails book
Why yes, a bottle of booze DOES fit in a stocking… or 25 bottles of nips.
Stuffing a stocking is about quantity, but you should also consider quality too. From tiny cocktail books, to tiny cocktail kits, shakers for your glitter squad and shakers for your grandpa, gadgets for the oenophiles in your life, and a fancy gold jigger just because. You can never go wrong with more bar tools, and did you know you can make your own gin? The kit fits in here too. And if the person is super picky about booze, get them a gift card and let them choose (we’ve got $5 for all of you).
1. The Mini Bar Book Set 2. Gold Jigger 3. Wine Opener 4. Italian Spritz Cocktail Kit 5. Glitter Shaker 6. Wine Bag and Cooler 7. Ginbrew Kit 8. Wine Preserver 9. Opinel Knife 10. Cocktail Picks 11. $5 off your order from Drizly for booze delivery 12. Wood Muddler 13. Enamel Shaker
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
After booze, books are always a solid gift choice…
Got a cocktail enthusiast on your list this year? There’s plenty of great books that have been released recently to stir up some creativity. Here’s 9 of our favorites to give as gifts this holiday season for newbies through the professional.
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
It’s National Cocktail Day tomorrow in case you didn’t know (And it’s totally fine if you didn’t know. I forgot too until I read a recent press release). So I thought I’d round up a few of you readers’ favorite posts from the site because, if you’re here, you like cocktails. Funny thing though, you guys seem to like a lot of the DIY syrups/bitters/tincture posts just as much as the drinks. So I’m including those too because it’s always good to have some fun syrups and mixers around to get your creative cocktail juices flowing. Cheers!
Passion Fruit Syrup // The Hurricane Cocktail
Burnt Sage and Blackberry Sangria
Smoke Tincture and Boulevardier
And if you’re looking for more inspiration, here are a few of my favorite books on cocktails (in no particular order) and all the fun stuff that goes into them! Enjoy!
There’s so many more I like to read, you can check out the Book Shelf Page for even more (not currently updated but it’s a lot to start with!).
It’s not cheap, it’s frugal. Here’s our first of the “practical” gift guides this year.
They might have a small price tag, but no one is going to regift these guys. Except maybe the reusable wine bag, because that’s the point. Whether you need some stocking stuffers they’ve never seen before (hello cocktail pins and firewater tincture!), some solid basics (muddlers! crushed ice trays!), or if you need a gift for your officemate who just got into cocktails (Meehan!), these are a sure bet. And of course, there’s always rum! And don’t forget yourself! I’ll be stirring up some drinks this holiday season with a couple Palm Springs stirrers.
1. Cocktail Pins 2. Meehan’s Bartender Manual 3. Extra Long Cocktail Muddler 4. Hot Toddy Carry On Cocktail Kit 5. Palm Springs Cocktail Stirrers 6. Firewater Tincture 7. Reusable Wine Bag 8. Crushed Ice Tray 9. Appleton Estate Rum
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
Unless that tie rack comes with booze…think again.
For the bookworm Dad: booze books. For the stylish Dad: booze cufflinks. For the junk food Dad: beer and pretzel ice cream. For the outdoorsy Dad: a pocketknife to hand carve a muddler. Oh, and also a plaid flask (duh). For the goofy Dad: bourbon socks. For all the rest of the Dads: whisk(e)y. And you should probably throw in a Negroni finger stirrer because… well, your Dad knows a joke for that too.
1. Call Me Old Fashioned print 2. Coolhaus Beer and Pretzel ice cream 3. Rum Curious 4. The Bloody Mary Book 5. Bourbon socks 6. Cocktail cufflinks 7. Opinel pocket knife 8. Speyburn Single Malt Scotch Whisky 9. Gaz Regan Negroni Finger Stirrer 10. Plaid flask
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
Do you find yourself with not enough time to make your own yummy cocktail mixers because you’ve been inundated with holiday office parties/yule log cutting parties/tree singing soirées/ etc and so on? Me too.
So, I’m stepping in to save you from chugging that bourbon alone for this week’s giveaway. We’ve teamed up with Stolen Fruit Cocktail Mixers to offer THREE lucky Stir and Strain readers a 3-pack variety of mixers including their Lemongrass Ginger Sauvignon Blanc, Blood Orange Muscat, and Hibiscus Grenache. And, because you can’t show up to a holiday party empty handed (and you’re keeping the mixers to yourself), here at Stir and Strain we’re giving away a surprise cocktail book to each winner as well! Take it to the party, leave it at the White Elephant table, gift it to drunk uncle Frank… it’s up to you what you want to do with the books. You could, of course, keep it for yourself as well.
Stolen Fruit does not have anything to do with the legality of the product, FYI. The “stolen fruit” refers to the blend of verjus – the fresh pressed juice from green grapes – varietal grape juice, and grape skins that make up the base of the mixers. Then they’ve added in fresh, unique ingredients for a mixer that is great with any kind of booze, or if you’re not into the hard stuff, sparkling water or seltzer. It’s the perfect bottle to keep on hand when the holidays get hectic and you just.need.a.drink. But one that tastes good and you don’t regret.
Ready to mix it up? Enter below and get up to 12 entries to win. Remember, THREE of you are going to get a 3-pack AND a book (Open to US residents only). Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PST Tuesday December 13th, 2016. For more information on Stolen Fruit, check out their website at www.stolenfruit.com! Good luck!
AND! Stolen Fruit is offering FREE SHIPPING from now until December 20 with code stir16 (all lowercase). YAY!
If you’re overstuffed from Halloween, but still in need of a good cocktail, let’s start November off right with some healthy alternatives to high-sugar, high-fat, artificially flavored drinks. This week we’ve teamed up with the ladies behind The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Drinking to offer you just that: cocktails without all the crap.
Author’s Ariane Resnick, certified nutritionist and author of The Bone Broth Miracle and Brittini Rae, Speed Rack 2015 winner and nationally recognized cocktail maven, combine their expert knowledge in the realms of mixology and nutrition to create inventive cocktails and mocktails that are not only fun and delicious, but nourishing and full of health benefits. This book is really about using high-quality, whole ingredients to help mitigate the negative effects of alcohol.
Want a taste? Here’s a delicious recipe to try from the book:
recipe courtesy of Regan Arts
2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 dash orange bitters
1 orange peel, for garnish
Shake all the ingredients except the orange peel in a shaker with ice. Strain into a champagne saucer and, if desired, flame the orange peel over the top.
And because we here at Stir and Strain are already getting into the holiday spirit, the winner will also receive a bonus grab bag of goodies from us. Maybe a couple helpful things to get you started on your cocktail making *wink wink*.
So gather up your fresh fruit, a bottle or two of some healing tonics, and enter to win today! You can get up to 10 entries below. For more information on Ariane Resnick, check out her website at arianecooks.com and find Brittini Rae on Instagram at instagram.com/whiskynlace  Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PST Monday November 7th, 2016 (US residents only). Good luck!