- The art of the Japanese style whiskey highball. I love the ritual of it all.
- And speaking of, we’ve got a video demonstration of how to do a hard shake and hand carve an ice sphere over on the Stir and Strain facebook page if ya’ll are interested (sorry, scroll down the page a bit).
- Man, I have so many #garnishgoals looking at these Instagram accounts.
- Whiskey is not going anywhere. We’ll always have whiskey. Calm down everyone.
- Just say YES to veggies in your cocktails. There’s a health benefit somewhere in there.
- How am I making my Bloody Mary WRONG if it’s a personal choice as to how I make my Bloody Mary?
- Life after bourbon. Just where do all those barrels go?
- Blanc vermouth. Get it. Drink it. Love it.
- Science tells you why they think you’re binge drinking.
- And lastly, would you guys like to watch a video of a fish drinking a beer? Ok. Here you go. Happy Monday.
Search Results for: punch
Mother’s Day Cocktail Roundup 2016
Well guys, it’s been two years since I’ve done one of these, so here’s your 2016 cocktail roundup for all your Moms. Drink up!
Sparkling Lemony-Suze Cocktails
Sparkling Pomegranate Caipirinha
Fresh Ginger Amaretto Sour Cocktails
Brûléed Grapefruit and Mixed Citrus Punch with Vanilla and Piloncillo Reduction
Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails
A Pitcher of Pisco with Grapefruit, Lime and Thyme

Gift Guide: Giddy Up! (Kentucky Derby Time!)
One week from tomorrow it’s OK to carry around a riding crop and wear a helmut in public. Be prepared. Get bourbon.

Leave those tiny silver cups at home, we’re feeding a crowd. And by feeding I mean drinking a giant silver punch bowl filled with Mint Juleps. So get your Maker’s Mark, and a commercial ice crusher, and if you have the time, grow some mint! Or, you could just fake it and add in some mint simple instead. Stir it all up with some wild horses, and please, gentlemen, use a napkin.
1. Feeling giddy napkin 2. Grow your own mint plants 3. Triple Crown Napkins 4. Gold Horse Drink Stirrers 5. Maker’s Mark Bourbon American Pharoah Commemorative Bottle (available May 1st!) 6. Mint Julep Simple Syrup 7. Commerical Ice Crusher 8. Silver Vintage Punch Bowl
Monday Booze News The fashion world embraces Sherry, where to drink during Coachella, and we're LIVE from the WSWA next week!
- Stir and Strain is attending the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America convention April 18-21! Follow along on ALL the social media channels to see sneak peeks at what’s new and upcoming in the spirits industry and quite possibly a celebrity sighting or two!
- Galentine’s Day. Brosè. Why we are still seeing gender campaigns in our booze today.
- “Pilsners before absinthe, get stuck in a labyrinth.” And other drinking warnings...
- I’m always excited for a new TIKI anything… but a HOTEL? YES!!
- These cocktail trends might not be new to you, but it’s interesting to see Vogue magazine embrace Sherry.
- What do bartenders think is the best thing to drink with oysters? (Sake, and pretty much whatever you want).
- This little snippet has been going around about how people look after each glass of wine they drink but frankly no one’s face is red enough by glass four so I think it’s all a lie.
- Spring beer trends! Wasn’t Gose (pronounced “go-zuhâ€) in Ghostbusters?
- Important things to consider when drinking on a diet. First, why are you on this website?
- And lastly, if you’re headed to Coachella this year, here’s a list of places to get a good (decent) drink in the area. But remember folks, Palm Springs is like, 25-40 minutes north from the festival...
Monday Booze News fill up those chocolate bunnies with booze, when a beer truck and a chip truck collide, and flair bartending is here to stay
- Know someone with talent in the bar industry? Nominate them for a Spirited Award!
- The deadline for the Tarantas Wine Cocktail contest is ending soon! I want to taste your cocktails!
- Are you using the right cocktail glass for your drinks? This video explains what to use when and why.
- Did you celebrate International Whisky Day yesterday? Do you know the history behind it?
- The future of US wine making is where?! And did you know EVERY STATE IN THE US makes wine? I did not.
- Flair bartending grew up, it never went away.
- Even urban dwellers get to have wineries now. Here are a few of the best.
- A beer truck and a Frito Lay truck collide. Florida got lucky this time.
- Jäger cocktails I’d actually want to drink!
- And finally, hollow chocolate Easter bunnies and gross and not worth the calories. If you have some laying around from yesterday, fill them with whiskey.
Gift Guide: Spring Entertaining Essentials
Forget the picnic basket. Break out your wooden 6 Pack Holder and head outside for Spring Entertaining.

Throw out your sad winter blues and put some springy color into your bar and entertaining getup. Purple punch bowls? YES! Unbreakable green tumblers? Double yes. And if we’re packing up to head outside, let’s all agree to leave our heavy metal pineapples at home and sip on some lightweight dayglow ones instead. What’s in mine? Some lemon spiked gin all the way from Italy, and probably some pineapple ice cubes too. Rainy spring day? I’ll be hanging up some punchy booze art until the sun peeks out again. Happy Spring everyone!
1. Pineapple Ice Cube Tray 2. The Bar Cart Print 3. Wooden Six Pack Holder 4. Malfy Gin 5. Somewhere Beyond The Sea Coaster 6. Pineapple Tumbler 7. Purple Punch Bowl Set 8. Facet Acrylic Tumblers
Make It: Irish Coffee Jello Shots Two Ways
Procrastination has gotten the better of me this week as we speed, much too fast for my liking, into the 3rd month of the year. March is looking to be the most jam packed month yet this year as I’ve said “yes” to maybe one too many events, my mother is in town, and we celebrate multiple birthdays, St. Patrick’s Day (I am a 1/4 Irish), and Easter. So of course, instead of working on projects, I’ve been covering my ears and eyes going NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH and making batches of brownies and spending copious amounts of time photographing my purse contents.
I did take the time to make you guys a little something special for St. Patrick’s Day though this year. I hope it makes up for those purse photos.
It’s like a cocktail, but you eat it: Irish Coffee Jello Shots.
So here’s the thing. I enjoy an Irish Coffee from time to time; like, a few sips and then I’m usually done. It’s a lot of hot coffee and I’m usually drinking it late in the evening when a giant hot coffee is not really what I want right then. I’m also usually drinking them at a party or an event and bless their hearts for trying, but the coffee is usually not very good either. To control this situation for myself, and hopefully for you all, let’s get a delicious coffee and miniaturize it with the right amount of booze and not force people to drink giant hot coffees at 8pm.
I went ahead and created a straight up Irish Coffee version, garnished with the tiniest of lemon peel, and then bastardized it and went crazy adding in chocolate and Fernet Branca because I love chocolate mint anything including my coffee and for this one occasion, with my whiskey. Ooooh, I’m so crazy…
The original version of these has a strong, rich coffee flavor with a hint of whiskey at the finish. The cream is mixed in so you’re not trying to eat a delicate jello shot while whipped cream melts all over your fingers – gross. For the mocha-mint version, you get a lot of Fernet (a little goes a long way!) with a strong mocha finish and a more subtle whiskey punch at the end.
Irish Coffee Jello Shots (Makes 24, 2/5 ounce shots)
2-1/2 ounces freshly brewed coffee, room temp
1 ounce brown sugar syrup (1:1 ratio)
1 packet of gelatine
2 ounces near boiling water
1/2 ounce heavy cream
2 ounces Irish Whiskey, Bushmills used here
lemon zest for garnish
- In a large mixing glass with a spout, pour in coffee and brown sugar syrup. Sprinkle gelatine over the liquid and let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom. Then pour in near boiling water and whisk to combine. Add heavy cream and whiskey and stir. Pour into molds (I like these hemisphere molds from World Cuisine) and let sit for 6 hours or overnight.
- To remove jello shots from rounded molds, carefully run a small spoon around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. If using square or straight-sided molds, run a butter knife around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. For other shapes or non-flexible molds, dip the bottom of the mold in warm water for 15 seconds, invert mold onto a baking sheet, and gently tap the mold to release the jello shot. Irish Coffee jello shots can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Garnish with lemon zests and serve!
Mocha-Mint Irish Coffee Jello Shots (Makes 24, 2/5 ounce shots)
2-1/2 ounces freshly brewed coffee, room temp
1/2 ounce brown sugar syrup (1:1 ratio)
1 packet of gelatine
1/4 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 ounces near boiling water
1/2 ounce heavy cream
1/4 ounce Fernet Branca
2 ounces Irish Whiskey, Bushmills used here
chocolate shavings for garnish
- In a large mixing glass with a spout, pour in coffee and brown sugar syrup. Sprinkle gelatine over the liquid and let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom. After the gelatine has bloomed, sprinkle cocoa powder over the mixture. Then pour in near boiling water and whisk to combine. Add heavy cream, Fernet Branca and whiskey and stir. Pour into molds (like these!) and let sit for 6 hours or overnight.
- To remove jello shots from rounded molds, carefully run a small spoon around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. If using square or straight-sided molds, run a butter knife around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. For other shapes or non-flexible molds, dip the bottom of the mold in warm water for 15 seconds, invert mold onto a baking sheet, and gently tap the mold to release the jello shot. Irish Coffee jello shots can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Garnish with chocolate shavings and serve!
Are you guys into these? I have a few more ideas up my sleeve I’ll be rolling out over the next few months.
Monday Booze News MORE coffee beer, rum without the Tiki, and leftover wine tips!
- So which Breakfast Club Cocktail archetype are you? (I think I’m having an identity crisis and I’m all of them).
- Hey cocktail ladies! You can drink beer too! Try these.
- Intelligentsia, among other coffee companies, is now jumping into the brewing world. I quite interested to see where this trend is headed.
- And then there’s THIS beer trend for you gym rats out there.
- Want some booze that packs a PUNCH? Check out these super boozy… boozes.
- Love rum, but not Tiki bars? (Don’t worry, I’m not judging you) Here’s a few spots that do rum right and almost nary a Tiki in sight.
- Leftover wine? Stick it in the freezer!
- If you still got some Oscar fever leftover from yesterday, here’s a cocktail with a bit of Hollywood storytelling alongside it.
- And an equally black tie cocktail (and SNACK!!) over at Dine X Design.
- Lastly, the Cocktail Chemistry YouTube channels does it again making this smoked cocktail super easy to replicate in your home (the future is video and video is NOW).
Monday Booze News RUM! TIKI! DRINKING INSTEAD OF GETTING A FLU SHOT!
- Curious what you all think: when is a tiki bar NOT a tiki bar….?
- Where did all your old cassette tapes go? They probably live at this Denver bar.
- This week’s science claim is one for the anti-vaxers: drink booze and no need for those vaccines!
- This man knows rum (he privately owns over 1000 bottles) and wants to talk to you about it.
- OH, and speaking of rum… IT’S THE NEXT BIG THING for 2016. Rum Old Fashioneds? YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
- Beer: it’s not just for drinking, it’s also for cooking (with).
- Need some new cocktail ideas for that bottle of Campari? Check out these drinks.
- We’re all just looking for a hangover cure. Here’s some with pictures!
- But can you even SAY Batavia Arrack correctly?
- And lastly, if you find yourself in the Palm Springs area over the next week, there are a ton of fun cocktail events going down at Modernism Week. Find me there.
Monday Booze News George Costanza got a bar, the perfect age for whiskey, and I don't want to drink a cocktail that looks like hair
- Want to start a vintage liquor collection? Head out to the country.
- Slimming down for the New Year? You need a 10-in-1 bar tool and throw the rest out*.
- Cocktail Competition Alert!! Tales of the Cocktail this year wants you to refresh a Tequila Sunrise. Are you game?
- If I’m reading this article right, date a bartender if you like to mooch off people and don’t want to pay for your drinks??
- Let the magical internet guess which drink is best for you based on your personality. SCIENCE!
- Does choosing a wine seem like a daunting task? This site will guarantee picks you’ll like based on tasting a few samples.
- And speaking of wine, if you have any leftover champagne in your house… turn it into popsicles.
- Diehard George Costanza/Seinfeld fans should get themselves a ticket to Australia STAT and visit this themed bar.
- This Donald Trump cocktail kinda makes me want to gag. Maybe it’s all that hair?
- And lastly, what is the perfect age for whiskey? (Like most statements based on opinion… it varies.)












