We’re having some grey, dark days right now. So while I’m staying inside watching the weather, I think it’s time to brighten up the home bar with these pops of color! Sunny days ahead! At least with my drinks…
1. Underwood Sparkling Rosé 2. Yellow Cups 3. Fruit Drink Stirrers 4. Coasters 5. Pommery Brut Rosé Royal Champagne 6. St. Agrestis 7. Bottle Opener
Roll on up Turkey Day with this gilded bar cart. It’s more impressive than your Granny’s stuffing.
This year I’ve decided to do away with the rustic red and brown tones of November and step it up a notch with a gilded, glittering bar cart. From golden bar tools, to shiny embroidered napkins, to 22 karat dipped tumblers, it’ll definitely add a little sparkle to your holiday table. And of course the bubbly will be golden too. Just try not to knock over the champagne tower.
1. 22 Karat Gold Dipped Tumbler 2. Liquid Gold Bitters 3. Gold Jigger 4. Gold Wine Opener 5. Gold Embroidered Napkins 6. Gold Dipped Carafe 7. Gold Rimmed Glass and Ice Set 8. Bubbly Cocktail Book 9. Gold Champagne 10. Champagne Tower Glasses 11. Gold Bar Cart
We’re all so exhausted from this year. Let’s ring in the new year with a simple cocktail. And a sword.
Keep this year’s style simple with a few glittery tassels and a light box that tells guests to “Make Drinks Here”. If you want a few theatrics, pop that bubbly with a sabre and point guests to the use of your Chambong. Our drink of choice? A Champagne Cocktail: just drop one sugar cube into your glass. Add some Angostura bitters. Pour in the champagne. And don’t forget the Bloody Mary glasses for the morning after.
1. Metallic Tassels 2. Light Box 3. Stemless Champagne Flutes 4. Champagne Sabre 5. Pink & Gold Napkins 6. Glitter Champagne 7. Sugar Cubes 8. Angostura Bitters 9. Bloody Mary Glasses 10. Arabella Bar Cart 11. Chambong
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
Make someone you love a drink. I didn’t say it had to be another person.
The Foaming Pineapple Cocktail
Sparkling and Spiced Winter Sangria
And to drive the point home…
Tiny bubbles…. or big golden bubbles. Whatever your type of bubbles, don’t forget to put some out on your bar cart this weekend. Here’s how we’re styling ours!
Gold? Check. More gold?! CHECK! We’re jazzing up our bar cart for NYE with a couple of glittery touches, plus, bottles and bottles of good champagne. Disco ball stirrers? Yasssss! Let’s put a stake in 2016 cause we are DONE WITH YEAR.
1. Pop Fizz Clink Napkins 2. Disco Ball Drink Stirrers 3. Brass Hand/Gun Corkscrew 4. Metallic Rimmed Champagne Coupes 5. Faceted Cocktail Shaker 6. Gold Wine Glass Numbers 7. Olympus Bar Cart 8. 2009 Louis Roederer et Philippe Starck Brut Champagne
Catch up on all the gift guides here!
Creaking door noises. Ghoulish wails. Someone breaking your favorite antique champagne coupe! THE HORROR!!!
Halloween is a holiday that transitions nicely from childhood to your drinking years. But don’t think that means you need to be serious. Are you a mad scientist this year? Perfect, there’s some glassware for that. Going more the cannibal route? Then giant skull punch bowl it is! If you’re done with the silly stuff, then make sure your booze is wearing a little black dress, and then decide whether to risk the nice glasses for serving or just some fancy paper cups instead. Me, I’ll be serving up some blood… blood oranges that is. Happy Haunting folks!
1. Skull Punch Bowl 2. Black & Gold Ice Bucket 3. Luc Belaire Rare Brut Gold 4. Shrub & Co. Blood Orange Cardamom Cocktail Shrub Syrup
For more gift guides than you could possibly need, click here.
It’s not very often that I do a theme week around here, but I think we can all agree that brunch is definitely worth the effort. I hope you all enjoy some pineapple or a little pisco this weekend. But if you’d like some more options, here are a few below.
Sparkling Grapefruit and Lillet Rosé Sangria
Not-So-Classic Strawberry-Rhubarb Fizz Cocktail
Frozen Peach, White Pepper and Green Tea & Cucumber and Green Chartreuse Daiquiri Cocktail
Sparkling and Spiced Winter Sangria
**Also, today is the last day to get your nominations in for the Saveur Best Blog awards. If you’d enjoyed the content on here, please consider Stir and Strain for best cocktail site!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
That’s the sound of me squealing that we’ve got another round of The Coconut Club under our belts. This last run was the best yet. Not only were we set up in an actual, OG L.A. Tiki space, but we also had a seance and a giant glowing tiki god. Small fires aside, it was magical.
When you go to events like this, or any event really, where custom drinks are served up, do you ever stop and think about all the drinks that just couldn’t make it to the table that night? Nathan (who also makes drinks for the Coconut Club and who you will see behind the bar more than me) and myself spend countless hours alone and together mixing up possible drinks that we think our audience will love. As much as we’d like to serve them all, some need to get cut from the line up due to timing and to prevent you all from getting alcohol poisoning from over indulging. We have your best interests at heart.
This drink came about during one of my R&D days but realized we already had the Piscolada Shrimp Cocktail, a customer favorite, already on the menu and the ingredients were too close to justify serving it.
So consider this the B-side drink. Turns out it makes a fabulous brunch drink. So, yes, you can drink Tiki at 10am.
This recipe utilizes frozen pineapple juice cubes for two reasons:
1. I had a huge amount of excess pineapple juice leftover from another drink and I can’t bring myself to waste things so I froze the juice up instead.
2. Frozen pineapple juice cubes mean way less watering down of your drink.
If you don’t want to go through the effort of making the cubes, then I would suggest chilling all your ingredients ahead of time so that you still get a nice cold base.
Serves 4 – 6
4 ounces white rum
3 tablespoons coconut cream
5 frozen pineapple juice cubes or 8 ounces chilled pineapple juice (see note above)
3 dashes Bittercube Jamaican #2 Bitters
Champagne, Veuve Clicquot used here
nutmeg for garnish
An interesting effect occurs when you top the base with champagne: the cream causes the drink to bubble and foam on top. It looks like a beautiful pillow of coconut cream that smells faintly of pineapple. While the cream and juice are quite sweet, as well as some sweetness from the rum, the champagne cuts right through offering some bitter and savory notes for balance. These particular bitters lend some notes of citrus and spice for further flavor enhancement. The cocktail is super light and easy drinking. Perfect for your next brunch, breakfast, or mid-week snack.
While I seem to be spending all my time lately helping you figure out what YOU should be getting this holiday season, I only see it as fair that I share what I want too.
Give me a little pop of color for when I’m by the pool; I don’t mind acrylic if it means all day cocktailing and never leaving my giant lime wheel float. But when I want to get fancy, I’ll need that stack of champagne coupes and, albeit it predictably so, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Also, a place to perch myself please, with some shiny bar tools nearby and some personalized drink stirrers so I know which drink is mine. And if Santa’s feeling extra generous, that Cartier Punch Bowl set looks might fine.
1. Lime Wheel Float
Check out all the past gift guides here!
Both my mother and mother-in-law are not big drinkers. So imagine this roundup more for those of you who have a booze lovin’ mamma. Or spend an afternoon at the club making the boys fetch you drinks while you never get around to playing tennis. Or better, perhaps, these are for the sons and daughters having to endure hours on Sunday being told you’re not coming around or calling enough. Yes, these drinks are for you.
Burnt Sage & Blackberry Sangria. One for you, one for mom. Or two for you.
Pitcher drinks mean all day drinking. Try this  Apple and Rosé Sangria with Sunday brunch.
Need something quick but fancy? Try this Sparkling Hibiscus Cocktail, takes but a second but super pretty to look at.
Sparkling Wine. Watermelon. Limoncello? What’s more impressive sounding than that? Whip up some Salty Melon Cocktails. They’ll be perfect with your edible fruit basket.
Need more pink on Sunday? Electric Pink Fields is ALWAYS a winner.
And if you just need a stiff drink. Have a Smoky Manhattan.
