Stir & Strain

gift guide

Gift Guide: Father’s Day 2016

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All Dad wants to do is drink good booze, read about some booze, and he doesn’t want rose gold barware. And maybe a steak. Actually, yes, grill him a steak too.

Father's Day Gift Guide 2016 // stirandstrain.com

Want to surprise Dad with something new? Well, how about the best American Brandy sampler you need in your liquor cabinet right now? And don’t try and slip in some chintzy jigger you scored at the airport on the way to see him. Cocktail Kingdom now has gunmetal black bar tools: the manliest of the manly. Oh but he’s that manly? Well, just get him an Opinel knife. You can zest, cut, and I don’t know what else with this knife…cut down a tree to make a barrel? Books? Yes, Dad wants books. About booze.

1. Whiskey: A Spirited Story with 75 Classic and Original Cocktails 2. Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki 3. Leopold Jigger 4. Koriko Hawthorne Strainer 5. Japanese Style Jigger 6. Opinel Blue Knife 7. Copper & Kings American Brandy Sampler 3 Pack: American Craft Brandy, Butchertown Brandy, and Un-Aged Apple Brandy

Gift Guide: Mother’s Day 2016

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This year for Mother’s Day, give her what she really wants: a couple bottles of Prosecco and for you to leave her alone.

 

Mothers Day Gift Guide 2016 // stirandstrain.com

Why have Mom choose just one little black number when she can have a black, grey and white choice (of Prosecco, that is). A dash or two of bitters into a flowery tumbler will make for a delicious road soda on the way to brunch. Give her a few cocktail pins to hold her scarf in place and away you go! And after all the kids have gone, all she wants to do is soak in a giant daiquiri bathtub and slather wine on from head to toe. Don’t we all?

1. Rosemary Lavender Bitters 2. Cocktail Pins 3. Bottle Stock Wine Opener 4. Melon Daiquiri Shower Gel 5. Zonin Prosecco Black Edition 6. Kate Spade Flower Tumbler 7. Zonin Prosecco Grey Edition 8. Wine Therapy mask 9. Zonin Prosecco White Edition

Gift Guide: Giddy Up! (Kentucky Derby Time!)

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One week from tomorrow it’s OK to carry around a riding crop and wear a helmut in public. Be prepared. Get bourbon.

Gift Guide: Kentucky Derby 2016 // stirandstrain.com

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

Gift Guide: Spring Entertaining Essentials

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Forget the picnic basket. Break out your wooden 6 Pack Holder and head outside for Spring Entertaining.

Gift Guide: Spring Entertaining 2016 // stirandstrain.com

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

Valentine’s Day 2016 Gift Guide

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What’s more sexy than your booze dripping in hot red wax? This year we’re skipping the bubbles and getting down to business.

Gift Guide: His & Her Valentine's Day 2016 // stirandstrain.com

Box of chocolates? Lame. Dozen roses? Done that! How about a dozen jelly shots? YASSSS! And nothing says I care like his & her flasks filled with something boozy and delicious. Except maybe having a bedside hangover remedy ready first thing the next morning. Staying in this weekend? Break out your finest pineapples and don’t forget the stirrer pizazz. But first, let’s scrub that pucker up with a good ol’ Mint Julep. There’s more than one way to enjoy a drink!

1. Ludlows Jelly Shots 2. Gold Fringe Firecracker Drink Stirrers 3. Copper Pineapple Tumbler 4. Silver Pineapple Tumbler 5. Gold Flask Bracelet 6. Maker’s Mark Whisky 7. Stanley Adventure Flask 8. Mint Julep Lip Scrub 9. Motive Pure Electrolyte Hydration Pack

Catch up on all the gift guides here.

Holiday Gift Guide: Time to Stuff Your Stocking

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Come Christmas morning, I have to admit, I find the thrill of digging through a filled stocking almost more fun than opening the presents. One fun trinket after another (and there better be a damn chocolate orange in there). And yes, I may be in my 30’s but I still get a stuffed stocking. This year, fill your loved one’s with booze.

Holiday Gift Guide: Stuff Your Stocking with Booze! // stirandstrain.com

Just because the gift is small, doesn’t mean it’s cheap. A personal crystal shaker? Yes please and thank you. Now a little bourbon to fill it with. And a bourbon candle for extra bourbon-y goodness. Need to take that wine on the go (to your kid’s Christmas pageant?)? Got you covered. And if you can’t finish it all, put some lips on it. Expensive, bronze lips. Stir it all up with a few choice cacti and put a sock on it.

1. Maker’s 46 2. Gold Shark Teeth Bottle Opener 3. Pink Flamingo Bottle Warmer Sock 4. Green Genie Bottle 5. Crystal Shaker 6. Bronze Lips 7. Bourbon Candle 8. Cactus Stir Sticks 9. Portable Wine Glass

Holiday Gift Guide: Say My Name (The Personalized Guide)

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What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours but let’s not use a sharpie to personalize our cups anymore.

Holiday Gift Guide: Say My Name, the Personalized Guide // stirandstrain.com

Instead, let’s engrave our barware, and hey, even our tequila! Vodka your thing? Say Merry Chrismukkah or whatever holiday you’re celebrating this year with bright LED lights flashing all over your liquor bottle. Drink so much of your bespoke homemade gin you forgot where you live? Put your street map on your rocks glass and never be lost again! And when you’ve just got to show off with glitter, say it with a big ass custom banner.

1.  Custom Glitter Garland 2. LED Display Medea Vodka 3. Custom Flask 4. Monogrammed Leather Ice Bucket 5. Brine Hound Customized Wooden Muddler 6. Monogrammed Stemless Champagne Flutes 7. Custom Maps Rocks Glass 8. Personalized Credit Card Bottle Opener 9. Ginbrew Custom Gin Kit 10. Engraved DeLeón Platnum Tequila

Catch up on all the gift guides here.

Holiday Gift Guide: Silver & Gold, Silver & Gold and brass and copper and titanium

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There’s a sizable stash of holiday movies in our house and I can’t throw them away…even if they are crappy transfers on DVD (or VHS!!!). If you hoard holiday classics, especially any of those 1960’s classics, you’ll recognize this song title. And if you don’t, who cares! Let’s get gifting…

Silver and Gold Holiday Gift Guide // stirandstrain.com

Everyone wishes for silver and gold, so let’s add some sparkle to your holiday cocktails shall we? From glistening glasses, to heavy metal pineapples, and don’t forget the bottles that are pouring your booze! How do you measure its worth? Just by the pleasure it gives here on Earth (or your bar cart).

1.  Rose Gold Pineapple Shot Glasses 2. Ketel One Vodka 325th Anniversary Bottle 3. Gold Sequin Coasters 4. Pineapple Tumbler with Straw 5. Copper Industrial Bottle Opener 6. Japanese Style Gold Jigger 7. The Chandon Special Edition Bottle 8. The Champagne Cocktail Carry On Kit 9. Mid Century Silver Cocktail Set

Holiday Gift Guide: Beep Bop Boop It’s the Boozy Gadget Guide

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Technology can improve lives, make your day more efficient, or throw you down a hole filled with cartwheel fails. So! Let’s begin our annual holiday gift guides with a few boozy gadgets.

 

Holiday Gift Guide - Beep Bop Boop Gadget Gift Guide // stirandstrain.comTechnology brings us DUI savers and where Han Solo keeps his secret stash (well, maybe someday). A jackets that keep your beer cold and cocktail shakers that light up bold. You can pour yourself a perfectly layered shot, or impress your friends with a clear ice block. Glasses that freeze themselves? Yes! You can get them. Now sit back, spritz a little lemon in your glass, pour yourself a sparkly cocktail and catch up on Youtube videos of cats in pajamas or dogs that play pianos. Thanks technology!

1. Wintersmiths Clear Ice Chest 2. The Drinking Jacket 3. Light Up Shaker 4. Citrus Sprayer 5.Cocktail Layering Tool 6. Han Solo Flask 7. Whiskey FREEZE Cooling Cups 8. Bonne O Sparkling Beverage System 9. Floome Smartphone Breathalyzer

Halloween 2015 Spooky Gift Guide

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Creaking door noises. Ghoulish wails. Someone breaking your favorite antique champagne coupe! THE HORROR!!!

Halloween 2015 Cocktail Gift Guide // stirandstrain.com

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 5. Orange Moroccan Glasses 6. Gold Star Party Cups 7. Stainless Steel Straws 8. Laboratory Cocktail Set

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