You know when you have just one of those days - when everything sucks, and nothing goes your way? Monday, I had one of those days. I snapped at every single person who spoke to me, who reached out to me, who even asked me a question. I was miserable.

A fabulous friend, who totally gets the whole moody thing, suggested I do a “match your liquor to your mood post”, and I’m finally in a better place so I can actually look at the idea of that without scowling.

The next time you’re having a shit day, and nothing is going your way, try soothing the savage beast with one of these. They might not make you feel better at first, but at least you’ll enjoy yourself!!

Bitch on Wheels

2 oz Gin
.5 oz Dry Vermouth
.5 oz Creme de Menthe
1 tsp Pastis

fill a cocktail shaker 1/2 full with ice. Pour gin, dry vermouth, creme de menthe and pastis over ice. Give it a good stir (do not shake - you’ll bruise the gin) and strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Dark n’ Stormy

2.5 oz Dark Rum
5 oz Ginger Beer
1 lime wedge

Fill a Collins glass 3/4 full of ice. Pour in dark rum and ginger beer and give it a good stir. Give a squeeze of lime and garnish with the wedge.

This is actually one of my favourites, which is interesting to me because I’m not a huge ginger beer fan by itself. Add some good rum and lime though, and I’m in!

If those don’t make you feel any better, I’d suggest grabbing your favourite wine and having a bath. Or maybe just ride the bitchy mood out - sometimes, that’s the only cure!

[image credit: Liquor Snob]

Tags: Dark N Stormy, Bitch on Wheels, Cocktails, bad days, crappy days, bad mood drinks

Each Thursday, fancy mixologists, cocktail geeks and bartenders gather in a chat room and geek out over cocktails. They create new recipes, try and out-do one another and pretty much drink all night. All in all, it’s a pretty fantastic time.

I know this is a day late, but Kaiser Penguin had the wrap up from last night’s mixology chat, and I’ve been meaning to tell you about it for ages now. What prompted me this time was the winning drink, a Cinnamon Basil Smash, which sounds delightful, and I can’t wait to try it. I’ve just got to go get some basil. And make the cinnamon syrup.

Cinammon Basil Smash

• 2oz gin
• 1/2oz lemon juice
• 3/4oz cinnamon syrup
• 4-6 decently sized basil leaves
• ginger beer, to top

Muddle basil with the cinnamon syrup and lemon juice. Fill with crushed ice, add the gin, give it a quick swizzle, and top with ginger beer.

Nick from The Iron Horse Hotel

This sounds amazing, and I’m already looking forward to next week when they’re featuring drinks made with Irish Whiskey

I’m fighting a nasty cold at the moment, and as soon as people hear me speak, they figure it out pretty quickly and then tell me to go curl up and create myself one of many Old Wive’s Tales to cure the common cold.

So, what are these ‘cures’? They mostly centre around the Hot Toddy. There’s tons of different ways you can make a Hot Toddy, from everything to Whiskey, Rum or Gin. The prevailing theory is that a hot toddy’s mixture of piping hot water, rum, and lemon can provide a lot of relief. Alcohol has an anti-inflammatory effect on mucous membranes and can help reduce fever. (image source: CartoonStock)

Well, ok, sure. I’ve also heard that whiskey will take away a cough (though I’m unsure as to how this works, but go with it), and that shots of tequila taken in a hot bath will speed your recovery from a cold.

Whatever you believe, whether these will really work or not,  you stand the chance to at least forget you have a cold for a little bit.

Gin, honey and lemon
2oz of Gin
2 tbsp of honey
Juice of one lemon

Pour it all in a mug and top it off with boiling water, breathe vapors deeply while drinking, sleep.

Cure All Toddy
1-2 oz Scotch whiskey
1-2 tsp lemon juice
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2-5 whole cloves
honey to taste (optional)
Hot water

Put the lemon juice, cloves and whiskey in a glass or mug. Fill the glass with hot water. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey, if used. Stir. Sip slowly, and inhale the vapors if you have head or chest congestion. Substitute rum for the whiskey if you prefer.

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Life got a little sweeter for the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver recently. More than 300 lbs of honey was harvested from the hotel’s beehives near the end of August. The Fairmont has it’s own herb garden on the 3rd floor where many of the herbs and vegetables are grown for the restaurant.

In early June, the hotel welcomed two noteable Italian queens - one raised in Kona, Hawaii and the other raised in Santiago Chile. With morethan 60,000 subjects per queen, the honey bees are the newest members of the Waterfront’s culinary team.

Frank Palter, the Fairmont Waterfront’s head bartender, has created special honey infused cocktails which, after trying both, I have to tell you are simply amazing. They’re so fresh and you really can taste it.

The honey used in the cocktails was harvested that morning, and the herbs picked fresh moments before.

First Frank offered a Honey Basil Collins. To make:

1.5 oz Beefeater Gin
.5 oz Drambuie
Fresh lime juice
1 oz Honey syrup
1 Basil stem

Add all ingredients to shaker. Add ice and stir for 20 seconds. Top with soda and straign into a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a basil stem.

Next up, we were treated with an Ode to Joe.

1.5 oz Wisers Deluxe
.25 oz Amaretto
1 plum - preferably dark skinned with light flesh
.5 oz lemon juice
1 oz honey syrup
Half an egg white
1 dash Fee’s peach bitters

Muddle plum and amaretto together. Add all other ingredients and shake vigourously. Double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a thin slice of honey comb, which will float if the egg was shaken nicely.

The ‘Honey Bee Suites’ at the Fairmont Waterfront live adjacent to the 2,100 square foot herb garden, on the 3rd floor terrace. This initative, part of the Fairmont’s commitment to reducing their environmental footprint is shared with the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto and the Fairmont Algonquin in New Brunswick.

(image source, me on Flickr)

G’vine Gin really is simply d’vine.

Made in Cognac, France, using the green grape flower, which only blooms for two weeks in June. This is an ultra-premium gin, bridging the gap between traditional dry gin and a flavoured vodka, by softening the flavour of traditional gin because of the grape flower.

There’s touches, or notes, of nine different botanicals  - ginger root, liquorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, juniper, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime. All that makes it just… yummy.

“I love the complex, delicate flavour profile of G’Vine. Because it’s such a fresh, mutli-tesxtured expression of gin, a little fresh fruit and a light touch are all I need to create a delicious cocktail” said celebrated mixologist, Junior Merino.

G’Vine has a delicate, floral flavour with a spicy warmth and it’s really smooth. G’vine says it’s “one part sexy, two parts chic” which I have to admit, is 100% right.

My fave cocktails with G’vine have got to be:

G’Spot

1.5 oz G’vine gin
1 oz sour mix
.5 oz lime juice
.5 chambord

Shake over ice and serve in a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

G’Man

2 oz G’Vine gin
Squeeze of lemon
Dash of simple syrup
Dash of angostura bitters

Build and serve on the rocks in a low tumbler. Garnish with a twist of lemon.
Lolita

2 oz G’Vine gin
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower French Liqueur
.5 oz Grand Marnier
1.5 oz organic prune and grape juice
a dash of orange bitters

Shake all ingredients over ice and double strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a green grape.

(image source: G’Vine Gin)

Summer is a time of patios, sunshine and hanging out with friends, and what better way to do that but with a lovely cocktail in hand?

Here are Drinks After Dark’s picks for the top 10 summer cocktails.

#10: Daiquiri - There are several versions of the Daiquiri, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba. They, and #5, the Mojito, were favourites of Ernest Hemmingway, who spent a lot of time in Havana.

To make:
2 oz light rum
1 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup

Put ice in a cocktail shaker. Add light rum, lime juice and simple syrup. Give it a good shake and into a cocktail glass.

#9 Sangria - (Spanish: sangría; Portuguese: sangria) is a wine punch typical from Spain and Portugal (the word means “bleeding” in both languages). It typically consists of red wine, chopped or sliced fruit (often orange, apple, and/or peach; occasionally kiwi or banana), a sweetener such as honey or orange juice, a small amount of added brandy, triple sec, or other spirits, and carbonated water.

To create:

Bottle of red wine
1 1/4 cups blackberry brandy
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1 orange, cut in pieces
1 apple, cut in pieces
1/4 cup cherries halves (Optional. I use a cherry pitter to take the pits out.)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 cup diet sprite (you can use regular if you want)

Mix in a large jug. Stick in the fridge for a few days and enjo

#8 Pina Colada – There are several different bars that claim that they were the creators of the Pina Colada, but the first known reference to a drink specifically named the Pina Colada was in a 1922 edition of TRAVEL:

But best of all is a piña colada, the juice of a perfectly ripe pineapple—a delicious drink in itself—rapidly shaken up with ice, sugar, lime and Bacardi rum in delicate proportions. What could be more luscious, more mellow and more fragrant? (image source Art Print by Lisa Audit)

To make:
1/2 cup crushed ice
6 fluid ounces pineapple juice
2 fluid ounces rum
1 fluid ounce coconut cream 1 fluid ounce heavy cream
1 pineapple wedge
1 maraschino cherry

In a blender, combine ice, pineapple juice, rum, coconut cream and heavy cream. Blend until smooth. Pour into glass and garnish with pineapple wedge and cherry.

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Brewha-ha is hosting this month’s theme day, Some Like It Hot. This month’s  theme is all about the Summer BBQ, and what better way to enjoy a summer BBQ other than with the quintessential summer drink, the classic Gin and Tonic?

This cocktail was introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India.

Tonic water contains quinine, which was used to prevent malaria. Because the tonic water consumed to prevent malaria in the 18th century was extremely bitter, gin was added to make it more palatable. The bitter flavor of quinine complements the green notes of gin (flavoured with juniper) much like dry vermouth complements gin in a classic martini.

To make a perfect classic Gin and Tonic, place the ice cubes in a tall, narrow glass with the ice coming near the top. Pour gin, tonic water, and lime juice over the ice. Stir well with a long-necked spoon. Garnish with lime wedge, and serve immediately.

Actual ingredients and amounts: 

• 4 cubes ice
• 2 fluid ounces gin
• 4 fluid ounces tonic water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 lime wedge

(image source courtesy CocktailTimes)

We’ve had a brief respite of sun and warm weather in Vancouver, and I’m so very excited. I’m really in my element when the sun comes out. If I had my druthers, I’d follow the sun all year round.

When the sun comes out, I go looking for a warm weather drink. Sometimes, I go for a Hefeweizen (like a good Hoegaarden) or a good crisp Sauv Blanc. Other times, I’m looking for something a little crisper than even that. I head straight for a nice Gin and Tonic with lime.

I just tried a new gin - one that is seriously so smooth, you can drink it straight. New Amsterdam Straight Gin, in it’s beautiful bottle, is amazing. The spirit recently won back-to-back gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

I’m finding the flavour profile is what is really setting New Amsterdam apart. All gins start out with the same neutral spirit base with juniper. New Amsterdam includes a balance of citrus elements with a lighter touch from the Juniper berries, which makes this so much smoother to drink.

My favourite way to drink this gin is with Tonic, as I mentioned above, but there are a few other recipes you might want to try (and I’ll be all over when I get another bottle!):

Lower East Side
2.5 oz New Amsterdam Gin
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz liquid honey

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain and pour into a martini glass or rocks glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

Or Lemonade 485

2.5 oz New Amsterdam Gin
1 oz guava juice
1/2 oz apple liqueur
1/2 oz peach liqueur
1 lemon, cut into pieces

Muddle lemons until juice is extracted. Add all other ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a highball glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.

These are both fantastic summer drinks! New Amsterdam Gin will be available nationwide on June 1, 2008. (images courtesy of New Amsterdam Gin)