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Simple, Simple Syrups & Cocktail Recipes

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We all feel it; those last few sad moments when you are about to finish that bottle of bourbon or whiskey. It’s always so hard to say goodbye to that delicious water of life! Especially when it could be a bottle that you really enjoy and may not be able to get your hands on for a while.

So what do you do with your empty bottles? Do you trash them, recycle them or re-use them? For me, it will depend on the bottle, some of the bottles for me aren’t worth saving, but a few are. I’ve used many of my old bottles as olive oil bottles, hand soap dispensers and most recently for my simple syrups.

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Celebrating National Whiskey Sour Day

In Cocktails by Erin PetreyLeave a Comment

With summer temperatures continuing to soar past the 100-degree mark (at least here in Washington, DC), I find myself of the mindset that summer may actually never end. Though I will be happy to shed the need for 75 SPF to protect my rather fair skin and not feel like I am stepping out into a swamp every morning, I will miss the days of pool lounging and patio drinking.

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Burnt Peach and Sage Bourbon Infusion

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Barbecue season is upon us, and if you’re looking for a cocktail recipe to accompany all that grilled meat, look no further than this burnt peach & sage bourbon infusion.

Peaches and bourbon are just two of those flavors that go well together – the recent rise in peach flavored bourbon will tell you that. But even before those folksy artisanal moonshine producers got in on the act, the internet was full of peach and bourbon ice creams and desserts.

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Stay Cool with a Kentucky Mule

In Cocktails by Matt EvansLeave a Comment

Now that we are enveloped in the throws of summer and barbecue season is well underway, it is time to re-open discussions about what adult drinks of choice will complement the fare coming off the grill and keep you cool on the those hot, humid evenings on the back patio.

Lately, I have been finding respite from the sultry conditions in the form of the Kentucky Mule (since we are not reading the website Vodka and Banter, there is no need to even bring up a Moscow Mule). What about the Mint Julep one might ask? Even for a hardened Louisvillian, the julep is an acquired taste that tends to disappear in popularity after the Derby has been run.

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Creative Juleps For Your Kentucky Derby Party

In Cocktails by Thomas FondanoLeave a Comment

The julep is an old mixture, which like many began as medicine. Not old like early 20th century. Old like over a thousand years old. And not “medicine” like a morning pick-me-up, anti-fogmatic, corpse reviver, etc. Actual medicine made from macerated flowers. (900 AD wasn’t the height of medical science.) How it became the delicious cocktail we enjoy today began around 1770 with a mintless rum drink that later evolved into a brandy drink and eventually wound up as the drink we know today. In 1938, the mint julep became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby and sadly most people only think of juleps around the first Saturday in May. If you ask me, we should be drinking juleps during the hottest days of July and August when juleps truly are medicinal against the heat.

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A Barrel Aged Cocktail for the Creative

In Cocktails by Jim KnudsenLeave a Comment

Imagine with me the vision of a full barrel of your favorite cocktail, mixed to your personal taste and quietly aging, absorbing rich flavors and smoothing out the combination of ingredients to create the ultimate flavor combination. It’s sitting there waiting for you, does it make you thirsty? Can you force yourself to wait until it reaches maturity? Welcome to the experience of barrel aging cocktails.

With this vision firmly in mind, I began to research cocktails. I checked some references including a previous post on Bourbon and Banter (A Barrel Aged Cocktail Adventure, by Erin Petrey). I finally got my barrels, 2 two liter barrels, as a Christmas gift from my oldest son. He is also very interested in bourbon, what can I say, the acorn does not fall far from the tree.