Salon.com > Cocktails and Spirits http://www.salon.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:04:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 What you didn’t know about tequila http://www.salon.com/2011/05/05/tequila_history_margarita_tenacatita/ http://www.salon.com/2011/05/05/tequila_history_margarita_tenacatita/#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 01:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/feature/2011/05/04/tequila_history_margarita_tenacatita The best tequila I ever drank came to me in a plastic jug. I was young, 20 maybe, with a decidedly unrefined palate. I certainly didn't think twice about drinking from the unmarked plastic jug that our friend Danny proffered to me. Hey, it was alcohol, right? But even with my unrefined tastes, the second that tequila touched my lips I understood it was something special. It was so smooth, limes would have been an insult.

Danny was just down from the mountains of Jalisco. The jug came straight from a little distillery in the town of Tequila, Jalisco, which sits on a hill above rolling fields of agave -- the domain of the ancient Cuervo and Sauza families, and home to hundreds of better distilleries. As Cinco de Mayo draws near, our thoughts drift to this tequila Valhalla and it seems an appropriate time to spill some ink on the drink beloved to sophisticates and sorority girls alike. 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/05/05/tequila_history_margarita_tenacatita/feed/ 10 How to make the perfect recession martini http://www.salon.com/2011/04/30/scavenger_gin_martini/ http://www.salon.com/2011/04/30/scavenger_gin_martini/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/feature/2011/04/30/scavenger_gin_martini The martini has no legitimate place in a series about budget living, but after a winter of huddling by a smoldering fire eating legumes and one-pot meals, I feel in the mood for something decadent. And a stiff drink. And I've never been above scavenging in other people's liquor cabinets.

I'm visiting my former urban home (Seattle) for a brief vacation from the wilds of rural Oregon, so it seems appropriate to celebrate my wayward past and my hillbilly future with a drink that incorporates elements of both -- fine gin with a foraged garnish.

The liquor cabinet I'll be scavenging belongs to Chef Robin Leventhal, best known from her appearance on season six of "Top Chef." I know from past experience that, like the rest of her artistically cluttered house, it brims with interesting items. Today is no exception.

"Smell this," Robin commands, handing me an attractive bottle of Ebb and Flow gin. Ebb and Flow is from a new Ballard distillery, Sound Spirits. Thanks to a recent change in Washington's liquor laws, Sound Spirits is the first distillery to open in Seattle since prohibition, and it smells like they might be on to something. The gin's aroma has a tinge of coriander and an echo of absinthe. Robin thinks it'll be the perfect complement to her latest prize -- pickled ramps and wild fiddleheads from nearby Enumclaw.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/04/30/scavenger_gin_martini/feed/ 40 In future, cars might decide if driver is drunk http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/us_sober_cars/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/us_sober_cars/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:17:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/28/us_sober_cars An alcohol-detection prototype that uses automatic sensors to gauge a driver's fitness to be on the road has been demonstrated for federal transportation officials at a Massachusetts lab.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were in Waltham on Friday to see the devices, designed to detect instantly if a driver is drunk and prevent a vehicle from starting.

A woman demonstrating the prototype drank two cocktails over 30 minutes, then showed how breath and touch sensors detected her blood-alcohol level.

Developers say the technology would be less intrusive than current alcohol ignition interlock systems that force drivers to blow into a breath-testing device.

Officials say the prototype is at least eight years from commercial use.

Critics question the cost and reliability.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/us_sober_cars/feed/ 11 Four Loko, drugs found with bodies of 2 teens http://www.salon.com/2011/01/25/us_teen_deaths_mystery/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/25/us_teen_deaths_mystery/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/25/us_teen_deaths_mystery Police in this California surf city are looking for anyone who saw two teens before they were found dead in an apartment with an empty can of an alcoholic energy drink and traces of drug and alcohol use.

"We're trying to determine if there was anyone with them that evening, how they obtained the alcohol and what kind of drugs they might have used," Lt. Russell Reinhart said Monday.

The bodies of Aaron Saenz, 15, of Westminster, and Chelsea Taylor, 16, of Huntington Beach, were found Friday morning along with an empty Four Loko can and physical evidence of drug and alcohol use in the apartment, which was supposed to be empty.

When it was first sold, Four Loko contained both alcohol and caffeine, but its maker announced in November that it would remove the caffeine from its formulas. It was not known if the empty can found in the apartment contained caffeine.

The sale of Four Loko has been banned by at least 13 states through their alcohol control boards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration warned four companies that make caffeine and alcohol drinks that their products are unsafe.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/25/us_teen_deaths_mystery/feed/ 9 12-Second Cocktails: The Noce Royale http://www.salon.com/2011/01/01/12_second_cocktails_noce_royale/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/01/12_second_cocktails_noce_royale/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 02:29:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/12/31/12_second_cocktails_noce_royale Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Noce Royale

  • 1/4 oz Nocino della Cristina Walnut Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
  • 1.5 oz Beefeater Gin

Directions

  1. Stir over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass
  2. Top with Moet Imperial Champagne.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/01/12_second_cocktails_noce_royale/feed/ 3 12-Second Cocktails: The Sidecar http://www.salon.com/2010/12/24/12_second_cocktails_sidecar/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/24/12_second_cocktails_sidecar/#comments Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:23:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/12/23/12_second_cocktails_sidecar Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Sidecar

  • 3/4 oz. lemon juice
  • 1 oz. Cointreau
  • 2 oz. Cognac

Directions

  1. Shake with ice, Strain and Serve in a Coupe, Garnish with a Lemon

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/24/12_second_cocktails_sidecar/feed/ 4 12-Second Cocktails: The Old-Fashioned http://www.salon.com/2010/12/23/12_second_cocktails_old_fashioned/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/23/12_second_cocktails_old_fashioned/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:23:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/12/22/12_second_cocktails_old_fashioned Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Old-Fashioned

  • 1 sugar cube
  • 3 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • 2 oz. bourbon

Directions

  1. Drop a white sugar cube into a rocks glass and douse it with 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters
  2. Add one dash of soda water and stir into a paste
  3. Add 2 oz bourbon and a block of ice, and stir
  4. Garnish with an orange peel

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/23/12_second_cocktails_old_fashioned/feed/ 4 12-Second Cocktails: The Bronx Cocktail http://www.salon.com/2010/12/18/12_second_cocktails_bronx_cocktail/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/18/12_second_cocktails_bronx_cocktail/#comments Sat, 18 Dec 2010 01:18:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/12/17/12_second_cocktails_bronx_cocktail Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Bronx Cocktail

  • 2 oz. Gin
  • 1/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz. Dry Vermouth
  • 1 oz. Orange Juice
  • Dash of bitters

Directions

  1. Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a twist.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/18/12_second_cocktails_bronx_cocktail/feed/ 2 Your most warming winter drinks http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/skc_winter_drinks/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/skc_winter_drinks/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/kitchen_challenge/2010/12/13/skc_winter_drinks Every week, your challenge is to create an eye-opening dish within our capricious themes and parameters. Blog your submission on Open Salon by Monday 10 a.m. EST -- with photos and your story behind the dish -- and we'll republish the winners on Salon on Tuesday. (It takes only 30 seconds to start a blog.) Please note that by participating, you're giving Salon permission to re-post your entry if it's chosen as a winner, and acknowledging that all words and images in your post are your own, unless explicitly stated. And yes, mashed potato sculpture counts as a dish. Emphatically.

This week, we asked for your best winter drinks.

THIS WEEK'S WINNER:

Swedish Glögg by Meg Whitlock: Pity that Sweden's biggest contributions to global culinary heritage are often cited as jokes, even by Swedes. Witness Meg's story of lutefisk here. But her grandfather's classic glögg, a mulled wine, sweet and beguiling with its cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and raisins, is nothing to laugh at.

THIS WEEK'S ALTERNATE WINNERS:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/skc_winter_drinks/feed/ 8 Sweet milk punch http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/milk_punch/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/milk_punch/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/kitchen_challenge/2010/12/13/milk_punch

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fresh milk
  • Dash of cream
  • 1 ounce light rum
  • 1 ounce bourbon
  • Maple syrup (I love to use grade B, the flavor is so intense)
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • Ice

Directions

  1. Combine everything but the nutmeg in a glass and stir to combine. Add the maple syrup to taste. Grate the nutmeg over the top to add fragrance and a tiny hit of heat and spice.

You can freeze milk into cubes so melting ice doesn't water down the drink, but frankly, that has never been a problem. Everyone seems to finish the drink before the ice melts.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/milk_punch/feed/ 2 Boilo: Pennsylvanian honey-spiced whiskey http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/boilo_mulled_whiskey/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/boilo_mulled_whiskey/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/kitchen_challenge/2010/12/13/boilo_mulled_whiskey There has never been a drink that starts out so rough and ends up so smooth. You can expect an alcohol shiver with the first sip, but each subsequent nip is an even glide toward an amiable contentment. And unlike any other drink I have ever had, it gets more delicious with each taste. I've never had a hangover from Boilo, just a sort of memory loss. You will need a designated driver for this one.

Boilo is a traditional Christmas drink brought over from Lithuania. I grew up in a small town in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania and half of the population was from Eastern Europe. Every family had its own coveted recipe for Boilo and was convinced it was superior to all others. The choice of fruit was the marker of uniqueness -- lemon was common. One family swore by maraschino cherries, surely an American adaptation since I doubt they could be found easily in the old country. I checked the recipe with my sisters and one cousin; each is slightly different, so I chose the most endearing one.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/14/boilo_mulled_whiskey/feed/ 7 12-Second Cocktails: Red Hot Cider http://www.salon.com/2010/12/04/12_second_cocktails_red_hot_cider/ http://www.salon.com/2010/12/04/12_second_cocktails_red_hot_cider/#comments Sat, 04 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/12/03/12_second_cocktails_red_hot_cider Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Red Hot Cider Cocktail

  • 2 ounces Applejack
  • ½ ounce lemon juice
  • 1 ounce simple syrup
  • 4 ounces hard cider
  • pinch of salt
  • dash of orange bitters

Directions

  1. Combine in a heat-tempered glass.
  2. Hit it with a red hot poker, until it catches fire.
  3. Transfer to a serving glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick and orange peel.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/12/04/12_second_cocktails_red_hot_cider/feed/ 1 Feds may move to ban alcoholic energy drinks http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/us_alcoholic_energy_drinks/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/us_alcoholic_energy_drinks/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:29:15 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/11/16/us_alcoholic_energy_drinks Federal regulators are expected to move to ban caffeinated alcoholic drinks as soon as this week, according to a New York senator.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, who has pushed the Obama administration to ban the beverages, said Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration is expected to find that caffeine is an unsafe food additive to alcoholic drinks, essentially banning them.

The Federal Trade Commission will then issue letters to caffeinated alcoholic beverage manufacturers warning that marketing them could be illegal, he said.

"This ruling should be the nail in the coffin of these dangerous and toxic drinks," Schumer said.

College students have been hospitalized after drinking the beverages, including the popular Four Loko. Four states -- Washington, Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma -- have banned them and other states are considering similar action. Police in Mesa, Ariz., said an "extremely intoxicated" teenager smashed her SUV into a tree Sunday morning after reportedly playing "beer pong" with Four Loko.

A year ago, the FDA notified more than two dozen manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages that it has never specifically approved the addition of caffeine to alcoholic drinks and began studying whether it is unsafe and should be outlawed.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/us_alcoholic_energy_drinks/feed/ 14 Four Loko and the history of banned drinks http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/four_loko_prohibition/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/four_loko_prohibition/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:54:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/life//feature/2010/11/15/four_loko_prohibition Four Loko -- the latest wildly popular, wildly caffeinated, wildly alcoholic beverage to take hold with recreational drinkers -- is not long for the Big Apple. On Sunday, Gov. Paterson announced New York would join a growing number of states, including Michigan, Washington, Utah and Oklahoma, that have banned the sweet, fruity concoction, nicknamed "blackout in a can" and " liquid crack." In addition to being super-potent (one 23.5-ounce can has as much alcohol as three beers and one to two servings of coffee), Four Loko has also been linked to several alcohol-related deaths and sicknesses (including the June beating of gay teenager in the Bronx) -- so many, in fact, that the FDA is now reconsidering its approval of the product.

The beverage is just the latest in a rash of "demon drinks" to incite public outrage. It was only last year that another alcoholic energy beverage, Sparks, removed the caffeine amid public pressure. Everclear, a grain alcohol that boasts 95 percent alcohol, is banned in several states. Even Cristal, the signature hip-hop drink, was branded racist by Jay-Z in 2006, prompting a boycott of the brand. And, of course, there is the much-mythologized absinthe.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/16/four_loko_prohibition/feed/ 33 12-Second Cocktails: The Melee Cocktail http://www.salon.com/2010/11/13/12_second_cocktails_melee_cocktail/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/13/12_second_cocktails_melee_cocktail/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/11/12/12_second_cocktails_melee_cocktail Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Melee Cocktail

  • 1 ounce gin
  • 1 ounce Meletti Amaro
  • 1 ounce Fino Sherry
  • ¼ ounce Cherry Heering

Directions

  1. Stir over ice, strain into an old-fashioned glass, and top with a lemon twist.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/13/12_second_cocktails_melee_cocktail/feed/ 1 12-Second Cocktails: The Negroni Cocktail http://www.salon.com/2010/11/05/12_second_cocktails_negroni_cocktail/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/05/12_second_cocktails_negroni_cocktail/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:59:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/11/05/12_second_cocktails_negroni_cocktail Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Negroni Cocktail

  • 1 oz. Gin
  • 1 oz. Compari
  • 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Directions

  1. Stir over ice and strain into an ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/05/12_second_cocktails_negroni_cocktail/feed/ 14 12-Second Cocktails: The Jack Rose Cocktail http://www.salon.com/2010/11/02/12_second_cocktails_jack_rose_cocktail/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/02/12_second_cocktails_jack_rose_cocktail/#comments Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:59:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/11/01/12_second_cocktails_jack_rose_cocktail Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Jack Rose Cocktail

  • 3/4 oz. Lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz. Pomegranate Syrup
  • 2 oz. Laird's Apple Brandy

Directions

  1. Shake all ingredients over ice, strain, and serve

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/02/12_second_cocktails_jack_rose_cocktail/feed/ 3 12-Second Cocktails: The Crow Cocktail http://www.salon.com/2010/10/30/12_second_cocktails_the_crow_cocktail/ http://www.salon.com/2010/10/30/12_second_cocktails_the_crow_cocktail/#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 19:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/10/30/12_second_cocktails_the_crow_cocktail Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Crow Cocktail

  • 1½ ounces rye whisky
  • ¾ ounce lemon juice
  • ½ ounce Grenadine

Directions

  1. Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into glasses.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/10/30/12_second_cocktails_the_crow_cocktail/feed/ 13 12-Second Cocktails: The Manhattan http://www.salon.com/2010/10/15/12_second_cocktails_the_manhattan/ http://www.salon.com/2010/10/15/12_second_cocktails_the_manhattan/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:16:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/10/15/12_second_cocktails_the_manhattan Watch the video

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Ingredients

The Manhattan

  • 2 oz. Rye
  • 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Directions

  1. Stir all ingredients over ice, strain, and garnish with a cherry

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/10/15/12_second_cocktails_the_manhattan/feed/ 5 Working Class Foodies: Brewing beer in a pumpkin http://www.salon.com/2010/10/14/working_class_foodies_brewing_beer_in_a_pumpkin/ http://www.salon.com/2010/10/14/working_class_foodies_brewing_beer_in_a_pumpkin/#comments Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:45:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/food/2010/10/14/working_class_foodies_brewing_beer_in_a_pumpkin Watch the video

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