Browsing Tag

gin

Cocktail Recipes, Drinks
The Blacker the Berry, the Sweeter the Cocktail

Fresh blackberries star in the Berry Bramble, an icy cocktail perfect for summer entertaining.Anyone with relatives from the South eventually learns the phrase : “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.” My mom taught it to me as a tip for selecting the sweetest, ripe fruit, and it’s pretty much true with produce like cherries, plums and blackberries. Of course, when I got a little older, I learned it was a double entendre. And last week, I discovered chef Heather Jones’ blog on African Americans in the culinary world called The Blacker the Berry Food. I’ve enjoying lots of delicious blackberry cocktails lately. We sipped a delicious blackberry cocktail called the Blackberry Cobbler at the retro restaurant Flora. They wouldn’t divulge the recipe, but it stars a house-made blackberry syrup that’s shaken up with Martin Miller’s Gin, pineapple juice, orange liqueur, lemon and poured over a tall glass of crushed…
August 19, 2011
Cocktail Recipes, Drinks, Pop Culture
Three French Cocktails for Bastille Day!

Even if you’re not French, Liberté, Egalité & Fraternité — the rallying cry of the revolutionaries who stormed the Bastille Prison — is a pretty good motto to live by. There’s a je ne sais quois I love about French culture, idea of taking pleasure in sharing a meal made with fine seasonal ingredients with friends and embracing your own special style. I still get choked up when Les MisÃérables comes on KQED. To celebrate Bastille Day, I thought I’d share three of my favorite French-inspired cocktails. 1. The French 75 This spirited combination of champagne, lemon and either gin or cognac depending on the season, is a quintessential aperitif. As the story goes, it was created by WWI American officers serving in France who marvelled at the 75mm artillery guns that were still quite powerful and smooth The piquant quality primes your appetite. Since it’s warm outside, I’ll be…
July 14, 2011
Cocktail Recipes, Drinks
Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Ramos Gin Fizz

I was kind of disappointed when the weather took a turn for cool autumnal temperatures a couple weeks ago. I mean, I was glad I wasn’t sitting in my house sweltering, but I thought I’d missed my opportunity to tell you about my favorite warm weather drink: The Ramos Gin Fizz. But of course, this being San Diego in the climate-change era, the weather has gotten hot again so I’m seizing the opportunity. The Ramos Gin Fizz is an ancient and somewhat peculiar cocktail, a mix of egg, gin, lemon, sugar and milk. It makes you wonder how it first all came together; it was probably related to one of those old drinks called milk punches. The thing that makes a Ramos Gin Fizz special is orange flower water, which gives the drink an exotic perfumey quality. The clever part is that orange flower water is one of those substances…
September 25, 2009
Bubbly Events
Bubbles on Tour: Bubbly Bar Book Events

It’s been quite the whirlwind since my book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails (Clarkson Potter, $16.99) launched a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how many different skills it takes to be an author; not only do you need to know enough about a topic to write about it, once you’ve done so and had the incredible good fortune to get a book published, then you need to become an expert at marketing, event planning and logistics! All that is to say that with the help of some friends, I’ve put together some fun Bubbly Bar book events that will start happening around the country in a couple weeks. If you’re a Bubbly Girl – or even if you just like to have fun while tasting some sparkling wine cocktails and learning something new, then I hope you’ll come out to join the fun as I make my…
September 14, 2009
Cocktail Recipes
Drink of the Week: The Japanese 75

This week’s cocktail is The Japanese 75, an Asian riff on the classic champagne cocktail The French 75, which stars gin and sour. Frankie Thaheld, who makes super inventive and delicious drinks at George’s at the Cove, created the Japanese 75 for the new South Park neighborhood restaurant called Alchemy.
April 10, 2009