Hansen's The Grove

I'm glad that I had three cans of The Grove. Each one was a different experience for me.

I found the first can to be too syrupy for my taste, almost a chemical flavor. The second can I used for mixed drinks (go figure), and found this recipe to my liking:

1.5 oz silver tequila (I used 1800)

.25 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Liqueur

in an old fashioned glass over ice

stir and add about 1.5 oz The Grove.

This recipe is pretty heavy and probably not something you'd want many of, but I think it's good for either an after dinner drink or sitting around the fire pretending that you're the kind of person who would actually go riding in a one horse open sleigh. If you were really that kind of person you'd be drinking something hot.

The third can I split with my boys. Malcolm (6) drew a picture to illustrate that it was first good, then ok, then, when it hit his gums, it hurt a little (he doesn't like fizzy drinks). Gabriel (9) likes the flavor a lot, but feels the aftertaste is not as good. I liked this can better than the first; not sure why. My impression is much like Gabriel's; it starts out good and the after-taste is not bad, but not up to the initial flavor. I still felt it was a little syrupy, but not the same as my first impression.

MxMo Brown, Bitter & Stirred

I didn't get a chance to do this on time, but I have a tasty brown & bitter but not stirred drink recipe. Just not for MxMo:

Shake:

1 oz Maker's 46

1/4 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Maraschino

Rinse cocktail glass with:

Herbsaint

Pour liquor into rinsed glass & add a few dashes:

Angostura

Hansen's Cola

Hansen's Natural Sodas sent me some of their new The Grove soda to taste test. In the box they also included a can of their Original Cola and one of their Cherry Vanilla Creme. I'm tired this evening and just want to relax with a drink of the boozy kind so I thought I'd try a rum & coke. I'd prefer a Cuba Libre, but don't want to go get limes.

I first tasted the cola solo. It's very good, with a medium bite and sweet taste, but not overpowering like most colas. The overall flavor is light when compared to the better known competition; that's a good thing, at least in my mind.

Now to mix - I used 1.5 oz of 10 Cane Rum, over ice, and about the same amount of cola. I don't have any other rums in the house right now. 10 Can has a strong flavor and overpowers the cola. At this point I can't recommend mixing Hansen's Original Cola with rum, but it might work better if you try a lighter flavored rum. This tastes pretty much like rum with a little something tossed in to cut the alcohol.

Pádraig Colón II

Building off the first test:

1/4 oz Reposado

1/4 oz Allspice

1 oz Irish Whiskey

1/4 oz habanero/ginger syrup*

- stir together well and pour into rocks glass

6 or 7 drops Cointreau

several dashes Peychaud's

*3/4 cup simple syrup made with equal parts water and raw sugar. Heat through, add ~2 tablespoons chopped ginger and two habaneros (deseeded). Steep for 10 mins and strain.

Block-Ade

Reading the book Daring Young Men: The Heroism And Triumph Of the Berlin Airlift June 1948 - May 1949, I came across this recipe. Some of the women living in the American occupied zone put together a charity cookbook to raise money for German orphans. One of the recipes was for Block-Ade (serves 75):

• 2 cans fruit cocktail
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 bottles cognac
• 6 bottles red wine
• 6 bottles white wine
• 6 bottles champagne

Pádraig Colón

Just made my first half attempt at the drink I expect to call the Pádraig Colón, and was surprised to have a nice result right off the bat. This isn't the final recipe, but it's probably the base of the end product:

1/4 oz tequila reposado

1/4 oz St Elizabeth Allspice Dram (Pimento liqueur)

3/4 oz Bushmills

Interesting found recipe

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100226/LIVING06/2260324/-1/living06/The-Spirit-of-Benji-Mixologists-find-inspiration-in-classics

I like the sound of the recipe at the end, but I think I'll get a non-crap vodka and infuse it myself.

Veev pt. III

1.5 oz Veev

.75 oz Domaine de Canton

juice of half lime

Fee Brother's Orange Bitters

Good, no cigar.

Add club soda (not much)

Cigar.

On a side note, did ya realize that the Domaine cap is two parts? It has a normal cap with that triangly thing glued on top.

Veev pt. II

1.5 oz Veev

1 oz North Shore vodka

juice of half lime

club soda

Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Better, but not particularly exciting.

Veev pt. I

3/4 oz Veev Acai

3/4 oz Smirnoff Citrus

Club Soda

Juice of half lime

dashes Angostura bitters

The bitters are entirely wrong in this one.

Thatcher's Organic Cucumber Liqueur

I've been sitting on a bottle of Thatcher's Cucumber for a while, not sure what to do with it. I should have started with a flavor I'd be more comfortable with, but I guess I wanted to branch out a little.

Tonight I decided it was time to finally crack the bottle. The liqueur, by itself, tastes like a sweet cucumber; that's no surprise, but I wasn't sure if it would live up to it's billing. You could quaff this straight, if you wanted.

Straight cucumber juice isn't my style, though, so I tried it in a vodka tonic. Using 1 oz of North Shore vodka and 3/4 oz Thatcher's, along with fresh lime juice, this is an excellent drink. When the warm weather returns and I want something refreshing on the deck, I'll likely have a Thatcher's Cucumber Vodka Tonic.