Celebrate the fast approaching New Year with lots of cheer and kisses. Staying home or having a New Years Party?  Serve up this bubbly classic (says Martha Stewart), and remember to drink water too to curb that New Year’s Day headache.

Classic Champagne Cocktail

• 3 drops bitters
• 1 sugar cube
• 1 ounce Cognac
• 4 ounces chilled Champagne

Drop bitters onto sugar cube; let soak in. Place sugar cube in a Champagne flute. Add Cognac, and top with Champagne.

For pregnant mom (and other non-drinkers): Try something else bubbly, like sparkling juices (ooo cider!), or ginger ale.

For the kids: Chose the Spanish custom and serve up your kids a champagne flute filled with 12 grapes.  At midnight, eat the 12 grapes for good luck all year long.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM EVERYONE AT IN THE KNOW MOM!!

When you’re done with the wrapping, the baking of Santa cookies, and all the tots are sleeping away, dreaming of sugar plums and sleigh bells, it’s cocktail time!

Try one packed with antioxidants like the Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail.

• 1 1/2 c pomegranate juice (POM Wonderful preferred)
• 1/4 c grenadine
• 1 (750 ml) bottle Prosecco or dry sparkling wine, chilled
• 6 lime slices
• Pomegranate seeds

Combine the pomegranate juice and grenadine in a large glass.  Divide the juice between 6 Champagne flutes.  Top each glass with the Prosecco.  Add a slice of lime and pomegranate seeds.  6 servings.  Enjoy!

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

This week, let’s try a Chelsea Sidecar.  This is a classic version of a popular drink.  The sidecar takes many forms and flavors.  This one is my favorite.  The drink gets its name from the famous area of Manhattan. Chelsea was a familiar hangout to some of the greatest literary minds of our time.  That’s right.  Guys like Hemingway.  Real American heroes.  This drink happened to be a favorite of his, and his colleagues.  The Chelsea Hotel was known to entertain these fellows on a regular basis, giving the drink a lesser known moniker of the same name.

This drink is very simple, and just wonderful.  Don’t take my word ( or Ernest’s ) for it.  Try it yourself.

*2 measures gin ( don’t make me tell you about Bombay Sapphire again, I mean really. )

*1 measure triple sec

*1 measure fresh squeezed lemon juice

Shake all the ingredients over ice in your favorite cocktail shaker.  Garnish with a lemon twist.  Grab a copy of “The Sun Also Rises” and enjoy this cocktail on the patio.  It’s not the Chelsea Hotel, but it’s the next best thing.  See you next week.

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

This week, I’d like to share my favorite version of the Cosmopolitan.  We’ve all watched the girls from Sex and the City down countless cosmos. They have single-handedly made this cocktail one of America’s favorite.  I prefer mine with good gin.  It gives the overall drink a little finesse.  It’s an overdone classic, so lets mix it up a bit, shall we?

Gin Cosmo

*2 measures gin (again, Bombay Sapphire is my all time favorite)

*1 measure triple sec

*1 measure cranberry juice (light)

*1 measure fresh squeezed lime juice

Just shake all of the ingredients in a martini shaker, garnish with a twist of lime, and serve to the Carrie Bradshaw in your life.  Let me know if you prefer my gin version to your favorite vodka version.  See you next week…

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

This week, I’d like to feature an island drink, if ever there was one.  The Mai Tai. When Sarah and I first moved to LA, we made Trader Vic’s a favorite spot. Lots of stories have circulated over the years as to who really created the Mai Tai.  Rubbish.  We all know that the true credit goes to Victor J. “Trader Vic” Bergeron.

This is his original recipe from Hawaii circa 1944:

2 ounces 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum
1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat
1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao
1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup
juice from one fresh lime

Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the glass.

Over the years, Trader Vic’s has produced a ready made Mai Tai mix, that is not only acceptable, but easy and delicious.  You can purchase this mix here, and REALLY wow your friends with your knowledge of, and skill in perfecting the quintessential Mai Tai.

2 ounces fine dark rum ( I like Sailor Jerry’s)
4 ounces Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Mix
juice of one large lime

Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the glass.

Either method is sure to create an island vibe for your next dinner party.  Let’s face it.  Everyone loves the Mai Tai.  Drink responsibly and stop by to see me next week.  Never know what you’ll find!

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me apologize for missing the Drink Corner this Thursday.  Daddy spent the night in the Emergency Room.   Gallbladder attack.  It seems to be going around these days. You start to fall apart when you reach this ripe old age.  So, being shot up with good painkillers all night, I awoke to what I would compare to a mild hangover. (I think the correct term is “withdrawl”, but who’s counting? )  This sparked the thought of a morning hangover remedy that we all know and love.  That’s right.  The Bloody Mary.  Here’s my perfect version of the perfect “Hair of the Dog” cocktail.  Enjoy, and make sure you take good care of your gallbladders!!
Bloody Mary

• 2 oz vodka
• 6 oz  tomato juice (organic preferably, NO LOW SODIUM!)
• 7 drops Worcestershire sauce
• lemon juice
• lime juice
• celery salt
• Vlassic Tabasco flavored pickle juice
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce

Ok, combine your tomato juice, vodka, a pinch of celery salt, the juice of a quarter lemon and a quarter lime in a shaker with ice.  Add your favorite hot sauce to your taste.  I like a bunch of Cholula.  Add a few twists of fresh ground pepper, and a pinch of kosher salt.  Add about 7 dashes of Worcestershire sauce.  Then, my final and key ingredient, the pickle juice.  Make sure its the Tabasco flavored version, very easy to find.  In a pinch you can substitute olive juice, but its just simply better with the pickle juice.  Not too much, just a splash.  A tablespoon maximum.  Shake this beast up, pour into your favorite glass, and garnish with a celery stalk, lime, whatever you fancy.  Usually if I’m hung over, I’m not caring so much about that step.  My final step is a twist (or four) of fresh pepper on top.  I hope it makes you feel better.  You animal.

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be? This week, I’m going to share a very simple recipe.  It arrived in the United States in Queens, NY at the 1964 Worlds Fair. It didn’t fair very well.  It was re-introduced in the 90′s during the martini revival, and thankfully the Saketini is now here to stay.  It’s a simple cocktail that basically replaces the vermouth from a classic martini with your choice of sake.   Grab some takeout dynamite rolls, shake up two of these, and it’s a date.  I’ve been told that you can use flavored sake as well, although I’ve never tried it.  Here’s the basic original that’s always made me happy:

Saketini

*2 1/2 measures of your choice vodka or gin (traditionally gin, also my preference)

*1/2 measure sake (any sake will do, flavored or plain)

Just shake both the vodka and the sake over ice just like you’d shake any old martini.  Serve it in a chilled martini glass and garnish with either olive or twist of lemon.

Everyone loves sushi/saketini night.  I know we do!  Enjoy.

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

This week’s drink is a very simple version of a popular classic.  Guys, listen up. If you think you’re going to give that special someone a Bud Light mug filled with vodka from a plastic jug splashed with cranberry juice, think again.  I mean she’s already starting to wonder what she was thinking coming over in the first place.  Let’s not belabor the point, shall we?  Here’s an easy way to impress her, and yes, even you can do it.

APPLETINI

* 1 measure apple schnapps (apple pucker does nicely)
* 1 measure apple juice ( Simply Apple is what sets this drink apart, but any apple juice will do.  If you prefer a clear drink, a white apple juice is nice)
* 1 1/2 measure vodka (an apple infused version is clearly tastier, but any quality brand is ok)

Combine apple schnapps, apple juice, and vodka in a shaker over ice.  Shake vigorously and pour into a frosty martini glass.  Garnish with some thin green apple slices.  Like I said,  simple.  Pay attention here, and she may just come by again.

Stop by next week for another adult time out beverage.

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

Yes, it is Thursday again and time for another Daddy’s Drink Corner cocktail. We’ve all had a busy week so settle in with our drink of the week, the Moscow Mule.  The Moscow Mule was invented in the mid 20th century by a barman at the Cock ‘n’ Bull in Hollywood.  This legendary former bar on Sunset Blvd quickly became known for this drink with a kick.  The proprietor of the Cock ‘n’ Bull ordered too many cases of ginger beer, not actually a beer, but a carbonated soft drink.  Vodka was the new “it” clear liquor at the time, being called the “white whiskey”.  Trying to figure out a way to use all the extra stock, he mixed it with vodka and inadvertently created a classic.  The drink gets it’s name from the vodka (associated with Russia, hence Moscow) and the ginger beer (has a kick, hence mule).  The drink quickly became the new drink craze, especially in Los Angeles.

Moscow Mule

• 2 measures Vodka
• 1 measure lime juice
• cracked ice
• ginger beer
• lime slice

Shake the vodka and lime juice vigorously over ice cubes until well frosted.  Half-fill a chilled highball glass with cracked ice and strain the cocktail over it.  Fill with the ginger beer and garnish with a slice of lime.  Enjoy and have a relaxed weekend.

Hi there.  I’m Neil.  I’ll be your bartender this evening.  What’s it gonna be?

Each week, on Thursday, I’ll be sharing one of my favorite cocktail recipes with you.  Some are my own creation.  Some are classics.  Some are in between. I’ll make them simple, and delicious.  Just because we’re parents doesn’t mean we don’t like cocktail hour, right?

This week, I’ll be teaching you how to make a Fair Lady.  I’m inspired here by MY fair lady, Sarah. She’s a co-founder of ITKM, and the best thing that’s ever happen to me.  She grew up loving Audrey Hepburn, and we’ve seen My Fair Lady more times than I can count.  Classy woman, classy movie, classy drink.  Seemed more than appropriate for our first installment.

*Actual photo, results typical.

FAIR LADY

• 2 measures gin  (we like Bombay Sapphire, but it’s your prerogative)
• 1 measure orange juice (no pulp)
• 1 measure lime juice (if fresh squeezed.  If you’ll be using Rose’s sweetened lime juice, 1/2 measure will do)
• 1 egg white (yes, really)
• 1 splash of strawberry liqueur
• 1 strawberry
• 1 twist of lime peel

Combine the gin, orange juice, lime juice, egg white, and strawberry liqueur in a martini shaker over cracked ice.  Shake vigorously.  C’mon, you can do it.  Put your back into it!  Shake until your shaker is all cute and frosty.  Pour into a chilled martini glass of your choice and garnish with a strawberry slice and twist of lime.  The egg white gives it that beautiful frothy top, and let’s be honest, it’s a great source of protein.  Who can’t use a little extra protein?  I mean, no one else is chasing our toddlers around all day, am I right?

I hope you enjoy your fair lady as much I love mine.

See you next week for another easy, delicious, adult time out!!