The CUT!

Sunday afternoon I headed out to La Verna, CA to hold a tasting for a summer wedding that I'll be bartending. I originally met the bride (Ashley) through Pam and Gina, a fabulous couple that I bartended a birthday party for last October. Ashley works at the liquor store where Pam and Gina bought their booze, and I'm very grateful that Pam and Gina put in a good word for me ;)

When I met the bride and her husband-to-be for the first time a few months ago, Ashley had said that she was hoping to get one or two specialty drinks made for the wedding. She said that she really enjoyed drinks with fresh ingredients (as do I) and berry-flavored drinks.

For yesterday's tasting, I showcased four drinks: a superberry mojito (mint, fresh strawberries, simple syrup, Bacardi Dragon Berry Rum, Fragoli Strawberry liqueur, club soda), a strawberry basil lemonade (fresh basil, simple syrup, vodka, St. Germain liquor, strawberry lemonade), a berry cosmopolitan (vodka, Grand Marnier, Roses Lime Juice, Pomegranate Juice, fresh blackberries), and a strawberry cooler (Vodka, fresh strawberries, soymilk, simple syrup, and Fragoli liqueur).

While the tasters enjoyed all four drinks, they ended up going with the first two- the superberry mojito and the strawberry basil lemonade. Awesome choices that are perfectly suited for a summer wedding!

Dark and... Beardy?

Last night I worked a 30th birthday party in the Echo Park/Silverlake area thrown for a hubby by his fantastic wifey. The hubby, sporting the "Silverlake beard" had wanted three specialty drinks for the party. He chose to go with his favorite, the Dark and Stormy, renaming it "Dark and Beardy" in honor of himself. It was one of the most popular drinks of the night, right beside the "Echo Park Iced Tea" which was basically a John Daly, or an Arnold Palmer by way of vodka (nam-nams). The two kept me very busy all night, and everyone's buzz a steady hummm.

The last specialty drink was a Berry Mojito, affectionately renamed "Inglorious Bastards" (although it should have been Basterds). It wasn't as popular as the first two, but I'm pretty sure the cold weather had something to do with it. For me, mojitos are synonomous with summer and heat.

It was an amazing party complete with Ipod cupcakes, a face painter, a photo booth, a taco truck, and a priceless view of downtown Los Angeles at night. Later this afternoon, I'm traveling to La Verne to do a tasting for a wedding I'm tending this summer. I'm creating some custom drinks for the bride and groom, and today's

tasting will decide (enter Heidi Klum voice) which cocktails are eeeeen or aut.

Will keep you posted!

January's drink of the month- Raspberry Lemon Drop Martini

January's drink of the month honor's the upcoming citrus season. You may remember the lemon drop shot from your college days, and if you used a bottom-shelf vodka those memories might be particularly painful. The raspberry lemon drop martini, however, is a classy twist on the shot. It uses vodka, Chambord, fresh squeezed lemon juice (a whole medium lemon), and a pinch of cane sugar. Shake everything on ice and then strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. It's the perfect coupling of tart and sweet, and a great way to use the lemons that will be popping up at your local farmer's markets.

All Saint's Day

I'm officially obsessed with St-Germain. No, he's not a religious deity but he very much deserves to be cannonized. St-Germain is an elderflower liqueur that is grown in the foothills of the Alps. What does an elderflower taste like, you might ask? It's not citrus, and its not pear-like, but a sort of infusion of the two. It's sweet and light with a delicate floral aftertaste. And whatmore, the elderflower blossoms are handpicked and gathered by local French farmers.

If you're a bartender, St-Germain offers a really interesting program called the "Bartender Exchange" where you can switch 3 bartending shifts with other bartenders over the same 3-4 day period, learning new drinks and tricks of the trade. You can check this out here: http://www.stgermain.fr/exchange.php

I love this stuff!