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Stir & Strain

Monday Booze News All the candy inspired cocktails you can shake your muddler at!

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Halloween inspired cocktails // stirandstrain.com

{Now Closed} Giveaway // Scratch and Sniff Whiskey Book! It's the Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All

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Giveaway: Scratch and Sniff Whiskey Book // stirandstrain.comHey guys! It’s nice to be back! A few weeks of vacation always makes me start to miss work, weird huh? As I ease myself back to the keyboard, I thought I’d be nice and kick off the season of giving early this year with this fun new book I came across recently: The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose.

Yes, it’s a board book. About booze. So don’t give it to your kids. It’s also a fun book to have around and takes the pressure off knowing all there is to know about whiskey. And it smells nice! Just ask Hollywood actor Edward Norton: “This is really the ultimate ‘hack’ on whiskey. I learned why I should try Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt faster than Google Maps could teach me where the Glorioso Islands are.”

If you want to become a Whiskey Know-It-All too, enter today! Check out the options below to enter and get up to 7 entries to win. Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PST Friday October 30th, 2015. Please see terms and conditions below (sorry, only open to U.S. and Canada residents). Good Luck!

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Vacation Reply

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Vacation Reply // stirandstrain.com

That’s right folks. We are closing up shop for the next 3 weeks and heading out of L.A. to go experience life elsewhere. Recipes, Booze News, and some new columns will start up when we return! Cheers!

XOXO
the Stir and Strain team

Small Space Home Bar

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Tight on space? One does not need to call in the team at Hometime to knock down some walls and put in plumbing just so you can use your fancy glasses come cocktail hour. Craft a home bar for a small space with a handful of useful, and, obviously, fun pieces.

Small Space Home Bar Gift Guide // stirandstrain.com

You’re drinking in the living room/home office/kitchen and chances are you’ll need a table there. But what if it was also your bar? And inside the glasses doubled as measuring cups and you had ONE tool that did just about everything? No room for full bottles? That’s what the half bottles are for; you can store those anywhere. Your ice bucket can also double as a storage vessel when not in use: bonus if it looks like a work of art (your friends won’t know the difference). And all those beer bottles? Hang ’em up out of the way. Just be mindful when doing cartwheels after a couple Daiquiris.

1. Table/Mini Bar 2. Mini Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut 3. Mini Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut 4. Bottleloft 5. Barspoon/Cocktail Pick 6. Ice Bucket 7. Measured Bar Glasses 8. Barbarian Bar Tool

Monday Booze News pour a beer like a real German, stop snapping at bartenders, and opening wine with a shoe

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Monday Booze News: I'll take two // stirandstrain.com

Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails for a crowd or yourself

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Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails // stirandstrain.comMaybe you guys can help me out here. If a neighbor has a fruit tree, let’s say a pomegranate tree, overburdened with fruit, like so much fruit. And it’s just sitting there out on the sidewalk for anyone to pluck a few as they walk by… Is it OK just to pluck a few? You’re not going in their yard. In fact, they are dropping from the branches looking for an excuse to go home with you.

My neighbors don’t know how lucky they are. My mother-in-law’s pomegranate tree gave us a whopping two fruit. TWO?! The tree is being downright lazy this year. So for this cocktail we’ll just turn to the bottled stuff.

Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails // stirandstrain.comThank god for bottled pomegranate juice though. I will say that despite this desperation I have of ridding my neighbor’s tree of all their fruit, juicing all those pomegranates is a pain in the ass. And now that it’s officially Fall, and I believe also the start of pomegranate season, it’s time for some transitional cocktails. Because we are still going through our usual high temps in Southern California I just can’t bring myself to make something too Fall-like yet. So today I have a bit of a summery beverage with just a touch of Fall.

Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails // stirandstrain.comThis recipe yields enough for about 4 cocktails, but you can also single batch this for yourself. I’ve been enjoying these splits of sparkling wine lately for when I want a sparkling cocktail but don’t want to crack open a big bottle.  Because what usually happens is that I make a cocktail and just drink all the rest of the sparkling wine by itself.

Do you like juicing pomegranates? Feel free to sub in fresh for the bottled if you’d like.

Sparkling Pomegranate and Cocchi Rosa Cocktails // stirandstrain.comFor the Pomegranate Reduction:

1 cup 100% pomegranate juice

  • In a small saucepan, bring pomegranate juice to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced to 3 ounces (6 tablespoons), 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool. Store in an airtight container up to 1 month.

For the Cocktails:

3 ounces Pomegranate Reduction
4 ounces Cocchi Rosa
2 ounces fresh juice from 2 to 4 limes
16 ounces sparkling wine
4 orange twists, for garnish

  • In a pitcher, add the pomegranate reduction, Cocchi Rosa, and lime juice. Top with sparkling wine and gently stir to combine. To serve, divide between 4 glasses filled with ice. Express orange oil from twists over each drink, then add twists to each glass to garnish.

To temper the pomegranate syrup’s richness and bring in a bit of brightness, I use a sparkling wine for the base. And to offset the syrup’s sweetness, I mix in Cocchi Rosa, an aromatized wine whose subtle bitterness comes from gentian and cinchona bark. A splash of lime keeps it fresh. An orange twist adds a final layer of aroma and brings out the citrus qualities of the Rosa.

I originally published this recipe on Serious Eats.

Monday Booze News don't wiiiiine about it edition

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Monday Booze News: martinis at the fair // stirandstrain.com

Tropical Rum Peach Frozen Blended Cocktail frozen peach cocktails part two

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Frozen Peach, Rum, Coconut Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comSee? I told you more ways were coming to use up all of your last summer peaches!

So this weekend would mark the last weekend before Fall official starts and while that’s laughable here in Southern California, what with our week of 100° temps, I do want to start transitioning into Fall flavors. But first, we’ll leave summer with a tropical BANG. A bang with rum and cinnamon and coconut and more peaches.Frozen Peach, Rum, Coconut Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

And more rum, because we’re calling it tropical.

You know guys, if we’re all thinking ahead. Maybe we should just freeze a bunch of peach slices, and then in a few months when we’re complaining about the cold, we can turn the heat up really high in the house and make a couple of these frozen peach cocktails? That sounds like a plan.

Frozen Peach, Rum, Coconut Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comAnd while we’re on the subject of future endeavors, Stir and Strain will be taking a much, much needed vacation in October. A real one, unlike last year’s where I spent countless nights staying up scheduling out content and then still kept working through the break. I have to start convincing myself now that I don’t need to bring my laptop to go look at Fall foliage for two weeks.

But until then, we got a few more recipes and a couple extra special treats coming up! And now onto those cocktails…

Frozen Peach, Rum, Coconut Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comServes 4.
6 ounces white rum, such as Caña Brava
4 ounces coconut cream, such as Coco Lopez
2 ounces simple syrup
2-3 ripe peaches, pitted and cubed
8 dashes Angostura bitters
1 ounce dark rum, such as Blackwell, divided (optional)
Ground cinnamon and 4 cinnamon sticks, for garnish

  • Combine rum, coconut cream, simple syrup, and Angostura in a zipper-lock bag or resealable container. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
  • To serve, transfer the rum mixture to a blender and add 3 cups ice. Blend at high speed until well mixed and thick, about 45 seconds. Pour into 4 highball glasses and top each with 1/4 ounce dark rum (if desired), a dash of cinnamon, and a cinnamon stick.

The fresh, ripe fruit adds a ton of intense flavor in this creamy cocktail. The spice from the Angostura, the slightly sweet coconut and all that rum make for a fresh, tropical cocktail. For an extra boozy punch, float dark rum on top with a dash of cinnamon to enhance the aroma.

Looking for a more savory blended peach cocktail? Check out the Tequila-Suze frozen peach cocktail!

Peach and Tequila Frozen Cocktail frozen peach cocktails part one

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Peach and Tequila Frozen Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comIt’s September. Target was filled with Halloween decorations about two weeks ago, and I have a fruit basket filled with peaches. They’re not the prettiest peaches mind you, but they’re still sooooo tasty.

Peach and Tequila Frozen Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comI do this every year. I overbuy summer produce like I’ll never see it again and when it starts getting close to Fall, I scramble to use it up. As you all know, it kills me to throw food away. This year it’s a little easier with a little one who gobbles up peaches but I’m still staring at this fruit basket scratching my head.

Peach and Tequila Frozen Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comAnd then I go, DUH, and drag out the blender.

Peach and Tequila Frozen Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comWhere once you only bought a frozen cocktail while on vacation where you both did not care what you were drinking, and you were more than likely not going to remember it anyway, now I insist you make them for yourself and loved ones. I convinced you to make a Frozen Blood and Sand cocktail last month, and let’s not forget that Cucumber and Green Chartreuse number from last year.

This post is part one of emptying that fruit basket of all those peaches.

Peach and Tequila Frozen Blended Cocktail // stirandstrain.comPeaches, meet tequila.

Serves 4.
6 ounces blanco tequila
2 ripe peaches, pitted and cubed
1/2 cup fresh pineapple chunks
2 ounces fresh pineapple juice
1-1/2 ounces Suze
8 mint leaves
Mint leaves and extra pineapple chunks, for garnish

  • Combine tequila, peaches, pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, Suze, and mint leaves in a zipper-lock bag or resealable jar. Chill at least 8 hours or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
  • To serve, transfer chilled tequila mixture to a blender and add 3 cups ice. Blend at high speed until well mixed and thick, about 45 seconds. Divide between coupe glasses and garnish with a pineapple chunk and mint leaves.

A little on the savory side with earthy notes from the tequila and the herbal, floral, bitter Suze. Your sweet peaches balance out that earthy side, mixed with sweet-tart pineapple and mint for a concoction that’s both refreshing and complex.

**This recipe was originally written for Serious Eats.

Monday Booze News Brosé is new to me, what to eat in Bourbon Country, and ideas for those liqueurs collecting dust

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Monday Booze News: Hotel Martinis for the win! // stirandstrain.com