soda

Angostura Rum & Black Cherry Soda Float

July 13, 2018 by elana Leave a Comment

This post was made in partnership with The House of Angostura. Recipe and ideas are my own.

I live in an old house. I’m in Southern California, so not that old like New England, or like, Rome. Ok, actually it’s only 50 years old so by those standards it’s pretty new. But anyways, when the house was bought it included things like appliances, and central air; these too were all old. 1980’s kinda old. And since they all did their jobs without much complaint not many were replaced. As the decade wore on they slowly started to die and everything now except the air conditioning unit, which is over 30 years old, has been replaced. This beast makes me tremble when the summer electric bill statement appears. I know the bill will be high. It’s always high this time of year. However, this thing just WILL.NOT.DIE. Every summer, usually when we hit peak highs and the thing is running 24/7, it breaks down. Home insurance gets called, 3 to 5 days later the machine is up and running again. Repeat the next summer.

I keep waiting for the repair man to finally come over and tell us, Sorry, this unit is done for and the home insurance to cough up the money to replace it. Because really, we’re not spending 10k+ ourselves on a whole new unit anytime soon. So when it getsÂ this hot out, I simultaneously hope that it won’t blow out on us and cause the internal temperature of the house to go over 90 (that has happened to us a few times now) and also sorta want it to just DIE ALREADY so we can get a new, energy efficient model. The joys of home ownership…oy!

Angostura Rum & Black Cherry Soda Float // stirandstrain.com Well, I don’t know whether to chalk these scorching summer days up to climate change or just admit that Los Angeles is the desert and this is part of the package you get when you move here. Sure, you get warm, sunny days in January, but then you have to take those 100+Â° days in the summer (and early Fall). To help ease these heat-aches, I partnered with The House of Angostura for a chilly, boozy treat this week (and yes, just in time for #NationalIceCreamDay on 7/15).

Did you grow up eating/drinking ice cream floats? We didn’t get them all too often, but I do recall stopping by an A&W when I was a kid and having a root beer float. In retrospect, whichever family member took me and my sister there and gave two small children ice cream floatsÂ in the car to eat was a rather brave soul. Today we’re not only refining that childhood treat with some black cherry soda and super premium vanilla ice cream, we’re also adding in RUM. And bitters. And Luxardo cherries! All the good adult stuff but with enough kid stuff to still have a whiff of nostalgia.

TheÂ Angostura 7 Year Rum has lots of cinnamon and vanilla flavors that make it a great match for this boozy adult treat. I’ve added in the Angostura Bitters and their Orange Bitters to punch up the spice of the cherry soda and to cut through some of the sweetness. The orange aroma in the nose is an unexpected and pleasant surprise when you take your first sip. For something so fun like an adult ice cream float, I found this combination to be much more complex with lots of subtle flavors. It was also a great way to forget about the heat for just a little bit too. Fingers crossed that air conditioner makes it through one more summer.

Angostura Rum & Black Cherry Soda Float // stirandstrain.com Ready to dive into your own float? Let’s make one!

Angostura Rum & Black Cherry Soda Float

2 ounces Angostura 7 Year Rum
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
4 ounces Black Cherry Soda, chilled
2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Orange slice and Luxardo cherries for garnish

In a mixing glass filled with ice, pour in rum and bitters. Stir to chill 20 seconds and strain into a soda glass. Add ice cream to glass and top with black cherry soda. Dash orange bitters on top and garnish with orange slice and cherries.

If youâ€™d like to learn more about Angostura and their products, please visit them atÂ www.angostura.com

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Fanta of the Opera/ Fanta of the Paradise

October 28, 2016 by elana Leave a Comment

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Fanta of the Opera & Fanta of the Paradise // stirandstrain.com Well kids, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a Low Rent Cocktail around these parts and Halloween seems like the right time to throw one at you.

I can’t take the credit for this month’s name; it’s all my husband’s doing. And appropriately so.Â See, this month we are celebrating 10 years together. Just how did this man woo this lady? Strange movie dates. Our first date he asked me to go see this limited release movie from the guy behind office space (that movie was Idiocracy and although when I found out what we were seeing I thought to myself,Â really? For a first date? I said yes to a second.). Our second date was a screening of Phantom of the Paradise. This movie is strange, but more so up my alley. I think after these first two dates we actually started doing normal date things like going out to eat but these two back to back dates are a small part of why I kept saying yes to another date.

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Fanta of the Opera & Fanta of the Paradise // stirandstrain.com Awwww. How sweet. Now on to the ridiculous cocktails.

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Fanta of the Opera & Fanta of the Paradise // stirandstrain.com Halloween means excessive sweets and bad taste, and that’s just what these two Low Rent Cocktails have to offer you. First up we have the Fanta of the Opera staring, you guessed it: Fanta Soda and because we’re trying oh so hard to be fancy with our cheap plastic masks and not flame retardant costumes, we’re bringing out the Italian Vermouth. It’s fancy because it comes from Italy.

Fanta of the Opera

1 part Cinzano Dry Vermouth
3 parts Fanta Grapefruit Soda

Pour over ice in a highball glass or whatever hollowed out gourd you having laying around.

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Fanta of the Opera & Fanta of the Paradise // stirandstrain.com

And for today’s double dose of trouble we have the Fanta of the Paradise. Rock stars. Revenge. Gore. What more could you ask for in a ~~cocktail~~ movie? Plus it’s strawberry and coconut flavored, just like yourÂ spring break paradise.

Fanta of the Paradise

1 part Malibu Rum
3 parts Fanta Strawberry Soda

Pour over ice in a highball glass or the skull of your enemy.

***If you want to add some spooky pizazz to your cocktails, feel free to throw some dry ice in. Just please dear god do not drink the dry ice or you’ll be taking a trip to the emergency room instead of drinking and that is NO FUN.

Hope you all have a fun Halloween! Stay safe!

The Low Rent Cocktail series is an occasional column on Stir and Strain where the boundaries of â€œgood tasteâ€ are pushed to the limit, or more often than not, pushed out the window. Enjoy at your own risk.

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: The Boca Shake

July 20, 2014 by elana 6 Comments

Florida always seemed to be the place where grandparents retired to on sitcoms when I was growing up. Isn’t that where Jerry Seinfeld’s parents retired? My family, living in New England, thought moving to another humid climate was stupid and find their retirement homes out in the deserts of the Southwest. But I digress. Florida still is associated in my mind with two things: Disney and old folks. (I try not to think about their politics.)

Sometime over the past year or so I picked up a bottle of Licor 43 and was completely baffled by what the owner told me when I was thinking of things to do with it. Without a hint of a smile, he told me the geriatric crowd mixes Licor 43 and milk together. Like a shake or Orange Julius. It has an ABV of 31% so it’s not like it won’t give your grandma a pick me up, but the thought of trying this just always seemed so weird to me. So, in stepped the Low Rent Cocktail.

My grandparents used to have cocktail parties when they were Mad Men-ing their lives back in the early 60’s, but now when I come to visit they mainly just have a hefty jug of red wine that gets brought out when we sit down to play dominoes. It’s my belief they ply me with jug wine so that I don’t have a chance of beating them. I can totally see them sipping a few of these, only, I think they’d make it with Lactaid.

Low Rent Cocktails do not always have to be the crappiest of what you have in your liquor cabinet; they can also be what you make do with. I guess for the Florida crowd, making do with with Licor 43 and cream is just something they’re Ok with. For this LRC I decided to inject some pep into it with Orange Crush because…well, it’s Orange Crush! Why the hell not?

Truth be told, it’s pretty Ok. Think about the last time you had an Orange Julius at the mall. Well, try and think that far back I guess. It’s a lot like that. But with booze. Not only does this seem a fitting drink for the Boca Raton crowd, but it’s a fitting drink for all you legal age kids trying to figure out how to make a creamsicle get you loaded.

So let’s make one!

1 ounce Licor 43
4-6 ounces Orange Crush soda pop
1 ounce heavy cream

In a highball glass filled with ice. Build the drink by pouring in the Licor 43. Add soda and cream. Stir to combine. Sit back and fan away the mosquitos and try not to think about alligators in your toilet.

Check back in next month for another late summer concoction, or check back through the archives for some more Low Rent Cocktails.

Not-so-classic Strawberry Rhubarb Fizz and making blogging a business

May 14, 2014 by elana 3 Comments

It’s one thing to feel inspired and be compelled to create, and then there’s the “oh crap, this is a business too and I have to find out about federal tax numbers” side to running a website full time. If you asked me what the scariest thing I’ve done in the past 6 months was, almost instantly from my mouth I’d spit out that clicking send on creating my LLC was it. That was a terrifying moment in my life; it made all of this REAL.

Now, before I get the onslaught of questioning smirks, let me clarify that just posting blog posts on here is not the whole of my business. If it was, there would be posts every day and my liver would need to get replaced every other year. I freelance outside of this space, write for other publications, create custom cocktails for parties and private events and sometimes even for people I never meet over the internet. Also, soon, like in less than a month, the first monthly Tiki of yesteryear inspired Supper Club starts up (if you’re in Los Angeles, sign up here for details). In just 5 months my life went from a steady 9 to 5 to a hodgepodge of randomly occurring activities that on most days feels out of control.

When you go from having a boss to being your boss you need to try not to crack up… daily.

You also need to get an editorial calendar, consider your brand, and try and put pants on by 11am. This past week, again, I took in a wealth of information in the form of a conference. This time my focus is on being a business lady. Can I mention how much I love the hashtag #bizlady? No? Move on? Ok.

Creating an LLC, was a big, big, big step. And then you move on and the next step is getting serious about having and maintaining a business. Did I know about incorporating and pass-through sole proprietorships last month? No. But now I do. Did I give a second to consider creating a media kit to send out to potential advertisers and sponsors? No. But now I’m on top of that. If you want to get serious about business, the worst thing you can do is be in the dark on these things. Then you’re just sitting around in yoga pants at 2 in the afternoon hating on people and that’s not a good look for you.

Attending an online conference is almost as exhausting as attending a face to face conference, especially if the information being presented to you is relevant and makes your brain work overtime. It also means you’re sitting in a chair trolling the internet between classes catching up on missed tweets and the fact that everyone else has access to rhubarb except you. Seriously, what the hell?

This recipe bordered on being an Instagram photo and just another “Cocktail Quickie”, except I was muddling the strawberries and thought to myself: it deserved its own post. Also, this was the only way it seemed I would get rhubarbs up onto this site.

1-1/2 ouces G’Vine Gin*
3 medium strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2″ ginger, peeled and sliced
4-6 ounces Dry Rhubarb Soda

In the bottom of a shaker, muddle strawberries and ginger. Add gin and ice. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top with soda.

Slight bite from the ginger and a pop of berry flavor to start with a whole lot of effervescent rhubarb. This gin is unique in that it is grape-based and has the most wonderful floral aroma and flavor. It all combines into a refreshing, spring-y cocktail.

Keeping some good quality sodas on hand means instant boozy refresher, FYI. Keep cool everyone!

*Items generously given gratis and appear here because I like them. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit theÂ AboutÂ page.

Low Rent Cocktail of the Month: Overnight Adult Slushie, in green

October 30, 2012 by elana Leave a Comment

Do you like to get girl drink drunk?

Let’s acknowledge that these drinks are not for people who enjoy drinks. It’s that spoon full of sugar… For kids on spring break, or those yard-long plastic glasses mainly filled with sugar and a thimble of alcohol. You like those drinks? This one is for you.

I’ve seen ‘adult’ frozen beverages done well. There seemed to be a surge of adult popsicles and the like this summer. This is not that. This is a drink you throw together when picking up after a party on a hot night, throw it in the freezer, and enjoy all over again the next day. And now, just when I was breaking out the sweaters and scarves, DAMMIT, it got hot again in L.A. This drink would have come around early September, but didn’t get a chance. So now for your sugary, neon buzzing pleasure– I give you your Low Rent Cocktail of the Month.

One night at a party someone brings you as a mixer a brightly colored soda. Let’s say it’s Watermelon Kiwi. And then you throw some vodka in and call it a night.

Right before you pass out, you empty the rest of the vodka into the last third of that soda. And since you’ve run out of ice cubes you toss it in the freezer.

In the morning, you re-discover this concoction in there and in lieu of a cup (none are clean anyway), you cut off the top and stick a straw in. Or two. Hey, that random person still in the house might like a cold drink as well.

1 cup vodka
3 cups of a fruity, all sugar, soda pop (save the bottle)

The flavor will all depend on what your base is. Or what mixers you had the night before. In this case, it tasted like Pop Rocks!