Here’s an easy-to-make, fully flavorful hot wine drink to warm you down to your soul on a cold winter evening. The original term for this drink, “Gluehwein”, is pronounced “glue-vine” in German. We in America refer to it as mulled wine, but replacing the word “mulled” with “glow” makes this drink sound much more magically appealing.
December 22nd, 2014 
Bar Drinks, Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes 
Comments Off on Fresh Mai Tai: Full-On Tropical Holiday Flavor – All in Pictures 
All right, the winter holidays – every one of ‘em – is right here and now, and I sure wish you Happy Holidays!
The other day while I was in downtown Boston, a good friend of mine, Andrea, mentioned that she and her family were going to have a luau Christmas this year. Terrific! It turns out Andrea will be in charge of the drinks and was thinking about making mai tais. Great! “Only, I’m quite sure I know how to make them,” she said. No problem, I told her. I have a recipe – all in pictures – at my site. I drilled up the site on my phone to show her right then and there and realized that what I’d had available wasn’t quite as clear as wanted it to be. Again, no problem. That’s one of the beauties of working digitally.
I got home, reshot and rewrote the recipe, and now have it here good to go.
Glow wine comes from the German word “gluehwein” (pronounced “glue-vine”). The American term for the same or similar drink is “mulled wine”. But “glow” makes this very simple and fantastically flavorful hot drink sound so much more magical, which is just what you need to warm you right down to your soul when it’s as biting and dark outside as it will be tonight.
Here’s a picture of the ingredients you’ll need – all commonly found. Just click either picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe. Stay warm!
December 4th, 2013 Bar Drinks, Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes Comments Off on Crisp and Seasonally Flavorful Fall (Whiskey) Sour – All in Pictures
This past weekend I got some requests for the crisp and fully flavorful “fall sour” seasonal variation on the traditional whiskey sour shown in the picture with the turkey dinner below left. The picture below right shows the ingredients. Click any picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe.
Rule of Thumb: For every 1 1/2 ounces of lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon sugar, 1-2 teaspoons almond (orgeat) syrup, 3-4 ounces bourbon, and 2 ounces apple cider.
November 11th, 2013 Bar Drinks, Blog Comments Off on Whiskey Sour – 1st Bar Drink I Learned (Long Ago) 
The whiskey sour, also known as a bourbon sour, is the first mixed drink I learned from my dad quite a few years ago. Below are a couple tips. Just click this link or the picture above for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe.
Whiskey (Bourbon) Sour TIPS:
1. Rule of Thumb: For every 1 ounce of lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 ounces bourbon. The goal with this drink is to create a full, slightly sweetened but tart “Wah!” of flavor. Just great!
2. About the ingredients: Making the drink with a quality bourbon is important, though it’s the lemons that make the most significant difference in the drink because lemons can vary so much in sweet and sour flavor. For the best possible drink, use fresh lemons that are heavier in weight and slightly soft to the touch as they should also be juicier and more flavorful than those that are lighter in weight and rock hard to touch.
How much more fun could it be than to write about my favorite spirit, a writing hero and an inspiring drink-making legend – all at once?
First, the rum. Papa’s Pilar is a tribute to Ernest “Papa” Hemingway and his “never a spectator” love for life – a love he shared with friends aboard his “Pilar” Caribbean traveling fishing boat. You bet, I got a wry smile reading how, just like Hemingway, Papa’s Pilar is billed as “Bold, well-traveled, uniquely American”. Read more »
Mai Tai is Tahitian for “out of this world”. Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron created his signature drink in Oakland, California in 1944 and is remembered for saying, “Anybody who says I didn’t create the Mai Tai is a dirty rotten stinker!”
That full-on attitude matches the rich citrus, almond and rum “out of this world” flavor of this popular tropical cocktail.
Rule of thumb to make two 4-ounce drinks: for every 2 ounces of lime juice, add 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 ounce almond (orgeat) syrup, 1 ounce orange curaçao 2 ounces white or amber rum and 2 ounces dark rum. Just click any picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe.
I got a short, direct comment from a friend on Facebook saying that a family-favorite whiskey & ginger ale recipe I’d recently posted is a “descendent of the coo(w) woo(w) – America’s oldest cocktail, still served at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA: Ginger brandy and rum”.
Yah, all right! So, two Sundays ago after getting off the ice teaching kids skating in Marlborough, I drove to the Wayside, which for years has been one of my favorite magical cycling destinations. The place looked great that night with snow on the ground contrasted by warmly lit windows still decorated with holiday wreaths.
The bar was a quick right just inside the front door. It’s apparently one of the original rooms from when the house was first built in the 1700’s. The room’s small, all wood floor to ceiling, and had a fireplace that was full-on. I asked the bartender, Rich, about the Coow Woow. As I recall, which you’ll soon find out became kind of sketchy, I thought he told me the drink was made 3 parts white rum, 2 parts ginger brandy. He asked if I wanted a sample. You bet. Read more »
My dear ol’ mom turned 90 August 6th. My mom’s been a lifelong mentor and strong inspiration to me. I’ve had the very fortunate pleasure more than a few times over the years she was an active doctor to catch a glimpse of her treating patients that came to her, usually with very tough diseases. Even as a young kid, I could see how she was always a person first and doctor second by the way she put her patients at ease and treated them as people, not cases. What a privilege to see that kind of real human compassion in action! Read more »
London Summer Olympics – game on! Here’s a summer-cool refreshing bar drink to enjoy while you watch all the incredible athletes do what they do best. As a tribute to the games, this particular daiquiri recipe features Pusser’s British Navy Rum, which is rich with full-bodied cane rum flavor and goes great in my well loved US Navy Screaming Eagles Fighter Squadron 51 drink glass. Yah! Read more »
