My first confrontation with a Bloody Mary, and I call it that because I just never really liked the taste of a Bloody Mary though everyone else did, was at the Hotel Del Coronado with my friend Jeff. I thought what the hell is this drink all about and why is it revered as being one of the best hangover cures at the same time having the liberty of being called breakfast. Yes I will blame this personal discovery and new found cocktail craving on him.
It was after breakfast…a little, and we were on vacation (before 5 justification), and I needed to understand the allure of this famous cocktail. I watched the bartender make this masterpiece that he ordered and I said “ How can you drink those?” He swore by them and looked at me like I was some sort of neophyte to the alcohol world when I said that. It was time to take the plunge so to speek and learn to like this drink. The previous night definitely played a part here..we had gone to dinner at the Sheerwater restaurant, drank waaaaay too much wine, and excusable result of being sequestered to the motels delicious culinary conveniences, stumbled back to the room, crashed and woke up the next morning with a wicked case of the bottle flue. 
Great time to try the Bloody Mary. What the heck. Maybe it was all the talk about the mystical properties, the hangover cure all, hey its good for your prostate that lured me into this virgin territory but in my mind the fact remained, I didn’t understand the drink and needed to learn to like it. Plus I was hung over.
At the Del they serve the Bloody Mary with a French string bean instead of the typical real estate consuming stalk of celery. Which I prefer. That piece of celery tree really displaces much of the cocktail and reminds you oof its presents by stabbing you in the eye while lining up for a sip. The drink they make there is off the charts good. Now- I am a major carnivore and I love red meat. When I took a sip my first words were liquid steak. Unbelievable... I never have tasted a drink that had such a beefy flavor. It should come with a side of baked potato. I swear they must be using a bassomatic to get that flavor. They should remove the French bean and put in a bone. It was that good.
Anyway, I was converted. The Bloody Mary became my friend. For me, not all the time like a nightly after 5 style drink but occasionally. It defiantly found a ranking in my arsenal of delicious cocktails.
Beer…. that back bone of the bar. It can’t be called a cocktail so it doesn’t count as a cocktail when you’re gathering the ingredients for that laborious task of building a margarita or mai tai. Margaritas especially. What a chore. I dread when I get the craving…Well, kind of. But while in the process I get this pavlovian wetness in anticipation of the happy warm glow that this drink brings. For me there best at my buddy John’s house. I taught him how to make the special Cadillac Margie about eleven years ago. He won’t remember that fact nor will he admit it but now he makes them better than I do. Or so I tell him. This is a case where truly it’s better to watch. Watch with a beer, cause that’s about how long it takes to make a Cadillac when he makes them.
So as far as being a cocktail goes does the beer count? Well technically no. It’s not a cocktail and comparatively, one for one, it’s not even close to the bender you get from a good margarita. And since, in this common bartending example, we are playing with serious liquor, I call a beer a pacifier, a filler, maybe even a primer. I will agree, beer does go with tequila. In fact if you’re doing shots, beer goes great with tequila. Habit in my college days, rarely practiced now. But the next day while grabbing the Advil and asking myself, “what did I drink last night?” I never include that first beer. It didn’t count. Or maybe it was it automatically included as part of the cocktail when I have a margarita. In either case it didn’t register on the alcoholic itinerary from the previous evening.
Beer, not in the cocktail family technically but by far the easiest drink to serve- the opposite of a Cadillac Margarita. Great idea - next time I make a Cadillac I’m using the beer hat. That way I can say I didn’t even see a beer.
Written by Eric States
When we take the family skiing to Mammoth 
the first thing I do after that grueling yet picturesque drive bordering the Sierras, is go to the fridge and crank the freezer to max cold and throw in the bottle of Level vodka. I learned this little trick. If you get the freezer to 8 degrees below, not only does this make ice faster than you can say avalanche, but it makes your vodka into this syrupy semi frozen drool that you actually have to encourage to get out of the bottle. Kind of like the consistency of lava only colder.
Talk about an incredible martini. None of this stuffy “shaken or stirred?” Bond crap. You don’t need a cocktail shaker, no need for stirring. Just pour it into a martini glass. Preferably near a bottle of vermouth but not too close, and drop two olives in. There is no better martini in my mind. Maybe it’s the altitude, but Level vodka at 8 below is silky smooth and very potent. Like a martini should be. It even stays cold up until the last drop. That’s not speed drinking either! And if you are the real purist you can’t beat it. This cocktail trick spares you from polluting your expensive vodka with some rusty, tape water made ice cubes. -8 taste’s great!
Ok so this cool cocktail trick is great for a drink at the cabin so why not try putting frozen delight in the portable hip flask that we take skiing. Yes I know you shouldn’t drink vodka and ski but come on most everyone does partake in a little sippin on the slopes. At least the ones that I ski with do. The big challenge here is getting the vodka into that minuscule Viagra pill sized spout in the liquor flask. 
It reminds me of a school science project cause the flask turns to ice right up to the fill line almost instantly. And, like the martini, it stays cold for a long time. Just don’t get the frozen flask too close to your skin. It’s kind of like when you lick a chair lift…it sticks. That you do only once. The bottom line, or the message I am trying to convey is, frozen vodka is better. Its better at home, it’s better at the slopes, and it’s better in the glass. You just need a freezer that will go to -8. Down side? This arctic vodka cellar that we turn our refrigerators into turns your ice cream into concrete, necessitating a microwave just to scoop out…….You shouldn’t eat ice cream anyway.
Words by Eric States
While we’re on the subject of tequila, I’d like to send a shout-out to my favorite Agave of the Gods, “Oro Azul Reposado.” This is a true sipping tequila, rich and complex, easy on the gullet, and not to be squandered in margaritas or shots. I discovered this excellent elixir in Baja a few years ago at the Hotel California in Todos Santos. (Yes, it’s rumored to be the Hotel California from The Eagles song, though Don Henley denies it. But I can attest: There is a dark desert highway, a shimmering light, a mission bell, and it’s a lovely place.)
And I got tiffany-twisted drinking Oro Azul that night. My drinking pals – one older brother and two childhood buddies – lined up about seven tequilas at the recommendation of the very knowledgeable bartender at Hotel California. I couldn’t tell you what the other tequilas were if you held a gun to my head. Was I too drunk to remember? No. But who remembers the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers? I’m all about winners. ABC: Always Be Closing. Second place is a set of steak knives.
Among us four very different drinkers, Oro Azul Reposado was the unanimous favorite tequila.
And we each swore, upon our return to the U.S. and A., that we’d fill our liquor cabinets with the stuff. I found a bottle in Portland, Oregon (where I live) for $39.99, but you can purchase it online for as low as $33.99 through www.shoppersvineyard.com
According to Oro Azul’s website, the Reposado is “double distilled 100% blue agave… carefully rested for over six months. The special resting process delivers a richer, cleaner and deeper tequila. It has a deep old gold color with pickling spice and sweet, creamy nougat aromas. A round entry leads to a dryish medium-bodied palate with creamy caramel, faint brown spices and ripe tropical citrus fruits. Finishes in a very lengthy, fruity manner, with nutty toffee and spice notes. Well-knit, balanced and delicious.”
I concur.
Written by Trevor Pitchford
Since the mere hint of the Margarita was mentioned in one of my last ramblings, I have tequila on the tongue ever since. The Margarita, sharing some of the same naive bartenderal problems as the Mai Tai, has a wider array of presentational and desired acceptance. When done right, especially on a hot summer day, blended is great. (Watch the cerebral freezer burn). 
This style kind of kills two birds with one stone. Thirst quencher and tequila cocktail. There is even a dedicated blender that just came out called the Margarator, a bit like a smoothie machine on steroids. I must admit I prefer I like my margaritas on the rocks, with salt.
The flavor comes through much better without exposing the drink to all that surface area in the ice that you get with having it blended. On the rocks is harder to drink fast yes but, you can appreciate the fine subtleties of good tequila and a good mix. The Cadillac margaritas used to be, well still is, one of my favorite drinks. For those unfamiliar with a Cadillac the main difference is the floater of Grand Marnier on the top of the drink. It does a great job of cutting through young fresh lime juice if your drink is so tarnished. Margaritas, like wine, are also subject to the evolutionary change of the palate that just comes from time at the bar.
There are a pile of stories as to whom actually created this popular Mexican cocktail, personally I think people just got tired of drinking the worm an had a mission to try and make tequila more appetizing. Don’t get me wrong, the “good tequila” strait is very tasty. But don’t waste it on a fancy sweet blended one. You can’t taste it.
My taste for this drink has changed over the years from sweet too a hint of tart. Below is my favorite way to enjoy this classic drink;
Cadillac Margarita Recipe;
3 oz’s of Silver Patron Tequila
1.5 oz’s of Cuantreau ( orange liquor)
.75 oz’s roses lime juice
.75 oz’s fresh squeezed lime juice
Floater of Grand Marnier
Serve on the rocks with a salted rim
There are many ways to make margaritas. Just about any fruit you can think of has been tried. This cocktail has a very flexible platform that enables a bartender to add many different flavors and still pull of a good cocktail.
This drink, like most tequila drinks, is potent, rowdy, tasty, (when done right) and can give you a nasty bottle flue if over enjoyed. Caution - it’s a sneaky cocktail, it creeps up on you. Ole!
Our friend Steve Marsh owns the Shoreline cafe. It’s the only restaurant in Santa Barbara that you can have lunch, island style, with your feet in the sand a cocktail in hand and chow on one of Enrique’s, the cook, famous jalapeño turkey casadias. (Not on the menu so you have to ask) Every Saturday my wife and I go there for lunch, rain or shine. Its our little weekly mini Hawaiian vacation. Probably one of the best kept secrets in SB. Great food great drinks. Especially Steve’s Mai tai.
Steve’s Mai Tai Recipe;
1 oz white rum
1 oz Meyer’s dark rum
½ oz Orange Curacao
½ oz fresh pinapple juice
½ oz fresh orange juice
¼ oz sweet & sour juice
¼ oz Roses Lime Juice
¼ oz Passion Fruit Juice
Float 151 Lemon Hart rum on top
It is the one we base all others from. A perfect balance of not too sweet tropical fruity taste and a mellow mix of dark and light rum topped off with flammable 151. (No it’s not lit). Finding a blend like this tropical masterpiece is a bit of a crap shoot at most restaurants. Half the time Mai Tais are too sweet, not strong enough or like in Islands, expensive Hawaiian punch but with out the punch.
There is a larger cocktail bandwidth of acceptability when talking Mai Tais in comparison to lets say martinis, I know some of you might argue that but in a way its like developing your pallet with wine. It takes years of liver assault before you really discover the difference between two buck Chuck and Cuvaison. A bit of a gross exaggeration I know but the point is this - younger pallets typically don’t appreciate the subtleties of the better liquors and the more refined tastes of good booze.
When I first started drinking wine it was box wine and white Zin…sweet, cheap. Now, I will mostly blame my wife here, we have learned to drink beyond our budget with the more expensive sophisticated wines. My biggest mistake was buying her a wine cellar refrigerator for Christmas. Yes it does make a difference if you keep the wine at 54 degrees I must admit. But it’s kind of like filling up the Suburban with gas having one of these mini cellars. $150 for gas? I wish that’s all the cellar needed to be full. The only saving grace is Costco occasionally carries her brand or when we feel like leaning on Steve we hit him up for the bro deal on cases. Still. $20 for a bottle of fermented grape juice? It’s easy to bitch about our alcoholic indulgements but appreciating good wine has now become a standard with ourafter 5 cocktail hour. It used to be so easy in my younger days - Coors, Jose Cuervo, Two Buck Chuck, not the case anymore. Oh sure we still drink Jose but lets talk tequila another time.
Anyway, digressing again, Mai Tai's, which by the way means “good” in Tahitian, are to most people a symbolic vacation drink. Invented by Victor Bergron, better known as Trader Vic, "Around 1944, I was sitting at the service bar at Trader Vic's in Oakland and the bartender and I decided to come up with a new drink. We talked about creating a drink that would be the finest drink we could make, using the finest ingredients we could find. And the Mai Tai is what we came up with."
I don’t think anyone that has gone to Hawaii’s Waikiki beach and had a good Mai Tai. Most of these have a splash of cheap rum, canned pineapple juice, Grenadine for that sweet cherry flavor, and a dry piece of pineapple for a garnie. Probably the best place to find a slaughtered Mai Tai is at one of those Hawaiian luau’s. I swear they use Hawaiian Punch here. If you go to the islands you will eventually go to a luau so be warned and take an extra flask of rum. Better yet drink beer here. It won’t pollute your memory of this great rum drink. As Rick Carrol states in his History of the Mai Tai, “Most Mai Tais served in Hawaii today are too strong, too sweet and, at $7 and up, too expensive. They are pale imitations of the original. Some taste like gasoline, others like cough syrup. They burn the throat, produce terrible headaches and generally give Hawaii a bad name. They should be served with a Surgeon General's warning.” He has lots of great Mai Tai facts, recipes, and “where to get a good one” while in the islands, at this link. Summing it up, getting a good mai tai depends entirely on the bartender. They are a pain in the ass to make, encouraging a lot of short cuts, they require experience behind the bar, and are subject to the mood of the porer. But it is one of those cocktails that while watching it made by a good mixologist makes you salivate in anticipation. It’s getting close to 5:00 and I’m getting thirsty. Aloha!
Written by Eric States
The Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui is a wonderful place.
If unplugging your mind from the rigors of work calls out than this is your remedy. They have a koa wood bar, the most prized cabinet and furniture wood in Hawaii, on the lower level of the lobby that with a floor to ceiling rear housing some of the worlds most classical cocktail shakers. Every time I go to this magical paradise I deliberately walk down to this bar and gawk at the artistic examples of barware mastery. Penguin shakers, classic crystal and stainless steel shakers, barbell shakers, cocktail shakers, there is such history there that the plating is worn off. Not that this inspires work for me, being that it ties in with After 5, but it just exemplifies that you are here to enjoy, grab the sunscreen get a Mai tai and forget about time. A cocktail for breakfast? No problem. Hawaii has a way of shedding that mainland guilt associated with drinking alcohol before five o'clock.
So who invented the cocktail shaker ? How long has it been around? Well, these bar tools have elements of the cocktail connoisseur for a long time. Early shakers go back thousands of years BC in Egypt, South America and Mesopotamia. Bartenders discovered cocktail shakers as an efficient, showy bar tool in the late 1800s. The popularity of cocktail shakers really surged in the 1920s when martinis became the "In" drink. Enter prohibition. Bummer.
The cocktail shaker as well as the alcoholic drink were pushed underground spawning the world of speakeasies. During this time the shaker took on a life of its own and transformed into a piece of art. In order to disguise the barware, as well as provide a place to store your booze, they deceptively took the form of airplanes penguins, skyscrapers, bowling pins, barbells, rocket ships, and even a women's leg. This was prime time for the cocktail shaker. It was in its hay day.
Eventually being massed produced this bartenders tool became a standard household item for anyone who had a home bar. The drink shaker was eventually overshadowed by the electric blender, and that as you can imagine, stole the show. Turbo blend my cocktail with a flip of a switch? Wow. Since then we have discovered that beating alcohol to death at 2,000 rpm with a metal blade and 110 volts of power is just not cool. How would you like your martini Mr. Bond… Shaken or stirred? How about in a blender…not. Let's leave the blender to the daiquiris, margaritas and any of the other sweet tropical drinks that need to beaten. (By the way they do make daiquiri to die for at the Fairmont swim up bar, I digress). Anyway, not to get too off topic here but the cocktail shaker has seen a strong resurgence as of late. When we sent out our first After 5 catalog with its impeccable timing of 9/11 in 2001, yes that really did happen, the country basically curtailed air travel. As a result many people turned towards home entertaining.
They bought more things for the bar, kitchen, the home, and possibly invigorated a new appetite for the venerable cocktail shaker. Are we responsible for this renewed interest in these stainles steel cocktail mixers? No, I seriously doubt it but maybe the timing of our little After 5 catalog might have been OK after all.
Last spring, I took my wife and daughters on a 4-day Disney cruise – and almost every day since, my home mailbox has runneth over with catalogs, brochures and magazines from high-end cruise lines. (Are all these upper crusty companies aware that I’m a cheapskate who purchased an off-season package w/ an inside stateroom – no window, just a round mirror?)
Regardless, my new favorite magazine from all this high-end junk-mail is Virturoso Life, “The Traveler’s Guide to Inspired Pursuits” (aka “Vacations You’ll Never Afford”). This month’s issue has a good story about boozin’ – “The American Cocktail Revolution,” which traces the history of the cocktail, and also details how we Americans (and our bars) have lost our sauce-superiority to a new breed of “handmade” European cocktails.
The culprit? Cheap cocktail mixes and artificial fruit juices and sweeteners. While our spirits have certainly improved – Absolut Vodka, Patrón Tequila, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Grey Goose Vodka, Cruzan Rum – our cocktail mixes haven’t.
So nix the mix? Yup. Think about it next time you’re out at your favorite bar or restaurant: all those those trendy, hyper-sweetened martinis; or the 31 flavors of margaritas; or the wacky red, white and blue festive cocktails with the sparklers and swizzle straws. They’re all tasty, sure, but so’s Kool-Aid on hot day.
And think about it when you’re entertaining at home: It’s one thing to buy margarita mix. It’s another thing to buy bottled lemon and lime juice. And it’s quite something else to pick ripe lemons and limes from a neighbor’s tree and squeeze your own margaritas. C’mon – you ponied up $60 for the bottle of Patrón tequila; Why ruin it with cheap margarita mix? It’s like grilling up a beautiful porterhouse steak, then smothering it with ketchup.
The magazine story mentioned a few other tips for cocktail mixing I thought I’d pass along:
For drinks like mojitos
and mint juleps, try using sugar cane juice (guarapo) or raw sugar in lieu of standard sugar. It takes away any sickening sweetness, and adds a more complex and textured flavor to your cocktails.
Try using fruit juice ice cubes in place of standard ice. This prevents “water-down” as your ice melts, and it can also change/enhance the drinking experience as you sip. For example, cranberry ice cubes in a glass of vodka and orange juice will transform the cocktail into a Madras as the ices melts.
Got any fresh or handmade cocktail tips you’d like to share with us? Please do!
Written by Trevor Pitchford
James Bond: “Vodka martini.”
Bartender: “Shaken or stirred?”
James Bond: “Does it look like I give a damn?”
Casino Royale, 2006
Cheers to the latest James Bond movie (I just watched it on DVD), especially the new dark and edgy tone, and its welcome lack of goofy one-liners, cartoon stunts and throwaway bimbos. What also caught my attention was 007’s loose cannon inexperience as a secret agent. (Casino Royale was Ian Fleming’s first Bond book, and Bond’ first mission.) In the movie, greenhorn Bond makes a lot of mistakes – gets the %$&* kicked out of him, loses the girl, and apparently doesn’t even know how to order a martini yet (see above).
Which got me to thinking about this whole “Shaken, not stirred” martini catchphrase that’s developed over the last couple of decades. Does it really make a difference? If you line up two martinis side-by-side – one shaken, one stirred, both from the same recipe – how many people could honestly pick or prefer one over the other?
I gathered two of my drunken friends and we put it to the test. Using the classic “dry vodka martini” recipe from later Bond appearances, I shook one, stirred the other, and served.
“I thought we were drinking beer,” said my old college roommate. Some things never change.
“The shaken martini is definitely colder,” the other, more successful friend, said. This, we attributed to the ice swishing around in the shaker before I served.
“The stirred martini tastes more diluted, if that makes sense,” the old roommate said. I had mixed both martinis the same strength, but we all agreed that the stirred martini had a weaker, vermouthy taste to it.
“These crackers are good,” said the old roommate, referring to the saltine palette-cleansers I’d put out for between sips. “They’re salty, but not in a starchy, dehydrating way like pretzels can be.” I made a mental note never to invite him back for serious drink studies like this.
“I like the shaken martini best,” said the successful friend, interrupting the doofus. “It’s very cold, like a martini should be, and it tastes more completely mixed.”
We all three agreed that the shaken martini tasted better, though it wasn’t a night-and-day conclusion. It took several swigs, back and forth, and some discussion before we could put a finger on the differences between the two.
If anyone out there can put some science behind our findings, I’d love to hear why one is better than the other, or if anyone prefers their martinis “stirred, not shaken.” And if you have any thoughts about saltine crackers, please keep them to yourself.
Written by Trevor Pitchford
