On December 5th 1933, the 18th amendment was repealed ending prohibition in America, a high-light among sad days in a desperate nation gripped by economic woes. Some would say that there are similarities between the Great Depression to our dismal economy today. Maybe our pending leap off of the “fiscal cliff” or our half a decade…
Muddling in the Heat: 2012 Update
So you take a sip, sweet, cool and refreshing; you close your eyes in delight as your throat beings to burn. When I was a kid, some nut-job yogi friend of my mom gave me some of his cayenne lemonade. It was some sort of alleged health tonic with all sorts of healing properties. Funny little…
Surfer Girls and Kayak Love
I haven’t posted many recipes lately. I’ve been focusing on bitters and other concoctions and videos. After I finished making my prototype batch of passion fruit bitters, I had a dilemma; the bitters were delicious and smelled wonderful but I had no idea what to try them out in. Tiki drinks seemed…
Autumn at Kous Kous Re-Visited
I decided to update this little piece I did on Kous Kous because enough good things cannot be said about this restaurant, and because I just submitted the cocktail detailed here into a contest. As a promotional contest Art of the Cocktail asked for a new Aperol cocktail and I just so happened to have one. …
Grenadine Made Easy
Recently when preparing to make my Pirate Punch I decided to make a batch of grenadine to fulfill the sweet element in the punch. Not knowing were to begin I reached for my bookshelf. The book I grabbed was PDT by Jim Meehan. The house recipe for grenadine at the PDT…
A Punch, a Thing of Beauty Be!
Come ye back from the sea my friend, lest the scurvy becomes your end. Drink punch with lime, and a ration of rum. A brimming bowl, like a bucket of chum, It will blithe your spirit and cure your ill, once you have bellied up and drunk your fill! -Boyd Rinksworld The punch in…
The Cuba Libre With a Twist
If you search the web for cocktail creation videos you will find an endless list. Most of these are terrible. Some of them are so bad that they are hilarious. I really like watching these cocktail videos when learning how to make drinks. Unfortunatly many of them can be a…
Coffee-Bourbon
My friend asked me the other day about coffee-bourbon. I didn’t really know what to tell him other than recommending some bourbons. At the BDW Global laboratory (my kitchen) we typically use Rebel Yell Bourbon for glazes and for cooking. Rebel Yell is a quality wheated bourbon that is…
Ricky has a Month?
Apparently somebody in Washington DC named the month of July ‘Rickey month’ in the district. As it seems to be getting hotter here every day and I am sure that in DC where it is starting to get very, very hot creating a Rickey month seems not only appropriate but delicious as well. I really like this great recipe…
Video of the week May 30 2012: Martini, by Jim Meehan
Jim Meehan can make me a Martini anytime. Here is the master at PDT making a Martini and spreading some knowledge. Another round of boozy videos! A Punch, a Thing of Beauty Be! World Gin Day, Video of the Week! “Thin Man Martini Montage – 1934″