Month: October 2008

  • Halloween Hack #3: Color

    The final hackable component of a special occasion cocktail is its color.  This hack is what I’ve spent the majority of the week experimenting with.  I started simply enough by making a black Margarita.  The food coloring I used is seriously powerful mojo, but it doesn’t dissolve well in the shaker while you’re shaking with…

  • Halloween Hack #2: Garnishes

    I’m of the opinion that garnishes by no means “make” a drink.  A good drink can always stand on its own, but in that same breath garnishes can raise a good drink to greatness.  Garnishing improves a cocktail’s visual appeal and, as we all know, we eat (and drink) with our eyes first.  I think…

  • Halloween Hack #1: Themed Cocktails

    From my research I’ve decided there are basically three families of cocktail hacks that can be applied to nearly any holiday or event.  The first, which I’ll be discussing in this post, is cocktails named or based on a theme.  The second is cocktail garnishes that highlight the holiday or event.  The third is changing…

  • Halloween Cocktails!

    Ok, now that you’re thoroughly startled its time for a drink.  But as this week is Halloween week no ordinary drink will do.  I’ll be covering Halloween specific cocktails this week and should have some good tips for you for your Friday Halloween parties.

  • The Brown Derby Cocktail – A Week of Meh

    I chose the Brown Derby Cocktail for this week as a semi-tribute to the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs.  Once I started doing a bit of research on the drink I realized that this was an epic fail on my part.  The Brown Derby was the signature cocktail of the Vendome Club in Los Angeles,…