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Blood Alley: Drinking in Gastown
I had the pleasure of meeting with Anthony Nicolo from Farmstead Wines last week, at Salt Tasting Room. Not only did we share some good food and some fantastic wines, we had a long, effortless conversation about one of our favourite topics – wine.
But it’s the not the wine that got me thinking today… more, it was Blood Alley in Vancouver, where Salt is. There’s a history to Blood Alley that many don’t know, speculate about and spread erroneous thoughts… More »
The 12 Drinks of Christmas
Those who know me well, and who have known me for the past few years, know that this is not my “happiest time of the year” (for me, that’s summertime…. give me heat, give me sunshine!!)….*cough* sorry…. I got distracted. Right, where was I?
Oh yes… Christmas. Winter. Snow. Bleh. So, for me, staying warm, inside, with a good drink makes me happy. So, my 12 Drinks of Christmas (the 12 days being the ones that begin on Christmas night and… More »
Review: Macallan 12 Year
I’ve mentioned before that I’m just not a scotch drinker, but thankfully for me, I have several friends who really enjoy their scotch, and my dear friend Dave, in Nashville, is a huge fan. When I received the bottle of Macallan 12 Year old Scotch, I happened to be in Nashville, and offered it to Dave to try.
Dave and I had a good chat about the Scotch, and I remembered that Dave used to live in Ireland and Scotland. “Scotch… More »
Review: Agavero Tequila Liqueur
When I first heard about Agavero, several thoughts went through my head, the first of which being “sure, I’ll try anything once!” and then, the second, being…. “hold on…. blended tequila? Blended with …. what?”
When I got it home, it took me a few days to crack it, and, as I do with all of the reviews I do, I tasted it neat first. I was shocked at how good this is!! Holy!! I didn’t bother to mix this with… More »
Halloween Drinks
Halloween is now about a week away. I still don’t have a costume, but I know exactly what I’ll be serving to friends on Friday night. This is the first of the Drinks After Dark Halloween Recipes – there will definitely be more!
Vampire Juice
In a tall glass with ice mix:
2 oz Finlandia Lime Vodka
4 oz tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon fresh horseradish
Splash of steak sauce (any brand)
Splash of hot sauce
Garnish with eye ball radish
To make ice “eyeballs”. Peel radishes, leaving thin streaks… More »
Kona Brewing announces Pipeline Porter
We spent a week in Honolulu last December, and I totally fell in love with the North Shore and surfing. My favourite beer while in Hawaii was Kona’s Longboard Lager, so it’s no surprise to me that they’ve combined two of my favourite flavours – coffee and beer.
Their new Limited Release Pipeline Porter ($9/6-pack – available from September through March) is made from a blend of premium malted barley and freshly roasted 100% Kona coffee. The end result is a… More »
Cocktails for a Cause
Today is Blog Action Day, where more than 12,000 bloggers around the world band together for one cause, and this year, blog action day is shining a spotlight on poverty.
While alcoholism affects many who live in poverty, there are equally as many of us who can not only have a drink or two and stop, but who can also afford it. And if you can afford it, it’s time to start giving back.
I’d like to give everyone who reads Drinks… More »
$6,200 Cocktail
Yes, you read that right.
There’s a new casino recently opened in Uncasville, CT, and to commemorate it, they’ve teamed up with, who else but Tiffany & Co. to offer a new cocktail called Windfall.
The drink itself sounds innocuous enough, even though it’s a pour worth $550. A mixture of Krug Grand Cuvee Brut Champagne, Richard Hennessy Cognac, Grand Marnier Cuvee du Cent Cinquantenaire 150, Chamboard Raspberry Liquour, and pomegranate juice. Sounds a little over the top, but ok so far.
The… More »
Old Wive’s Tale: A Hot Toddy will cure a cold
I’m fighting a nasty cold at the moment, and as soon as people hear me speak, they figure it out pretty quickly and then tell me to go curl up and create myself one of many Old Wive’s Tales to cure the common cold.
So, what are these ‘cures’? They mostly centre around the Hot Toddy. There’s tons of different ways you can make a Hot Toddy, from everything to Whiskey, Rum or Gin. The prevailing theory is that a… More »
October Cocktail
It’s October first (how did that happen already??) and that means it’s time for another exclusive cocktail from Drinks After Dark’s official Cocktail Guru, Steve Kemble.
This month, Steve’s evoking a little bit of a Halloween bonfire type vibe and brings us a “Campfire Martini”. It’s pretty easy, and something the grown ups can have while kids snack on s’mores.
To make:
1 oz 10 Cane Rum
1 oz Godiva Dark Liqueur
1 oz Bailey’s
2 dashes Vanilla extract
Crushed Graham Crackers
Melted Chocolate
Bacardi 151 Rum soaked… More »
Simply D’vine
G’vine Gin really is simply d’vine.
Made in Cognac, France, using the green grape flower, which only blooms for two weeks in June. This is an ultra-premium gin, bridging the gap between traditional dry gin and a flavoured vodka, by softening the flavour of traditional gin because of the grape flower.
There’s touches, or notes, of nine different botanicals – ginger root, liquorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, juniper, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime. All that makes it just… yummy.
“I love the… More »
Red Bull gives you…. heart damage?
Oy. Based on this study, I will never, ever drink a Red Bull and Vodka ever again. Researchers in Australia have found that just one sugar free can of Red Bull raised the level of stickiness of the blood and could lead to the formation of blood clots. But according to Dr. Scott Willoughby, of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Adelaide University, the results of… More »
Baja Fogs: They’re very…effective.
These are probably one of the tastiest, most dangerous drinks in the world. Introduced to me by fellow b5media’er, Tris Hussey, (he learned it from a friend named Linzy), I’ve now taught two different bars this drink.
People shudder when I describe it to them, imagining something that’s just too over the top, and yet, once they have it, they realize exactly how good these really are.
We were at the Kingston Hotel (the scene of the crime from the night of… More »
Are you a spilly drinker?
I am. I can admit it. I am a spilly drinker. I don’t ever MEAN to be, but…. well, I am. I usually never mind it, but my friends are usually annoyed.
I may have found a perfect thing to counter my spilly drinker-ness.
The Cubist Cocktail Set. After all, martini glasses and even some wine glasses tend to be rather… complicated. They’ve got such narrow stems! They’re delicate! They are mortal enemies of the spilly drinker.
Fill the bottom with ice, and… More »
How well do you know what you’re swirling and sipping?
Ever been to a restaurant, perused the wine list and saw nary a bottle that seemed appropriate? And by appropriate, I mean of course:
Something you know/have tried previously.
Something you’ve read about and have been dying to taste.
Something that has a provocatively catchy name (probably involving animals or fine arts terminology) that sounds promising.
Something that is just expensive enough for you to reasonably assume that it won’t taste like dirty dishwater.
Well, now you have one more thing to worry about… More »