I've professed my love for a sidecar whenever we go out.  Well, Keith has recently started a love affair with an old fashioned because every now and then you want your whiskey to give you a sweet little kiss.

The old fashioned is believed to be one of the first known cocktails. As such, it follows a pretty simple and straight forward approach. Early recipes call for any dark spirit such as whiskey, rye or brandy. Today it is traditionally made with bourbon or rye. If you're looking for an even sweeter kiss, I recommend swapping out the rye for bourbon.

Remember a while back, when I introduced you to the bourbon highball. At the time, I explained how it's my drink of choice following a long day. It required little - bourbon and ginger ale. Two beverage selections that I always have on hand.

After seeing a couple of cocktail combinations  pop up that involved sage and pears, I started thinking that it might be time to tweak and improve a good ol' standby. What if we muddled a few sage leaves and added a new complex sweetness from pear nectar? Yeah, it'll make your tastebuds sing.

Sage & Pear Highball

3-4 fresh sage leaves, more if they're on the smaller side
2 oz pear nectar
4 oz. bourbon
ginger ale

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the sage leaves. Then add ice, the pear nectar and bourbon. Shake well. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top off with ginger ale. Garnish with a sage leave.

Cheers!

p.s. You could also substitute a quarter of a pear, sliced. If you do, muddle them with the sage and then follow the next steps.

Whenever I walk into a classy bar, I opt for a bourbon sidecar. The sidecar exudes timeless class in the form of a cocktail. Think of it as the little black dress of cocktails. I love this cocktail so much that Keith and I had a bourbon sidecar toast at our wedding instead of the traditional champagne.

Like any of the classic cocktails, the origins of a sidecar is a little murky. The most famous of the stories features an anonymous American army capital who liked to ride in a motorcycle sidecar invented it during the 1920s in Paris. Others will have you believe is was developed during WWI in London. And there's yet another story of it being developed in New Orleans. Depending on which story you follow, it is traditionally made with equal parts brandy or cognac, an orange liqueur and lemon juice.  Although, the portions have also been found to vary.

My version pays tribute to my favorite cocktail base - bourbon. I stick with the equal parts of bourbon, orange liqueur, and take advantage of meyer lemons which are in now easily available in the grocery store. I hope this becomes one of your go to classics.

Bourbon Sidecar
Makes one cocktail

2 oz. bourbon
2 oz. Cointreau (Or other orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec)
2 oz. Meyer lemon juice

Cut a wedge of lemon and rim your cocktail glass with superfine sugar. Allow the sugar rim to dry while you make your cocktail. In a shaker filled with ice, add your bourbon, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Cheers!

Simple Bourbon Chai

4 oz. chai tea concentrate (You can find Tazo concentrate at Whole Foods and Target.)
4 oz. milk (almond or milk works)
1 oz. bourbon (I went with my good friend, Maker's Mark.)

In a microwave safe mug, combine the concentrate and milk. Stir and heat until warm in the microwave. Carefully, remove from the microwave. The mug may be warm to the touch. Add the bourbon and stir. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg before serving.

Cheers!

Not sure why this is the case, but I only want an Old Fashioned during the cool winter months. The spicy rye with a hint of citrus just makes me think of the holidays. I know. I know. Most people think spiked egg nog. Wait, why are we talking holidays in the middle of June?

Let's focus on the beautiful weather we've been enjoying here in DC for the past couple of days. It's the kind of weather that requires a lighter cocktail for sitting on the back porch with. And I just can't get down with vodka or gin, so I present to you the Fizzy Old Fashioned or my summer old fashioned.

Some nights you come from home a day and all you want is  a comforting drink. For some may that may equal opening a bottle of wine and enjoying a glass or two. For Keith, it's find a glass and pour the bourbon of the night. For me, it's always been bourbon and ginger.

A few years ago, Keith and I threw a cocktail party. When researching various cocktail recipes we could print out for guests so they could make the their own drinks, I learned bourbon and ginger is known as a highball. Kind of like a rum and Coke is a cuba libre. I wonder if our favorite bartender would know what a highball is if I ordered one at our local bar.

Hello, Friday! Thankfully, this week has been rather kind to me. Work has been busy, but just the busy where the time moves quickly and I still get to slip out around 5:30 pm. The social calendar is quiet leaving me time to read and just spend a little quiet time with my awesome husband.  So let's toast a good week and welcome in the weekend, shall we?

Since returning from our weekend in Missouri, I've been planning to recreate the cocktail - the Sexy Thyme - I had at the Copper Run Distillery. It's well known that I like to mix a little bourbon with grapefruit juice, so it should come at no surprise that this one combined those two again with a little love from ginger infused simple syrup. This is the perfect cocktail to sip on the back porch as the warm weather starts to greet us.

I've taken a recent interest in learning the origins of cocktails...what makes them unique to a specific city, how the separate components came to be included and how they came to be known by a certain name. Today I bring you the Ward 8, a proper Boston cocktail. I won't bore you with the history. If you would like that I suggest you mosey over to Imbibe's article on that.

I selected this as the first cocktail of 2013 because it uses fresh citrus juices and it is citrus season. Bringing together the bursts of summer with the spiciness of a rye is a win. I agree with the Imbibe article in this is "light, lively and ridiculously easy to drink." I would have to say almost too easy to drink.

Do you ever subscribe to a magazine with the best of intentions, but only find it becomes a dust magnet on the coffee table?

Remember how Keith and I had big plans to get all healthy? Well, I think it's more like we're maintaining. For example, after returning home from the gym last night, I was planning a dinner of baked salmon, brown rice, and steamed broccoli. Instead, Keith cooked, i.e. he ordered pizza. Granted, it was really good pizza. And after that, why not just enjoy a cocktail too, right?

I present to you a perfect chilled seasonal cocktail...the Fall Sipper.

Fall Sipper

2 parts bourbon (I used Maker's 46.)
2 parts apple cider
2 parts ginger ale

1. Fill your glass with ice.

2. Add bourbon, apple cider, and ginger ale.

3. Give it a quick stir.

4. Garnish with an apple slice.

5. Enjoy!

Summer is about fresh produce and seafood, sticky heat, and cold cocktails. As summer winds down, Labor Day is  the last hurrah before bidding summer farewell. And last weekend, we made sure to throw some thick steaks on the grill and bid it a proper adieu. While sitting on the back porch supervising keeping Keith company as he did so, I sipped on a refreshing blend of vanilla infused bourbon with a hint of lime and a splash of soda. This is a crisp and cool beverage with a bit of a kick, if you're not careful. 

I don't know about you, but I never thought today was going to arrive. This week has been nonstop at the office and for every item I've crossed something off the to-do list, another one is there to quickly take its place.

Having never ending task lists at the office leave me all the more appreciative of the weekend. I'm hoping to spend some quality time with the latest book I've started and a little bourbon in hand. Perhaps, there will be another one of these guys in order.

While in Charlottesville last weekend, we had dinner at the Whiskey Jar. Occasionally, I'll enjoy my bourbon on the rocks. However, that's usually a sign of a really bad day. For the most part, I prefer it in a well made cocktail. And the Whiskey Jar had a Bourbon Sour that fit the bill. It was quite simple and like food when you have quality ingredients simple is the way to proceed.

This is inspired by their bourbon sour, although it doesn't quite compare to theirs.

When I found myself with a pint of blueberries and no desire to make muffins, I started thinking about alternatives. Even more importantly, those options needed to be simple. That's when I started wondering would I could infuse with blueberries. I considered vodka, but then I started to think about bourbon. And figured what the heck...blueberries good, bourbon good, so blueberries and bourbon great.

Let me tell you this plan was genius. It's not something I enjoy on it's own, but when I started playing with cocktail ideas I hit the jackpot. Meet the Blue Door.  There's a side story as to the name, which I'll get to  a bit later.

Blue Door Recipe

2 oz blueberry infused bourbon
2 dashes orange bitters
ginger ale

1. Pour the bourbon, bitters, and ginger ale in a glass over ice.

2. Garnish with orange peel.

3. Enjoy!

Blueberry Infused Bourbon

1.5 c. smashed blueberries (about a pint)
1.5 c. bourbon

1. Combine the blueberries and bourbon in a nonreactive container.

2. Shake everyday for five days.

3. On the fifth day, taste to see if it has enough blueberriness for you. I went with only five days.

4. Strain into storage bottle.  Out of direct sunlight, it should last about six months.

5. Enjoy!


Am I bit crazy for missing the door? Have you ever grown a bit attached to something about your home?