Love teas...

Crappy Long Islands are really easy to get. All it takes is for your bartender to overpour one alcoholic ingredient and poof! You have a tall glass that's going to make you blind or on a good day, just plain undrinkable.

Let's make sure you don't do that.

Long Island Iced Tea
Long Islands come from Babylon in Long Island, New York in the late 70s and get thier name from that. This drink wasn't invented to scare you nor put you into an alcoholic coma. No sir, this drink, when done properly will keep you comin' back for more. The thing is, if you get the LIIT base down pat, the other drinks that follow are easy peasy..
Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the following ingredients inside the glass:
1/2oz Vodka
1/2oz Gin
1/2oz Rum
1/2oz Tequila
1/2oz Triple Sec
fill with Sweet & Sour mix
Top off with 1/2 - 1oz of Cola

Shake 1-2 times and add a Lemon Wedge for garnish.

So, with the Long Island as a base...let's play:

Electric Lemonade
Use the Long Island as the base, but don't add Cola...add a splash of Limon Lime soda and you have a variation on the Electric Lemonade.

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the following ingredients inside the glass:
1/2oz Vodka
1/2oz Gin
1/2oz Rum
1/2oz Tequila
1/2oz Triple Sec
fill with Sweet & Sour mix
Top off with 1/2 - 1oz of Lemon Lime Soda
Shake 1-2 times and add a Lemon Wedge for garnish.

Electric Lemonade aka Adios Mother F'er
For this attention-getter use the Long Island base but pull out the Triple Sec and Cola and replace it with 1/2oz of Blue Curacao (pronounced: CURE-a-sow). You'll stand out of any crowd drinking something as exotic and unnatural looking as a glowing blue drink.

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the following ingredients inside the glass:
1/2oz Vodka
1/2oz Gin
1/2oz Rum
1/2oz Tequila
1/2oz Blue Curacao
fill with Sweet & Sour mix
Top off with 1/2 - 1oz of Lemon Lime Soda
Shake 1-2 times and add a Lemon Wedge for garnish.

Long Beach Iced Tea
Same as LIIT, but pull out the Sweet & Sour and Cola; then replace it with Cranberry Juice and Lemon Lime soda.

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the following ingredients inside the glass:
1/2oz Vodka
1/2oz Gin
1/2oz Rum
1/2oz Tequila
1/2oz Triple Sec
Splash with Cranberry Juice
Top off with 1/2 - 1oz of Lemon Lime Soda
Shake 1-2 times and add a Lemon Wedge for garnish.

Until next time. Stay cool and don't be a jackass.
--Cabana Dan

Bloody Mary, oh yeah...I did it...

Wow, long night, huh? Need a little lovin' early in the morning? Lemme lay it on you. This is alcoholic tomato soup. See Bloody Marys are like burgers...there are all kinds out there and every place you go to makes them just a little different.
The name is once said to come from Queen Mary I (of England, not the ship) It was then thought that the name was attributed to Film Starlett Mary Pickford. Honestly, who bloody cares...here's the drink.

I'll give you my mix on it, you can add or take away as you please. You will need a mixing glass and tin or a shaker kit.

Bloody Mary
Place ice in the tall glass you'll be using, I like using a pint or mixing glass.

Now add the following ingredients:
1oz premium vodka
a dash of salt
a dash of pepper*
a dash of celery salt
a splash of Tabasco Sauce*
a splash of Cholula Sauce*
a splash of A-1 steak sauce
a dash of Worcestershire Sauce
a squeeze of fresh lime

*add more if you want this baby to bite back...

Place your mixing tin atop and flip the mixing glass so that the tin and glass look like this:

or dump everything into the shaker kit and shake about 4-6 times. Shake it like you're pissed off. Pour your remedy back into your glass and add a lime wedge and a celery stalk for garnish.

Some add horseradish, hell I knew a guy who would add shrimp, chicken and even bacon and cheese to his. If you could place it on a steak, you can put it in your Bloody Mary. Add olive brine and green olives, you've got a Dirty Bloody Mary. Add Clam juice or make it with Clamato and you have a Bloody Caesar.

As an added bonus, if you like Tequila or you didn't learn your lesson the night before...replace the Vodka with Tequila for a Bloody Maria.

An old buddy of mine just recommended a teaspoon of truffle oil for a fancy flair...but at $60 an ounce, you'd better be makin' me dinner, lunch or if you play your cards right...breakfast.

Well, that's all for this week, I'll put some additional drinks up as we progress. So remember somewhere right now there's someone who needs a drink.

See ya and be cool to each other!

--Cabana Dan

Random: Typewriter

-The first novel written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain.

-Tom Sawyer was a song by the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.

-Niagra Falls is in Canada. The fine for being a daredeviling barrel riding over the Falls is either $5,000 or 6 moths in jail or both..or death if your barrel sucks.

-You know what sucks? You're having an amazing day. The sun is out and frickin' bluebirds are on your shoulder. You find a ten spot and no one claims it. A passing car is playing your favorite song. An ice cream vendor gives you a free cone and as you're eating it..the unthinkable happens A bus filled with hot international strippers breaks down, you help change the tire and then you have to help rub suntan lotion on all of them. Things couldn't be better. Then your annoying depressed, universally downer friend shows up and brings a bloody thunderstorm of gloom and plain ol' bad luck. This dude doesn't have life issues...the bastard has a freakin' subscription.
You try to explain that life is what they make of it and that good makes good. Then they say, "yeah, well...blah blah..global economy..blah blah..kids in those pennies a day commercials...blah blah..locusts and the black death.." Pisses me off...that sucks.

Can I top you off or get you something else?

Typical bar conversation...

Week 1 - French Martini

I thought I'd start us out with a delicious variation on the martini. The French Martini is not only tasty, but it is really an attention getter in the bar. The drink comes from Chambord.

Chambord has been around since 1685 and is made with a cognac base with black raspberry, honey and vanilla. The bottle is shaped like a globus cruciger (The holy ball with the cross on it or the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch) because of a Louis XIV link.

Anyway, if you dig raspberries and fruity stuff...you'll turn your granny into the cops for smoking weed for her "glaucoma" for a sip of it.

Here's what you'll need:
1 Chilled Martini glass
1 Shaker kit
1 1/2oz Premium Vodka
3/4oz Chambord
splash of pineapple juice

Throw all of the ingredients into the shaker with ice and shake about 3-4 times to get it mixed and frothy. Strain the drink into your chilled glass and serve with a smile, because you just brought a little heaven down to Earth.

See you next time!
--Cabana Dan