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

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