Lesson 4: Recipes & More
Infamous, Non-Alcoholic & A Little Caution
Infamous:
I’ve added these because they’re famous for being especially potent – you have been warned:
Boilermaker: This drink was invented in Pittsburgh, where the name was invented. The bartender charged for the whiskey and gave the beer away free.
1 ounce Whiskey
4 ounces beer
Pour the whiskey into a shot glass and the beer into a cold glass. Drink the whiskey in one gulp and sip the beer to finish. Alternatively, pour the whiskey directly into the beer.
Long Island Iced Tea:
1 ounce Vodka
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce tequila
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
4 ounces cola
1 lemon wedge
Half-fill a shaker with ice cubes. Add the vodka, gin, rum, tequila, lemon juice, and sugar. Shake and strain into a glass almost filled with ice cubes. Add the cola and stir well. Garnish with a lemon
Scorpion - The traditional garnish is a gardenia:
1 ounce light Rum
½ ounce orgeat syrup or Crème De Nouyax
1 ounce Brandy
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce White Wine
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce dark rum
Put ½ cup of ice in a blender. Add the remaining ingredients except the dark rum and blend until smooth. Float the dark rum on top.
Sloe Gin Fizz:
Fizzes are classic drinks, not necessarily notorious. But I will always consider sloe gin fizzes to be notorious as this was the drink that fraternity members in my college used to eliminate inhibitions on the part of their inexperienced dates. The sweetness of the sloe gin hid its potency:
2 ½ ounces Sloe Gin
1 ounce lemon juice
½ teaspoon superfine sugar
4 ounces club soda
Half-fill a shaker with ice cubes, and add the sloe gin, lemon juice and sugar. Shake and strain into a Collins glass almost filled with ice cubes. Add the club soda and stir.
Tequila Shooters: "Shooter" is a generic term for any drink meant to be drunk in one gulp; it is served in a shot glass.
1 ounce tequila
Coarse salt
1 lime wedge
Pour the tequila into a shot glass. Make a fist with your left hand. Lick the part of your hand between the base of the thumb and the forefinger. Sprinkle salt on the wet skin. Then lick the salt and, using your right hand, quickly drink the shot. Then bite and suck the lime wedge.
Brown Bombshell, an example of a "Pousse Cafe": This is both a shooter, but also a Pousse Cafe, i.e. a glass filled with liqueurs arranged in layers. Various liquors are poured on top of each other, gently, so as not to mix them. The heaviest liquors go on the bottom.
1/2 ounce Coffee liqueur (like Kahlua)
1/2 ounce Irish Cream
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
In a shot glass, layer the ingredients carefully, starting with the top liquor.
Non-alcoholic Recipes:
It should be obvious, but it bears reminding, that no one should be pressured to drink alcohol. There are any number of excellent reasons why someone may refuse a drink – taste, pregnancy, illness, alcoholic past, allergy, etc. So a good host will always have non-alcoholic alternatives available.
Many of the drinks described above are excellent without the liquor – the Bloody Mary is a good example. But a good host will want to show the non alcohol drinker the same courtesy of making great tasting drinks as the alcoholic drinker.
Most of the web sites cited here have non-alcoholic drinks, take a look at Drinks Mixer for over 200 recipes. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Shirley Temple: This was my positive favorite growing up:
1 ounce lime juice (optional)
1 ounce grenadine
6 ounces ginger ale
maraschino cherry
In a collins glass, combine all the ingredients over ice and stir well.
Cranberry Cooler:
4 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces grape juice
2 ounces lemon-lime soda or ginger ale
lime wedges
Fill a collins glass with ice cubes. Add the juices and stir well. Garnish with lime wedges.
Nada Colada:
1 ounce cream of coconut
2 ounces pineapple juice
1 cup ice
Put the ice into a blender with the other ingredients. Blend well.
Virgin Bellini:
3 ounces peach nectar
1 teaspoon grenadine
1 ounce lemon juice
4 ounces chilled club soda
Pour the peach nectar, grenadine, and lemon juice into a champagne flute. Add the club soda and stir.
Lemonade: Homemade lemonade is truly a treat – try it with club soda:
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 ounces water or club soda
1 lemon wedge
In a Collins glass, dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add the water or club soda. Garnish with lemon wedge.
Limeade Variation: Replace the lemon juice with lime juice and reduce the water to 5 ounces
Mock Champagne (from Mixed-Drink which has a number of non-alcoholic drinks, including this and the next one):
2/3 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Water
1/2 cup Orange juice
1 cup Grapefruit juice
28 ounces Ginger ale -- chilled
3 tablespoons Grenadine syrup
Combine sugar and water in saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Cool. Add sugar syrup to grapefruit and orange juices. Chill thoroughly. Add grenadine and ginger ale just before serving.
Georgia Peach Cooler:
1 peach
1 cup milk -- chilled
1 tablespoon honey
½ banana
Use a food processor or blender for this recipe. Fit steel blade in processor work bowl. Combine all ingredients and process only 8-10 seconds. For blender preparation, cut peach into 3-4 pieces, add other ingredients and whirl until smooth. Serve immediately in tall glass.
A Little Caution:
Most people are very aware of the risks of drunk driving, at least before they've started to drink. However, it can be difficult to stop someone who is intoxicated from driving, especially if they become belligerent. Here are a few tips about what to do if you observe someone (or worse, serve someone) who you feel may not be a safe driver.
It’s hard to guess whether a person is too intoxicated to drive just based on the number of drinks he consumed - effects vary among individuals because of such factors as age, sex, body weight, and metabolism. Effects may also differ for the same person at different times. So if you have any doubts, take precautions.
Remember also, that there is a significant legal risk to anyone who serves liquor to someone who is subsequently convicted for drink driving or to a minor.
Here’s some practical advice:
- If you’re having a party, seriously consider hiring a bartender. Not only will you be a lot more relaxed, but a professional can often handle a difficult situation more ably than a friend can.
- If you need to take the car keys away from someone, have a cab or alternative driver ready. Sometimes, if you can get someone to act equally drunk, the real “drunk” will give up his car keys more easily (a technique supposedly used by New York’s 21 Club).
- If you know in advance your friends are likely to imbibe, arrange for a car to both pick them up and drive them home. Not cheap, but could be well worth it.
- If you’re getting concerned about a guest:
- Slow down or stop serving them alcohol.
- Mix lighter or serve low-alcohol drinks.
- Offer alcohol-free drinks; you may not even need to tell them it’s alcohol-free.
- Offer food.
- Talk to their friend/partner - anyone who may have an influence on them.
