An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

Okay, it’s been a week – I know.? We met up with the one and only Kaiser Penguin last Friday and headed out to the Repeal Day Ball.? Washingtonian has some coverage of it over here, and we got to run into a lot of people that we know and got to meet all kinds of new people as well, including LeNell Smothers, Tony Abou-Ganim and Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

(I tried to think up something witty to say there but alas, it was not to be.? What I will say is that I made his eggnog recipe the other day and it was damn delicious.? Of course, I also saw his coverage of Repeal Day and man, I need to learn how to pose for the camera like he’s learned so well to do…)

But enough about that.? If you missed it, you missed out, ha ha!? It was quite possibly the most fun party I’ve ever had in DC.

Back on topic.? Earlier this week I was logging in to work where my browser, be default, goes to www.msn.com for whatever reason (possible reasons: I’m too lazy to change it, it is IE after all, PopCap.com would be too obvious).? There they had a link to “95 Chic Cocktail Recipes for the Holidays”.? Me being me, I felt compelled, after viewing a few of them, to go through and comment on EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM just for you, our loyal readers.

And because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll put it after the cut.

1.? So Rick from Kaiser Penguin showed up in town this weekend.? He and his friend Char joined us at Bourbon Friday night, and then we met him and Matt from A Jigger of Blog over at The Gibson.? Good times were had by all and once again we had the pleasure of having Tiff as our bartender there.

As I’ve mentioned before – you’ve got to give The Gibson a shot if you haven’t yet.

We tried to go to Bar Pilar afterwards but it was just packed; we got to speak with Adam briefly but then hailed a cab and headed back to Virginia for pizza and relaxation.

One of my favorite moments of the weekend came Friday night, however.? Owen was showing off some really cool liquors and cocktails all night, but at one point Chris (and I’ll explain about this in about a week or so) had Marshall and I buy a drink.? He got his favorite, the cocktail a la louisiane, and I got a Sazerac.? Chris had never had a Sazerac so he tried one and absolutely loved it.? It’s always great to see someone try a new drink and see their eyes light up like that!

2.? Repeal Day is up to $90 for a ticket and coming up soon – December 5th.? Hope to see y’all there, I’m really excited about it.

3.? Phil Greene asked us to post an announcement about the Holiday Cocktails seminar at Bourbon on December 9th.? It is presented by the Museum of the American Cocktail and will feature the dynamic trio of Derek Brown (The Gibson), Justin Guthrie (Central Michel Richard), and Owen Thompson (Bourbon) as well as Phil Greene.? $35 in advance, $40 at the door, and that includes light appetizers and sample sizes of the cocktails.? I know Marshall will be there!

You can register here.

4.? TDN – sponsored by Leblon Cachaca – was a heck of a time!? There were a lot of good drinks made and while we wait for the recap (AHEM) I thought I’d share one of the drinks I came up with that people seemed to like.

The Braziliagroni
1 ounce Leblon cachaca
1 ounce Carpano Antica
1 ounce Aperol
2 dashes Fee’s Rhubarb Bitters
Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I have to admit that I wasn’t a big cachaca fan before Thursday night but I’ve definitely learned to enjoy some of the complexities of the spirit.? Check out the TDN round up when it’s posted and look also for my Brazilian Frog – it’s an orange flavored drink that needs a bit of tweaking but I think turned out pretty well also.

5.? A friend invited my brother and I over to watch football yesterday and asked that I bring some “tasty drinks”.? I pieced something together and made it which ended up being a big hit.? It was fairly improvised, but the basic recipe is here and we’ll be making both cold and hot versions of this for our Christmas party (we only made cold ones yesterday).

Apple Cider Heaven
2 ounces applejack
1 ounce Jameson’s
1/2 ounce St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
2 dashes Fee’s aromatic bitters
4 ounces apple cider
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.? Alternatively, build over ice in a collins or pint glass using 50% more of each ingredient and stir, then serve.

That’s about enough for now, I think.? This week is Thanksgiving so everybody think of what you want to give thanks for and have a good time with your friends and family!? Remember: don’t drink and drive.? Which means – don’t drive.

…and I just can’t hide it…

Sorry.? I’ll try to distract y’all away from the horrors of my singing.

Tonight is Thursday Drink Night (TDN) at the Mixoloseum – and for the first time, it’s sponsored, this time by Leblon cachaca.? I’m very excited about some stuff with that!

I’ve not experimented a lot with cachaca but I’ve got some real ideas in store.? And speaking of “in store”, I still need to go to the store.? I also need to get a haircut, but that’s for something special that we’ll tell you about soon enough.

It’s also almost the weekend.? We’ve got trips to Bourbon and The Gibson planned, so obviously, that should be a lot of fun.? If you see us out, say hi!? Then it’s Thanksgiving, and I’m thinking of something to take home with me, and then there’s Repeal Day…not to mention my brother and his fiancee’ want me to come up with cocktails just for them for their wedding…

I’ll be putting up some of the drink ideas we come up with using cachaca after TDN.? Not necessarily tomorrow, that’ll be dependent on hangover, I guess…

1.? I failed to do a Mixology Monday post this month for the first time in ages.? My apologies to Pegu Doug, who had a good idea – but after spending the entire weekend basically wiped out, it just couldn’t happen.

Sorry.

2.? Congratulations to mbrownerhamlin, who won the TDN from about two weeks ago (Irish whiskey) for his Knacker’s Conference.? If you see this before I get ahold of you, shoot me an e-mail with your address and your choice of prize.

3.? REPEAL DAY!? December 5th is the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition.? There’s going to be a bunch of super awesome bartenders there, plus cool folks Tony Abou-Ganim and Jeffrey Morgenthaler and others, and tickets are $80 before November 20th, and $90 after.? You can get them via the DC Craft Bartender’s Guild or RepealDay.org.