Happy New Year…

 

 

Twilight Lounge – December 31, 2011 / January 1, 2012

Oh boy…another New Year’s Eve party at the Twilight Lounge is in the books, and it was …. fun!

Ok, so I’ll get to the Burning Santa in a bit.  In the past I’ve always had a signature cocktail that I mix up for the party.  This year I didn’t and we instead made it BYOB.  So I cleared out room in the fridge, had the Lounge all spiffed up and the playlist ready to go on the quadrophonic (with the concert hall effect setting on the Yamaha – try it at home, you’ll dig it the most). 

As usual, my music started in the mellower, lounge and jazzy side with selections from Vince Guarldi, Sade, Tom Jones, Air and Nouvelle Vague giving way to Amy Winehouse, the Rolling Stones, Social Distortion and then finally, as the party got cranked up (and our guests liquored up) dance music with heavy doses of 70’s disco (anyone for It’s Raining Men and the Bee Gees) along with Motown and R&B (Gap Band anyone?).

 

                                                Calm Before the Storm

Things stayed pretty mellow until midnight.  Of course (and against my will), we turned on ABC at 5 til midnight to watch that stupid ball drop on tape delay.  A champagne toast and plenty of kissing and hugging ensued.  That always seems to get the New Year’s Eve party into gear.  The dance music and booze kicked in.  The shots we were doing probably helped as well.  The first was a moonshine shot (imported from North Carolina) with moonshine marinated cherry in the bottom.  Poor Andy thought the cherry was going to be nice and sweet and offset the moonshine – little did he know!  The second speciality shot of the night was Cuervo silver with a very hot (and homemade) pickled jalapeno ring in the bottom.  That baby was fiery!

After downing a few of these specials it was time for Burning Santa.  A New Year’s Eve tradition at the Twilight Lounge (see picture above) we burn a little more of Santa each year!  Don’t ask me why – we just do it!  From there the fez came out (you know its a party when the fez comes out!) and it was game on.

Happy New Year – enjoy peace, prosperity and cocktails!

Bad Santa!

Day 223, Cocktail 221

This is the post wherein I attempt to make our friend Andrea very sad for having left beautiful Milwaukee for Boston…

Saturday night was our annual NID Holiday cocktail party.  Definately another occasion to come up with an orginal Christmas cocktail — and one that I could make up by the pitcher full!  Now, the first time I did this several years ago Andrea got wrecked on my creation, causing us to change the name from the Sleigh Ride to the Sleigh Wreck.  Even though she swore off of them, I’m pretty sure they were the cause of her dancing on the bar at our annual holiday party that year.  Andrea, if you’re reading this, set me straight if I’ve missed anything.

Anyway, back to Saturday night.  I tinkered around for a bit and came up with this.

  Bad Santa

• 1-1/2 oz vodka
• 1 oz pomegranate juice
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• 1/2 bar spoon peppermint schnapps

Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake to mix and chill.  Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a mint leaf or green striped candy cane. 

Both Gwen and I, as well as several of our friends enjoyed this one.  The pomegranate juice keeps it fruity without being sweet and the peppermint schnapps give it just a whiff of mint flavor.  Definately a crowd pleaser for those holiday parties!

Now, if you do want to mix it up by the pitcher full, just work the scale up.  I used 3 cups vodka, 2 cups pomegranate juice, 1 cup triple sec and just 1 oz of peppermint schnapps.  I also added about 3/4 cup of ice to the pitcher and let it melt in.  This is really important to remember when mixing large batches.  When you mix a cocktail one at a time, you’re getting about 20% water into the drink from the ice melting.  Thus, adding ice or water to your large batch mixes still gives you the proportion.  Otherwise, you risk having your guests dancing on top of your bar by 10pm instead of 1am!

Cheers!