Category Archives: Cocktail Recipe

WVV #14: B-A-B-Y Baby

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Two weeks ago we hit the theater to check out Baby Driver and I didn’t quite know what to expect. In fact, for being a bit of a movie buff, I hadn’t even heard of it until the hubby brought it up. I’ll tell you one thing, I had no clue how impressive this soundtrack would be and I ordered it on vinyl that same day. (What really did it for me, is one of my favorite Beck songs planted perfectly a short way into the film – Debra.) Now I’ll go ahead and tell you another thing – I didn’t fully appreciate how connected every note from every song was to each detail of the movie until we went back to see it a second time the very next weekend.

There are a number of excellent reviews and write ups about the film and the music behind it by writers that are far better versed than I could ever be, so I’ve listed a handful for you below. I recommend that you see the movie once, listen to the full album, read one or two of these reviews, and then go back and see it again – in that order.

If you read just one of these, don’t miss this article over at Den of Geek (stolen from a friend’s FB page):
Edgar Wright’s Musical Inspiration for the Baby Driver Soundtrack

Variety – A getaway driver who steers to the beat of his own playlist.

The Telegraph – An infectious car chase thriller.

Rolling Stone – The car chase musical you need.

Twice the movie called for twice the cocktails – I hope you enjoy his inspiration below!

-Her

Well, Baby Driver is – without doubt – a smash hit of this summer.

When I think of cocktails and summer in the South, I inevitably think of the venerable bourbon and Coke. The fact that this movie is set in Atlanta, GA, makes choosing that drink even more of a no-brainer. If you and I had a nickel for every bourbon and Coke that had been consumed in the South, we’d have more money than Baby has stashed beneath the floorboards of his apartment.

Add in the fact that I’ve been itching to give this fancied-up version I found in Garden & Gun a try. What other choice did we have than to make both versions of the drink to pair with this amazing soundtrack?

The Classic

Bourbon and Coke

Ingredients:

3 oz of bourbon (I like to use a slightly lower ABV everyday sipper like Maker’s or Woodford)
6 oz of Coca-Cola
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Lemon slice for garnish

Preparation:

Using the glassware of your choice, add ice, bourbon and bitters. Then top with Coke. I like to add the bitters an lemon garnish to pump the aromatics up a little bit and bring a bit of interest to this old stand-by.

The Newcomer

Bourbon and Coke – From Garden and Gun magazine

Ingredients:

For the Coke syrup:

¼ cup of Coca-Cola
¼ cup of sugar

For the Cocktail:

3 oz of bourbon (we used Michter’s)
½ oz of Coke syrup

Preparation:

Coke syrup –

Bring the Coke to simmer in a very small saucepan. Add in the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Cocktail –

Combine bourbon, syrup and bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I encourage you to give both versions a try and let us know which you prefer!

-Him

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Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #13 – Summertime

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While mixing up a surprise cocktail in the kitchen last night, Trent asked me to pick out an album that made me feel like summer. When considering that we were kicking off a long holiday weekend with no real plans in sight, I didn’t hesitate at all when I pulled Bleachers – Strange Desire, from the shelf. Two summers ago, I came across this album like many people did, and I was completely blown away by the fun and upbeat 80s vibe of it. To quote Mat Smith over at Clash Music, “Jack Antonoff wanted to aim for the kind of emotionally stirring songs that would have appeared as the title track to a John Hughes movie” – and I’d say he did so perfectly.

This album was our entry into summer late last night, followed by the Terrible Thrills Vol. 2 album. In case you missed it on Record Store Day 2016, Terrible Thrills is the Bleachers – Strange Desire album covered entirely by some pretty incredible women including Sia, Charlie XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen and 80s fireball Susanna Hoffs. Besides the music opening the door to summer, Trent’s cocktail definitely topped off the summer holiday fervor. I am strongly considering setting all of this on repeat for the next three days.

-Her

 

Every year when the weather starts to warm, people naturally tend to want to stray away from whiskey cocktails for lighter base spirits.

Hopefully this recipe will help shed you of that notion and prove to friends and family that whiskey can be a summer drink, too. Cheers!

Elderflower Old Fashioned

2.5 oz of Bourbon
0.5 oz of elderflower liqueur (St. Germain is what we used)
2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 lemon twist for garnish

Directions:

Add all liquid ingredients to a cocktail pitcher filled with ice. Stir well. Strain into a rocks glass with ice and garnish with the lemon twist. Enjoy!

-Him

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Brandied Cherries

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Cherry Glass

This was my first foray into homemade brandied cherries, and they turned out pretty damned well, if I do say so myself.

The recipe was pretty simple, you should really give it a go yourself. These cherries taste 100 times better than those Day-Glo red monstrosities you see on the supermarket shelves. As an added bonus, you can tweak this recipe to your liking, as we did.

The depth of cinnamon and vanilla notes with these little beauties brings a fullness of flavor to your cocktails that is tough to match. See for yourself!

Brandied cherries:

1lb sweet cherries, pitted and stemmed
1 cup Demerara sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp of fresh grated nutmes
2 vanilla beans
750ml of brandy, dark rum, Luxardo, or any combination of the three (I did equal parts of each)

Cherry Cook

  1. In large saucepan, combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla beans and liquor. Bring to a low simmer. Simmer, stirring until sugar is fully dissolved.
  2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add cherries and stir until coated with syrup. Let cool to room temp, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove to clean canning jars, then refrigerate 4-6 weeks before serving. Cherries should last for up to a year.

Cherry Jar

Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #11 – All Things Seattle

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PJ 4

I can still clearly remember the first time I listened to the Pearl Jam “Ten” album – it was sitting in the stands at a Freshman basketball game, waiting to play the Junior Varsity game afterward (in my high school Freshman and JV teams played on the same nights, one right after the other). It was my friend Greg’s cassette tape, but he let me borrow it. So, I slapped it into my Walkman cranked the volume up a bit and pushed play.

That was my introduction to “grunge” or “90s alternative” and I was immediately smitten. I listened to the album front to back and back to front that night – in fact, I don’t think Greg got his cassette back for another couple of days as I devoured the unique vocals of Eddie Vedder mixed with the fuzzy guitar riffs, the dark lyrics sad, angry and full of mistrust – perfect for a teenage boy clumsily finding his way. It was unlike anything I had really ever heard before. I couldn’t get enough.

PJ 2

Pearl Jam was my gateway to Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and to many more obscure bands like 7 Mary 3 or Dinosaur Jr. or The Crash Test Dummies (I still love Afternoons and Coffeespoons). I owe Eddie, Stone, Jeff and Dave an immense debt for that.

So, then, “Ten” will always hold a special place in my heart. Like a first love, you can never forget it and it forever changes you on a personal level.

Since Pearl Jam, and the grunge scene in general, is associated the most strongly with Seattle – I figured a coffee themed cocktail was appropriate. I just happened to have a recipe for one – The Revolver – the recipe is below. I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to give your favorite 90s alternative album a spin while you sip.

PJ 1

The Revolver:
1.5 oz of bourbon
0.5 oz of coffee liqueur
2-3 dashes of orange bitters
orange twist for garnish

PJ 3

Here’s mud in your eye!

 

–Him

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Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #10

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There is no question that we’ve been pretty terrible lately about keeping this blog updated, and while we certainly haven’t been missing any vinyl or whiskey opportunities during our absence (see our Instagram account for evidence), we are determined to pick up the pace here. This brings me to our latest Whiskey Vinyl Vibe, which also happens to include an album from my vinyl quest.

Over the past week, we found ourselves up in Michigan for a family wedding and time well spent visiting friends and family. Right in the middle of our Sunday of brewery and cocktail hopping in Grand Rapids, we found ourselves parked across the street from Vertigo Music, and of course I had to go in. This place was massive and had a very impressive selection of used vinyl, not to mention the folks working there were incredibly friendly. The friends we were with got to see me in true geek-out form, and I had to try hard to contain myself and keep the visit short so as not to bore everyone. As difficult as this was, I still managed to pick up a few great finds, one of which is Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Crush.

OMD 10

Crush is the 1985 selection from my vinyl quest list, and while I could’ve picked it up at just about any online record store pretty easily, it’s far more satisfying to find it during crate digging, especially at a locally owned shop. So why is Crush on my life list? I will admit, this is one of those albums that is on my list because of one song, and in this case it is So In Love. I didn’t come across OMD until a few years after the 1985 release, but I remember very clearly the first time I heard this song. I was in a car with a few friends, a couple of which were a bit older and as such, way cooler than I was during the oh-so-awkward early teen years. The driver popped in this cassette and played So In Love no less than three times during the drive up to Chicago, where we spent the afternoon in Grant Park picnicking and listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform. It’s one of those memories that really sticks with me – that song, the beautiful, clear day, the excitement of being in the city without any parents, the sense of feeling like I belonged.

Placing this album on the turntable for the first time last night and immediately hearing So In Love on side one/track one was almost as exciting as finding the album in the first place. The nostalgia never gets old. A special thank you to my husband for mixing up a cocktail with a name that felt very fitting as a reminder to the perfect day that I spent so long ago.

-Her

Well, given that her first OMD experience revolved around a day trip to Grant Park, this seemed an appropriate cocktail selection. This is a really great summer bourbon cocktail, the thyme gives it a wonderfully soft herbal note and helps round the drink out a bit. I strongly suggest you give it a try one of these warm summer evenings, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Cheers!

Sunday in the Park:

Instructions – In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine 1.5 oz Lillet Blanc, 1.5 oz of bourbon (I suggest something 90 proof+, to stand up to the juice and Lillet), 1 oz of fresh lemon juice, a couple dashes of Angostura bitters, and .25 oz of simple syrup. Add a whole thyme sprig, shake hard, and double-strain (using a fine mesh strainer) into a tall glass with fresh ice. Top it off with 1.5 oz of soda water and garnish with a new thyme sprig.

OMD 4 Good

–Him