Tag Archives: Drink of the Week

Drink of the Week: Whiskey Sour

Posted on May 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

Tourism BC hosted a dinner at Model Milk last month for Calgary-area travel writers, the idea being to inspire us to visit our beautiful neighbour to the west. It worked. After an amazing meal spent chatting with the folks who represent different parts of the province, we had visions of ourselves chilling in Lotusland, cavorting on Vancouver Island or wine touring in the Okanagan. To seal the deal, there were cocktails by bartender Stephen Phipps.

I especially liked the whiskey sour. I am partial to sours, as I wrote in a previous blog; now, I like them with whiskey. I am not what you’d call a whiskey drinker, so this surprises me, but maybe it had something to do with the Forty Creek rye whiskey used in the drink. Or the red wine and black pepper syrup (Phipps is keeping that recipe under his hat). Or that hint of sweet maple syrup on the finish. Yum. I’ll be back for another.

Smooth, yummy and delightful whiskey sour. Thanks Model Milk!

Whiskey Sour

  • 2 oz Forty Creek Rye Whiskey
  • 1 oz red wine and black pepper syrup
  • 1 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 1 egg white
  • Touch of Quebec maple syrup
 Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and dry shake. Add ice and shake vigorously then double strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a wink and a smile.
— Courtesy, Stephen Phipps, Model Milk

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Drink of the Week: Margarita

Posted on May 4, 2012 | 1 comment

Please don’t hate me because I love margaritas. I know I tend to go on about them and recently blogged about a Prickly Pear Margarita, but they really are just the right combination of sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Plus, it’s Cinco de Mayo tomorrow — voted one of the Top 10 booziest holidays by Time magazine — so what better excuse do you need to rim a rocks glass with salt, juice some limes and shake up the best party cocktail ever?

It’s a party in a glass, but way classier to drink than shooting back tequila poppers all night.

Margarita

  • 2 oz 100 percent agave reposado tequila (I like Casa Herradura)
  • 1 oz Cointreau (or Controy if, like me, you’ve recently returned from Mexico with a couple of bottles)
  • 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tsp. (or to taste) agave nectar or simple syrup
  • Coarse sea salt to rim glass, if desired
  • Lime wheel garnish

Rim a margarita glass with sea salt and then fill with crushed ice. In a shaker, combine tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and syrup. Shake with ice then strain into the margarita glass. Garnish with a lime wheel. Repeat (they’re like potato chips: you can’t have just one).

Go ahead, dive right in! Mmmm … margaritas …

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Drink of the Week: Mango Daiquiri

Posted on March 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m not sure whether a mango daiquiri will be on the menu at our Ixtapa hotel, but I sure liked this one from Barbados. I know, it’s blended (a no-no, in mixology circles), but the fact it uses fresh mango kind of necessitates a blender. Plus all that blending sure makes it photogenic:

No umbrella, but you get the picture. Me, a swim-up bar at sunset, and a mango daiquiri.

See the beads of condensation on the glass? It’s cold, which is what you want when it’s 32C in the sun. It also has that balance of tart and sweet that I love. I’m sorry, margarita, but sometimes a gal needs to order something girlier — and a wee bit sweeter — at the swim-up bar.

Mango Daiquiri

  • 1  diced mango
  • 4 oz water
  • 2-1/2 oz simple syrup
  • 1-1/2 oz dark rum
  • Scoop ice

Blend ingredients together in a blender. Pour into a hurricane glass, garnish with a mini umbrella and serve.

— Recipe courtesy Tramayne Primus, Hilton Barbados

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