Bourbon Night, Our Style

Wow, it's been a while...I've been slacking, plus there was a hurricane.  Minor detail.  I may have been a bit preoccupied... :)  Thankfully, my friends and family members are all safe.  The "things" will be replaced and New Jersey will rebuild.  I have the utmost faith in those around me.  <3

So, back to bourbon...

In lieu of spending Thanksgiving Eve shoulder to shoulder with people I don't know, screaming over the music, and spending a nice chunk of change on an overpriced bar tab, I decided to call a ladies night.  Now, since we have been a bit dormant the past few months, I figured we would hit the ground running and go hard.  Hard alcohol, that is.  Bourbon, to be exact.

Now, once the man in my life found out the theme of the evening, I think he would have done just about anything to stay home.  Since it was a "holiday" I decided to cave and make this a coed party.  Needless to say, we had a blast, even though I woke up with something sticky on every surface in my apartment.  Throughout the evening, we did a great deal of experimenting, and learned a lot about why we don't normally drink bourbon.  From now on, it won't be my first drink of choice, but I certainly know how to whip up something tolerable.

So, we started with an Old Fashioned...and ended with it for that matter.

What you need:
Bourbon (we had Makers Mark)
Bitters
Simple syrup (see recipe below)
Orange slices
Maraschino cherries
Ice
Rock glasses
Martini shaker
Something to muddle with (we used a wooden spoon)
Optional: OPM (orange peach mango juice from Trader Joe's)

After a LOT of fails (i.e. making seriously offensive faces upon the first sip), we found a combination that was about as traditional as we could go AND we enjoyed it!  Check out the picture to get a glimpse into our evening.  Yum!

The Final Recipe

Grab your shaker, add an orange slice, a few cherries and about 2 tsp of simple syrup.  Muddle this in the bottom of the shaker.  Add ice, a few dashes of bitters and about 2 ounces of bourbon.  Shake!  Add to your glass and enjoy! 

OR, do what I do, and add a few splashes of OPM, as well...don't judge, it delicious.  Plus, it really cuts the burn of the bourbon.  Try it with breakfast the next day too...it's hands down my favorite juice.  We also tend to use OPM as a mixer with some Kettle One, but that's for another day.  :)

Overall, bourbon is not something I will make a regular part of my diet, but I'm no longer afraid of it!  We had a great night, with great friends and avoided all of the crowds!  Not to mention there was an impromptu dance party, which I completely blame on the simple syrup.  

Finally, my favorite moment of the evening...

Setting the scene...living room, music thumping, drinks flowing..."Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" (NSYNC) comes on my iTunes.  As the singing and corny dancing ensues, my favorite person shouts, "let's go shopping at Old Navy!"  I don't, in any way, expect you to think it's as funny as I do, but that's why this is MY blog.  Gotta love my friends.  : D

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  Until next time...

Ashley

**Simple Syrup: Mix 2 parts sugar to 1 part water and dissolve over medium heat.  Stir constantly.  Once completely dissolved, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  Bottle and enjoy!**

Pinot Grigio Night!!

In lieu of my 90+ Cellars find...we made the most recent ladies night Pinot Grigio themed!  Since there were only three of us, we only sampled three wines...plus the 90+ Pinot Grigio I had to get on the side. :)  Of course this was a success...but as for the others, please keep reading.

David Alessandro Pinot Grigio delle Venezie 2010
The first wine was one that was recommended to me by The Wine Academy manager in Hazlet.  He said that it was quite popular and he has a few customers who won't drink anything else.  Bottom line, he sold me.  :)  It was a nice wine, but not my favorite.  For a Pinot Grigio, I think it was a little heavy.  The color was deeper than I'm used to, but this is apparently due to the contact with the grape skin a few hours before being pressed.  It's called "ramato" in Italy.  I thought it was a fun fact since I noticed it as soon as we were pouring glasses.  This wine paired well with the fruit and goat cheese we were snacking on.  Overall, a nice wine, but not as crisp as I prefer.  A good buy at $11.99 a bottle.

Cupcake Vineyards 2011 Pinot Grigio
This next wine is pretty popular in our area.  Don't confuse this with CakeBread...you'll be surprised when they ring you up!  I have always meant to give it a try, so I was glad this was included in our sampling.  Overall I felt it was very refreshing and had a nice, clean finish.  It was a bit on the fruity side, which is liked by some and disliked by others.  It's an Italian Pinot Grigio, which I've been told is my favorite. (I had no idea)  I think this is a great summer wine to pair with seafood.  It also went well with our snacks of cheese and fruit.  The average price of this bottle is about $10.  I've seen it vary locally...and I've seen it on sale in quite a few places.  :)  I think we would all recommend this one.

Rex-Goliath Pinot Grigio
This last wine was pretty much our favorite.  The fact that this wine is ALWAYS under $8 a bottle has nothing to do with it, I swear.  It certainly makes my wallet happy though!  The bottle has the perfect description right on the front..."BRIGHT and CRISP."  We felt like this was the type of wine you could drink with anything and even enjoy on the hottest days.  Crazy thing is that it's a California wine!  I love it when my normal assumptions are challenged.  Thanks Rex!  On another note, we tend to like all of their wines.  I haven't tried one yet that I didn't enjoy.  The labels are quite silly too...and we always enjoy a good laugh.  :)

http://www.rexgoliath.com/   

All of us enjoyed our summer night, full of refreshing wine, good conversation, and GOOD news!  I look forward to the next adventure!

-Ashley

Secrets...

So in the tradition of a girls night...the first thing I will do is share a secret. Yes, a secret...

A little birdie informed me of an amazing wine find. Since this blog will be devoted to finding the best wine, beer and spirits around, it seems only logical to post this first.

90+ Cellars Click HERE

This amazing concept has really intrigued me and my pallet. I am still learning a lot about wine, so this company makes my life easy at the liquor store. Simply put, these people made the best of a weakened economy and I am benefiting. I don't know about you, but I can use a little cost savings, especially in the wine department! So here is what they did...

In 2009, an amazing man, Kevin Mehra, called around and proposed a "crazy" idea. He wanted to take great quality wine, relabel it, and sell it for A LOT less money. Why would any person in their right mind accept this? Simple economics, supply and demand. With the dip in the economy, many of the highly rated (and priced) wines weren't selling. They had the same supply and much lower demand. The first natural option in economics is to lower the price or the cost to produce the product. Both options won't work for a luxury good. Lowering the price will damage the reputation. Lowering the cost to produce the product will often reduce quality. Neither option makes sense and there is still quite a bit of wine laying around. So instead of having them pile up in inventory, they have the option to sell at a lower price, and keep inventory moving. Kevin created a different label and promised complete confidentiality, which I'm sure was heavily protected by legal jargon and strict penalties. But this isn't a legal blog...or an economics blog, but please don't mind my earlier lesson in economics. :) All in all, the winery is making money while preserving their good name, 90+ is making money and WE get to drink fantastic wine at a fraction of the cost. AND to top it off, it's delicious. This is by no means a scam. The tip was passed to me by a close friend and bar manager. Restaurants and bars are making a KILLING on this product. It was a challenge at first to convince people to change, but I'm pretty sure it's smooth sailing now...

I tried the Pinot Grigio last week and it was wonderful! One of the Misty Maidens joined me on my porch and we shared the bottle above. Despite the heat, it cooled us down and had a super clean, crisp taste. Normally, Pinot Grigio is my "go to" white wine. This is now my top choice. I will be picking this up at $12.99, instead of Santa Margarita. I can't believe I just wrote that!

Below is a flavor description directly from 90+

"Golden yellow in color with ripe apple, pear, and apricot aromas hovering above notes of wild flowers and honey. Medium bodied with a generous smack of minirality, this wine is perfect with pasta primavera, grilled seafood, or sliced prosciutto, asiago, and fresh crusty bread. Salut!"

All aboard!!