Month: December 2012

Strange Drinks from around the world

Although many of us  enjoy a nice robust whisker at the end of the day, other like a classic martini or glass of wine, and then there are others that prefer something with a bit more bite to it. How does a cocktail with a human toe or a beer made with hot chilies sound? Yes, these are actual cocktails people drink for fun, for pleasure, and some for fame. Enjoy this list of the most bizarre alcoholic beverages people drink, Bottoms up!

 

The Sourtoe Cocktail


The only cocktail that we are aware of made with an actual human toe… yes a freakin human toe!! The toes are real human appendages that have been dried and preserved in salt for use in the sourtoe cocktail served at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon. As far as I know, it’s the only place you can order such a thing. The unusual recipe originally called for a human toe to be tossed into a beer glass filled with Champagne, however now anything can be a Sourtoe Cocktail (even non-alcoholic drinks); it just has to contain a toe. If you are looking for fame, you can become a member of the “Sourtoe Cocktail Club” by making sure the toe touches your lips at some point while you’re drinking- otherwise it doesn’t count!

Tequila Snake Shots


A simple recipe made with cheap tequila and a snake (preferable a red diamond back) makes this a slightly bizarre beverage of choice. You are supposed to place the live snake into the bottle of tequila to drown, and as it drowns it emits medicinal properties beneficial to many (supposedly). Once drowned, you can take the snake out, skin it and gut it, place it back into the bottle to distill and age for up to a year and then consume.

Bilk- Milky Beer


Bilk is a beer manufactured by a brewery in Nakashibetsu, Hokkaido, made with approximately 70% beer and 30% milk. This beverage apparently possesses a subtle fruity sweetness that they are hoping will appeal to women. I can only imagine what this would do to those poor folks with lactose problems!!

Chocolate Donut Beer


Concocted by the Shenandoah Brewery in Alexandria Virginia, Chocolate Donut Beer is apparently REAL. For those with a sweet tooth that feel the need to pack on additional pounds, the chocolate donut beer is rated very highly from many beer aficionados. Perhaps not the strangest combination and coming nowhere near as gross as a beverage with a human toe in it, chocolate donut flavored beer just doesn’t seem to be the most appealing of choices.

Snake Bile Wine- Ruou Mat Ran


Snake bile wine is usually served fresh at some of the nicer Vietnamese restaurants. The waiter slices open a live snake to get at the gallbladder inside and the bile in the snake’s gallbladder is mixed into a glass of rice wine and served as an aperitif. The drink is usually served before a dinner prepared from the rest of the snake. With a reputation for not only getting you drunk, but also making you virile this snake bile wine is said to bless the drinker with a variety of other health benefits.

Chili Beer


Looking for something to burn you while quenching your thirst at the same time? Then chili beer might be the perfect match for you! I can only imagine the pain both going in and out! There are actually several breweries that make this type of beer. Mostly a nice light ale combined with various hot pepper juice, oils, or actual peppers to the beer – jalapeño chilies being the most common pepper used. Hotness can range from a subtle spiciness to palate scorching… um, yeah…just what you want from a beer.

Baby Mouse Wine


This is one of those drinks you’d like to think they were drunk prior to even coming up with the idea. Baby mouse wine is prepared by drowning a large number of baby mice – no more than 2-3 days old- in vats full of rice wine. Nasty! The mixture is stored in a dark, cool space for about a year before it can be consumed. Apparently it’s incredible potent, which is a good thing, because I’d rather forget the fact I am drinking anything with dead mice floating in it. I just can’t even imagine what the flavor might be like.

Lizard Wine- Hejie Jiu


Drowning animals in wine seems to be a popular thing to do and this time with a potently poisonous reptile no doubt. Lizard wine is made with a type of liquor close to rice wine or whiskey and of course a lizard- the most commonly used is a gecko. Hejie Jiu is one of China’s strongest alcoholic brews but is also considered to contain a number of medicinal properties and treat such ailments as cancer, arthritis, and ulcers.

Pizza Beer


Another beer combined with food, and this time a pizza! Some might think this is the best thing in the world… others, not so much. The beer is made by taking a real Margarita pizza and placing it into a mash & steeping it in the beer mixture like a tea bag. They strain it several times assuring there are no bits or pieces in the beer itself, then it’s cooled, fermented and bottled.

Placenta Cocktail


How about a cocktail made with pig’s placenta… sound appealing? Placenta is said to have regenerative properties, especially pertaining to beauty and health. There is a jelly like drink made from the placenta as well as an extract that can be mixed with a variety of alcohols to create the ideal cocktail… rumors say it tastes a bit like peaches… still, I think I’ll pass.

Popular Holiday Drinks and receipes

Holiday time is here and that means friends, family and parties! And nothing helps makes a holiday party more successful than some some good old-fashioned holiday drinks. Following are recipes for some snazzy new cocktails plus some old time favorites! Happy Holidays to All!  

Wassail

Wassail was originally a word that meant to greet or salute someone — groups would go out wassailing on cold evenings, and when they approached a door would be offered a mug of warm cider or ale. Typically concocted with a variety of ingredients which include cider, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus fruit, sugar and cloves, there are many variations which may include the addition of your favorite alcoholic beverage.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours, 00 minute
Ingredients:
  • 1 Gallon apple cider
  • 2 C. cranberry juice
  • 1/2 C honey
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 2 oranges
  • Whole cloves
  • 1 apple, peeled and diced
  • Allspice
  • Ginger
  • Nutmeg
  • 3 cinnamon sticks (or 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon)
  • 1/2 C – 1 C brandy (optional)
Preparation:

Set your crockpot to its lower setting, and pour apple cider, cranberry juice, honey and sugar in, mixing carefully. As it heats up, stir so that the honey and sugar dissolve. Stud the oranges with the cloves, and place in the pot (they’ll float). Add the diced apple. Add allspice, ginger and nutmeg to taste — usually a couple of tablespoons of each is plenty. Finally, snap the cinnamon sticks in half and add those as well.

Cover your pot and allow to simmer 2 – 4 hours on low heat. About half an hour prior to serving, add the brandy if you choose to use it.

Angel’s Delight

Creamy, pink and absolutely delightful, the Angel’s Delight is a semi-classic cocktail ideal for dessert.

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz cream
  • 3/4 oz triple sec
  • 3/4 oz gin
  • 2-3 dashes grenadine

Preparation:

  1. Pour the ingredients into a shaker with ice cubes.
  2. Shake well.
  3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Egg Nog

The origins and even the ingredients used to make the original eggnog drink are debated. Eggnog, or a very similar drink, may have originated in East Anglia, England, though it may also have been developed from posset (a medieval European beverage made with hot milk). The “nog” part of its name may stem from the word “noggin”, a Middle English term used to describe a small, wooden, carved mug used to serve alcohol. Another name for this British drink was Egg Flip. Yet another story is that the term derived from the name “egg-and-grog”, a common Colonial term used to describe rum. Eventually the term was shortened to “egg’n’grog”, then “eggnog”. Whatever story you believe, eggnog is a classic holiday drink that everyone can enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups milk
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 12 egg yolks
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups light rum
  • 4 cups light cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

  1. Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil.
  2. In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Strain to remove cloves, and let cool for about an hour.
  3. Stir in rum, cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and nutmeg. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Christmas Jones

This sweet highball drink begins with a blend of strawberries, pineapple and vodka and is topped with lemon-lime soda for a refreshing holiday cocktail. It’s topped with a mint garnish that adds a little cheer to the final presentation and is a great all-around holiday drink for two.

Ingredients

  • 4 fresh strawberries
  • 1 part vodka
  • 2 tsp superfine sugar
  • 5 oz pineapple juice
  • 7-Up
  • mint sprigs for garnish

Preparation:

  1. In a blender, whiz the vodka, strawberries, sugar and pineapple juice together.
  2. Pour the mix equally into two highball glasses.
  3. Top with 7-Up.
  4. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Mulled Wine/Glogg

Mulled wine (or Glogg as it’s called in Sweden), is wine, usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. Nowadays, it is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.

Ingredients

  • 2 (750 milliliter) bottles red wine
  • 2 ounces dried orange zest
  • 2 ounces cinnamon sticks
  • 20 whole cardamom seeds
  • 25 whole cloves
  • 1 pound blanched almonds
  • 1 pound raisins
  • 1 pound sugar cubes
  • 5 fluid ounces brandy

Directions

  1. Pour wine into a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Wrap orange zest, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves in cheesecloth, tie with kitchen string and put into pot. Let boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in almonds and raisins and continue to boil for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat.
  2. Place a wire grill over the pot and cover with sugar cubes. Slowly pour on brandy, making sure to completely saturate the sugar. Light sugar with a match and let it flame. When sugar has melted, cover pot with lid to extinguish flame.
  3. Stir and remove spice bag. Serve hot in cups with a few almonds and raisins.

Candy Cane

Candy Cane is a delectable dessert drink made with peppermint, chocolate and berry flavors. Just the name alone will get you in the holiday spirit!

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 oz SKYY Berry vodka
  • 3/4 oz Peppermint Schnapps
  • 3/4 oz white Crème de Cacao
  • 1/4 oz grenadine
  • half and half
  • Soda water

Preparation:

  1. Pour the vodka, Peppermint Schnapps, white Creme de Cacao and grenadine into a cocktail shaker with ice.
  2. Shake well.
  3. Pour into a cocktail glass rimmed with crushed peppermint candy.
  4. Fill with half and half.
  5. Top with a splash of soda water

Rim the glass with crushed candy canes or other peppermint candy, using the Schnapps or Crème de Cacao to wet the rim.

LA VIE EN ROUGE

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This beautiful crimson cocktail not only brings out the color of the season, but a few of the favorite flavors. It is a delectable mix of Grand Marnier orange liqueur, cranberry and rosemary and makes a stunning drink pairing for almost any holiday meal.
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
  • 1 1/2 oz. fresh pressed cranberry juice (can substitute with bottled cranberry juice)
  • 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz. simple syrup
  • Fresh rosemary needles

Preparation:

  1. In a tall mixing glass, muddle 10-12 rosemary needles lightly with simple syrup.
  2. Add remaining ingredients then add ice and shake vigorously.
  3. Strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass with ice.
  4. Garnish with a rosemary sprig

CASA DRAGONES GARIEL OROZCO LIMITED EDITION BOTTLE

 

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As featured in the Wall Street Journal, Casa Dragones Tequila and renowned artist Gabriel Orozco have collaborated on a limited edition bottle in honor of his mid life retrospective. Casa Dragones Tequila accompanied Orozco on his retrospective tour held in four leading museums throughout 2011, from MoMA in New York City, Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland, Tate Modern in London, to Centre Pompidou in Paris.

“Our collaboration with Gabriel Orozco marks an extremely exciting moment for Casa Dragones as we celebrate Mexican contemporary art and Mexican craftsmanship with the world.” Says Bertha González Nieves, Co-Founder and CEO of Casa Dragones Tequila.

Each crystal bottle is engraved with Gabriel Orozco’s Black Kites motif, based on one of the artist’s most iconic works of art, and includes Orozco’s signature. Black Kites, 1997 is a human skull covered in an intricate graphic checkerboard, representing the two sides of life that are constantly at odds; the grid represents rationality and the skull represents uncertainty. Handcrafted with meticulous attention to detail, only 400 limited edition bottles will be produced, each bottle signed numbered and dated by hand.

Artist, Gabriel Orozco says, “Casa Dragones accompanied me on my tour, and I was very proud to have the finest Mexican tequila with me to celebrate this important time of my life.”

The limited edition bottle will be availabl at Mel and Rose for $1,850. For more information, contact us at 323-655-5557 or info@melandrose.com

 

More about Gabriel Orozco: (b. 1962, Veracruz, Mexico. Lives and works internationally.) Gabriel Orozco studied at Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Following his first exhibition in 1983, Orozco has had solo exhibitions at the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1995 and 1998, the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2004, and the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, in 2006, as well as traveling retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Zürich in 1996-97 and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2000–01. He has participated in the Venice Biennale (1993, 2003, and 2005), the Whitney Biennial (1997), and Documenta X (1997) and XI (2002). He has received numerous awards, including the Seccio Espacios Alternativos prize at the Salon Nacional de Artes Plasticas in Mexico City (1987), a DAAD artist-in-residence grant in Berlin (1995), and the German Blue Orange prize (2006). Gabriel Orozco is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery in New York, Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris, and Galeria Kurimanzutto in Mexico City.