Special Events

The Chocolate Swirl Martini

Valentine’s Day is only a week away, so it’s high time the Madtini Labs intoxicologists get cracking on mixng up some delicious cocktails for that special day.

The Chocolate Swirl Martini is a hybrid of a several different vodka, chocolate cocktails. We couldn’t resist adding a chocolate shavings to the rim and creating swirls of chocolate inside the glass.

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Godiva white chocolate liqueur
1 1/2 oz Creme de Cacao
1 oz Vodka
2 1/2 oz Half & Half
Chocolate Shavings

Preparation

Chill a cocktail glass in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove the glass and create swirls inside the glass using chocolate syrup, return the glass to the freezer.

Combine the vodka, creme de cacao and white chocolate liqueur in a cocktail shaker with 3 ice cubes. Shake well, add the half & half and stir.

Remove the glass from the freezer, add a tablespoon of white chocolate liqueur to a shallow glass. Turn the glass in the liqueur, then turn it in the chocolate shavings.

Replace the top of the shaker and strain into the chilled cocktail glass. Add a few pinches of chocolate shavings to the glass.

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Filed Under: Special Events, Vodka based Tagged With: cocktail, creme de cacao, godiva, valentine's day, white chocolate

Madtini’s Big Game Cocktails from Hornitos Tequila

By Randy 2 Comments

It’s finally here, it’s Superbowl Sunday and the Green Bay Packers are ready to stare down those terrible towels of the Steelers and bring back the Vince Lombardi Trophy (hmmm… is it obvious which side we are cheering for – whispers “Go Pack Go!). Seriously, there’s nothing more awesome than seeing two working class towns battle for one of the biggest prize in sports.

Superbowl Sunday means Superbowl parties; so bring on the hot wings, the giant bowls of cheetos, salsa & chips and that heart-clogging seven layer dip.

Big Game Party Tips
But any true party pro will tell you (and we are pros here at Madtini Labs), the secrets of surviving the big game are don’t peak too early, have fun in moderation and make sure you make it home safe and sound after. That means having a designated driver, take transit or cab or even sleep over.

Friends take care of friends, even though your friend Doug (real name withheld due to court proceedings) wore his pants on his head last year and streaked around your Cul de Sac screaming “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” after New Orleans won last year.

On to 2011
Over the past week we’ve seen dozens of drinks designed for the Big Game published on blogs and websites throughout the interverse. Out of all of these, we chose these two cocktails from Hornitos as our ‘Official Madtini Big Game Cocktails’. (BTW: It would be great if LCBO stocked these two products, so we didn’t have to rely on the cross-border shopping of friends of Madtini)

Go Pittsburgh! The Steel Curtain

Ingredients:

2 oz Hornitos™ Plata Tequila
4 oz your favorite beer (we used Corona)
2 oz lemon-lime soda

Preparation
Mis the ingreidents in a large glass with ice. Garnish with two lime wedges and just to be fancy a lime zest twist. Serve and enjoy with your Terrible Towel.

Go Green Bay! The Old Fashioned Cheesehead

Ingredients:

2 oz Hornitos™ Añejo Tequila
3-4 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Agave nectar to taste (we went with a tablespoon)

Preparation:
Add the agave nectar and bitters to an old-fashioned glass and mix. Add ice, the Tequila and stir well. FIrnish off with a healthy wedge of old cheddar cheese (Wisconsin cheese if you can find it)

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Filed Under: Special Events, Tequila based Tagged With: cheesehead, Green Bay packers, Hornitos, Pittsburgh Steelers, Sauza, superbowl, tequila

A Madtini Night Out at the LCBO Classic Cocktails 1960s Soirée

By Randy 1 Comment

Thursday was a very special night out for Madtini. The LCBO hosted a 1960s-inspired party at The Carlu in downtown Toronto to celebrate the launch of their new Classic Cocktails website and mobile site.

The evening’s star attraction was Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant, who gave a short talk on classic 60s style.

The folks attending the event were arriving in style as well (heck I even wore a tie). Take a look at some of the 60s-inspired fashion on The Hip and Urban Girl’s Guide and It’s All Style to Me blogs.

(and hey, for a fun drinking game, do a shot every time you read the word ‘classic’ in this blog post)

The website features recipes for 24 classic cocktails, appetizers, product information and a flipbook version of the Classic Cocktails magazine. Do yourself a favour and pick up the magazine the next time you visit an LCBO store.

First off Madtini has to thank Anita Clarke of I Want I Got for hooking us up with 2 invites for this great party.

The soirée took place in the classic round room at The Carlu. The Carlu alongwith the Design Exchange are two of the best examples of Art Moderne style architecture in Toronto, and was a perfect venue for this celebration of classic cocktail culture.

The event featured live music, great food, and two bar set-ups serving expertly crafted classic cocktails. The bartenders were making drinks with flare, juggling the bottles and garnishing with style.

Cocktail Time

It was now time for the most difficult part of the evening, choosing which cocktail to try first. After some deliberation we went with an ice-cold Grey Goose Vodka Martini as our first choice.

We moved on to the Negroni next made with Broker’s Premium Gin, Campari and Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth. If I can pass along one party tip, it would be don’t lean over to ask the bartender a question while he’s making the orange flambe garnish. Eyebrows are awesome and it’s nice to leave the party with both of them.

For our third and final drink of the evening our server recommended a Rusty Nail, made with Johnnie Walker Black Scotch and Drambuie.

The classic cocktails served this evening were a welcome change from the sweet drinks that made up most of our Christmas and New Year’s drinks. Which of these 24 classic cocktails are your favourite?

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Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: 1960s, Broker's Gin, Campari, cocktails, Drambuie, Grey Goose, Janie Bryant, Johnny Walker Black, LCBO, mad men, martini, Rusty Nail, sweet vermouth, The Carlu

Madtini Treasure – 1960s Mr. Bartender Bar Set from Gooderham & Worts

By Randy 1 Comment

We love surprise gifts at Madtini, and this one came from our friend and colleague Adam Froman. While cleaning up a storage area in his basement he came across this great promotional bar set and Gooderham & Worts catalog. It had been given to one his relatives by someone who worked for Corby Distilleries which was partially owned by Gooderham’s.

Gooderham’s was established in Toronto in 1837 after their grain milling operation expanded into brewing and distilling. It was once the largest distiller of spirits in Canada and closed in 1990. The site is now known as the Distillery District and features artists studios, restaurants, chocolatiers, coffee shops and more. The Distillery District was recently featured in a posting on the Fast Company design blog.

The set includes a stainless steel shaker, strainer and mixing spoon, also a very cool mixing glass featuring recipes for a Whiskey Sour, Bacardi, Manhattan, Daiquiri, Martini and Alexander.

We’re researching its exact year now and my current theory is that it might be from around 1965 due to the mention of a new design for one of the distinctive products, Little Brown Jug Canadian Whiskey. The style of the photography and catalog design definitely suggests its from the 1960s.

If anyone reading this can provide any more information on this bar set please let us know. Until then we’re keeping it safe and sound and well away from the temptation to use.

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Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: Distillery District, Gooderham's, Mr Bartender

A Madtini Night Out: a Gin & TRONic and the UltraAVX Experience

By Randy Leave a Comment

Last Friday Cineplex Canada & Cloud Agents invited the Madtini crew (and most of the Toronto digital community) out for a screening of TRON at the new UltraAVX theatre at brand-spanking new Scotiabank Theatre at the corner John & Richmond in Toronto. The evening started out with TRON-themed cocktails and snacks in the lounge. We were greeted with a table of Green TRON-themed cocktails which we helped ourselves to. Before you knew it we were ushered to our seats along with free popcorn and drink.

The theatre features a wall-to-wall screen, advanced sound system, large rocker seats and our favorite feature; reserved seating. Being able to reserve a seat in advance takes a lot of the stress out of searching for a seat or arriving early to beat the crowd. It would also minimize the “Is that seat taken?” questions or lost couples searching for their partners with whispers of “Honey?” in the dark theatre after a mid-movie washroom break.

The TRON movie may have suffered a bit in the acting and story department (as did the original) – but the pumping soundtrack produced by Daft Punk and stunning 3D visuals made up for any shortcomings.

Later that night (after coming home from another party) we served ourselves a tribute drink, the Gin & TRONic. A slight twist on the popular cocktail usually served with a wedge and squeeze of lime. We gingerly cut ourselves a long twist of the lemon skin to represent the yellow trails of the light cycles.

Gin & TRONic

Ingredients

2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
3 oz Schweppes Gin & Tonic
A very, very long slice of lemon zest (to represent the light cycle trails)

Preparation
Slice out a very long piece of lemon zest. Best idea is to use a lemon zester, I sliced in circles around the lemon and then peeled away the extra inner layer. Add ice cubes to a rocks glass, then pour the gin and tonic over the ice. Stir gently and serve.

Filed Under: Gin based, Special Events Tagged With: cineplex, gin, tanqueray, tonic, toronto, tron

A Madtini Night Out: Lessons in Tequila

By Randy 1 Comment

Today there are over 100 distilleries in Mexico producing over 600 brands of Tequila, and on Friday night over 30 of these brands were available for tasting at the Tequila and More Ultimate Tasting Experience. In addition to tequila, the show included tourism booths, Mexican handcrafts and of course the delicious foods of Mexico.

The night was a great opportunity for the Madtini Intoxicology crew to learn more about tequila’s history, its production and the different types available. Having so many great brands together in one place allowed us to experience the unique and subtle (sometimes not so subtle) differences between them. We were offered tequila glasses which resembles a small wine glass to sample the different brands. Several brands offered up variations of the ever-popular Margarita cocktail plus a chance to try a tequila cosmopolitan.

Besides knowing which end of the bottle to pour from, I know little about tequila. We learned that Tequila originated around the town of Tequila and comes from fermenting and distilling the sap of the agave plant that grows in the area’s red volcanic soils. Some people assume the agave is a some form of cactus due to its ominous appearance, but it’s actually a relative of the lily. But beware, still its sharp spines of the agave are poisonous and very painful to the skin.

By law, only the Mexican states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas can produce a drink called tequila. The types of tequila are Oro (gold) and blanco (silver), which tend to have a bite to them, due to their young age, while añejo (aged) tequilas have a smoother and more complex taste from resting (or resposado).

Most people’s experience with tequila in this area comes from the popular (and delicious) Margarita, or lining up multiple shots. We opted to sip our tequila slowly and enjoy the subtleties of its taste and aromatics. At the end of the evening our clear preference was for the Herradura Resposado, an award-winning tequila with over 16 medals won in international competitions. Herradura first introduced the world to its reposado tequila in 1974, aged for 11 months in toasted white oak barrels provides the tequila with a deep copper colour and smooth taste. It’s aroma and taste provided hints of cinnamon spice, vanilla and is ideal for slow sipping. We’ll be looking for this brand on our next shopping trip.

After this night, we’ll feel much more comfortable while considering and purchasing quality tequila for our cocktails.

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Filed Under: Special Events, Tequila based Tagged With: agave, mexico, tequila, toronto

A Night of Old-Style Cocktails with Snapstaff

By Randy Leave a Comment

On Saturday night Madtini was invited out to a special cocktail tasting session with Snapstaff, a Toronto-based group bringing cocktail revivalism to private events. We were joined by Alexa Clark, blogger/author of Cheap Eats Toronto, and organizer of the Secret Pickle Supper Club and Zaigham Zulqernain, of the marketing agency House of Bamboo.

Snapstaff began offering their services to the Toronto area back in May, and their mission is to bring crafted cocktails to clients that are tired of the typical sweet drinks that are full of artificial flavours and colours. They specialize in using real ingredients including freshly squeezed juices, bitters, teas, agave, herbs and spices. They will prepare a special menu of drinks for your guests, taking into account the theme, season and and anything else you’d like.

We were served up 5 of their featured cocktails. The most difficult decision was which drink to try first.

The first drink we tried was the Cumberland, a cool cocktail perfect for a summer patio featuring muddled cucumber, pear nectar, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin. Next up was the Cilantro Mule, featuring fresh lime juice, fresh coriander, ginger-lemongrass cordial, gin, topped with club soda and garnished with a slice of lime and a sprig of coriander. Drink #3 was the Greyhound Deluxe, a mix of fresh-squeezed grapefruit and lime, simple syrup, vodka, cherry bitters and a mint leaf.

Things got even more interesting with the last two drinks we sampled. The New Old Fashioned was a strong, sophisticated drink ideal described by Zaigham as perfect for sipping on a cold winter night next to a fire with a good cigar. The drink was made up of sliced pitted cherries, maple syrup, Peychaud’s bitters and bourbon. This drink would set Don Draper back a few steps.

The final drink was the Georgian Jealousy, a complex cocktail based on late 19th century tastes. The drink balanced the aromatics of the gin with tannins, vinegar and honey and then completed the drink with strong tea, apple cider vinegar, honey and gin.

It was tough to choose a favorite of this group, but if i had to choose one Snapstaff drink it would be the New Old Fashioned… or the Greyhound Deluxe… or the… Find out for yourself and hire Snapstaff for your next party or event in the Toronto area. Their rates are on the website.

Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: bourbon, cilantro, cocktails, cucumber, gin, snapstaff

From the Madtini Lab – 10 Creepy Cocktails for Halloween

By Randy Leave a Comment

Halloween weekend 2010 is finally here, and its time for the Ghouls, Goblins, Naughty Nurses, Snookis and Elvis’ (or is it Elvi) to hit the streets, basement parties and bars. We’ve spent the past few weeks looking around for fun Halloween-themed drinks for your spooky cocktail parties. We narrowed it down to 10 and here they are!

Cheers and Happy Halloween from Madtini!

1. Boo-Berry Martini
Ingredients

2 oz Smirnoff Blueberry Vodka

1 oz triple sec

1 oz sweet & sour syrup

2 ripped up basil leaves

8-10 fresh blueberries

Preparation
Wet the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with lemon juice. Turn the glass in a shallow plate of sugar to cover the rim. Muddle the blueberries and ripped up basil leaves in a cocktail shaker until they are shredded. Take a deep whiff of the beautiful mix of smells. Add the sweet & sour syrup, triple sec, blueberry flavoured vodka, and 4 ice cubes. Shake, then strain into the chilled cocktail glass.

2. Blood Lust Martini
Ingredients

2 oz Vodka

1 oz Chambord

1 oz Cranberry Juice

1 oz Creme de Cassis

1 oz Sweet & sour mix

8-10 blueberries

4 fresh blackberries

4 fresh raspberries

3 fresh strawberries, sliced and hulled

Preparation
Muddle the berries together in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients, shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with 2-3 maraschino cherries.

3. Walk With a Zombie
Ingredients

1 oz white rum

1 oz golden rum

1 oz 151 dark rum

1/2 oz apricot brandy

1/2 oz amaretto

1/2 oz triple sec

1 1/2 oz orange juice

1 1/2 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz grenadine

Preparation
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice except the 151 dark rum & grenadine. Shake well then strain into a tall cocktail glass. Add the 151 dark rum and grenadine to the top of the drink. Garnish with an orange wedge and two maraschino cherries.

4. The Monster Mash
Ingredients

2 oz pineapple juice

1 1/2 oz orange juice

1/2 oz Malibu Coconut rum

1/2 oz tequila

1/2 oz white rum

1/2 oz vodka

Preparation
Add all the ingredients to a blender along with 1 cup of ice. Blend until smooth, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with two thin slices of apple.

5. The Dark Chocolate Martini
Ingredients

2 oz Smirnoff Vanilla Twist Vodka

2 oz Dark Creme de Cacao

1 oz chilled Espresso

1/2 tsp fresh orange juice

orange zest

1 tbsp grated dark chocolate

1 tbsp sugar

Preparation
Grate a generous chunk of dark chocolate. Combine a tablespoon of dark chocolate and sugar in a small plate. Wet the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with a wedge of orange. Turn the cocktail glass in the dark chocolate and sugar to cover the rim. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake vigorously, then strain into the chilled cocktail glass.

6. Mad-Eye Martini
Ingredients

3 oz Gin

Splash of Dry vermouth

Radish and olive eyeball

Preparation
Peel the skin from a radish leaving traces of red to resemble veins. Carve out a hole in the radish big enough to place an olive into. Pour vermouth in to chilled cocktail glass.

7. The Black Cat
Ingredients

1 oz Kahlua

2 1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka

1/2 oz Black Sambuca

Preparation
Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a few espresso beans.

8. The Dark & Spooky
Ingredients

2 1/2 oz dark rum

Juice of one Lime

Ginger Beer

Preparation
Combine the dark rum and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Stir, then pour over ice in a rocks glass. Top with Ginger Beer and garnish with a wedge of lime and a large black spider.

9. The Dra-Kahlua
Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Kahlua

1/2 oz Cognac

1/2 oz Triple Sec

3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Preparation
Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Shake, then strain into your chilled martini glass. Add a blood-orange wedge s garnish.

10. Root Beer of all Evil
Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Three Olives Root Beer Vodka

4 oz Jones Soda Root Beer

3/4 oz Amaretto Liqueur

1 scoop Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream

Preparation
Pour the vodka and root beer over ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry

Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: cocktail, drinks, halloween, martini, party

4 Delicious Thanksgiving Madtini Cocktails

By Randy 1 Comment

While the glorious warm weather this weekend certainly seems like summer, one look at the calendar, and one deep sniff of the air tells us that’s its Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The turkey is almost ready, the vegetables are cooking and the Thanksgiving cocktails are on the table at Madtini Intoxicology Labs. Here are four of our favorites.