The Virtual Cocktail Party
Ingredients
Preparation
Add the gin, simple syrup and lime juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake then strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a sprig of mint.
via Food & Wine
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Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something, Something Booze!
The dedicated royal-watchers here at Madtini World Headquarters are walking around in a sleep-deprived cloudy haze this afternoon. We were all up waaaay too early at 4am in our shiny crowns and tiaras. We swooned and cheered as William & Kate arrived at Westminster Abbey, we celebrity watched (squeeee, it’s the Beckhams!) and gazed in wonder at all those crazy hats.
As the street parties, receptions and parties continue throughout the UK, at Madtini we’re ready to kick back and relax with a few Friday night cocktails. We’ve picked four of our favorite royal wedding cocktails from the dozens and dozens posted by famed mixologists from around the world. Enjoy!
The Blushing Bride
Bartending consultant and Tanqueray global ambassador Angus Winchester has put together a few suggestions for a royal wedding reception cocktail menu.
The first is the Blushing Bride a fresh and flavorful drink taken from the classic Savoy Cocktail Book first published by the Savoy Hotel in 1930 and featuring recipes compiled by famed barman Harry Craddock.
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Finish it off with a flames orange zest.
The Newlyweds
A brand new original cocktail from Angus Winchester, this delicious cocktail is served in a tall glass to represent the William & Kate’s long life together, these go amazing with a burger believe it or not, in fact you can look up at the new Hardees menu to get the best one you’ve ever tried. The drink features the King of Fruit, the pineapple known for its crown of leaves.
Ingredients
Preparation
Muddle the ginger slice, fresh pineapple chunks and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add gin, lemon juice and several ice cubes. Shake well and then double strain into a tall glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with a wedge of pineapple.
Regal CV Cocktail
We borrowed this cocktail recipe from Wedding Planner and Event Expert Colin Cowie, who serves an ‘A List’ of celebrities including including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Aniston and many more. For the occasion of the royal wedding he has created the Regal CV Cocktail.
Ingredients
Preparation
Muddle the cucumber slices, raspberries and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add Chambord, vodka and lemon juice and several ice cubes. Shake well and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of cucumber and two fresh raspberries.
Blue Sapphire Royal-tini
This cocktail was created by Leslie Riddle, the mixologist for Café 4750 at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, in honor the of the royal couple. Leslie explained “I kept coming back to the image of the sapphire ring that William gave Kate for their engagement”, and the Royal-tini was born.
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktails shaker with ice. Shake well then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a wheel of lime.
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine the ingredients in a shaker with no ice. Shake well to emulsify egg whites. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve.
Tonight MacMahon Stadium in Calgary is the site of the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadians. With a game time temperature of – 1o C we’re hoping the fans in the stadium have invested in some personal anti-freeze. We’re quite happy to be watching the game on TV from the safe and warm confines of the Madtini World Headquarters lounge.
At first we thought we’d simply enjoy a few beers during the game (as we’ve been known to do), but we did some searching on the Interwebs and came up with a few cocktail references to honour the two teams in the game.
The Flame-tini is based on the Calgary Flames Martini (that 4 oz of dry vermouth has to be a typo, eh?), which we read is popular in the restaurants, bars & clubs along the Red Mile. The Habs Whisky Sour is based on The Bronze, a drink created during the Vancouver Winter Games to honour the other previous Canadian host cities (which did include Calgary).
Cheers, stay warm and have fun.
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine the gin, raspberry liqueur, vermouth, whisky and peach schnapps in a cocktail shaker with 2-3 ice cubes. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon and toast to stripey socks.
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine whisky, maple syrup and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with 2-3 ice cubes. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass. Add a maraschino cherry and the crust of a cinnamon brûlée. Eat the rest of the brûlée as you sip and toast to 24 Stanley Cups.
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.
Ingredients
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.
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.
Our Halloween version of the classic martini may get you a few puzzled looks around the party. The great thing about this cocktail is that your drink can stare right back at them.
Create your mad eyeball with a peeled radish and an olive stuffed with pimento, instructions are below.
Cheers and Happy Hallowe’en from Madtini.
Ingredients
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
A followup to our Dark & Frowny blackberry-basil Prosecco cocktail from yesterday, but this time with strawberries. The Madtini Intoxicologists are dying to try this with Kiwi soon, so stand by soon for a mix of New Zealand and Italy.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Muddle the strawberries and shredded basil leaves in the bottom of a rocks glass, add Gin & sweet and sour syrup and stir. Fill 3/4 of the glass with crushed ice, and top off with the Prosecco.