Deck The Halls

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Dec 032009
 

…..with Christmas ‘Tinis! It’s never too early to start celebrating the holiday season (well ok, anytime before Thanksgiving is too early). Tonight we’ve decided to test out a couple of party friendly Christmas martini recipes.

First up is our own creation: Frosty’s Revenge

Made with Shaker 2’s Snowman Soup hot cocoa mix, vanilla vodka (Stoli), amaretto, golden rum and heavy cream infused with a cinnamon stick. This one is creamy, not too sweet, with a hit of warmth from the rum/amaretto…..delicious! We give this one 4 1/4 olives as is, next time would add some nice cocoa or shaved quality chocolate for a richer result. Frosty you can come over and play again. We promise not to steal your magic hat.

Next up: The Peppermintini

We got this one from the Edy’s Ice Cream website. Peppermint ice cream, vodka and white cream de cocoa blended up. Usually I don’t enjoy the chunky rimming garnishes, but the crushed candy cane rim on this really makes the magic happen. Pair that with a spiral of chocolate syrup drizzled inside the glass, you’ve got happiness in a glass. This tini slides past 4 3/4 olives to perilously close to a 5 for Shaker 2. A solid holiday/dessert tini treat. If you only give yourself one gift this holiday season, give yourself the gift of creamy pepperminty boozy happiness. It will bring out your inner drunken child. Finding new ways to love candy canes is a beautiful thing.

It’s a school night, so Shakers 1 and 2 will call it a night, before we float away on a boozy sweet cloud of Christmas cheer.

Don’t worry shaker fans, we’ll be back soon with more happy holiday themed martinis.

Good night and remember, there are only 22 drinking days left until Christmas.

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Turkey and…. violets??

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Nov 252009
 

On this eve of Thanksgiving, the Shaker Girls decided to have a decompression night and try an interesting new liqueur that Shaker One has been itching to try for quite a while…. an Austrian violet liqueur. The label reads that this concoction comes from the Austrian Alps and made of wild violets from the mountainside. Now, this is not some run of the mill schnappsy beverage, it is a rather unique drink that is a bit more on the aromatic side rather then an overpowering synthetic flavor. It also gives the drinks a fun bluish color! We like fun colors.

We first tried the Creme de Violette alone, since neither of us had tasted it before. It was slightly sweet, but not cloying.

Our first drink was a Violet Fizz, which we tweaked a bit using vodka rather then gin (‘cuz we are vodka girls, not gin girls..and it’s our blog, so there.)

The result was not bad, but we felt that there was a bit too much lemon in the drink-it really overpowered the violet. So we halved the lemon and got close to a lovely drink ( the lemon proportion totally overshadowed the violet)

As written, it gets 1.5 stars

…. tweaked, it gets 3.5.

We also like that the drink matched Shaker One’s dress!!

Next was our own concoction of champagne sorbet (thank you, Surfas!), Creme de Violette, vodka, a splash of lemon juice and a splash of lemon bitters (thanks, Lynda!!) This was quite lovely – but then again, it was based on champagne sorbet, how can you go terribly awry??

Both of us felt this was well worth the liqueur’s fairly subtle flavor.

Our third drink of the night was Creme de Violette with champagne. Oh yeah, baby.. this one was good. The flavors made friends in the glass and complimented each other well. Definitely going to be a repeat guest in the menu, methinks.

On the night before Thanksgiving, we would like to thank all of you who read our blog. This is a lot of fun and has been educational on so many levels. Much love to our family and friends. We will return after the turkey coma has subsided and the food babies have gone away.

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Cozy Fall Shake

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Nov 202009
 

At the end of a long work week the Shakers decided they needed something soothing. Friday night beckoned and instead of revelry our thoughts turned to comfort food. Atkins followers, avert your eyes. It’s gonna get veeerrrry carb-y in here.

Dinner: Mashed Potato Bar!

Both regular russet and sweet potatoes made into mashes and served with a variety of fixins. It was guuuuud.

For our ‘tinis we decided to test a few more recipes from the Rain Vodka site. (Note: this site is flash, so I can’t post a direct link to the recipes… it also has a lovely *ahem* soundtrack that you can’t mute. The menu is fairly easy to navigate so you can find the recipes on your own.)

First up: The Rain Mango Tango

Made with Rain Honey Mango Melon Vodka, cranberry juice and orange juice this one made us wish we had a whole bottle of the vodka (we were still working off testers for the other flavors). Delicious with a nice balance of fruity flavors.

We both give this one a 4 1/2 olives.

Next up is the Rain Ocean Breeze made with Rain Red Grape Hibiscus Vodka.

Like last time we tried this vodka, we could not get past the overpowering “fake grape” smell/taste. We’d love to have been able to detect the hibiscus, but nope! All grape all the time. Yuck. We give this one olive.

Then we have The Seaside Rain made with Lavender Lemonade Vodka:


Shaker 2 found the grapefruit flavor a bit overpowering and Shaker 1 agrees that she’d have liked to have the lavender show through better. Pleasant but not a show stopper. 3 olives.

Lastly we have the Rain Provencal made with Lavender Lemonade Vodka.

This was a fun looking one made with an egg white to foam it up. The taste however was just ok. The lemon overpowered the lavender note here which was not the case with the other Lavender Lemonade Vodka recipes we’ve tried. 3 olives.

So in the world of Rain flavored vodkas, yes to Lavender Lemonade and Honey Mango Melon. Sorry Cucumber Lime and Red Grape Hibiscus, you’re not on the guest list.

Shakers 1 and 2 signing out in a blissful haze of carby goodness. And a special hello to Suzy Q for listing The Red Shaker as one of the things she’s thankful for. We’re thankful for our thirsty faithful followers. Good night and good shaking!

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Delusions of Grandeur (or palatability at the very least)

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Nov 152009
 

Remember college drinking? The cheapest swill was still a thrill. You hadn’t yet discovered that booze doesn’t have to taste like turpentine. The successful use of a fake ID covered many a taste sin. Now those days are in the distant past and I expect more from my cocktails. But when I venture back to a college bar type place, I set the bar a bit lower. Yesterday I think I tripped over it.

Scene: Pre game tailgate temporary bar
Cast of Characters: One surly cocktail waitress/”bartender”
One long bar full of bottles, not a single recognizable label
One vodka loving football fan in need of a non-beer cocktail

When I’m at a place like this, I keep it simple. Nothing more taxing than a booze and one mixer. How can you go wrong with a vodka cranberry? When the first sip ends in a cough, you know you’ve got problems. I assumed I’d mistakenly ordered well vodka and resolved to correct my error on the second round. So I very politely ask the “bartender” if they had any other brands of vodka. She archly informed me that their vodka of choice~Cruzan~ was excellent and of very high quality (Note: a cursory google search turned up Cruzan rum, but no vodka. When you’re not even googleable that’s not a good sign in a booze-perhaps I got the name wrong?). I nicely said that it wasn’t the best vodka I’ve tasted and was met with the following response:

“It’s much better than Gray Goose and equal to Absolut”
Martinis on the house for anyone who can make sense of that logic. Honey, you just either gave Absolut quite the promotion or insulted Gray Goose (both acceptable brands in my book).
I resisted telling her that I’ve taken off my nailpolish with stuff that tastes smoother than her beloved “Cruzan” and told her I’d just have a screwdriver.

This is what I got:

Next time I’ll have a beer.

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Busy Shakers are Thirsty Shakers

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Nov 092009
 

Good evening . Shakers 1 and 2 here, squeezing in a school night shake just because.
NPR (yes, that NPR, I don’t listen to it either ~Shaker One (Shaker 2 does.)) recently had a contest to incorporate ginger into recipes. One of the winning recipes was for a ginger martini.

As written, a bit too “limey”. We increased the pineapple juice and the result was very nice! Light, fruity, with a subtle ginger kick. We give this one 3 3/4 with our modifications.

Next stop: The Reindeer Martini!

It’s never too early to start testing holiday martinis for the upcoming entertaining season. We stumbled upon this recipe randomly googling. Google, a thirsty ‘tini drinkers bestest friend! After tasting the exact recipe, we decided it needed a bit more cream and Frangelico…..an extra half part Frangelico plus a very generous splash of heavy cream. The result is very tasty, creamy, not too sweet. Garnished with ground cinnamon, this reindeer could join in our reindeer games anytime. Shaker 2 gives it a 3 3/4 olives and I concur.

We served this badboy with dessert grilled cheese sandwiches. Yes, you read that correctly. Warning, these can be highly addictive. Shaker 1 devised this devilish delight in a moment of kitchen experimentation. It’s breakfast, it’s dessert, it’s damn near illegal in 23 states. Make some for yourself, you won’t be sorry.

So we draw this night to a close with happy tummies and thoughts of tinis to come. Good night and remember, it’s never too early to start enjoying the holiday season!

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MWHUAHAHAHA The Dread Shaker

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Nov 052009
 

Certain times of the year lend themselves to the dark and spooky. Ghoulies and ghosties come out of hiding and dark tales begin to form…or we forget all that and have a wonderfully scary Shaker get together.

Velcome to the Dread Shaker!
(insert scary Boris Karloff voice here)

On Halloween eve, the stage was set, costumes donned and munchies made…it was time to invite some of our followers in for the Shaker experience.
Guests were greeted with a lovely concoction: the Apple Thyme Martini.

This one is a rather delicate blend of apple juice, thyme simple syrup, vodka and an apple slice for a garnish. These were a big hit with the guests. The flavors blend together beautifully – nothing overpowers anything else. This one was basically made exactly as written, though we did cut down the simply syrup a bit.

Shaker One and Two give this one a 4.5 olive rating.

To go with this, the table was set with mummy dogs, gougéres, an onion and sage tart, southwestern pumpkin soup shooters, ginger roasted butternut squash soup shooters, caramel corn and fabulous white chocolate pretzel “fingers” and chocolate dipped pretzels sent by Shaker One’s sister (thanks, Cyndy!!)


Zombies!!

Attending this get-together was a James Dean, a Pink Lady, a zombie couple, a preppy, a guy who got off work and refuses to don a costume and two zombie Shakers

.

The Balcony Bar was decked out in tulle, skulls, pumpkins and bats. Quite the festive scene.
Next martini on deck was the Corpse Reviver.

Admittedly, most at the party did not get around to trying this one as they were drinking the Apple Thyme Martinis like they were going out of style.
For this one, we used 3/4 oz of each ingredient (though used vodka instead of gin) and a bit less lemon juice (1/2 oz) and skipped the absinthe. We garnished this one with a piece of star anise, which gave it a very subtle anise flavor.
We give this one a 3.5 rating.

Enjoyable, but not a favorite.

We soon had a special guest at our little Dread Shaker Night – honorary East Coast Shaker, John. He attended via Skype and showed off his costume for a fabulous themed get together he was attending the next night.


John getting to try the apple thyme martini

Love that smile

Showing off his fabulous costume

In honor of the season (and a bottle of Modern Spirits Pumpkin Pie vodka) we Shakers created our own festive concoction, aptly entitled:

The Jack-o-Tini.


The Pumpkin Pie vodka is a subtle infusion. It is not overly pumpkiny and the spices are complimentary and not overpowering. To this, we floated freshly whipped cream flavored with cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar. For a dessert martini, this one is really nice. Not too sweet, depth of flavors with the spices but nothing too cloying.
We give this one a 3.75 (mostly for the creamy goodness)


Zombie and Shaker Two

Shaker One and Shaker Two would like to thank our excellent guests for helping us make our first Dread Shaker event Spooky Fabulous!
Good night and Happy Hallo-tini!!

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Forget Ginger, We'll Stick with Maryann.

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Oct 092009
 

After another foray to the Beverage Warehouse(yes, I bought some Rain Lavender Lemonade vodka!), I come home with a new liqueur mini: Canton Ginger Liqueur. Now I love ginger. I buy the sushi ginger just to snack on. Its my go to vodka infusion. Fresh ginger is one of my favorite flavors, so what’s not to like about boozy ginger?

So I trot over to the Canton website and check out their recipes.

First, I try a classic Canton Martini, hoping to get a good flavor read without too many competing mixers. I open the mini and sniff. Huh, that’s funny- I don’t smell ginger. It smells pretty much like strong booze/cognac. Let’s give it a try, shall we?

Um,no actually. This is a really boring drink. I taste absolutely zero ginger. It tastes like a vodka martini up, with a splash of cognac. And not even a good plain martini. 2 olives.

Let’s try one more and see if this bottle can find beverage redemption.
Canton L’Orientale:

Better, but mostly because the other ingredients mask that hot booze taste. Meh, drinkable but again, 2 olives.

And I’m being generous.

Well, I won’t give up on finding a ginger liqueur. but for now I’ll stick to my ginger infused vodka.

Sorry Canton, thanks for playing. Shaker 2, I’ve spared you martini disappointment.

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Hwyl, bonjour and guten tag

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Oct 092009
 

Shaker 2 here doing a little greeting from the other side of the pond. Sadly, my travels have not included martinis as I have been partaking of ciders, a few beers and lots and lots of tea.

Most of the bars – ‘scuse me, “pubs” – have featured Smirnoff vodka – and unless that stuff is drowning in orange juice, I just can’t drink it. I look forward to getting back to the Balcony Bar and enjoying my favorite mixologists concoctions. I was very interested to read about the new Rain flavors… mmmmmm.

I am off to Paris next and will perhaps see what they have in the City of Lights to try. I will be near the St Germain area, so they might have some lovely beverages to try with its namesake liqueur.

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It's Rain-ing Tinis

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Oct 032009
 



Shaker 1 here. While Shaker 2 enjoys her lengthy European adventure, I thought I’d do a little research. First, off to boozy nirvana (otherwise known as The Beverage Warehouse) to replenish the voddy vault. While cruising down the vodka aisle (no, we don’t have a personalized shelf there, yet), I grabbed a bottle of Rain Vodka and what did I see? Why, they’ve come out with some really interesting sounding flavored versions! Lavender Lemonade, Red Grape Hibiscus, Cucumber Lime and Honey Mango Melon. Now for you regular readers, you may recall seeing Rain Organic Vodka used pretty frequently by the Shakers. We enjoy the smooth taste and reasonable price point. It has become a regular in our vodka repertoire. I was tempted by the Lavender Lemonade and Red Grape Hibiscus flavors, but reluctant to buy a whole bottle only to end up being disappointed (I’m looking at you Pearl Vodka).

So I headed for the checkout line and what did I see? They had minis of every new flavor! Huzzah! I love you Beverage Warehouse.

First up is the Rain Relaxer*, made with Rain Lavender Lemonade Organic Vodka.

At first glance, this is a seriously girly drink. Very pretty color, but I don’t see a guy holding this daintily with pinkie raised. And then I tasted it.

Oh my. Lovely. A very soft ‘tini on the tongue. Sweet without being cloying, a hint of the lavender floral tones, the surprise of blueberries……wait, I need another sip before bestowing the olive score……..this babydoll just gets more enjoyable with every taste. I give this a solid 4 olives. I look forward to making this one for Shaker 2. I think she will approve. Still put this one firmly in the Chicktini category.

Next up is The Rain Hawaiian Breeze made with Rain Red Grape Hibiscus Organic Vodka.


Another chicktini, based on color. I do love the way pineapple juice foams up a martini. Hmmmm, I like this one also. I have to say that I wish there was more hibiscus flavor and less red grape. The hibiscus emotes another subtle floral hint, but I can’t help but think of koolaid when it comes to the grapey-ness. Still a very enjoyable ‘tini. Maybe 3 1/4 olives. I just squeezed the lemon wheel garnish into it and it got much better. That seemed to tone down that grape lollypop note I’m not loving. 3 1/2

Ok, I lied. I’m going for a third recipe. This time it’s The Rain Spa-tini with Rain Cucumber Lime Organic Vodka.

This one is sort of a spa cosmo. Not unpleasant, but as with the Red Grape Hibiscus, I sense a slight synthetic flavor. I don’t dislike this and it makes an ok ‘tini, but I long for a more pronounced “real” lime/cuke tone. 2 1/2 olives. Actually, the more I taste this one, the less I enjoy it.

2 olives and some serious doubt about this flavor. Not finishing this one.

The verdict: I will definitely buy a bottle of the Rain Lavender Lemonade Vodka and very much look forward to trying new recipes. I may go for a bottle of the Red Grape Hibiscus, but will first see if anyone does a plain hibiscus vodka. Still have to try the Honey Mango Melon. The jury is out on the Cucumber Lime,but it may want to consider a plea deal.

{note to readers: please excuse the temporary lack of visual bells and whistles while Shaker 2 is abroad. My technical skills do not match my mixology skills}

Good night and good shaking!

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