"Whiskey, neat: You're hot. Regardless of gender."
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Women Who Drink Every Day...
... Have Better Sex!
"According to a new study, women who drink two glasses of wine every day say they're having better sex than their teetotaling counterparts. To be fair, that could be the wine talking."
Read about the study here.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Rye Whiskey Is Back!
"IN gold-rush-era San Francisco, bars lined every block of the Barbary Coast, the area where pioneer mixologists — back when they were called bartenders — honed their craft. Rye whiskey was their staple. A hundred years later, a visitor would have been lucky to find one or two rye labels on the shelves of bars in major American cities;bourbon had taken over as the American whiskey.
Over the last few years, though, that has changed, as rye has emerged as a go-to craft spirit of the moment."
As a rye lover, this is great news for me. Read more here.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Bourbon & Brown Butter Brownies
(makes 16 brownies)
250g good quality bittersweet chocolate (if you want them to be less gooey/fudgy then only use 175g)
100g butter
120ml (about 1/2 cup) bourbon
2 eggs
3 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
75g (about 1/2 cup) plain flour
190g (about 3/4 cup) sugar
Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease very well and line the bottom and two long sides of a 20x30cm slice/brownie tin (can be substituted with a 20cm square cake tin but you may have to bake it slightly longer as it will be thicker). Let the baking paper hang over the long edges, it will make it easier to lift brownie out later. Prepare the brown butter; place butter in a small saucepan on low heat until it melts, continue to stir over low heat but keep a close eye on it, as it begins to bubble and the milk solids separate and settle at the bottom of the pan. Stir it frequently at this point, so that the milk solids do not settle at the bottom of the pan for too long and burn. Continue until the mixture turns brown and smells nutty but take care not to leave it for too long or it will taste burnt. Remove from the heat.
250g good quality bittersweet chocolate (if you want them to be less gooey/fudgy then only use 175g)
100g butter
120ml (about 1/2 cup) bourbon
2 eggs
3 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
75g (about 1/2 cup) plain flour
190g (about 3/4 cup) sugar
Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease very well and line the bottom and two long sides of a 20x30cm slice/brownie tin (can be substituted with a 20cm square cake tin but you may have to bake it slightly longer as it will be thicker). Let the baking paper hang over the long edges, it will make it easier to lift brownie out later. Prepare the brown butter; place butter in a small saucepan on low heat until it melts, continue to stir over low heat but keep a close eye on it, as it begins to bubble and the milk solids separate and settle at the bottom of the pan. Stir it frequently at this point, so that the milk solids do not settle at the bottom of the pan for too long and burn. Continue until the mixture turns brown and smells nutty but take care not to leave it for too long or it will taste burnt. Remove from the heat.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Wine Etiquette
Good etiquette is important, no matter what you drink...
Today I'd love to share 8 fun tips for drinking wine! It's nerdy, but I like learning etiquette tips (do you?) and thought you might like to hear these fascinating wine dos and don'ts before heading out to holiday parties and romantic dinners. Below, I wrote out the tips, and the genius Gemma Correll illustrated them. Here goes...
1. Fill red wine glasses 1/3 full, white wine glasses 1/2 full, and sparkling wine 3/4 full.
2. Twist the bottle at the end of pouring a glass of wine, to prevent drips (and to give it a flourish!).
3. Cheers! When clinking glasses, make eye contact with the other person. Otherwise, according to French superstition, you'll risk seven years of bad luck (read: bad sex). You also should clink glasses individually with each person at the table without crossing anyone's arms.
4. If someone is toasting you (your wedding, your birthday, your general awesomeness), don't take a sip. Just smile and look humble.
5. Always hold your wine glass by the stem. Many people mistakenly think you only need to hold white wine by the stem (so you don't warm up the wine), but experts say you should hold red wine by the stem, too, so you can see its color and clarity, as well as to avoid smudging the glass with your fingerprints. Otherwise, wine snobs might call you a "bowl grabber"! :)
6. On the table, your wine glass goes to the right of your water glass.
7. While taking a sip, you should politely look into your glass. (And not at another person, if you're in the middle of a conversation.)
8. The host's duty is to make sure glasses stay filled. "My eyes go to empty glasses immediately," wine expert John Thoreen says. "It's a real radar thing for me."
9. Or happily forget all the tips above, and just eat, drink and be merry!
Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks again to Gemma for the awesome illustrations. xoxo
P.S. A lipstick trick with wine, and the #1 etiquette tip to remember for the holidays.
(Illustrations by Gemma Correll for A Cup of Jo. Thanks to Shoko for research help. Tips viaPrimer, SFGate and years of drinking experience:)
Today I'd love to share 8 fun tips for drinking wine! It's nerdy, but I like learning etiquette tips (do you?) and thought you might like to hear these fascinating wine dos and don'ts before heading out to holiday parties and romantic dinners. Below, I wrote out the tips, and the genius Gemma Correll illustrated them. Here goes...
1. Fill red wine glasses 1/3 full, white wine glasses 1/2 full, and sparkling wine 3/4 full.
2. Twist the bottle at the end of pouring a glass of wine, to prevent drips (and to give it a flourish!).
3. Cheers! When clinking glasses, make eye contact with the other person. Otherwise, according to French superstition, you'll risk seven years of bad luck (read: bad sex). You also should clink glasses individually with each person at the table without crossing anyone's arms.
4. If someone is toasting you (your wedding, your birthday, your general awesomeness), don't take a sip. Just smile and look humble.
5. Always hold your wine glass by the stem. Many people mistakenly think you only need to hold white wine by the stem (so you don't warm up the wine), but experts say you should hold red wine by the stem, too, so you can see its color and clarity, as well as to avoid smudging the glass with your fingerprints. Otherwise, wine snobs might call you a "bowl grabber"! :)
6. On the table, your wine glass goes to the right of your water glass.
7. While taking a sip, you should politely look into your glass. (And not at another person, if you're in the middle of a conversation.)
8. The host's duty is to make sure glasses stay filled. "My eyes go to empty glasses immediately," wine expert John Thoreen says. "It's a real radar thing for me."
9. Or happily forget all the tips above, and just eat, drink and be merry!
Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks again to Gemma for the awesome illustrations. xoxo
P.S. A lipstick trick with wine, and the #1 etiquette tip to remember for the holidays.
(Illustrations by Gemma Correll for A Cup of Jo. Thanks to Shoko for research help. Tips viaPrimer, SFGate and years of drinking experience:)
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Bourbon Soaked Cherries
Bourbon Soaked Cherries
Ingredients
- 1 cup bourbon
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 ounces dried (no oil added) cherries (3/4 cup)
Directions
- Bring bourbon and sugar to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. (Watch carefully, since bourbon may ignite.) Simmer, stirring, until sugar dissolves.
- Pour bourbon syrup over cherries in a 12-ounce glass jar. Let stand overnight to macerate.
Cook's Note
Cherries can be refrigerated in syrup for up to 2 months.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Hot Toddy
For the winter blues. Or "tea" to put in your travel mug during finals...
The Goods:
- 2 oz. rye whisky
- 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. honey
- 1 clove
- 1 strip lemon peel
- 1 cardamom pod
- hot water
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