Tails From The Barstool

Springtime Spotlight - The Modern Fizz Family

(The cover photo courtesy of AJ Rathburn)

The Fizz family of drinks emerged in popularity in the 1910’s, 20’s, and 30’s, when citrus fruit juices (lime or lemon), carbonated water, a spirit, a sweetening agent, and other ingredients were combined to produce a concoction that kept people cool under their layers of clothing, even if hemlines have been raised or lowered quite a bit in the last century.

A modern Fizz, such as the “Springtime Fizz” below, brings tartness, tang, and color in the form of dried Hibiscus flowers along with some sweetness of pomegranate.

National Absinthe Day - The Highly Mysterious "Spirit"

#NationalAbsintheDay falls every year on March 5th. The term “absinthe” comes from “Artemisia absinthium”, the scientific name for its key ingredient, wormwood. Long before distillers discovered it, the herb was used for medicinal purposes.

"Cordial-ly Yours" - A Peak Into The World Of Cordials/Liqueurs

In lieu of #NationalKahluaDay on Feb 27th, let's get to know a little more about that classification of alcohol known as #liqueurs or #cordials, the latter is the more widely used term in Europe, but liqueur in the USA.  They are interchangeable. I personally prefer the term cordial so that will be used throughout this piece.  Cordial literally means “to warm” in French and is an adjective used in describing someone who is nice or warm.

I will give a brief description of the cordial, #Kahlua, along with many other popular cordials.

Preview Of NEW Spring/Summer Cocktail Menu By Raise Your Spirits

Raise Your Spirits is almost set to reveal their new spring/summer cocktail menu to the public. When you book with RYS, you have the opportunity to choose one, two, three, four, or five specialty hand-crafted cocktails exclusively through us. Many of these cocktails have stood the test of time and are proven libations. They have been used for our events as well as on seasonal cocktail menus for various bars in the area. Some are classics, twists on classics, and moderns. All recipes are RYS recipes. Proportions and ratios of ingredients are not listed due to copyright.

Blog Special - "Bartender Wisdom For Valentine's Day"

I meant to put this post together later in the week, but due to coordinating and doing three events this week, this V-day post comes early in the week. Giving you plenty of time to get the ingredients and perfect these cocktails before your date arrives.

Seasonal Spotlight - Traditional New Orleans Cocktails For Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, like Christmas, is a whole season - not just one day.  That being said, Fat Tuesday is the biggest day of celebration, and the date it falls on moves around. You'll find that Fat Tuesday can be any Tuesday between Feb. 3 and March 9. Carnival celebration starts on Jan. 6, the Twelfth Night (feast of Epiphany), and picks up speed through midnight on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.

14 Essential Cocktail Bar Tools & Equipment - "What No Home Bartender Should Be Without"

This post is dedicated to my dear friend and apprentice, Sam, who has impressingly become, in a very short time, a masterful liquid chef and home mixologist. I am proud to have taught him many of my trade secrets and he is well on his way to serving me a quality and well-balanced cocktail. I hope to impart more wisdom onto Sam in the coming months. Also, to Ann, his romantic assistant, and friends Julia, an aspiring mixologist and Christie, a friendly, neighborly imbiber, who have all found a better appreciation of good drink-making skills and cocktails.

"Cocktail of the Month" - Classic Sidecar & Twists

For this post, you will find various offerings of the classic Sidecar for the "Cocktail of the Month" Program (COM). Choose from one of these versions of the Sidecar for the month of January.

Would you like the ingredients for one of these cocktails delivered to your doorstep? At this time, this program is only available to Central PA. Let Raise Your Spirits do the shopping, make recipe cards, and box up ingredients with step-by-step instructions or have them batch the cocktail and deliver MTO. Either way, you get to keep the products. 

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