Trends

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd and to honor what it stands for I am offering up truly "green", farm-fresh, organic ingredients and cocktails for spring. As an added bonus, I list the best fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, and florals to be used in cocktails, infused spirits, syrups, purees, and juices for the season, best way to prepare them, and what base spirits pair best with them. Thank you to Nicole Friend and my friends from over at Sauza Tequila for contributing.

International G & T Day (April 9th) has come and gone, but why not celebrate this classic elixir the whole month of April as we transition from spring to summer. Even though the G & T has lost some of it's luster over the past decade, it still remains iconic, especially for traditionalists. New age bars and bartenders have begun to modernize it by serving it many different ways without losing the distinct G & T taste.

(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.

#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.

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.

In celebrating #NationalMargaritaDay on February 22^nd, I give you a fully loaded post filled with history, factoids, info, and recipes.

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.

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.

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.