Add Veggies to Your Cocktail

Its National Vegan Month!
Try adding veggies to your drink.

Bell Pepper Cocktail

Ingredients:

Yellow bell pepper (four rings)
2 tsp. Fresh mint
3 oz Grapefruit juice
1/2 oz Lemon juice
3 oz Vodka
1 1/2 oz Chartreuse
Preparation: Muddle yellow bell pepper and fresh mint. Add grapefruit juice, lemon juice, vodka and Chartreuse. Shake well and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a ring of bell pepper.

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Carrot Ginger Splash

Ingredients:

Fresh ginger (five thin slices)
6 oz Carrot juice
2 oz Apple juice
3 oz Vodka
Splash club soda
Preparation: Muddle fresh ginger in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add carrot juice, apple juice and vodka and shake well. Pour into cocktail glass, top with a splash of club soda and garnish with a lime slice.

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Cucumber Martini

Ingredients:

Cucumber (5 slices)
2 Sprigs fresh mint
1/2 oz Lime juice
4 oz Vodka or gin
Preparation: Muddle cucumber and mint in a shaker. Add ice, lime juice and vodka or gin and shake well. Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with a cucumber slice.

The truth about sulfites

Sulfites exist in nature and are also naturally contained in or even added to preserve a very long list of many common foods, including wine, cheese, yogurt and other processed dairy, bread and baked goods, tortillas, dried fruits, dried spices, shellfish, dried seafood, canned, bottled, or frozen fruits and juices, jams and jellies, tofu and other soy protein products, packaged pasta or rice mixes, etc.. The human body actually produces about 1 gram of sulfites daily through normal metabolism.

About 1% of the general population and about 5% of asthma sufferers may react to sulfites. Symptoms commonly include restricted breathing ability to varying degrees from mild to severe, even life-threatening, especially in asthmatics prescribed to steroids. Skin rashes, hives, itching and nausea are relatively rare symptoms for sulfite allergy. Reactions depend on both the sensitivity of the individual and the level of sulfites ingested. Headaches are not a symptom of sulfite reaction, although this is a common folk tale (see next section).

Foods may legally contain sulfites at levels ranging from 6 to 6,000 parts per million. The legal maximum for wine is 350 ppm, but the average content in premium wine is under 40 ppm. White wines are generally higher in sulfites than red wines. Inexpensive wines generally have higher sulfur content than expensive wines. There are no wines that are entirely sulfite-free, even those labeled "organic".

Fun Drinks

Banana-nana

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 Parts DeKuyper® Creme de Banana
1 Part DeKuyper® Peachtree®
5 Parts Pineapple Juice

Build over ice, stir gently, and serve.
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Plymouth Rockin Java

INGREDIENTS

1 Part DeKuyper® Vanilla Liqueur
1 Cup Hot Coffee

Fill mug with coffee and add ingredients.
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Lit Fuse

INGREDIENTS

1 Part Pucker® Peach Schnapps
1 Part Jim Beam®
2 Parts Cola
HOW TO

Build over ice, stir gently, and serve.
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Slap Shot
INGREDIENTS

1 Part DeKuyper® Blackberry Brandy
1 Part DeKuyper® Peppermint Schnapps

Add ingredients to an ice-filled shaker.
Shake and strain into a shot glass.

Ivanabitch Vodka...Tobacco Flavor

Ivanabitch Tobacco Vodka does not taste like cigarettes or smoke. There, I said it. The floral pipe shop aroma reminds me of walking into my local smoke shop where they sell dozens of different flavored tobaccos. While I can’t say I’ve torn open a cigarette and carefully inspected its aroma, I can say that Ivanabitch Tobacco Vodka smells, to me, like that of a pipe tobacco and not a stale cigarette! This is awesome

Ivanabitch also has a menthol version, which mingles tobacco flavor along with that of a peppermint schnapps. A bit more sweet than the original tobacco vodka and might make a bit of a surprising flavor to a holiday cocktail. While the menthol version is fun and quite amazing it’s really tough to get by my initial general reaction to a tobacco vodka in the first place.

Mead cocktails just in time for the Texas Renaissance Fest!

Its that time of year! The Renaissance Festival is back. At our store we have plenty of meads for everyone. Here's some extra ideas on how to use mead. The simplest drink is mead and whisky (2-1 ratio). Who needs premade honey whisky when you can make your own??
Be sure to ask about our meads, we will be happy to help.

Nectar Breeze

1 1/2 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz Malibu Rum
2 oz pineapple juice
Shaker of Blackberry, Raspberry Mead

Serve over ice in a tall glass

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Redstone Tea

½ oz each of vodka, gin, run, triple sec, tequila
Shaker of Raspberry or Traditional Mead

Serve on ice in a tall glass with lime and orange slices

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Meady Waters
1 oz. Traditional Mead
1 oz. each Kalua® and Bailey’s® Irish cream
4 oz.  dairy or nut milk
1 banana
3 ice cubes
Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Serve with shaved chocolate in a margarita glass.

Hill Wine Company Cabernet

Dark purple in color, this Cabernet Sauvignon has intriguing aromas of chocolate, lavender, with fig, black currant, plum and blackberry fruits. The fruit flavor profile leads in with plums, raspberries and finishes with hints of cinnamon.

Jinro Soju

Jinro Soju – There’s no mistake – Jinro Soju, produced in South Korea, is the best-selling spirit in the world.  In 2012, this clear, fresh soju sold 65.3 million 9-liter cases…that’s more than double the sales the of the product currently holding on to the number two spot.
This distilled specialty distinguished by its yellow label has a neutral composition which lends itself perfectly to fresh fruits, juices and mixers.
It's alcohol content is just enough to give a "kick" to popular cocktails but mild enough for an extended drinking experience. Soju straight up is easy to drink, mild and fairly neutral but a bit watery. Unlike vodka, soju doesn't turn syrupy when left in the freezer. Soju has only 64 calories for a 1 oz. shot and 540 calories for a 375ml bottle. Additionally, its smoothness and flavor is a great accompaniment to BBQ dishes and grilled meat dishes.