The Oakland Review

For weeks I have been furiously mixing up drinks trying to perfect my craft. This means staying in on the weekends and constantly keeping a stocked bar (which isn’t always a bad thing). But last weekend I wanted to get out! Explore! Drink the fruits of someone else’s labor! So where does a 21 year old with impeccable taste for a fine cocktail go on a Friday night? I’ll give you one guess… it wasn’t the club. Instead, we went to one of my favorite speakeasies in metro Detroit – The Oakland!

The Oakland is located in Ferndale off of 9 mile and recently just won “Best Cocktail Bar in Detroit” – among other prestigious awards. Check out their awesome website here! 

(Image from RedThread Mag)

 I am in no way affiliated with The Oakland, but I am absolutely smitten by it. I love the atmosphere, the intimate conversations going on around you, and of course the drinks! This is a true speakeasy in the sense that they actually have house rules! See below.

The Oakland House Rules:

(From Yelp!)

 As you can see, cellphone use is frowned upon and therefore I wasn’t able to take a photo of my drink. So sorry! But this time around I went with the Juliet and Romeo. It is a gin based drink, full of muddled cucumber and mint, a splash of lime juice as well as simple syrup and includes a few drops of rosewater. I’m sure you all have figured out that I am a gin fanatic and this drink does the trick! I found a recipe online that is similar so I thought I would share it with you all!

Now I think once the semester is over I will make a trip down to Sugarhouse in Corktown, but what about you guys? Any awesome speakeasies hiding in your towns? Let me know!

Old favorites & Vieux Mot Tutorial

For this week’s post I have prepared something verrrry special! But before we get into that, how did everyone celebrate National Margarita Day yesterday? I personally am not a huge margarita fan, I mean I like one on Cinco De Mayo and occasionally out at a Mexican restaurant, but other than that I’m not too partial to them. There is just something about icy/slushy drinks that deters me. Anyways, instead of blending up some tequila drinks, I decided to make an old favorite. You could say this weekend was full of old favorites!

I give you, The Corpse Reviver #2

This is one of the cocktails that first got me into mixology! There was a restaurant in town that could make a mean corpse reviver, which peaked my interest in the process of preparing it.

Here are the ingredients you will need;

The finished product!

Now for another old favorite, I have prepared a Youtube tutorial for how to prepare my all-time favorite drink – the Vieux Mot! Check it out below, enjoy!

Ingredient Highlight: Bitters

Now that Valentine’s Day is over and we can all go back to our usual weekend plans without having to worry if it is pink or red themed, I thought it would be a good time to do an ingredient highlight on bitters. This word “bitter” continuously popped up in conversation last week with my singleton friends as February 14^th quickly approached. . . .

So what exactly are bitters? We all know they come in little bottles, are kind of expensive, and we are only to use a few dashes at a time. (Just so we are clear, there is no perfect way to get a dash. I usually just tip the bottle over and give it a light tap) But bitters are actually the perfect way to add flavor complexity to a drink without watering it down. 

There are dozens of bitters companies out there but the two main and most popular are Angostura and Peychaud's. All of these can be found at your nearest liquor store and rebottled into more attractive decanters if you choose.

Angostura Bitters were originally formulated as a digestive tonic and is a concentrated infusion of roots and spices. They can easily be spotted by the yellow cap and the oversized packaging.

Peychaud’s Bitters are bright red and cherry flavored – vital to prepare a proper Sazerac. These bitters are also perfect in Scotch based drinks or classic cocktails.

Orange Bitters are made from the rinds of Seville oranges and various spices.

Angostura and Fee brothers both make their own version of orange bitters, although I prefer the Fee Brothers as it adds variety to my home bar.

Since the explosion of mixology over the last decade, the list of bitters has grown too. Below is a list of some of the coolest and craziest bitters I have come across!

The great thing about this expansion in the bitters world is that there are now easy ways to experiment and make your own! I love this idea and think it is a fun way to make your own flavor profiles – I am dying to make vanilla bean bitters since I think it will compliment a pour of bourbon nicely. Check out this youtube video on how to create your own bitters! Cheers! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBQA442Dl1w

Valentine’s Day inspired drinks

Valentine’s day is right around the corner and we all know what that means – flowers, candy, dinner, and most importantly… drinks! I have selected a few of my favorite date night cocktails to share and hopefully inspire. Now even if you plan on having a night out on the town, I also wanted to list some great romantic drinks for you to try. Bottoms up!

The first drink is something that I would recommend to anyone, regardless of preferences or taste. It is perfect to mix up on a Friday night for your date or to have out at a bar. I especially love this drink for Valentine’s Day for how well the fruit flavors come together and how great it looks in a chilled rocks glass.
 

I give you, The Cherry Pop!

I’m sure you all have figured out how big of a fan I am of Hendricks gin from my tweets and previous postings, but I must insist that you use Plymouth on this one. Since this drink is more fruit flavor involved, I highly recommend using a more balance gin rather than an herbal one like Hendricks.
* Throw in two dashes of cherry bitters if you really want to kick it up a notch *

The next drink is so Valentine’s Day focused that we are even using Valentine’s vodka! If you are like me and live in the metro Detroit area, then you know how awesome it is to have a distillery that is pumping out vodka that is rated higher than Grey Goose, Belvedere, and Kettle One. (Don’t believe me? Check out their page for all of their prestigious awards http://valentinedistilling.com)

                                                       Next up – A Dash of Detroit

To be honest, I’m not big on following the measurements for this drink. I would suggest making this drink to taste – especially if you’re making it for a date! Looking for something less sweet? Try a little less Contreau or pineapple juice when mixing.


So are you and your date planning on staying out all night? Be sure to check out my list of drinks to try to make your Valentine’s Day a little bit sweeter!

I know that I will be mixing up a few of these cocktails during my Valentine’s date night but what about you guys? Comment your plans and what drinks you will be mixing up for your dates or for friends!

Whiskey drinks for a lighter pallet

Since today is Superbowl Sunday and a majority of people will be gathering around a TV with their favorite cocktail in hand, I thought it would be a great time to share some of my favorite whiskey drinks. Now I don’t want any ladies being frightened by this post, it is dedicate to people with a lighter pallet – or someone who normally wouldn’t enjoy whiskey on the rocks.

Personally, I love a good whiskey drink in the fall and winter months. There is just something about the bold oak taste that goes perfectly with the season!
So lets get started with a drink that changed my entire viewpoint on whiskey…
(Drum roll please)

So this recipe is very similar to a classic Manhattan but uses Benedictine to lighten up the taste even more. A Manhattan uses vermouth and bourbon to produce a strong bold flavor, so I love how the Benedictine and absinthe balance out this drink.

And now for something a little lighter, with a hint of OJ. I find that this drink is perfect to order out since there is no way of really messing it up, ya know?

So now that I have given you all ideas on whiskey drinks to try when you’re out on the town, I would love to what drinks converted you to the “dark side”! Check out Whiskey Women for more inspiration! http://www.thewhiskeywomen.com

Barman’s bible: Which one do you live by?

“Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.”

― Frank Sinatra

Whenever I get into a conversation about drinks, mixology, or general booze, there is always one question that comes up – “How did you get into craft cocktails?”

To be honest, I was sick of drinking vodka & cranberry. I don’t know if it is some unwritten rule somewhere that every young lady at the bar should always order “vodka cran”, but I for one was over it! Now I had always known that other drinks were out there like martinis, gin & tonic, and an array of rum drinks, but I was always too scared to order them at the bar. (No one wants to pay $7 for a drink and then not like it)

So I did what any other millennial would do, I looked up cocktail recipe books on Google and ordered one off of Amazon. But lets be clear, I didn’t order just any book, I ordered the PDT Cocktail Book – and I LOVE IT! 

I know that every mixologist or bartender has his or her preference, but I am completely smitten by this book. Not only does it provide me with amazing recipes but it also includes history on the drinks, tips for setting up your own bar, and a killer index so you can look up drinks by ingredients. (Check out the photos below for examples) Taking the time to sit down and read it cover to cover is what truly inspired me to take the plunge into craft cocktails. 

Now if you don't have the time to dedicate yourself to a cocktail book, there are other options out there. I am a subscriber to Imbibe Magazine and I can testify that it is worth the subscription fee. It is nice to "shake things up" every once and a while and pull out a new recipe to try from the magazine. Not to mention they have their own app!  
So that is why I pose the question to you, what barman’s bible do you live by? Is it PDT’s or Imbibe? I want to hear your thoughts!

Inside look of PDT's