Margie decided this would be her elegant bar drink when she wasn’t going for something with Scotch.  It has a very Roaring 20s feel to it.

Ingredients:

• Juice of ¼ Lemon*
• 1 oz. Triple Sec
• 1 oz. Brandy

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

*A medium lemon will produce about 3 Tbsp of juice; a large one 4 Tbsp (¼ cup).

This is a gin drink that tastes remarkably not-all-that-ginny. Very refreshing on a warm day.

Folks who hang out in bars insist that a Gimlet can only be made with Rose’s Lime Juice. I’ve never been thrilled with that, preferring something made with fresh lime and sugar.

Ingredients

• 2 oz. gin
• ¾ oz. lime juice
• ¾ oz. simple syrup

Notes:

• That works out to a 8:3:3 ratio.  You could also go 2-2/3 oz. gin and then 1 oz of the other two ingredients.
• Mr. Boston calls for 1½ oz. gin, 1 oz. lime juice, 1 tsp. powdered sugar, shaken and strained.

The best thing to do with Ginger Beer.

Ingredients

• 2 parts Dark Rum (traditionally Gosling’s Black Seal)
• 3 parts Ginger Beer

Instructions

1. Mix in a Collins glass (tall tumber)
2. Add ice
3. Add in a quarter/wedge of lime per glass

This is a “tween”/teen “virgin” version of the Caipirinha.  I invented it to serve our (at the time) 11-year-old daughter whilst Margie and I were drinking the boozy version.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Club Soda
• 1 Lime
• 2 tbsp Ultrafine (Baker’s) Sugar (or Simple Syrup equivalent) (see notes)
• Liberal Splash of Sprite (or similar lemon-lime soda).
• Crushed ice

Instructions

1. Take a lime, cut it in half lengthwise, remove the white pith in the center.
2. Cut the lime half in half lengthwise, then cut laterally into four smaller wedges.
3. Put lime wedges in a lowball (“rocks” or “old-fashioned”) glass
4. Add sugar.
5. Muddle the lime and sugar.  Get as much juice out of the limes as you can without squeezing the bitter oils out of the rind.
6. Fill the glass with crushed ice.
7. Fill the glass with club soda (should be roughly 2 oz.).
8. Add a splash of Sprite
9. Mix well (ideally, use a larger glass or shaker over the top and shake well).
10. Garnish with lime slice (optional).

Notes

• It’s pronounced “cuy-per-tween-ya.”
• The amount of sugar is somewhat to taste.  Various recipes call for 1-3 tbsp. Simple syrup can be used, but part of the fun in a Caipirtweenha is a bit of unmuddled sugar at the bottom of the glass.
• Some folks swear by lime slices instead of wedges.
• For refills, I add a half-lime (since there’s usually plenty of juice left in the remainders) and another tbsp of sugar (ditto), muddle in the existing glass, then follow the rest of the recipe (club soda, liquor, Sprite).

The “National Cocktail of Brazil,” we fell in love with the Caipirinha via the good graces of our local Fogo de Chao restaurant.  It’s a relatively easy recipe, bounded largely by the proportions you use.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Cachaça (or, alternately, white rum — see notes)
• 1 Lime
• 2 tbsp Ultrafine (Baker’s) Sugar (or Simple Syrup equivalent) (see notes)
• Splash of Sprite (or similar lemon-lime soda).
• Crushed ice

Instructions

1. Take a lime, cut it in half lengthwise, remove the white pith in the center.
2. Cut the lime half in half lengthwise, then cut laterally into four smaller wedges.
3. Put lime wedges in a lowball (“rocks” or “old-fashioned”) glass
4. Add sugar.
5. Muddle the lime and sugar.  Get as much juice out of the limes as you can without squeezing the bitter oils out of the rind.
6. Fill the glass with crushed ice.
7. Fill the glass with cachaça (should be roughly 2 oz.).
8. Add a splash of Sprite
9. Mix well (ideally, use a larger glass or shaker over the top and shake well).
10. Garnish with lime slice (optional).

Notes

• It’s pronounced “cuy-per-een-ya.”
• Cachaça is a rum-like spirit from Brazil, also known as aguaridente. It is similar to rum (and is stocked in better liquor stores next to it), but is produced directly from cane juice rather than from molasses.  You can use white rum instead, but it’s not quite as good. (In theory you can also use vodka in this recipe, making it a “Caipiroska,” but that just sounds vile.)
• The amount of sugar is somewhat to taste.  Various recipes call for 1-3 tbsp. Simple syrup can be used, but part of the fun in a caipirinha is a bit of unmuddled sugar at the bottom of the glass.
• Some folks swear by lime slices instead of wedges.
• For refills, I add a half-lime (since there’s usually plenty of juice left in the remainders) and another tbsp of sugar (ditto), muddle in the existing glass, then follow the rest of the recipe (ice, liquor, Sprite).
• There are a lot of caipirinha recipes out there. This one is simple.

This was Dave’s drink of choice at Margie Gras – Labor Day 2008. Cool and crisp, but unlike most drinks of this sort the ginger keeps it from being cloyingly sweet. 

2 oz. white rum
2 slices fresh ginger
3 oz. cranberry juice
3 oz. pineapple juice

Shaker, muddler, ice, highball glass

1. Pound/muddle the ginger and run together in the bottom of a shaker.
2. Add ice and the remaining ingredients.
3. Shake and strain into a highball filled with ice.

You can, of couse, do the muddling at the bottom of the glass, add ice, and pour the rest of the juice in. You’ll end up with bits of ginger in the drink, but that’s not that bad of a thing.

Dave says: We had some limes, and mojitos sounded fun. One problem: what is, in fact, the definition of a mojito? Generally speaking it’s a combo of rum, lime, soda water, sugar, and mint — but a Googling of the term turns up an amazing variety of blends and proportions thereof, including variations on the sugar (simple syrup? confectioner’s sugar? cane sugar syrup?) and what to do about the lime juice (everything from fresh-squeezed to Rose’s Lime Juice to lemons and lemon-lime soda). 

Here’s what we came up with that seemed to be a good combo. Noted for future reference: 

10-12 mint leaves (maybe fewer)
1 lime’s juice (1 oz.)
2 tbsp. simple syrup* (about the max sweet you want; you can use a bit less)

ice
2 oz. white rum
3-4 oz. club soda

1. Put mint leaves, lime juice, simple syrup in a pint glass (highball). 
2. Muddle the leaves (with a muddler, or else a spoon) until the are bruised and releasing mint flavor, but not shredded.
3. Fill glass with ice.
4. Pour in rum, club soda.
5. Mix to get mint to the top of the glass, too.

Serve with a slice of lime or some sprigs or mint, if you want to get fancy.

Margie and I spent a couple of weeks struggling through the horrors of taste-testing wines for the various courses of the Fancy Dinner. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.
(We actually brought the “rejects” along with us for hors d’oevres, which everyone enjoyed.)
The wines, per course:

• Appetizer: Coppola Bianco ($8) – a full-bodied white, slightly fruity, that stood up well to the Supreme Sauce.
• Soup: Conde de Valdemar Rioja 1997 ($13) – spicy, and a match for the tomato-pepper soup.
• Dessert: I Vignaioli di S. Stefano Moscato d’Asti ($11) – flowery, slightly effervescent, and a fine complement to the various sweets.

As you can see, the prices were highly reasonable. While I’m sure that more expensive wines would have added greater subtlety and flavor, they were not, in fact, missed in what we presented.
For the eight people, we went through about a bottle and a half per course. The entree course was a nice Bordeaux provided by the host (two bottles worth). Had they not provided one, I would probably have suggested a Cab or a Zin for that installment.