December 10 – Snowflaketini

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Toying Around

I remember when I was just a little sipper and the annual Christmas catalogues would arrive. It was always fun to flip through this massive book, skipping through the housewares and appliances sections until you landed on the Holy Grail… the toy section. Well, catalogues are out and the internet is in. Toys ‘R’ Us has put together a list of 15 of the most popular toys for Christmas 2013… and I’ve put together a list of my opinions on them!

Crazy Cart

Oh sweet Jesus, we thank you for having been born on this day, so that I might get blitzed and ride on this Crazy Cart with my little buddy, Furious B! This thing looks absolutely amazing. Even the kid riding it knows it’s pretty awesome. What a way for kids to finally get some fresh air. Granted, they won’t really be exercising and you know in due time the Crazy Cart will be banned be some parent advisory committee. Enjoy the ride while it lasts!

Sofia the First: Royal Talking Vanity

So, basically we’ll be teaching girls at the earliest of ages to waste everyone’s time as they spend countless hours putting on make-up. This will spawn a whole new generation of frustrated men, pleading with their daughter/sister/girlfriend/wife to wrap things up because they’re already late. I certainly won’t be picking up an item like this for my future little sippers, as Mrs. Sip is bad enough and any progeny she passes her DNA down to will certainly have a built-in lateness gene.

Big Hugs Elmo

How does this character keep getting work!? I long for the day when we hear about Elmo living on the streets, his fortune spent and life ruined. Even after his handler was booted from Sesame Street amid sex allegations, Elmo is still flying high… that stupid coked out Muppet. How can anyone respect a being that’s been three-and-a-half years old since the 1970’s!? The little monster is clearly lying about its age and sending a bad message to youngsters everywhere.

Lego: Legends of Chima – The Lion CHI Temple

I’m so thankful that people still play with Lego. I loved this stuff growing up and spent countless hours building and imagining. I can’t wait for the day when my little sippers are old enough not to choke on the little hazards (all evidence says they’ll have to be 18+… although they’ll hopefully be more intelligent than dear old dad) and I’m able to buy them Lego sets. They might not care much for them, but I’ll at least be able to play with Lego again and have it be somewhat justifiable.

Doc McStuffins: Deluxe Get Better Check-Up Center

Doc McStuffins??? Seriously!? If that doesn’t say porn star name, I don’t know what does! Heck, the whole thing says fantasy role play. It all starts with a temperature check with a certain thermometer and away we go. They should have rebranded this item and had the 50 Shades of Grey folks endorse it. They’d make more money marketing the item to lonely housewives than they would getting kids to buy in… especially if Oprah lent her name to the product, too!

Tabeo E2 / LeapPad Ultra

Well, it was bound to happen that kids would have their own tablet-like devices… I’m only surprised it took so long. And maybe it didn’t. Don’t know, don’t care. Where was I? My drinker’s brain is acting up again. Anyhoo, now your child can be as neglectful and distracted as some parents are. And then they can participate in distracted tricycling… that is, if they ever leave the house and do any physical activity… hand exercise playing video games doesn’t count.

Drink #344: Snowflaketini

Rim glass with Coconut Shavings
1.5 oz Blue Curacao
1 oz Candy Cane Vodka
Splash of White Cranberry Juice
1 Lemon Wedge

Which top toys for 2013 have caught your eye? Do you have a story from your own catalogue hunting days? Perhaps you just want to track me down and throw a Big Hugs Elmo at me to release your pent-up anger. It’s all cool… just leave a message after the beep!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
This drink looks cool with the Coconut Shavings acting as ice and tastes great. Despite my apprehension towards the Candy Cane Vodka, everything came together really well. Peppermint plays nicely with the Curacao, Cranberry Juice, and Lemon and makes for a very unique cocktail.

September 17 – Bushwacker

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Blendz

Rum has greatly benefitted from the explosion of flavoured spirits, with perhaps vodka being the only alcohol that has enjoyed the expansion more. There are certainly some interesting rum-based selections out there. Here are some worth looking out for:

Cajun-Spiced Rum

Mrs. Sip picked this up for me while she was recently in New Orleans and today’s drink has inspired me to finally crack the bottle open and give it a shot. The Cajun Spiced Rum hails from the Old New Orleans Rum Distillery, which Mrs. Sip got to enjoy a tour of. We’ve all heard of spiced rums, but Cajun-spiced? Well, that’s a whole different story. If the spices do for my drink what they do for chicken, seafood, and other eats, then I think we’re in for some fun!

Captain Morgan: Tattoo/Bite

The Tattoo blend of blackberries, jalapenos, and black pepper is delicious and gets my endorsement for a cheaper but delicious rum. There are mixed reviews, but Mrs. Sip and I grabbed a bottle for our room in Las Vegas recently and made short work of the liquor. As for Bite, Ma and Pa Sip brought this back from one of their travels and put it out for a party shortly thereafter. It didn’t last very long once folks got a taste of the lime-infused spirit.

Bacardi Dragon Berry Rum

Recently, I picked up a bottle of Bacardi Torched Cherry Rum, which was quite delicious with its chocolate overtone. As a bonus, attached to the bottle was a sample size of Bacardi Dragonberry Rum (soon to be presented on The Sip Advisor). I can’t wait to try this spirit, which is said to be a mix of strawberry and dragon berry fruit. I’ll keep you little sippers updated!

Malibu Fresh/Red

I’m looking forward to trying both of these Malibu offerings. Fresh combines coconut rum with mint and I think this would be perfect for mojitos, while Red adds tequila to the coconut rum the company is best known for. I like how Malibu is working hard to try different flavours and I hope they continue to pursue this route in the future.

Ron Miel Honey Rum

As a fan of honey whiskey, I can only assume that honey rum would also fare well with my palate. That lingering sweetness that honey-flavoured alcohols offer is the perfect finish to a cocktail sip and works nicely to dull the sometimes harsher tones of the liquor (whiskey or rum) itself. The added essence also makes them fun to play with in the mixology world.

Whistling Andy Hibiscus-Coconut Rum

I’m not entirely sure who Whistling Andy is, but I like his gamble of putting hibiscus and coconut together. Mrs. Sip brought back with her some hibiscus leaves from Egypt a number of years back, which we used to make juice. Now I’m thinking we should use what’s still left of the shrubbery to blend our own infused rums! Things are about to get messy!

Anyone else notice the perfectly placed bikini butt in the background!

Redrum

This brand infuses the liquor with mango, pineapple, coconut, and berries, which must hit the tongue from a number of different directions. I’m very curious as to how it all comes together, so if anyone wants to send me a bottle for a through taste analysis, you know where to find me. Seriously, just because it’s murder spelled backwards doesn’t scare this hombre.

Sweet Georgia Belle

This product offers an interesting blend of peach and mango, as part of a rum liqueur. Perhaps it is meant to mimic the taste of a debutant, but that sounds like the company would be bordering on some serious legal implications. Let’s just assume they got wild and crazy and threw the two fruits together hoping for the best. I hope for that, too!

Drink #260: Bushwacker

1 oz Rum (I used Cajun Spiced)
0.75 oz Kahlua
0.75 oz Crème de Cacao
Top with half Coconut Cream and half Milk
Garnish with Coconut Shavings and Chocolate Sprinkles

What rum blends out there have you tried and thoroughly enjoyed or have come across and want to try, willing to give up your first born child to taste the beautiful elixir? Don’t worry, you’re far from alone!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
The Cajun Spiced Rum is quite tasty with a slight twist on the usual spiced rum concept. Between all the ingredients, you get hints of chocolate, coconut, coffee and spiced rum, all combining to make a very nice drink.

April 9 – Toucan

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Angry Advisor

Let’s see: coffee drinkers… check; religious zealots… check; birds… hmmm, haven’t ranted on that yet!

I hate birds. Just downright don’t like them. All they do is poop on people… I should know, their bombs have struck me twice in my life and that’s something you just don’t forget.

Not to mention Mrs. Sip and I currently have a bird infestation on the balcony of our place. When we first moved in, a bird had made a nest on the ground of the balcony and we had a baby pigeon. Not realizing what a mess that would turn out to be, we named it Baby Buster and then ignored the problem for several months. Before we knew it, our balcony became a shelter for the stupid creatures who completely ignored the wooden owl that’s supposed to scare them away. And once again an owl has failed me.

Now, it looks like a war zone of bird crap out there. So much so, that we are afraid to open that sliding door, even on the hottest summer days, fearing that we could be breathing in toxins from these vermin. Stupid birds.

Even birds seem to hate other birds. They seem to fight more than warring homeless people.

And it’s not just real birds that piss me off. Animated ones draw my ire, too. Tweety: stupid and annoying. The Roadrunner: stupid and annoying. Woody Woodpecker: stupid and annoying. Sorry about that, the adjective generator in my brain was overloaded the other day and the repair guys are supposed to show up sometime between 9am and 5pm today.

To be fair, I respect the poke playing hawks in the new Old Spice deodorant commercial, but that’s only because I fear them as well. Ducks (Donald, Scrooge, Daffy) and penguins (Opus, Chilly Willy, Wheezy) get a pass because they entertain me. And surprisingly, I do love me some Angry Birds (there’s something so satisfying seeing birds get launched into objects and the resulting mass destruction!).

I cheer when Peter Griffin fights the giant angry chicken. I cry every time Tweety and The Roadrunner get the better of Sylvester J. Pussycat and Wile E. Coyote, respectively, and my blood pressure rises every time I’m woken up by the cooing of a filthy bird on my balcony.

In closing, I am taking steps forward in organizing the Anti-Bird Movement (apparently I’m not alone). Our offices will be located in the Swiss Alps, so high in altitude that birds cannot find us and therefore we need not worry about their poop, their weird birdy noises, or their ability to steal French fries. While this drink may have been enjoyable, I’m feel great shame and sadness every time I make a drink that is bird-related. On the plus side, once you slam this cocktail, that’s one less feathered fiend in existence.

Drink #99: Toucan

1 oz Malibu Rum
1 oz Peach Schnapps
Top with half Orange Juice and half Lemon-Lime Soda
Garnish with an Orange Slice covered in Coconut Shavings

Tomorrow marks our 100th post here at The Sip Advisor. I hope you’ll join us, as we look back at the first 100 days of this drinking challenge, through wild recipes, insane garnishes and wonderful time spent together.

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3 Sips out of 5):
I may be guilty of kind of screwing this one up. Despite using Orange Juice, I was surprised to see how clear the drink was. After photos and drinking, I realized that I forgot to shake the OJ and that was why it was so clear. It still tasted decent, so I guess the essence of Orange Juice is good for something.

February 23 – Berry Delight

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Rim Jobs

One of my favourite ways to complete the aesthetics of a cocktail is to give it a good rimming. Apparently the network isn’t too happy with me terming it that way… don’t really understand why. And, actually, I shouldn’t say it’s how I complete the drink, as it’s usually the starting point… let’s call it a thorough round of foreplay. Oh, now I see the issue!

I like to use anything that will stick to a glass, no holds barred style. With today’s cocktail, I used strawberry pop rocks. In the past, I’ve used anything from salt (perfect for margaritas) to coconut shavings to cinnamon sugar. And over the rest of this blog’s run, I will continue to experiment with other substances: cocaine, cereal, gravel, etc.

For those who are inexperienced rimmers (we can’t all be experts at the rimming arts), there are a few techniques that will help you put together the best looking cocktail. Here are some tips:

First, coat the rim of your glass with something sticky that will hold whatever you want to stick to it. You can use lemon or lime juice or different syrups (simple syrup in particular is handy).

Most rimming sets have you dunk your glass upside down into whatever liquid you’ve chosen to use and then into whatever rim you want to achieve.

Some people will only rim the outside of a glass, so as not to disturb the drink inside. You can accomplish this by dipping you glass at a 45-degree angle into the liquid, spinning so only the outside of the glass is coated. Then do the same with the rim ingredient. For this, you might want to use small plates, rather than a rimming set.

Note: Those are not the Sip Advisor’s hands… mine are sexier!

Make sure that your rimming material isn’t so heavy that it will not hold. I’ve had issues with rock salt and crushed candy cane bits before. The lighter the item, the more likely it will adhere to the rim coating.

Once the rim is complete, you can use a moist paper towel to clean up the edges and remove anything that has fallen into the glass, if you want a clean cut look. Be careful adding any garnish to the glass, so as not to disturb your work of art.

If serving to friends, you could choose to only rim half the glass in case guests don’t want to taste the rim contents with each sip. Otherwise, they can man (or woman) up, take the first sip with the rim and drink every subsequent sip in the same spot… wussies.

Now let’s feel the snap, crackle and pop of today’s rimming. Satisfaction ALWAYS guaranteed.

Drink #54: Berry Delight (A Sip Advisor Original Recipe)

Rim glass with Strawberry Pop Rocks
1 oz Raspberry Vodka
0.5 oz Cranberry Ginger Ale

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3 Sips out of 5):
This was a relatively plain shot, so I took it upon myself to add the Pop Rock rim, which was fun to eat even after the liquor was already down the hatch.

January 19 – On the Cusp

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Birthday Bumps

It’s my wife’s birthday and after everything she does for me (and you readers – she is, after all, responsible for most of the photos that grace this site, as well as being my muse, my editor and sometimes my censor), I owe her a great deal of gratitude. Therefore, I decided to invent a shot to celebrate her big day (as if the brand new Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks jersey and other surprises weren’t enough!), mixing a couple of her favourites together in this week’s shot.

I started with a thin layer of chocolate syrup that will make for a nice chaser to go with the rest of the recipe. Remember rule #1: girls love chocolate. Also, chocolate can represent the “earth” element of Capricorn or how Capricorns are supposed to be all grounded and practical or other such nonsense. Next up, when I first met my wife nearly 11 years ago, she was a massive coconut fan and still is. I believe one of the first hard alcohols she ever got into – as is the case with many 18-year-old girls – was Malibu Rum, so that was definitely going to be part of the shot. I followed that with some Chocolate Whipped Vodka because, once again, rule #1: girls love chocolate. Seriously, I have never met a woman that doesn’t love the sweet stuff. Even if a girl is allergic to chocolate, they will eat it to the point of needing an EpiPen. Finally we finish the concoction with Blue Curacao for no other reason than I think of the colour blue when I hear the word ‘Aquarius’. Decorate it all up a little with coconut shavings and there you have it, a beautiful birthday shot that you can say is homemade and earn extra brownie points to be cashed in when you’ve bestowed a handful or so of these onto the pretty lady!

And to think, I was originally thinking of making her a macaroni self-portrait… her loss!

Drink #19: On the Cusp

Rim glass with coconut shavings
Pour a thin layer of chocolate syrup into the shot glass
0.5 oz Malibu Rum
0.5 oz Chocolate Whipped Vodka
0.5 oz Blue Curacao
Sprinkle some coconut shavings into the shot

If you would like me to create a shot for you or your partner, drop me a line, let me know what you or they like and I’ll do my best to come up with something.

P.S.: Tequila week starts tomorrow, so I better see everyone doing The Worm!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (5 Sips out of 5):
This shot, a completely original recipe, might I add, was absolutely amazing. From the Coconut Rim, all the way through the spirits to the thin layer of Chocolate Syrup, the whole shebang was wonderful. Of course, I save only my best for Mrs. Sip!

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