March 12 – Sepultura

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Grave Diggin’

In Portuguese, Sepultura means grave. And while this drink may eventually send you there, you still have time to figure out what will be written on your headstone. Here’s some things to consider:

Do you want to be remembered for your legacy?

“That’s All Folks!”
The Man of a Thousand Voices

Mel Blanc (voice of numerous Looney Tunes characters)

“The Entertainer”
He Did It All

Sammy Davis, Jr. (triple threat: actor, singer, comedian)

Do you want to tell your story?

Truth and History.
21 Men.
The Boy Bandit King–
He Died As He Lived

William H. Bonney “Billy the Kid” (legendary outlaw)

Are you hoping to deliver a lasting message?

…that nothing’s so sacred as honor and nothing’s so loyal as love

Wyatt Earp (old west lawman)

Workers of all lands unite.
The philosophers have only
interpreted the world in various ways;
the point is to change it.

Karl Marx (Communist manifestonian)

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life.
Comes into us at midnight very clean.
It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands
It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday”

John Wayne (cowboy)

Why not crack a joke on your way out?

There goes the neighborhood

Rodney Dangerfield (comedian)

Jack Lemmon
in

Jack Lemmon (actor)

“I will not be right back after this message.”

Merv Griffin (talk show host/game show creator)

“I’m a writer, but then nobody’s perfect.”

Billy Wilder (movie icon)

Or, do you just want to get in the last word?

Quoth the Raven,
“Nevermore”

Edgar Allan Poe (writer)

After careful consideration, I’ve decided that my tombstone should read:

The Sip Advisor
He provided the world with endless joy
So we drink to him, eating Chips Ahoy
He was a legend, a stud, never rude
To sum up: he was one good dude!

Of course, if you have to pay per letter, I’m cool with it simply saying “C U”. Ah hell, I want to be cremated anyway, with my ashes to be sprinkled in a distillery, so I can be with my loved ones forever. Or at least until they sweep up around the place.

Drink #71: Sepultura

0.75 oz Absinthe
0.75 oz Fireball Whiskey (or Cinnamon Schnapps)
1 Beer (I used Rickard’s Red)

Take the two liquors and put them into a shot glass, drop the shooter into the beer and voila, you have a liquid grave to drown your sorrows in. Only happiness is allowed around here!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3.5 Sips out of 5):
I used a frozen shot glass for this dropped shot cocktail, which eliminated much of the mess and clean up when the drink was done. I would like to try this recipe with other beers and see which one works best.

January 8 – Scotch on the Rocks

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

Potent Quotables

So, I come home from a long day at the office to screaming kids, a messy place and an angry wife… not to mention no dinner on the table. Just kidding, only one of those things was true and that’s only because I do most of the cooking around here at the Sip Advisor offices.

Still, I felt that it was a good day to put away the mixology tools, pour myself a glass of scotch and wax philosophical about some of my favourite alcohol quotes. So, put on your tweed jackets with leather elbow patches and join me for a riveting tour through the human psyche… inebriated edition.

“To alcohol, the cause of… and solution to, all of life’s problems.” – Homer Simpson

I love this quote. It really sums up the whole life story of booze in 12 words and some ellipses or dashes… whichever you prefer. Alcohol can mend fences as quickly as it can burn those fences to the ground, if you’re not careful. Take one sip if it’s caused you a problem. Take two sips if it’s solved an issue. Chug if it has destroyed and fixed the same problem, or vice versa, in succession.

“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” – Frank Sinatra

Oh, Frankie… you sure did do it your way! If I’m to take anything from his quote, my enemies also consist of my wife, kitties and blankets.

“Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.” – George Bernard Shaw

Way to be a bit of a killjoy, Mr. Shaw. Although you have given me an idea for any future surgeries I may have to confront. Instead of taking the prescribed anesthesia (when I was 12 and had my kidney removed it looked like apple juice, but brother it sure didn’t taste like apple juice and I still can’t bring myself to drink AJ to this day) I’ll just get loaded to the point of passing out and then the doctors can do their worse to me.

“Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.” – Sammy Davis, Jr.

Who would have ever thought that The Rat Pack members would be asked their thoughts on alcohol? Hell, you could probably write an entire book on the group’s exploits with and thoughts on liquor. Sammy makes a great point, though… why do you think my wife drinks?!

Oh, Winston, that hand signals means quite a different thing now than it did in your day…

“I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” – Winston Churchill

Atta boy Winston… you show them who’s the man. And we should all be enjoying life to the fullest, taking everything we can out of it. You only get one shot at living and I’ll be damned if I’m going to take it easy on myself in order to extend a life that can be snuffed out by things beyond my control.

“Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl’s clothes off.” – Raymond Chandler

Sure, you could make an analogy between the start of a relationship and getting drunk for the first times in your life… but have you ever seen a bottle of booze naked… there’s really not much there to enjoy.

“That’s the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen.” – Charles Bukowski

Alcohol is many things to many different people. Some don’t like it, some love it and some don’t care either way. To me, booze should only be drunk in times of good… thankfully, I’m a very happy man!

And now, here’s something we hope you’ll really like (ala Rocky the Flying Squirrel)…

Drink #8: Scotch on the Rocks

2 oz Scotch (I used my Glenfiddich: Milleniumm Vintage)
Add ice as desired
Garnish with whatever meets your fancy

For the occasional scotch drinker, unless you are sipping an 18-year-old scotch, chances are you will feel the need for a bit of ice. Some Scotch connoisseurs may turn their nose up at a bit of ice, but hey it’s your drink and I’m over here getting too drunk to judge (I generally leave that to women and cats… especially cats, those judgmental, but very cute buggers).

I love my bottle of scotch, given to me as a wedding gift. I just find the details of the scotch (part of the new millennium batch and bottled the year I got married) to be so neat and a case of symmetry in my life. It’s almost as if it were fate that all these moving parts came together for me. So, please join me in a toast with whatever you have in your hand:

“To alcohol… because life just isn’t the same without it!” – Daniel Wilson aka The Sip Advisor

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
What can you say about Scotch on the Rocks that hasn’t been said by millions of others over time. It is certainly an acquired taste and one that I’ve been happy to develop in recent years. It will certainly make you feel all warm and fuzzy in little time and the smoky flavour is an enjoyable one for me.

January 3 – Manhattan

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Daniel Wilson

The Rat Pack enjoy a drink and a laugh together. Not a rare sight.

The Manhattan is one of my favourite cocktails. It makes me think about the glory days of The Rat Pack – it was among their preferred drink of choice, after all – and the sort of Golden Age they lived through. Back when you had to have some level of talent to be a star, instead of a boob job, hit YouTube video or trashy reality show. A time of fedora hats, pin-striped suits and crazy, yet mysteriously classy parties. I love the stories of Frank, Dean, Sammy and the gang working long hours filming their movies and partying through the night before heading back to work the next day. These guys oozed swagger and machismo and made it look easy. If these originators of cool loved the Manhattan, that’s good enough for me.

Near the top on my growing bucket list, liquor edition, is have a Manhattan, while in Manhattan. If I happen to be donning a fedora and be decked out in a pin-striped suit, that would be the icing on the cake. Not that I’m saying that I own a fedora and pin-striped suit (but I do). I like to think that I’d be making the boys proud.

The Manhattan recipe is fairly simple, but one of the beauties of it is the interchangeable parts. I like trying different whiskies and bourbons to achieve a different taste. Some of my preferred alcohols to use include Jim Beam Black Cherry Bourbon (suggested to me by an instructor at Fine Art Bartending), Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey (suggested by me to that very same instructor) and for the Canadian in all of us, Crown Royal. The Sweet Vermouth can also be subbed out for a variety of different results. Dry Vermouth can be used instead, as can other liqueurs like Maraschino Cherry flavoured, Grand Marnier and many other options. Be playful with your own recipe and see what you come up with.

There are two ways that I like to present the Manhattan. The first is in a martini glass (the traditional way) and the second is on ice in a rocks glass. Both drinks use the same proportions, with the only difference being that for the Manhattan martini, you stir (don’t shake) all the ingredients with ice and strain from a mixer. Both drinks I’ve garnished with a Maraschino cherry, although the cherry in the martini glass just sunk to the bottom to make nice bourbon-soaked treat waiting for you at the finish line!

Drink #3: The Manhattan

3 oz Whiskey or Bourbon of your choice (I used Jim Beam Black Cherry Bourbon)
2 oz Sweet Vemouth
Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry

Let me know if you have any whiskey suggestions or any other tweaks to the Manhattan recipe. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
I love Manhattans so much that I made two different versions! I’ve always been more of an ‘on the rocks’ type guy, but the Martini version of the cocktail was good, too. I have to give a super thumbs up to my decision to use Black Cherry Bourbon in these recipes and suggest you do, as well.

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