Velveteen Lounge Temporary Christmas Wonderland

We decorated for Christmas, then undid it all, only to do it again later this week. Are we nuts? Speaking of nuts, there are lots in that vintage appetizer. Happy Thanksgiving!

Bruce the Shark Cocktail - Shark Week

Are you ready for an encounter with Bruce? Shark Week continues here at the Lounge with a boozy tribute to a cinematic legend!

Christmas Vacation: Cocktail & Easy Appetizer Inspired By The Movie!

Christmas Vacation is one of our holiday favorites and today we have recipes to enhance the viewing experience! Get that shaker ready and preheat the oven - it's movie time!

A Visit to the Buckland Gallery of Witchcraft & Magick!

Today's happy hour features a Halloween treat - a visit to Cleveland's Buckland Gallery of Witchcraft & Magick (cocktail included, of course)! It's the perfect place to catch the Halloween spirit, so be sure to drop by when you're in Cleveland!

Late December Cocktail

Our fundraising campaign for Feeding America is still underway and we have a cozy, year-end cocktail for another fabulous donor! This one is perfect for curling up with on a snowy weekend (or enjoying by the pool, if you're lucky enough to be in warm weather)!

Late December Cocktail

Late December (created for Ann Renee)

1 oz vodka

1/2 oz orange liqueur (I used Gran Gala)

4 dashes of Angostura bitters

Merlot

Combine all ingredients in a wine glass and stir. For a lower alcohol version, omit the vodka.

Thank you, Ann Renee! Your generosity is deeply appreciated! Happy New Year!

Cocktails for Coping: Laurice's Choices

Yesterday we asked what everyone is drinking to cope with election anxiety and, as I expected, we got some fabulous responses! Laurice even got us some shots of her choices, so, without further ado, here are two easy cocktails for coping!

Kamikaze

1 1/2 oz vodka

3/4 oz orange liqueur (Laurice has gone with Cointreau - nice choice!)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Black Russian

2 oz vodka

1 oz coffee liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or do like Laurice and serve on the rocks.

Thanks, Laurice! Now, what are you drinking?

Analgesic For An Atrocious Day

Yesterday was one of those epic Bad Days. Not only did someone cancel an appointment I'd been anxiously anticipating for six weeks (back to the drawing board) while another was delayed, but I was fasting for a blood test while already not feeling great, so that in the midst of my disappointment I was physically weak and practically hallucinating. Middletown and New York City lose all of their charm on days like that. Fortunately Paul was home and ready to greet me with this lovely libation when I walked through the door at the end of the day. I call it the Bitter End.

Bitter End

1 1/2 oz vodka

1/2 oz Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro (rhubarb amaro)

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

1/2 oz ginger syrup (recipe below)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Don't waste time garnishing after a bad day!

To make your own ginger syrup, combine one part strong ginger tea made from fresh ginger root with one part simple syrup (which is one part water and one part sugar - combine over low heat until sugar is dissolved without boiling). Store in the refrigerator.

As the saying goes, alcohol never solved any problems, but neither did milk!

Do you need a cookie?

I'm not going to lie - it's been a rough day here at the Kitsch-en. Nothing truly horrible - no one is sick or anything - but it's been a day filled with frustrating tech issues, a distinct lack of replies to mail and rejection. The good news is that it's time for happy hour! And a day like this demands lovely comforting libations, garnished with a cookie!

The Bucolic Banana

2 oz banana milk

1 oz dark Jamaican rum (I used Coruba)

5 dashes of the Bitter Truth's Xocolatl Mole bitters

Shake with ice and serve on the rocks. Garnish with a cookie on a stick*.

*Be sure to create a pilot hole in your cookie before putting it on the stick, so that it doesn't fall apart.

Blueberry Shrub: An Easy Fresh Fruit Cordial You Can Make!

Our Friday happy hour cocktail, the Blue Friday, features a homemade cordial that's a nod to colonial America. The great news is that it's really easy to make!

All you do is combine 1 cup of sliced blueberries with 1/8 of a cup of sugar:

Allow to sit overnight and render juice. Push the juice and remaining berries through a strainer or a mill until the solids are completely separated from the liquids.

It looks weird, but you can use the remaining solids to top ice cream, oatmeal or anything else that would benefit from a sweet and fruity topping!

After you have your liquid, add one 1 TBSP red wine vinegar. Some folks will tell you to add more vinegar, but I think 1 TBSP is plenty and won't make your cocktail taste like salad dressing.

That's it! Now you're ready to make your Blue Friday (or any other) cocktail!

Blue Friday Cocktail

2 oz light rum

1 oz blueberry shrub

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Here Are MORE Cocktails For Our AIDS Walk Sponsors!

Here are three more cocktails for three more of our fabulous AIDS Walk New York sponsors, all created by Paul this time!

Jungle Primate (created for Amy)

1 1/2  oz dark Jamaican rum

1/2 oz Aperitivo Cappelletti

1 oz guava nectar

1/2 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

A dash of grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a double old-fashioned glass.

The Savage (created for Patty)

1 1/2 oz aged rum

1/2 oz sherry

1/2 oz Ancho Reyes liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz guava nectar

1/4 oz cranberry juice

1/4 oz honey mix (half honey, half water)

2 dashes of Jerry Thomas (find them here)

1 drop of Pernod

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a tiki mug.

Groovy Hibiscus (created for Kiki)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

2 oz cranberry-hibiscus tea

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

A dash of simple syrup

Club soda

A dash of Angostura bitters

Build in a chimney glass with crushed ice in the order given. Stir gently.

And speaking of groovy, we'll have even more cocktails for our groovy sponsors soon! 

I was pleased to receive this shot from the day of the walk from the talented Eddie Velasquez, one of the event's photographers. Thank you for the fabulous photo, Eddie! It was a great day!

Haterade

So far this week I've been called ugly, creepy and unimportant and it's only Thursday. You'd think these things would bother me, but a 1) woman in business with a 2) YouTube channel not only gets these things, but they become routine. However, I recently became acquainted with the term "Haterade" and loved it so much I thought it deserved the cocktail treatment. Shake one up whenever you're not feeling respected and negative thoughts will float away on a happy sea of tequila.

Haterade

2 oz silver tequila

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur

1/2 oz blue curaçao

1/2 oz Bai Antioxidant Cocofusion Molokai Coconut

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of dried coconut for extra sweetness, if one is available. 

Just think: if there were no haters, we wouldn't have this delicious cocktail!

The Golden Glow

Saturday morning I posted a truly fascinating recipe for a Jell-O mold from The Chiquita Banana Cookbook (1974) on Facebook and offered a prize to anyone who actually made it and posted evidence. Well, Bethany, of the fabulous Making It Modern web series, took me up on it and not only made it, but posted a live video of her sampling it. Her reaction was priceless and if you're on Facebook be sure to watch. We were so inspired that we did a live Periscope broadcast where we made our cocktail answer to this monstrosity in Jell-O! Here is the cocktail we made, incorporating as many of the flavors suggested in the original mold recipe as we could. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty good! There is little enough of the pickle juice that it just adds a tangy note and not an actual pickle flavor. Here's the original recipe for the mold:

And here's the cocktail version:

Golden Glow

2 oz vodka

1 oz Banane du Brésil liqueur

1 oz orange-carrot juice

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

1/4 oz pickle juice

3 dashes of celery bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

I like to use vodka as a base spirit when I really want the other flavors in the drink to stand out. That was definitely the case here. Banane du Bresil is the only commercially available banana liqueur I've found that actually tastes like bananas and not banana candy. If you can't find it in your neck of the woods, there are recipes online for making your own banana liqueur that result in a great product! Ingredients like pickle juice sound awful, but a little dash can give your cocktail zing. Don't overdo it! We have an episode coming soon that utilizes balsamic vinegar in a drink with the same effect. 

If you have a "fascinating" recipe you'd like us to reimagine in cocktail form, let us know! We love a challenge!

And look for us live on Facebook video soon! Periscope is great, but we think most of our people are on Facebook, so we'll see you there!

Make Sure Your Next Party Has Punch!

There are things in this world I enjoy more than a mid-century cookbook or bar guide, in particular the pamphlets put out by companies to offer even more ways to use their products, but not many.  They're so shameless. If you believe their prose, your recipe will, at best, fall flat and, at worst, turn out horribly and embarrass you in front of everyone you know if you don't use their vodka or flour or powdered milk. Sunday was a good day for scoring such pamphlets, found in a little used bookstore we stumbled across in Montgomery, NY. They weren't even really for sale - the owner was using them for decoration - but fortunately he sold them to me! Here's one that's very timely with the summer party season upon us. A bowl of punch means that you can shirk bartending duty and enjoy yourself! That Sparkling Red Punch is perfect for a Memorial Day cookout - substitute a dry sparkling wine to make it even lovelier (and if the kids aren't present)!

That hair!

It's not just a punch bowl - it's an investment in elegance!

Hawaii Five-O Happy Hour

Friday night was the end of an era, as we watched the series finale of the original Hawaii Five-O. We started in 2008 and it became a Friday night happy hour tradition. Any time we were home on a Friday night we watched, in order, from the very beginning through season 12. I'm a little sad to see it end, but Columbo awaits! I've been thinking about it and I don't have a particular favorite episode. My favorite thing to do during Hawaii Five-O is to still frame on an extra's fabulous frock or a tiki in a bar or an especially fancy cocktail. I'm geeky that way. I will also confess to loving the entire series, even after Danno left for greener pastures, and including the paranormal episodes (though I was incensed when Chin Ho Kelly got killed in the line of duty). The good episodes are great, but the bad ones are pretty entertaining, too!

Here's to Hawaii Five-O! Steve McGarrett may not have touched alcohol (a point he made repeatedly), but that doesn't stop us from drinking copious amounts of rum out of his mug!

The McGarrett 2

(Serves 2)

2 oz dark Jamaican rum

2 oz amber rum

1 oz guanabana liqueur

1 oz pineapple juice

1 oz black cherry juice

1/2 fresh lemon juice

Four dashes lemon bitters

Combine all ingredients in a McGarrett mug with ice and stir.

So long, Steve!

Midwestern Folks: This One's For You

We had a request from Susan, who's in Oklahoma and has been facing some brutal weather, for a tornado cocktail. It's the least we could do! If you're in that part of the world, we sincerely hope you're safe and sound. I wish we could deliver one of these to each of you personally!

The Eye

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz gold tequila

1/2 oz blue curaçao

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

Ginger beer

Combine first four ingredients with ice in a chimney glass and fill with ginger beer. Stir gently.

Susan, we're thinking of you. Be safe!

Help Us Name These Drinks!

On today's Periscope live broadcast I made two drinks that don't yet have names. We're wide open to ideas, so please ring in with yours! Here are the recipes:

Working Title: Bianco Thing

2 oz. Bianco vermouth

1/2 oz. dry curaçao

3/4 oz peach nectar

2 dashes celery bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Working Title: Purple Drink (sung to the tune of "Purple Rain")

1 oz. creme de Violette

1/4 oz fresh lime juice

3 dashes plum bitters

Club soda

Add all ingredients to a highball glass with ice and stir.

Look for us on Periscope! @VelveteenLounge

Purple Drink. Needs a better name!

More Cocktails For Our Fabulous AIDS Walk Sponsors!

The Test Bar has been humming away, creating cocktails in honor of our fabulous AIDS Walk sponsors! Today we're featuring libations inspired by Christine and Donna!

Wonder Woman (created for Donna)

Wonder Woman (created for Donna)

2 oz gold tequila

1/2 oz Galliano Ristretto liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz pineapple juice

8 dashes of Angostura orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Spicy Sailor (created for Christine)

Spicy Sailor (created for Christine)

2 oz spiced rum

1/2 oz pomegranate juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

1/4 oz ginger liqueur

1/4 oz allspice dram

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or serve on the rocks in a small tiki mug!

We'll have more soon! We already have two more ready to go (get ready, Doug and Tammy), which will be featured in upcoming Friday happy hour episodes. Look for them starting April 22! 

If you'd like to sponsor us and receive your own cocktail, click here for our fundraising page. $25 gets you a cocktail created in your honor. For $50 we'll feature it on the show and for $100 you get to choose the theme of an upcoming episode!

Whiskey Cocktails From Yesterday's Periscope Broadcast

We got a request for whiskey cocktails on our Facebook page from the fabulous Ginger Wilkins, so those became the theme for yesterday's Periscope live broadcast. First up was our version of the classic Rock-N-Rye, at Ginger's request, then we created one in her honor, the Ginger 75! Here are the recipes!

Ginger 75

1 oz bourbon (I used Old Forester)

1/2 oz ginger liqueur (I used Domaine de Canton)

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

2 dashes of Angostura orange bitters

Chilled prosecco

Combine all ingredients in a champagne flute and stir gently.

The Ginger 75

Rock-N-Rye

2 oz rye (I used James E. Pepper 1776 Straight Rye Whiskey)

1/2 oz rock candy syrup

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a rocks glass with ice, stir and garnish with an orange peel.

We also did a variation on the classic Manhattan, at the request of our friend Doug. Here's what we came up with:

2 oz bourbon (I used the Old Forester again)

1/2 oz Aperitivo Cappelletti 

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.

Here in New York we're stuck with a dismal, gray Monday and I'm working with a horrible internet connection, which has been an issue for days and makes uploading video for the show a real challenge. But the good news is that it's practically happy hour and these recipes are just what the doctor ordered! 

Have a fabulous week!

Sophisticated Beachcomber Cocktail

As part of our fundraising efforts for AIDS Walk New York we have various levels of rewards for our sponsors. Anyone who sponsors us for $25 or more will get a cocktail created especially for them. Here's the first one on the list, in honor of the lovely Paula, the Sophisticated Beachcomber!

Sophisticated Beachcomber Cocktail

Sophisticated Beachcomber

2 oz dark Jamaican rum

1/2 oz Galliano 

1/2 oz peach nectar (no sugar added)

1/3 oz fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Thank you so much to Paula for her generosity! If you'd like to sponsor us, here's the link: https://ny.aidswalk.net/velveteenlounge . Sponsors of $25 or more get a custom cocktail. $50 or more and we'll use your cocktail on the show! $100 or more and you can choose the theme of an upcoming episode, which will be dedicated to you!

There's still plenty of time to get in on the action - AIDS Walk New York is May 15!

Imperial 75 Recipe

Last night on Periscope we created two new beer cocktails, which we based on the recipe for the French 75, a champagne cocktail. You can make the French 75 with either brandy or gin, so naturally we tried both, and I have to say that both were amazing! If you're a fan of craft beers I think you'll really love this one!

Imperial 75

1 1/2 oz gin or brandy

1/2 oz orange liqueur (I've been loving O3 lately)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Chilled IPA

Combine the first three ingredients in a single old-fashioned or rocks glass, fill with IPA and stir gently.

We Periscope pretty much every weekend! We're @VelveteenLounge. We'd love to see you there!

Making cocktails live on Periscope!