More Cocktails For Fabulous AIDS Walk Sponsors!

Here are a couple more cocktails for two of our fabulous AIDS Walk New York sponsors! We still have quite a list of folks who've earned a drink, so we'll have more soon. We're drinking as fast as we can!

Ladies Night (created for Jenny)

2 oz applejack

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur

1/2 oz dry curaçao

1/2 oz pineapple juice

1/4 oz fresh lime juice

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

Wandering Wahine (created for Barbara & Baz)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz Malibu coconut rum

3/4 oz creme de cassis

1/2 oz Banane du Bresil

1 pineapple juice

1/4 oz fresh lime juice

4 dashes of orange bitters

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

Cheers!

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!

Our Music Video Is Coming Together!

It typically takes us a week or so to pull together an episode of the show. I'll write it early in the week, test recipes and shoot the food mid-week, then we'll shoot several on a weekend day and Paul edits on Sunday. A music video takes a lot longer, but I'm pleased to report our next musical offering is on track to go online by the end of the month! The song was recorded earlier this month, we'd already shot some video at home, and yesterday we shot some of the sequences at Otto's Shrunken Head, in NYC! We're so grateful to them for their support of the show and their hospitality! Here's a small taste of what you can expect:

Lights, camera!

Director Paul "tests" drinks.

Guess who?

A tiki bar is so convenient for "apres shooting" celebrating!

We have more work to do, but it was a great day! We need to get a few more shots, then Paul can don his editor's cap and pull it all together!

It's Tiki Time!

We're having an unseasonably warm day, which means that, for the first time since last fall, we can enjoy a lovely libation in the Velvetiki Room without freezing our keisters off! I'm so inspired I created a new drink, which I call Early Spring!

Early Spring

1 oz dark Jamaican rum (I used Coruba)

1 oz brandy (I used E&J)

1/2 oz orange liqueur (I used O3)

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

3/4 fresh lime juice

1 oz orange juice

1 oz pear nectar

Shake with ice and pour into a tiki mug or highball glass with ice. 

Let's hope this fabulous weather keeps up!

New England Spicy Italian Mai Tai

Mai Tai purists are no doubt twitching from that title but, rest assured, we know darn well this libation, which we featured on Sunday's Periscope live broadcast, bears very little resemblance to the regulation Trader Vic's Mai Tai! It does, however, bear some resemblance to what we've come to call the New England Mai Tai. Old school Chinese-Polynesian restaurants in New England are partial to serving their Mai Tais with pineapple juice and a dark rum float, which we've replicated here, along with some whimsical new touches! This is Paul's creation - try it and see what you think!

New England Spicy Italian Mai Tai

1 oz dark Jamaican rum (we used Coruba)

1 oz gold tequila (we used Sauza)

1/2 oz blood orange amaro

1/2 oz orgeat

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

1/2 oz pineapple juice

Several generous dashes of citrus bitters (your choice)

Dark Jamaican rum for a float

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain or pour into a double old-fashioned glass with ice. Float rum on top and garnish with a spent lime shell and a sprig of basil.

Look for us on Periscope - we're @VelveteenLounge