New Year’s Resolution: Drink More Coquito

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Cocktails, beer, wine, does it really get any better? The holiday season brought us several additional pounds, great food, and obviously tons of booze. BUT, you may have missed out on one of the best parts of the holidays: the Coquito. Coined as “Puerto Rican Egg Nog,” the Coquito brings Christmas flavors to the palate in addition to sweet flavors of coconut and rum. Sounds awful, I know.

I jealously overheard a co-worker saying, “they should fill Nalgene bottles of that shit” and was instantly intrigued. Turns out it was some kind of amazing concoction of coconut, rum, cream and spices. Some use egg, others do not. I spent the rest of my day dreaming of booze and Christmas. When I come home to the wife, she has a small bottle of “some kind of Puerto Rican drink.” BOOM. Santa WAS good to me! Unfortunately, the bottle went quickly and I now need a recipe. Not the kind of recipe you find online. I want a genuine Puerto Rican recipe with all the secrets in it. Anyway, you may still be wondering what it tastes like.

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Gingerbread Man Old Fashioned

Top 10 Holiday Cocktails

Ah yes, here we are. The red cups are back, people are crankier than ever, and our bank accounts are draining the same day we get paid. So how do we cope celebrate? Alcohol and parties! Yes, we all gather to celebrate the holidays and drink our sorrows away. Well, this year, impress your colleagues, friends, and family with some new cocktail recipes. You’re welcome.

10. Candy Cane Affogato

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Ever since I had my first Affogato on a cruise, I will always order it when on the dessert menu. But now, this?! Not only do I get my espresso with my ice cream, but there’s a bit of booze and minty freshness. Sign me up.

9. Wine Me Up Santa

I got a massive bottle of red wine for our recent holiday party. Well, a day later and there is still at least 3/4 of the bottle left. Knowing it would “go bad” in a few days, I drank the rest of the bottle myself. Next time, I’ll be offering these at the party. Unless I’m feeling like drinking an entire bottle of wine again.

8. Gingerbread Man Old Fashioned

Gingerbread Man Old Fashioned

I’m a whiskey fan. Go to drink is typically a Whiskey Sour or just drinking it straight. I’m always looking for other cocktails to make than the Whiskey Sour. Well, here we have it – Gingerbread Man Old Fashioned. I’ll be having this one tonight. Cheers.

7. Hot Buttered Whiskey

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At my super-classy holiday party, I was tempted to serve buttered rum. Only thing was that the party just started and I didn’t feel like bringing another Crock Pot up from the basement. You can use this recipe with rum or whiskey. I suggest whiskey.

6. Candy Cane Martini

Some like to keep it simple. While this certainly is not for the lightweights, it will get the job done.

5. Haute Hazelnut Cocktail

A few years back, I fell in love with Rumchata. This version of Bailey’s is very similar. I mean, I could probably even have this drink with breakfast.

4. New York Sour

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First time I had this drink was at Keen’s in New York City. I always ask if the bartender knows how to make this. if they say no – then I go with beer. Otherwise, I go for this every time.

3. Hot Peanut Buttered Rum

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The POV in D.C. offers this up as their spin on buttered rum. Start with peanut butter infused rum with hot cinnamon tea, butter, and of course a bunch of whipped cream on top.

2. Punched Up Punch

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Take yourself back to the days of college, grain alcohol, and Kool Aid. Now class it up a bit and you have this drink made with Brazilian Cachacaliqueur, ginger infused acai spirit, organic tea syrup, lime and passion fruit juice. Originally found at Poste in DC.

1. Purple Snowflake Martini

 

I mean…if you want glitz and glam at your holiday party. Here it is. And it has plenty of booze too!

Bones Rum Shop USVI

Endless Roadtrip USVI: Bones Rum Shop

Bones Rum Shop USVI

When in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, one of my personal highlights is Bones Rum Shop on the waterfront. Bones is super smooth, produced right on St. Thomas using their centuries-old recipe, small batch distilling, and oak barrel aging.

But like I mentioned in my last USVI post, the islands are full of rum. So what’s so special about Bones? It’s SERVE YOURSELF, YO. You pick out your flavor of virgin frozen daiquiri, then they HAND YOU A BOTTLE OF RUM and then you POUR YOUR OWN RUM INTO YOUR DRINK. When Bones made their business plan, they clearly never realized I was coming to town. You do NOT give me that kind of power if you know what’s good for you.

FYI, travelers – Bones is somewhat hard to find online and I don’t know their exact address, but if you’re on the main waterfront, just look for their pirate sign. You can’t miss it.

More Endless Roadtrip USVI:
1. Caribbean Comfort at Gladys Cafe

Charlotte Amalie St Thomas

Endless Roadtrip USVI: Caribbean Comfort at Gladys Cafe

Last month Rob and I embarked on a big, amazing Caribbean vacation to USVI. We mainly stayed in St. Thomas but went to St. John for a few days, Water Island for one day, and also embarked on a boating excursion around the BVI: Virgin Gorda, The Baths, Cooper Island, Norman Island, and Jost Van Dyke. Do I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY. The Virgin Islands were a badass vacation: the perfect mix of relaxation and activity, plus home to the best white sand beaches I’ve ever experienced.

Charlotte Amalie St Thomas

We stayed in Red Hook, on the east side of the island, but the main town (and cruise port) in St. Thomas is Charlotte Amalie. While it’s very pretty (see the photo above – a clear day with no ships in port!), it gets crowded with tourists and shoppers when the ships are in. Charlotte Amalie is  home to tons of duty-free shops, jewelry stores, designer bag sellers, etc… not really my scene. But hey! If you love to shop you might dig it.

But you know what else Charlotte Amalie has? One of the most popular and beloved traditional Caribbean restaurants in St. Thomas: Glady’s Cafe.

Gladys Cafe St Thomas

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Cocktail O’Clock: Apple Ginger Brew

Apple Ginger Brew

Has anyone else noticed that ginger shows up as an ingredient on every single cocktail list lately? Not that I’m complaining. It adds just the right mixture of sweetness and bite to any drink.

Here’s a perfect fall  that I can’t believe I haven’t thought of before — mixing ginger beer up with apple for a spicy-sweet autumn mix (and of course adding a l’il rum).

Apple Ginger Brew

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Endless Spirits: Manatawny Still Works

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Craft spirits are becoming increasingly popular. Yes — “craft spirits” is a thing.

The Manatawny Still Works is a craft distillery in Pottstown, PA across the street from Sly Fox Brewery. The still works creates whiskey and rum from beginning to end and re-distills vodka. Surprisingly, Pennsylvania is one of the most welcoming states to distilleries; it is just hard to distribute the product once made. But why, the small town of Pottstown, PA? Possibly because the still works creates their wash in the brew house at Sly Fox.

Manatawny Still Works is located in an industrial park building with an open setup where you can sit at the bar, look to your left, and see the stills in action. You may even be able to catch a Manatawny bottling party. Whenever the still works is going to bottle a spirit, they make an announcement on facebook for volunteers to come in and help bottle. In return, the volunteers earn an employee discount for the day, free food, and an exclusive t-shirt that says “will work for whiskey.”

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Cocktail O’Clock: Raspberry Watermelon Mojito

Anyone else feel like we need one last liquid ode to summer?

Shellback Raspberry Melon Mojito

Raspberry Watermelon Mojito

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