Happy New Year Cocktails!

This summer I got into making cocktails (See here and here).  

For Christmas our good friends/neighbors got us this great gift--

The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan.

PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) is a cool bar on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, NYC
that to get to--you have to walk thru a secret telephone booth door
inside a store that sells hot dogs (Crif Dogs)...
kind of like a modern speakeasy but it's NOT illegal;

 they just did it that way to get around not having to obtain an additional liquor license.
(Crif Dogs already had a liquor license...its complicated...)

ANYWAY...

lets just say the PDT Cocktail Book is like the PhD to the child's play of my past efforts.

As I flipped thru the pages, not only had I not heard of half the ingredients, 

I couldn't pronounce them either.   And there were a LOT of egg whites...

But I was not daunted.  I selected three recipes.  

And then I was off to the liquor store...at 3pm on New Year's Eve day...

not the best time to look for obscure liquor 

when 300 people are in line trying to buy champagne...

but somehow I managed.

We invited M&L--who gave us the book and 

C&E--who have bar tending/cocktail drinking experience 

over for a pre-New Year's Eve party cocktail...

The three recipes I chose, oddly enough represented the past, the present & the future.

For the present, we made The Tuxedo 

(not that any of us were wearing a Tuxedo for New Year's Eve, 

but just to be fun and festive...)

Parts gin and fancy cherry liqueur with a dash of orange bitter.  

Did not necessarily blow our socks off, 

but cherry and gin is actually really nice together 

and it was all together drinkable!

For the past, we made Champs Elysees

in honor or C&E who spent their 10th anniversary in Paris in 2011...

This one was described (and I paraphrase)

 going 100 miles an hour with your hair blowing straight back and strong wind in your face...

This drink, just to note, was my personal favorite and had 

Cognac, Green Chartreuse--which isn't cheap! lemon juice and bitters

For the future, we made...

in honor of my husband 

who was going to do a detox diet starting January 1, 2012...

THE MASTER CLEANSE!!

This one DEFINITELY BLEW OUR SOCKS OFF!

It is Apple Brandy, lemon juice, maple syrup and jalapeno slices!!

At the liquor store, I definitely had to improvise, 

because they didn't have a lot of the brands/types of items the book listed.

The biggest swap was this one:  

The recipe called for Apple Brandy...the store had Apple JACK...

The diference: Brandy--more expensive; more intense apple flavor.  

My solution: to add a .5 ounce natural, unfiltered apple cider to boost the apple flavor.  

I think it was a good fix.

You start by adding several ice cubes to your glass to get it nice and cold.

I invested in a good bar jigger by OXO with clearly marked ounce lines;

You pour in all the ingredients and give a good shake....

Then, garnish with two slices of jalapeno...

On New Year's Eve, the Master Cleanse was the first recipe we tried...

I was really nervous as I passed the freshly-made creation to 

a very brave --and very good sport--C...who, 

(as we waited with bated breath...)

declared upon tasting...IT WAS DELICIOUS!!  

Oh! I was so relieved!! So we made another round and another...

It was just the right blend of sweet and tart and the little bit of heat that 

the jalapeno slices give it, is just perfect...all the flavors balances beautifully 

and it really was a taste sensation that I HIGHLY recommend...

Hooray!! 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!  

Hope 2012 a great year filled with lots of

good times with family and friends...