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Healthy Cocktails

Posted in Weekly Dig, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

*As recently published in the Weekly Dig.

by Pink Lady

Later this week, yours truly will team up with Holistic Health Coach Kendra Strasburg of Crave Health to present a seminar at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic called Beyond the Hangover Cure: What to Eat, Drink, and Do to Combat Your Boozy Lifestyle.

Do healthy cocktails really exist? Kind of. Alcohol dehydrates the body and stresses the liver and we know we shouldn’t drink if we want to be health nuts. But would you be reading this column if that was your jam? No. The good news is there are strategies for developing cocktails that will ultimately be healthier for you than others.

When building your cocktail, reach for a natural sweetener such as honey or maple syrup over a sugar-based one, such as the ubiquitous simple syrup. You can’t always swap out honey simple for regular since it has a unique flavor profile of its own that will ultimately affect your drink. But it sure is fun to play around with.

Coconut water might not be a wise choice for churning out bar volume cocktails given the price, but when drinking at home, this mild, super hydrating, potassium-filled nectar can make for a lovely way to top off your cocktail.

Love ginger? Put it in your glass. This root has been said to have many therapeutic properties, including antioxidant effects. “And, it strengthens and tones the immune system as well—keeps us from getting sick after all the boozing!” says Strasburg. We’ll drink to that. Muddle some ginger, combine with a little gin or vodka, some honey simple syrup and lemon or lime juice and voila! A lovely gingery sour.

See how easy that was? Now, if you’re all about drinking healthy out in the field but hesitant to annoy your bartender or your friends with your quest, just ask for a Bee’s Knees. It’s a classic you can sip proudly, and no one ever has to know.

BEE’S KNEES
2 oz Plymouth gin
.75 oz honey syrup
.5 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and serve.

CIN-CIN!

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Spring Sipping*

Posted in Weekly Dig, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

*Recent ruminations from LUPEC Boston, as originally published in the Weekly Dig.

by Pink Lady

Welcome to Boston, spring! We look forward to raising a glass in your honor, inspired by a winter jaunt this LUPEC lady took to San Francisco in March.

San Francisco is the land of eternal spring, it seems. Consistently crisp, rainy and damp, even on a bad weather day, the visit was a refreshing and reviving respite from our frozen home. My internal clock still said “hibernate” but it only felt right to drink according to our environment. A trip to the legendary Bourbon & Branch speakeasy in the Tenderloin district resulting in some delightful seasonal sipping at the hands of mixologist Darren Crawford.

The spot now occupied by Bourbon & Branch was a legit speakeasy from 1921 to 1933. First listed in the San Francisco Telephone Directory as “The Ipswitch — A Beverage Parlor,” it was purchased by industrious businessman John J. Russell in 1923, and operated from then on as “JJ Russell’s Cigar Shop.” His connections to notorious Vancouver bootleggers kept the alcohol flowing and snooping Prohibition Agents at bay. Vestiges of the venue’s sordid past still remain, including five secret tunnels. One of which, dubbed the “Ladies Exit,” granted safe passage to an exit a whole block away.

Next time you find yourself in the City by the Bay, you must pay this spot a visit—even if you’re over the Speakeasy thing and are tempted to order an illegal Cosmo just to be a pain in the ass. Don’t do that. Do be a polite guest and allow your arm-garter-clad bartender to make you a delightful concoction.

Bourbon & Branch and San Francisco’s eternal spring days are 3,000 miles away. Fortunately we can relive the moment here, with real spring and this refreshing, herbaceous libation.

BLACK ROSE
Created by Darren Crawford, Bourbon & Branch

A few sprigs rosemary
2 oz. gin
.75 oz. Lemon Juice
.5 oz. Honey Syrup
1 dash Black Pepper Tincture

Gently muddled rosemary with honey in a mixing glass. Add other ingredients and shake. Serve on the rocks in an Old Fashioned Glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

To make Black Pepper Tincture: macerate black peppercorns in grain alcohol until desired spiciness is achieved.

Cin-cin!

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What We’re Drinking: Rosé the Riveter*

Posted in Weekly Dig, tagged , , , , , on March 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

*Recent ruminations from LUPEC Boston, as previously published in The Weekly Dig.

by Pink Lady

You’ve probably seen those “We Can Do It!” posters often associated with Rosie the Riveter. That bicep-flexing, bandana-wearing dame was a real woman … named Geraldine Doyle. Artist J. Howard Miller modeled his famous poster on a wire service photograph of Doyle snapped while she worked as a temporary metal presser in a defense factory in Inkster, Mich. The poster, originally drafted to discourage absenteeism and strikes at the Westinghouse Electric Company, was displayed there privately for just two weeks … until the image was re-popularized by American feminists in the ’80s.

Doyle was neither a riveter nor was she named “Rosie”—the real “Rosie the Riveter” was a cultural icon repping the 6 million women who joined the workforce during World War II. Rosalind Walter, who riveted F4U marine gull-winged fighter airplanes, was the inspiration for the song “Rosie the Riveter,” the first known cultural reference to this iconic figure.

The tune was a smash hit when actor Walter Pidgeon stumbled upon another Rosie. While shooting a promotional film about war bonds at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Mich., Pidgeon met Rose Will Monroe and a real-life Rosie the Riveter was too perfect to pass up. Monroe soon became integral to a federal marketing campaign, appearing in films and posters that encouraged women to work in support of the war effort.

Most Rosies returned to the domestic sphere when the boys came home. Not Monroe. She became a seamstress, a beauty shop owner, taxi driver, school bus driver and a realtor, eventually founding her own construction company, Rose Builders. Monroe had started at the Willow Run Factory hoping to be selected for their pilot training program, which taught women to fly armaments around the country. She was denied the job because she was a single mother, but at age 50, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of learning to fly. ‘”She was a member of the local aeronautics club,” her daughter, Vicki Jarvis, told the New York Times for her mother’s obit in 1997, “the only female member, of course.”

Monroe would’ve celebrated her 90th birthday on March 12th. For Women’s History Month, we recommend raising a Rosé the Riveter—created by barstar LeNell Smothers—in her honor, and for all the Rosies who kept industry churning during World War II.

Rosé the Riveter
1.5 oz Hendrick’s gin
5 ounce PAMA
25 ounce honey syrup*
3 ounces dry rosé
lime wheel for garnish

Shake with ice and strain into tall glass filled with cracked ice. Garnish with lime wheel and straw.
*Mix equal parts honey and water for this simple syrup. Do not heat up. Let dissolve naturally.

CIN-CIN!

READ MORE ABOUT ROSIE, SMOTHERS AND GREAT COCKTAILS TO RAISE IN THEIR HONOR AT LUPECBOSTON.COM.

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