Even though Philip Knott didn't take home a prize at this year's Martini Classic at the Astor Center, he sure knows how to shake up a delightful cocktail.  The recipe follows the video, but don't ask us how to make "Lemongrass Ginger Infused Tea with Açaí Liqueur."

Tea For Tan
2 oz. Tanqueray Gin
1 oz. Lemongrass Ginger Infused Tea with Açaí Liqueur

^{Shake and  double strain into a champagne saucer.  Garnish with Kaffir Lime leaves.}

Last week's Classic Martini Challenge was a blast - we got to try some of the best gins out there in cocktails made by some of the most talented and well known mixologists - all in one place.

If you're looking for more great gin drinks - we allready posted the top two recipies from the challenge (the Carte Blanche and the Pink Gin & Tonic Martini) and there'll be more to come.

All summer long, Lush Life has looked to Brooklyn Based for the latest happenings, the most fascinating people, and new projects sprouting up all over Brooklyn.  So, we hit their event at Barrette in Prospect Heights last night to drink some tasty Lillet cocktails and meet this summer's official social directors to see what they have cooking for the rest of the year.  Chrysanthe from BB promises that the fall will be jam packed with events, so sign up now, if you haven't already.

Of course, no Lush Life review is complete without a cocktail recipe.  So, behold the Lillet-Mondade:

3/4 oz.Lillet Blanc
1 1/2 oz. Hendrick's Gin
1/4 oz. Lemon Juice
1/4 oz. Agave Nectar
Soda
3 Basil Leaves

Muddle 2 torn basil leaves with agave nectar.  Combine all other ingredients except soda.  Shake over ice.  Strain into a glass full of ice.  Top with soda.  Garnish with a basil leaf.

How the Martin Miller's Pink Gin and Tonic Martini walked away with two second place awards at the Astor Center's Classic Martini Challenge we may never know - our only guess is they were won over by Sam, and his maniacal shaker technique. Check out that shaker face!

The Pink Gin & Tonic Martini:

1 1/2 oz. Martin Miller's Gin
3/4 oz. Fever-Tree Simple Syrup*
   ^{*(Prepare as simple syrup with 4 parts Fever-Tree Tonic Water and 1 part sugar)}
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
Dash of Pasteurized Egg Wites
2 Dashes of Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 oz. Fever-Tree Soda Water

^{Add Fever Tree Soda Water to your cocktail glass, Combine all other ingriedients in your shaker. Shake vigorously with lots of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.}
 

Check back tomorrow when we'll have an overview of the whole event, and many more clips in the week to come.

For those of you who missed the fun that was the Classic Martini Challenge at the Astor Center here's our first of many clips from the event.

This one's with Charlotte Voisey and Jim Ryan showing of Jim's brunch-time cocktail "The Carte Blanche" - the drink that took both the Trade and the Public categories for best cocktail at this event.

Check back tomorrow when we'll have an overview of the whole event, and many more clips in the week to come.

A Dash of Bitters mixed up some gin and heirloom tomatoes in their slightly delayed Mixology Monday post.

Bull E. Vard over at KC Beer Blog put down the pint glass and infused some bourbon...with bacon? 

The Liquid Muse offers up a very NYC cocktail from Marshall Altier from Insieme Restaurant.

The Tipsy Texans whip up a few variations on their state's signature cocktail:  The Margarita.  Here, here, and here.  They've even included a two videos. 

How To Make a Margarita: 

Also: How NOT To Make a Margarita (I'm not sure if I'm more repulsed by her sweet muddling technique or the sour mix.)


And, for our take on the margarita, our resident cocktail assassin, Allan Delgado, makes his version of this classic cocktail.

In his continuing quest to mix every drink in the Savoy Cocktail Book, Under-Hill Lounge stirs a batch of Darb Cocktails.

Rowley's Whiskey Forge revamps one of Jamie Boudreau's Marmalade cocktails in what sounds like the most delicious cocktail on the list.

Every recipe for every navel- especially the fuzzy ones.

Hemingway sips on a daiquiri at El Floridita

At Lush Life, every day feels like National Rum Day, but this Saturday, it was official.  So, to celebrate, I made a serrano infused Hemingway Daiquiri that went a little something like this:

3 oz. Serrano Pepper Infused Brugal Light Rum
Juice of one lime
1 oz. Grapefruit Juice
1 oz. Maraska Maraschino Liqueur

Shake ingredients with ice.  Strain into a collins glass.  Garnish with a lime wheel and serrano pepper slice.

The cocktail was bright and spicy with just a touch of sweetness from the Maraska.  It also accompanied my National Rum Day reading quite well.  To fully replicate my glorious afternoon, check out some of the great rum-based blog entries I found sipping away on my modified Hemingway Daiquiri.

BunnyHugs tells the story of their recent trip to the Brugal plant (complete with Siglo de Oro tasting notes).

DrinkHacker tackled the world's oldest rum manufacturer, Mount Gay, doling out particularly high marks for these reasonably priced libations.

Under-Hill Lounge modified the Davis Cocktail recipe to make it all about the rum, and they found the time to make a daiquiri as well.

GeekyTiki's new favorite drink is shockingly rum based.

Rum Dood walks us through Old New Orleans' Rum Distillery. 

The American Natural History Museum sure knows how to throw a ... lecture, and to prove it, they hosted "The History of the Mint Julep" last night.  With a welcome drink at the door and two leading cocktail historians mixing the next round on stage, Lush Life felt right at home in the museum's Linder Theater. 

Unable to resist the icy libation, I dug right in-nose first, as is customary with the julep.  And, as expected, the mint hinted at the sensational cocktail to follow, but this version seemed to have more than the usual bourbon, sugar, and mint flavor I've come to expect in one of my favorite drinks.  There was a richness and spice that I don't typically associate with this usually refreshing cocktail. 

Dave Wondrich, our first speaker of the evening, mixed us a round of his signature recipe, which called for brandy (as a bourbon substitute) and a rum floater.   The complexity and balance of this version of the Mint Julep was impressive and harkened back to colonial times, when brandy was the more commonly used spirit in what WAS America's favorite cocktail. 

As one of this country's leading cocktail writers- running the show over at Esquire and publishing the now James Beard Awarded book, Imbibe!- Wondrich served as the perfect tour guide through his version of the Mint Julep's history.  With his engaging, entertaining, but ultimately authoritative style of storytelling, Mr. Wondrich has this way of making you feel like a college freshman all over again.  He makes you want to go home and research the reason he chose to float rum on top of the best cocktail you've ever had out of a plastic cup. 

I'll be honest.  Before tonight, I knew how to mix (not shake) a traditional (or so I thought) Mint Julep.  I knew about the special strainer and the silver cups.  I knew that, historically, Americans would drink a Julep with breakfast to get their juices flowing.  But, I had no idea that the story of the Mint Julep was merely a metaphor for the way America drinks. 

Throughout our history, the recipe of the Julep has adapted and evolved- reflecting the resources and demands of a people thirsty for cocktails, regardless of the limitations caused by civil war or changing moral attitudes.  And, I wouldn't have known any of that without the righteous guidance and poetic incantations of Chris McMillian, the second lecturer. 



McMillian brought to life the ritual of the Julep as he crushed ice with his wooden mallet, carefully released mint oil (without releasing the bitter essence), pouring the spirits and syrup, and garnishing with a single slapped mint sprig- all to the tune of J. Soule Smith's ode to the Julep documenting each step in the sacred process.  He brought a reverence to the process that I'd never experienced watching a man mix a drink.  Sure, the mixologists in this city take their jobs seriously.  They carefully measure, mix, and shake to create that one divine sip, but somehow they lack this intimate connection to the history that comes so fluidly to Mr. McMillian.  No, really. See for yourself.

The evening ended with a question and answer session that revealed just how much alcohol actually went into the two passed drinks- as audience members giggled out questions, sometimes repeating the previous inquirer.  Of course, our lecturers were gracious and answered most of the questions to the best of their ability- dodging only questions about brand preferences (maybe because Maker's Mark and Pernod Ricard were kind enough to sponsor this event?). 

After tonight, I just want to curl up with my ragged copy of Imbibe! and plan a trip to Chris McMillian's bar in New Orleans.  Anyone want to join me?
 

This weekend Lindsey and Dave made a Lush Live version of "The Martinez" for Tales of the Cocktail

Swarms of diehard cocktailians gathered for the Indie Spirits Expo at Astor Center this evening.  With tables full of handmade, artesnal booze, and mixologists in the making, Lush Life felt right at home sampling the sixteen brands present. 

Most of the "brand ambassadors" were the distillers themselves- humbly hawking their wares with the ardent passion that led them into this industry.  The noisy crowd hovered around each table taking a taste and shaking hands with each distiller. 

As expected, the vodka tables were the most mobbed, but since over half of the brands present had at least one variety of the spirit, everyone had a cocktail in hand.  One of our favorite brands, Tuttletown, left behind their vodka, choosing instead to focus on their whiskey and rum assortment.  And, while they were tucked behind a corner, the line was among the longer ones at the Expo.  Maybe it's because they were one of the few whiskies present. 

Bluecoat Gin, our favorite semi-local distillery, hosted the first cocktail demo, which felt more like science class than anything else.  I left fully informed on the topic of gin distillation and with a newfound pride in american made spirits.  Robert Cassell, Bluecoat's master distiller, lead the discussion- passing around juniper berries and proponol- comparing each to his gin and his competitors.  And, while he won't divulge all of the botanicals used in Bluecoat (apparently he uses a citrus peel that no one else in the world does), he waxed poetic about his specially made still and the virtues of Angelica root (to add earthiness).  Robert's passion for the spirit was infectious and the crowd perked up with each pass of the Bluecoat.

in possibly the most compelling portion of the Indy spirits expo, H. Joseph Ehrmann led the Square One Vodka demonstration.  As you've probably noticed, we here at Lush Life are huge fans of H., and were excited to taste a cocktail personally made by the green bar god himself.  He began the demonstration by pulling just about everything you can imagine out of the Astor's refrigerator before inviting members from the peanut gallery down behind his makeshift bar.   After carefully explaining each of the bartools (with explanations for his choice in muddler, strainer, and shaker), he set the new mixologists to muddling the blueberries and lemons for the Country Thyme Lemonade. 

Check out the Disney-fied version of H. making the "mock-tail" on

this San Francisco Morning Show

and the recipe, which you can find right here:

Country Thyme Blueberry Lemonade
8-10 Fresh Blueberries
Half of a Lemon cut into wedges
.5 oz Agave Nectar
2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme (Slapped)
1.5 oz Square One Vodka

Muddle blueberries and lemons (with their rinds to release some of the bitterness that will balance the cocktail) in the mixing glass portion of a Boston Shaker.  Add Agave Nectar and Square One.  Add ice and shake vigorously. 

Add thyme to rocks glass after slapping it once to release the flavor.  Add ice to rocks glass, and strain cocktail into glass. 

Garnish with a sprig of thyme (also slapped).