joker_

For everything I am bringing up, you need a cocktail shaker, ice, and chilled martini glasses. As you get more adventurous, you'll notice that cranberry juice, orange juice, lime juice, grenadine and cream are used in many, many drinks (not together, but you get the idea, always good to have these around). Also having limes and lemons around for garnish is useful. Seasonal fruit can help make things more interesting.


Classic:

Cosmopolitan

2 shots Vodka (I find for this Finlandia Cran works best)
1 shot Cointreau (If price is an issue go with Triple Sec, if you want more orange and price is not an issue Grand Marnier will change this dramatically)
1 shot cranberry juice
1 squirt of lime juice or to taste...

Put this in your cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, then serve in a chilled glass. Lining the rim of the glass with a red or orange colored sugar adds a good touch, as does making a little twist out of the skin of a lime and garnishing the glass with it.

More interesting:

Key Lime Pie

Line rim glass with crushed graham cracker.

2 shots Vanilla Vodka (Stoli Vanil works well for this)
1 shot Lime Juice (although if you can find it Charbay makes a Key Lime Vodka)
1 shot half and half, or cream, or heavy cream (depending on what you like)

Put in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake it all up, then pour into glass, you can garnish this one with lime and lemon (obviously)


Peachcicle

My favorite bartender and I made this one up last week.

1 shot Peach Vodka (Charbay makes it, and I think Stoli might also)
1 shot Vanilla Vodka
1 shot Peach Puree
1 shot Cream....

As with others, put ice in cocktail shaker, shake, then serve in chilled glass.
We haven't decided if there is anything that will garnish this well. Do not line the rim of the glass with anything, plenty of sugar already here.


Raspberry Brownie

2 shot Baileys
1 shot Kahlua
1/2 shot of Chambord
1/2 shot of Cream

Shake up with ice, serve in chilled glass. Drop a fresh raspberry or 2 in there.

I could go on and on with this...

Other drinks off the top of my head that are fun you might want to look up:

Caramel Apple Martini
Chocolate Martini
Washington Apple Martini
Mojito
Lemon Drop
Long Island Iced Tea
Tokyo Iced Tea


I recommend Stoli/Absolut or better for Vodka, however, if you have budget concerns Smirnoff will work. If you do start using Gin, off brands can be really awful, Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray work well.

Oh, when I say line the rim of the glass, the way it goes is, have sugar/crushed graham cracker/or whatever in bowl or some kind of container that allows you to dip top of glass in. Moisten the rim of the chilled glass with lemon or lime, then dip in whatever it is you're trying to line the rim with..This only works well with Martini glasses, and if they are chilled it works much better.. Use heavier sugar, what ever you do, not powdered.



All this drink talk is making me wish it was Friday again...

Oh well..