12 Bottle Bar

1 oz Irish Whiskey
5 oz Hot Black Tea
1 dash Angostura Bitters
0.5 tsp Sugar (or to taste)

Add sugar to a heat-proof mug
Add hot tea, then whiskey and bitters
Stir gently

Featured Glassware:  Urban Nature Basics Goblet by Villeroy & Boch

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I start my day with a fundamental question:  coffee or tea?   And, while it may seem like a simple problem, I often find myself weighing the qualities of each beverage – the thick, roasted satisfaction of my au lait versus the bracing astringency of Assam and a splash of milk.  These days, tea wins out more often than not, and as tea is also a fundamental component of many a classic punch and cocktail, I’m always happy to find an excuse to feature a drink containing some measure of my morning pick-me-up.  Should that drink also highlight Irish Whiskey, well, then we’ve got the makings for a great St. Patrick’s Day libation. Read More…

a 12 Bottle Bar (re)original

1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
0.5 oz Pomegranate Molasses
0.5 oz Lemon Juice
0.5 oz Apple Juice

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass
Shake with ice and strain
Garnish with a lemon wheel

Featured Glassware: Octavie Martini by Villeroy & Boch

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We’re all about recycling here at 12 Bottle Bar. Not the “save the earth, reduce our footprint” kind, mind you (although we’re guilty of that too), but the “slightly tweak a recipe that works, call it new, and throw in an old photo prop for good measure” kind of recycling that makes churning out drinks a bit easier. Of course, we find no shame in it because reusing great ingredients is not only key to the 12BB philosophy, it’s a wonderful way to learn how to craft your own personal potions.

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By Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

“Don’t expose him to bright light. Don’t ever get him wet. And don’t ever, ever feed him after midnight.”  These fateful lines are, of course, the central words of caution in the seminal horror-comedy Gremlins from director Joe Dante.  For those of you not in the know, the “him” referred to is a cute little Mogwai, which will turn into a murderous Gremlin if not cared for properly.  And so Dante reminds us of one of the principle tenets of the horror film – if you screw with nature, then it screws with you.

Frankly, we are pleased as punch to feature Mr. Dante in our final post in 13 Bottle Bar’s “Blood, Booze, and Beyond” bibulous Halloween film fest.  A 30-plus year veteran of the film industry, Dante began his career, as did so many Hollywood directors, in the care of Roger Corman, a man who has taught half of Hollywood how to make a film on budget, on time, and on topic.  That relationship led to the Corman-produced Piranha, a thinly-veiled send-up of Jaws, and put Dante on Steven Speilberg’s radar (Spielberg championed the film as a “spoof”, not as competition to Jaws).  Man-eating fish were followed by man-eating wolves in The Howling and then the Spielberg-produced, man-eating Gremlins, which Roger Ebert described as “a confrontation between Norman Rockwell’s vision of Christmas and Hollywood’s vision of the blood-sucking monkeys of voodoo island.” Dante’s career continued full throttle with family-friendly flicks like Explorers and Small Soldiers, as well as the tongue-in-cheek Amazon Women on the Moon (perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon) and Matinee, which told the story of an exploitation film producer pedaling his monster movie Mant!  (“Half man! Half ant! All terror!) during the Cuban Missile Crisis.   Read More…

a 12 Bottle Bar original

1.5 oz Redbreast Irish Whiskey
0.5 oz Grenadine
0.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Hard Apple Cider

Add whiskey, grenadine, and lemon juice to a mixing glass and stir to combine
Pour into a collins glass with crushed ice
Top glass with hard cider
Stir gently to combine

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There are two things in this world which I really would love to wholeheartedly embrace, but no matter how much effort I put into understanding them, I fail time and time again.  They are mahjong and cricket.   I have books on both – books which I’ve picked up here and there over the years – yet I seem to remain absolutely clueless on either subject, which is problematic, at least on the cricket front, since I’ve chosen to follow up our lawn tennis post with one about that sport of gentlemen.  Even worse, it’s not just a post about cricket; it’s one on an obtuse scoring mechanism applied during rain-outs.  Thank goodness there’s a drink to go along with it – I think I’ll be needing it.

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Villeroy & Boch and 12 Bottle Bar are giving away a set of Villeroy & Boch’s Gourmet Whisky glasses – just in time for Father’s Day.  See below for details on how to enter.

When the company that makes the dishware for the Pope offers to send you some products for review, you respond in the affirmative.  At least, we do.  Over the past few months, we’d had requests to review lots of liquor, bar products, and even iPhone apps, but it wasn’t until Villeroy & Boch knocked on our door that we decided to invite these free samples in.  Sure, we reviewed Whiskey Stones awhile back, but Lars bought those himself because he was intrigued by their prospect.  Not so with the Gourmet Whiskey Collection glasses we received last month from Villeroy & Boch – these were free samples for us to take for a swirl.  Excellent – and here at last, was a product that complimented the whole 12 Bottle Bar philosophy quite nicely:  elegant, classic, and affordable.

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