My experiments with alcohol

Alcohol is one of the best things known to man. In fact, people like me consider it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, shopping malls and retail therapy. So it is no wonder that the next step in my food and beverage career would be experimenting with alcohol. Make no mistake, by this I mean my making drinks and other assorted goodies with alcohol, not just consuming them. I have been a consumer of all alcohol related things long enough to start experimenting with making and serving them on my own. I have achieved moderate success in this endeavor, thus this blog post.

After quite a few booze parties and falling in love with tequila, I have come up with my signature Margatini. This drink has been called many things like straight up margarita and/or margarita on the rocks. For the curious and others as well, this is a yummy blend of two classics, the margarita and the martini, (as the name suggests). The drink is simple! I have heard tell that in simplicity lies great beauty, and this is true of the Margatini as well. The recipe you ask! I use Jose Cuervo’s tequila and margarita mix. I know I am supposed to use triple sec and simple syrup and all that, but Jose Cuervo puts them all together in their margarita mix. No point in re inventing the wheel there!
The ratios are simple, 1:2. One shot of tequila, two shots of the mix. Pour into shaker with ice. And shake well (around ten times like you make iced tea). Rim the glass with salt and pour. Voila! The Margatini is ready. And if you want to make it look pretty by adding garnish, go right ahead. I personally feel that garnish just gets in the way!

I must thank Z'Tejas in Bellevue Square for introducing me to this drink. The first time I had this drink, I loved it, and had to have the recipe for it. Our server told me that it is made the way a typical Margarita or your favoourite margarita is, except it is shaken and not blended! And that's the way I make it.

And now onto my other recipe: Jello shots. I made these for our New Year’s Party and these are a great way to get people drunk. My disclaimer, these contain a lot of alcohol, so be careful of how many you have. Also, they don’t hit you immediately, but when they do, it is Whammo! So don’t eat these and drive. The recipe is again very simple,

6 ounces Jello (large box)
2 cups water (boiling)
1 cup water (cold)
1 cup alcohol (8 ounces) (cold)

Dissolve the jello in the boiling water, add cold water and the chilled alcohol; pour into jello moulds/shot glasses and let set. They take at least 4 to 6 hours to set. Chilling them overnight works best. Enjoy them (responsibly!).

Suggested pairings:
strawberry jello - rum, vodka or vanilla twist
orange jello - peach schnapps or rum
lime jello - tequila
watermelon jello - vodka
grape jello - 1/2 vodka and 1/2 blackberry schnapps
lemon jello - vodka
raspberry jello - vodka
apple jello - butter shots

Of course you can play around with different flavors and liquor and come up with your own unique recipe, but be sure to enjoy them responsibly.