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Champagne Cocktail

April 20, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 2 Comments

Though I usually eschew them, I am sticking with a theme this week. Either that or I am stuck in a rut, it is often hard to tell the difference. I guess it’s all going to come down to the marketing, so a bubble filled theme it is as we continue with yet another sparkling wine classic. Not just a classic, but perhaps the classic, as in the original bubbly concoction that inspired this entire class of drinks, putting them on the gustatorial map, so to speak. So, without further ado, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the classic Champagne Cocktail.

Old Jamaican

April 19, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Vizzini once said, “You clearly subscribe to classic adages. The most famous of which is “make hay while the sun is shining,” but only slightly less well-known is this “once the cork is popped, enjoy that champagne””. I am sure it was something like that, though I sometimes misremember quotes as needed for the sake of the narrative, so you’ll have to take that statement with a grain of pepper. The point is, since, I had already cracked a bottle of bubbly, I figured we might as well go again with the sparkling wines. So, if it all feels familiar, there’s a reason. Won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Old Jamaican.

The Seelbach

April 16, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

“You’ve got to enjoy things while you have them, son,” he said with a world-weary sigh, “nothing stays here forever, appreciating that change is coming makes us realize just how valuable our time is.” That’s the kind of thing I found myself saying as we sat in the sun this afternoon, examining the meaning of grief while both experiencing it for very different reasons. It’s not what I had planned, but life has a funny way of blindsiding you and no matter what else is on the schedule, sometimes you have to set those things aside and be a dad, a friend and an absorbent shoulder. So, even though it has nothing to do with any of that and I am gonna have to work to tie this all together, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the “classic” Seelbach.

Parisian Daiquiri

April 15, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Some times, you need to do the thing for the sheer beauty of it. Not because it has any value to society. Not because someone is paying you to do it. Not because it would make your fourth grade teacher proud, even though I do hope Mrs. Hall is pleased. Not for duty or honor or any sense of obligation, but simply because you want to see that beauty exist in the world. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Parisian Daiquiri.

Bonnie Prince Charles

April 14, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I’ve never really felt tied to a theme here. I pick out drinks I want to try, for whatever reason, and I make them. Then, I tell you a little something about the history of the drink, how to make it and what I thought of it, usually in way too many words. Outside of that, I just sort of riff on whatever is on my mind. Somedays it is inspired, on others, well it’s just random shouts into the darkness by a fairly boring ape with delusions of grandeur. My personal comments tend to deal with how we ought to be more decent to each other, my frustrations with the world when that is not happening, or long-winded nostalgic trips down memory lane. Looking back over this corpus there is no denying that I have been writing during a pandemic. So, in honor of these unprecedented times, which feel more precedented with every passing day, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Bonnie Prince Charles.

Fin de Siécle

April 13, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

The seasons are changing on us. I know that technically it has been spring for some time, but this week, you can feel it. The flowers have been blooming for awhile, but suddenly the trees are all budding and putting out new growth and my lawn is going crazy. Plus, I’ve been able to drive home in the afternoon and to baseball practice, with the sunroof open, the windows down and the radio up. I am just saying that you can feel the change in the air, spring has definitely sprung. So, in honor of changing times, won’t you join me now as we stand and make, the Fin de Siécle.

Key Lime Curd Margarita

April 12, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

There are fundamental flaws in our world. Most of them are our fault and I like to think that we are working to make things better, even as I see daily evidence of folks going out of their way to make things worse for others. We are imperfect, but I hope that long arc does, indeed, bend toward justice. Those are problems we can work on and when we finally acknowledge that we are all in this together and worthy of respect and consideration, we can fix them. Others are more challenging. Those things deeply ingrained in our collective psyches or worse, hard-coded into our genetic make-up. I was reminded of one of the most troubling design failures in the human body today, repeatedly. I am speaking of the entirely unnecessary in the modern world, brain freeze. So, in the spirit of self inflicted wounds that we never seem to learn from, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Key Lime Curd Margarita.

White Negroni Piña Colada

April 9, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Here we are, the lilac is blooming in the backyard once more and I am standing in my kitchen making a drink. A lot has changed since this time last year when I poured the first of what would become our daily cocktail from quarantine. In those days you were lucky to get a full paragraph detailing how to make the daily drink, delivered Joe Friday style. I know more and I tend to say more now. It took me awhile to discover that it wasn’t about the drink, it was about the ritual and finding a space for my voice, whenever I had something to say. So, in honor of those lessons learned and so many words along the way, won’t you join me now as we make the White Negroni Piña Colada.

The Brooklyn

April 8, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Sometimes you get lucky and things just fall in to place. That happened to us last week as we made a quick stop on the road home from Atlanta for lunch and some cocktails to go. We got a great meal, some local ciders to bring home, a drink for later and I scored an ingredient I needed for this drink and a few others. So, in the spirit of things working out, won’t you please join me as we stand and make The Brooklyn.

Randall Porter

April 7, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

“Try this!” they said, with more enthusiasm than I thought the moment called for. I am open to new things, even when they are riffs on old things, or clearly inspired by things I am already doing, so why the urgency? Perhaps it was a case of striking while the iron was hot or making hay while the sun was shining or cheating another tequila cocktail with odd partner ingredients in while the bottle was still on the counter. I did not know why. I just knew that the vehemence, the commanding tone, was off-putting. Still, it wasn’t like I had anything else planned and it would give the appearance that I was responsive to requests, or was it demands? That makes things tougher because while I always try to honor requests, I rarely acquiesce to demands. I decided to categorize it as an overzealous plea and move it to the top of the list, so won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Randall Porter.

Inside the Mind of the Monkey