Tag: rum (Page 7 of 14)

Queen’s Park Swizzle

January 22, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

One of the things I have learned being a parent is just how much of our communication is based in shared experiences and references. This is why it is so easy to chat with folks you have known a long time and why meeting new people from different cultures often has a stumbling period as you learn how to better understand one another. Last year, I instituted a Film History 101 course for the kid to help fill in an empty space in his daily virtual school schedule. Obviously, my intent was to help keep him occupied, but I also wanted to give the boy a better understanding of how films are made and why all those small details from the screenplay to the set design to the editing and more, all really matter. Just how much work it takes from so many people to tell a story well. Being able to choose the curriculum has also helped me to fill in some of the gaps in his popular culture education. I am happy to report that he now, not only understands what the filmmaker is trying to say when they choose a low camera angle or high contrast film or choppy editing, but he also understands why dad says “bright light” whenever the curtains are opened unexpectedly, why sleds are Rosebuds in our household and why anytime he claims to not be afraid, I respond with “you will be”. So many times in the middle of a screening he will stop me to ask if he just got a reference or not. It has been gratifying. So in the spirit of shared experiences, please join me now as we stand and make the Queen’s Park Swizzle.

Sedation

January 19, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Sometimes you just want to take a break, maybe slip off into dream and awaken after all of the excitement is over. I get that. In years gone by, depression and/or chemistry has helped me nap my way through uncertain times. I don’t miss that, but honestly, I could do with a little less uncertainty. Wouldn’t that be cool? Remember those days when things like the peaceful transfer of power were boring events that most people did not even bother to watch? Seriously, when was the last time, well since Reconstruction, that people waited with bated breath for the certification of the electoral college vote? We need less reality tv manufactured drama before the commercial break and more boring adults doing boring adult things. Or at least, I do. I am tired of this lack of a cohesive narrative that is so crazy that people are deep diving into conspiracy theories just grasping for straws to try to make sense of it all. I guess we shall see if we come together and work on that better world everyone says they want or if we continue to devolve into more of that old time division. So, in the spirit of just wanting to wake up when it is all over, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Sedation.

La Florida

January 17, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

This morning I was looking through some old photographs of our time in Havana. That sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Way better than “I was scrolling through pictures on my phone looking for something else, when I was distracted by some old vacation pictures.” It’s all in how you set the scene sometimes, how you spin it. Still, it is true and it made me think about this drink. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the classic, La Florida.

Dirty Banana

January 5, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

A dear friend of mine used to say that “If we all threw all our troubles in a pile, people would fight to get their own back.” She was right. As much as we all want to escape our headaches, when it comes down to it, they are our own. That familiarity and certainty often outweighs our fears of the unknown. Go with what you know, or so they say. That said, the world has troubles enough without you and I adding to them. I see a lot of folks today up in arms about things happening in another place, that they have no control over and that’s fine, good to be engaged and all that, but save some outrage and/or empathy for the things you can affect. Maybe instead of peeking over the fence at our neighbors, we should take a look to see how things are going in our own backyard. Rather than going on a rant, I figure I’ll just join in the oddly specific apathy and ignore the beam in my own eye. So, today I am just gonna make a drink and mind my own business, won’t you please join me know as we stand and make, the Dirty Banana.

Scorpion

January 4, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I took a few days off to celebrate the New Year. Did some hiking and exploring with the family, drank a beer and ate a burger in a gloriously empty outdoor biergarten, practiced a little chainsawing and tractoring around the farm, even played some video games and read some books. I did not go to the office, or pay attention to political shenanigans going on or make any cocktails that I felt compelled to write about, though I did make some at the request of my bride. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and the bad ones as well. So I was back in the office today, doing some work, catching up on the news and now I am back behind the bottles making a little something to share with you, gentle readers. The sun comes up and the world still spins, as they say. Or at least that is what I said fourish years ago at the beginning of this chapter and it is still true here at the end. Watching folks make some odd decisions I was reminded of an old fable and a drink. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the classic Scorpion.

Dumpster Fire

December 31, 2020 / Monkeybrad / 4 Comments

New Year’s Eve 2020

I’d like to say we made it, but there are still a few hours of 2020 left and if I have learned nothing else this year, it is to take nothing for granted. So, I am not gonna make any assumptions, but do hope that we will all make it till midnight and to see the sun rise on a new day. I have had a lot of thoughts about how to end this year and begin the next. It makes sense to look back on what was and celebrate the wins, mourn the losses, but I am not sure I can even remember who we were when this interminable year began. I am just gonna make a drink and see where that takes us. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make an old Uncle Monkey original, the Dumpster Fire.

Coquito

December 19, 2020 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

The 12 Drinks of Christmas – Sixth Drink

We have been talking a lot about the signs of the season and the things we love. We don’t all love the same things though, and that is ok. My wife despises the popcorn Santa in this picture. I love, love, love, him. He is met each year with the traditional rolling of her eyes as I find somewhere I can see him and experience the joy he brings. Different strokes for different folks move the world, as they say. We should embrace our differences, celebrate how diversity keeps things from getting boring and most of all, learn to appreciate those things that others love. So in that spirit, please join me for the sixth of The 12 Drinks of Christmas. Sing along at home, if you like, because, “For the sixth drink of Christmas, Uncle Monkey made for me, a Coquito.”

Hot Buttered Rum

December 18, 2020 / Monkeybrad / 3 Comments

The 12 Drinks of Christmas – Fifth Drink

Decadence is the order of the day, as it almost always is during the holidays. It seems like we play by slightly different rules during this time of year. We are a little more free with our budgets. Whether, this means extra gifts for people and charitable giving, which is always a good thing or going a little heavier on the sweets. The holidays are a time for indulgence. I am not casting stones here, I had a red velvet cupcake for breakfast, so I am in no position to judge. I am, however in a position to enable and this evening’s drink is seriously decadent. So in that spirit, please join me for the fifth of The 12 Drinks of Christmas. Sing along at home, if you like, because, “For the fifth drink of Christmas, Uncle Monkey made for me, a Hot Buttered Rum.”

Lemon Syllabub

December 16, 2020 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

The 12 Drinks of Christmas – Third Drink

In a lot of ways Christmas is sort of the season finale. Sure, New Year’s is coming, but that is more of an epilogue or the first episode of the next season depending on how you approach it and how much you have to drink that evening. The season of giving really is a time for remembrance, a time to look backward, not just at the ghosts of Christmas past, but the entire year. A time to remember the little wins and losses that pass the time, that make our memories, that make us who we are. We are going much further back for this evening’s exploration of the spirits of the season disguised as a history lesson. So in that spirit, please join me for the third of The 12 Drinks of Christmas. Sing along at home, if you like, because, “For the third drink of Christmas, Uncle Monkey made for me, a Lemon Syllabub”.

Milk Punch Two Ways

December 12, 2020 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

The father celebrates a birthday today, so we are making a drink for him. As you get older it seems harder to find things to give for birthdays and Christmas, at least within the family. We all have everything we could wish for, except for more time and none of us can afford that. So instead of giving dad some socks or a tie or yet another desk accessory, I am going with trying to recreate an experience, so won’t you join me now as we stand and make Arnaud’s Milk Punch.