Mixology Monday

Thirty-nine entries? Somewhere around 50 cocktail recipes?? Damn, the February Mixology Monday saw a lot of absinthe being poured. Many thanks to Sonja for hosting MxMo XLVI: Absinthe over at Thinking of Drinking, and thanks to all who joined in. Want to see the participating entries? Here’s part one, and part two of the roundup.

After a rousing start to 2010 with the January Mixology Monday, we’re ready to plunge onward with events for February and March.

* MxMo XLVI takes place Monday, February 22. Hosting this round is Sonja at Thinking of Drinking, and Sonja has chosen Absinthe as the theme. Here’s her announcement post, and to recap the details:

The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800’s and early 1900’s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe.

You know the drill — have your absinthe-related drink posted on or before February 22. Be sure to include the MxMo logo and link to the Mixology Monday site as well as a link to the host’s blog, Thinking of Drinking (and if you can link to the roundup post once Sonja’s finished it, that’s mucho appreciated as well).  And to be sure that your drink is included in the roundup, notify Sonja of your post by placing a link in the comments of her announcement post, or e-mail the URL to her at sonjakassebaum {at} gmail {dot} com.

And if you’re the forgetful type, I usually post a reminder a few days prior to the event on Twitter; you can follow me at @cocktailchron.

* And yes, we have the March Mixology Monday already scheduled. MxMo XLVII takes place March 22, and will be hosted by Hobson’s Choice. The theme for this round: Punch. Stay tuned for an announcement post and more details sometime after the February event.

Frederic at Cocktail Virgin Slut has posted the roundup of all the entries for January’s round of Mixology Monday, and it’s an impressive list of drinks: 36 participants dug into the tea drawer to whip up punches, cocktails and other drinks laced with everything from assam to yerba mate. Thanks for hosting, Frederic, and to everyone else, check out the roundup here.

Some of us — myself included — are still observing Detoxuary, the annual period following the holidays during which you abstain from booze & rich food , but those of you not spending the whole month of January on the wagon — myself included again here — should mark your calendars for the first Mixology Monday of 2010.

This round of MxMo — the 45th, if you’re keeping count — takes place Monday, January 25, and is hosted by Frederic & company at Cocktail Virgin Slut. For this round, Fred has chosen Tea as the theme; here’s what he has in mind:

Tea has played a historical role in cocktails for centuries. Perhaps the best documented early example was its inclusion in punches as part of the spice role to round out the spirit, sugar, water, and citrus line up. Later, teas appear in many recipes such as Boston Grog, English Cobbler, and a variety of Hot Toddies. And present day mixologists are utilizing tea flavors with great success including Audrey Saunder’s Earl Grey MarTEAni and LUPEC Boston’s Flapper Jane. Now it’s our turn to honor this glorious cocktail ingredient!

Here’s how to play:

• Find or concoct a drink recipe that uses tea or tisane (a herbal “tea” which lacks tea leaves) as an ingredient. This can be hot tea, cold tea, tea syrups, or infusions and use it in a cocktail, punch, or other drink type. Be careful how long you infuse them (after 2 hours, things get really bitter!) if you go that route, and feel free to take a shortcut and use Beefeater 24 which has tea already in the botanical mix.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the drink on your blog or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
• Include in your post the MxMo logo and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and CocktailVirgin sites. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Post a link to your submission in the comment section here, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net

The due date is Monday, January 25th which I will interpret as whatever gets posted before I awake on Tuesday the 26th.

And that pretty much sums it up. So unlock the liquor cabinet and break out the stash of oolong — this round sounds like it’ll be especially fun. See you on January 25!

No, not “Monkey Drinks”, though the idea of a simian-themed MxMo is one we may want to come back to, but Money Drinks, as in….well, let’s explain this.

But first — this round of Mixology Monday is hosted by Kevin Langmack at Beers in the Shower. Due to some tragic technical problems — namely, Kevin’s dead computer — we had to postpone the November MxMo until December 14. But with a theme like Money Drinks, this round seems somewhat appropriate for the holidays.

So, Money Drinks? Here’s an explanation — two of them, as a matter of fact, the first from Kevin, a Seattle bartender who works at the craft-booze establishments Tavern Law, Spur and Sun Liquor:

A “Money” drink is something you can put in front of anyone, regardless of tastes or distastes about the spirits involved. Come up with a drink or a list based on spirits about drinks that would appeal to anyone. example: turning someone onto a Corpse Reviver #2 when they like lemon drops.

So, get it? “Money”, as in, “we’re in the” when you (as a bartender) turn a customer on to one of these drinks, getting them interested in good cocktails in the process.

After wrangling with the idea of “Money Drinks”, there came an alternate / related description, which is also valid for this round of MxMo:

Drinks that you upgrade to the ne plus ultra: cocktails that for whatever reason (holiday, birthday, old friends come to visit, or just because you feel like it) you upgrade to superior; for example, taking your normal Sazerac with Rittenhouse and Herbsaint and, for a special occasion, turning it into a supreme-o Sazerac by breaking out the Thomas Handy Rye and the Jade Edouard absinthe. Due to the higher cost involved, and the spectacular results that should (hopefully) be found in the glass, this could also qualify as a “Money Drink”.

Okay? Did this get too complicated? If so, it’s my fault, but hey — it’s all in good fun, and during the holiday entertaining season you should be coming across several drinks that fit either of the descriptions above, whether it’s because you’re mixing drinks for friends & family and you’re trying to get your sister-in-law to step up from her plain old vodka martini, or if you’re celebrating the season in style by breaking out the good stuff for a memorably indulgent cocktail.

Anyway, that’s it — so, to participate, have your post up by the close of Monday, December 14, and let host Kevin know by e-mailing him at kevin [dot] langmack [at] gmail [dot] com. See you then!