Mixology Monday

I’m running late in getting this announcement up, but considering the theme for October’s Mixology Monday (which takes place Monday, October 26), I’m guessing most regular (and new) participants already have the stuff on hand.

The details: This month’s MxMo is hosted by Vidiot at Cocktailians, and for the theme Vidiot has chosen a subtance that’s absolutely essential to any home or professional bar: Vermouth.

As Vidiot notes in his announcement post (which you should click through and read in its entirety):

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to present a delectable vermouth cocktail for us all to drool over. Sweet/Italian or dry/French vermouth are fair game of course, as are quinquina, aperitif wines like Pineau des Charentes, or for that matter any fortified, aromatized wine such as Lillet (red or white), or Dubonnet (ditto.) Have fun, and leave the link in the comments to [the announcement post] by midnight PDT (no, not this PDT) (3am EDT) Tuesday, October 27th.

Got it? Great! So dig out your Carpano Antica or your Noilly Prat, or that last bit of Dolin blanc you’ve been saving for a special drink, and get to mixing. Put your drink up on Monday, October 26, and then check back later to see what everyone came up with. Cheers!

Bet you thought I’d forgotten about it, huh?

No, just running behind on getting the details together — but never fear, there is a September Mixology Monday coming along soon — September 28, to be precise. The hosts for this round of MxMo are the good folks over at eGullet (led by group manager Chris Amirault), and the topic Chris has chosen is Dizzy Dairy. In his words:

Any drink using a dairy product is fair game: milk, cream, eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, curds, you name it. Given the importance of dairy products in drinks dating back centuries, there are lots of opportunities for digging through vintage receipts for a taste of the past, and as always innovation is highly encouraged.

We hope that you’ll measure out your portions as best you’re able: better to indicate a tablespoon or ounce of egg white, for example, than to say “egg white.” In addition, be sure to share any tips and techniques that benefit your booze — “dry” shaking without ice for a good meringue, say, or stealing Society member Dale DeGroff’s whipped cream trick for Irish Coffee. Disasters as well as successes are heartily encouraged. Finally, prepare to respond to the anti-dairy lobby by giving us reasons why your libation is just this side of mother’s milk.

To participate, have your entry posted on your blog (or, appropriately enough for those non-bloggers among us, on the eGullet thread for this MxMo) by midnight on Monday, September 28. Notify Chris by posting a link to your entry in the eGullet MxMo thread, and photos are strongly encouraged.

What’s that? You’re not a member of eGullet? No problem — you can join up right here. Or, if you’re really not a joiner but want to play along with MxMo anyway, you can simply e-mail your info and a link to your post to Chris at camirault [at] egstaff [dot] org.

I’m kinda curious to see if anyone attempts a quark cocktail or a drink made with a rich Stilton (as for my drink, I think “Fernet Eggnog” has a ring to it). Even if those don’t come to pass, be sure to raid the dairy section at your local grocery store (vegans: if you’ve got a compelling drink with rice milk or the like, then go for it), and have your drink ready by September 28.

Okay, it was a while ago, but thanks to our kind hosts at Felicia’s Speakeasy, the August round of Mixology Monday is finito, and the roundup is here: Mixology Monday XLI: Vodka is Your Friend.

And that pretty much sums it up….now, onward into the fall–

I blew it, but let me explain.

Every July for the past three years, I’ve volunteered to host Mixology Monday, which has usually occurred just before or immediately following Tales of the Cocktail. And every year, once the bustle and liquored-up frenzy of Tales rolls around, I ask myself, “What the hell was I thinking?”

The same goes for 2009. Too busy preparing for Tales to adequately promote it, Mixology Monday caught up with me while I was still trying to recover and get caught up from the event. And so it rolled on by….

Anyway, apologies to all for the MxMo-free July, but I’m thinking it might not be such a bad idea to take July off in the years to come.

And so, moving into August — here comes MxMo XLI. Our kind host for the August 10 edition is Amelia at Felicia’s Speakeasy, and for this round the topic is — ready for it? — VODKA IS YOUR FRIEND. Yes! We’ve dismissed it, we’ve disdained it, we’ve smeared its name across the Internet; now it’s time to take a step back and see what we can do. As our host explains:

The theme of August 10th’s Mixology Monday is “Vodka is Your Friend.” The recent high profile bashings of vodka interspersed with a few weak “yeah, buts…” left me wondering, is vodka the axis of evil, our most dangerous enemy? While it may not be the life of the party, experts agree: Vodka’s obituary does not have to be written just yet.

So suck it up, people, and let’s see if we can make something respectable out of the best-selling spirit in the U.S. (and, I dunno, probably lots of other places as well). Here’s how to participate:

Find or create a cocktail that contains vodka as one of its ingredients.

Email the host a link to your post before midnight on Monday, August 10 (amelia AT atomicloungeithaca DOT com) –or- post a link to your blog as a comment on the host’s announcement post.

Post your recipe and reasonings on your blog along with a drink photo. Make sure to include a link to Felicia’s Speakeasy (our host) and Mixology Monday, as well as the MxMo logo.

See you there–

I’m running far enough behind on this that I’ll just skip to the point: MxMo XL: Ginger happened. In June. And now I’m getting around to posting about the roundup. In almost August. As I said, far enough behind.

Anyway, thanks to Rum Dood for hosting, and here’s Matt’s excellent roundup.