Mixology Monday

(Jesus, we’ve done 50 of these things already?)

Hot off the heels of a bang-up August event, which marked the return of Mixology  Monday after a brief summer hiatus, September’s event will bid adieu to the season on September 20.

Hosting this round of MxMo is Doug at Pegu Blog. Perhaps noting that “gin,” “bitters” and “orange” (as in liqueur) have already been used as themes for MxMos past, Doug selected the one remaining ingredient in the drink from which his blog derives its name, and is using that as the theme for September’s event: Lime.

Doug’s preview post is up over here; head on over and check out the details, and have your drink shaken up (and posted) on or before Monday, September 20. Be sure to link back to the Mixology Monday site (don’t forget the MxMo logo!), and to Doug’s blog to show your gratitude for his hosting.

Update: Here’s Doug’s roundup post — whoo-whee, a lot of participants this round!

Wow! That was quite the turnout for Mixology Monday’s reappearance. Hosted by Lindsey Johnson at Brown, Bitter and Stirred, August’s event was themed, appropriately, Brown Bitter and Stirred. Fittingly, the Aperol and Angostura were flowing, along with a wave of Fernet and a flood of assorted amari. Head over to Lindsey’s place for the roundup post, and for ideas on what you’ll be drinking in the months to come.

We’re dragging through the steamy days of summer, but after giving Mixology Monday most of the season off, we’re gearing up to get this monthly cocktail party started again with MxMo August, which takes place Monday, August 30.

For this “welcome back” edition of MxMo, we’re bringing out a heavy-hitter host: Lindsey Johnson from Lush Life Productions, who’ll be hosting the event at her blog, Brown, Bitter and Stirred; for her theme, Lindsey has chosen — appropriately enough — “Brown, Bitter and Stirred.”

While punches, sours and flips are essential parts of every cocktail fiend’s drinking diet, perhaps no other style of drink is as dear to our booze-loving hearts as those potent mixtures of aged spirits, amari, aromatized wines and liqueurs, sometimes (sometimes? Almost always!) doctored with a dash or four from the bitters shelf.

This MxMo will celebrate these styles of drink; whether it’s a basic Manhattan with a tinkered touch of Averna, or a revolutionary mixture of tequila, Campari and pure adrenaline, mix up your favorite brown-booze cocktail and put the details (and a photo) on your blog by the end of Monday, August 30. Let Lindsey know you’ve participated — her announcement post will be up soon with contact details — and then sit back and see what your fellow cocktail fans have come up with in the days to come.

Summer isn’t over, but it’s time to look forward to the dark drinks of fall. See you on August 30-

I wish I could blame it on the hangover.

The last Mixology Monday we held was in May, and coincidentally, that was the last one I had on the schedule. Typically I’d scrounge through the e-mails to see if there were people who’d offered to host but whose offers I’d overlooked (there are — sorry ’bout that), but one thing led to another and then Tales of the Cocktail came along and … well, it’s been a couple of months since we had one of these little shindigs.

Anyway — my apologies for the MxMo interruption, but I’ll interrupt this interruption with the announcement that–

The next Mixology Monday is scheduled for Monday, August 31. The theme and the host for this round are:

And that’s where I’m coming up short. I’ve had inquiries about the future of Mixology Monday, and now I need volunteers.

Would you like to host a MxMo (a few details are here)? In the short term I’m looking for someone who can step in for August 31, which gives you a few weeks to get ready, but it’d be great to line up the next few months so my busy schedule / procrastination won’t keep the event from chugging along.

If you’re interested in hosting a Mixology Monday, please e-mail me at paul [at] cocktailchronicles [dot] com and let me know:

- your proposed theme
- your blog URL
- when you’re available to host

Once I have this in hand we can sort out how the theme will work, and get you on the calendar to host. Easy, right? So let me know, and prepare your shakers–

For the third time this year, Mixology Monday is being hosted by a Seattle bartender with a blog — and for May’s event (which takes place May 24), it’s Andrew Bohrer at Caskstrength who’s up to bat, and Andrew has selected Tom Waits as the theme.

I know, it stumped me too, at first.

But hey, we’re four years into Mixology Monday, and we’ve already hit most of the obvious drink inspirations, so a MxMo devoted to the bard of booze isn’t too far-fetched. As Andrew writes in his announcement post,

Let the bawdy, lovely, peculiar and obvious late night life inspire you to tell a favorite drinking tale while listening to, or being inspired by Tom Waits. Waits 40 years of drinking tunes to choose from.

In other words, while this MxMo is about drink, as always, it’s about much more — it’s about your favorite drinking stories, and the places and people that define your late, hazy nights, past or present. Even if you’re not a Waits fan and have no interest in his music — yes, I’ve heard such people exist — if you’re reading this blog then you likely have spent your fair share of nights on a bar stool. Let’s hear about one of your favorites.

To participate, have your post up on your blog by Monday, May 24; be sure to let Andrew know you participated by leaving a comment on his announcement post, and don’t forget to link back to the Mixology Monday site and Andrew’s site while you’re at it. Cheers–