Thursday Happy Hour: Cocktail Recipes, Drinks, Music, and Good Times

Cucumber Sweet Tea

Texas Beckons with a Sting of Sweetness 

Lucky me, I have a new big client project this month. Bitter-sweetly, I've chosen to skip out on South by Southwest (SXSW), a Film+Music+Interactive event in Austin, Texas, so I can focus on it.

I love Austin, and I hate to miss out on great music, interactive innovations, super friendly people, and tasty traditions.

To bring me a little closer to the festivities, I've invited some friends over to play on the guitar, giggle over the #sxsw Twitter stream, and sip a new tea drink: we call it Cucumber Sweet Tea.

And it's simply addictive.

Lodi Zinfandel

Annual Quest for Zin

I get lost in Lodi, California. Easily. It's south of Sacramento. East of San Francisco. It's burgeoning wine country. But it feels more like miles and miles of farmland.

Somewhere along the way, we've made it an annual road trip. So I have no excuse. But boy is it flat.

We've chosen to drive the 7+ hours north because the trunk can hold many more bottles of wine than a suitcase. Buying wine from the hands that sealed it is somehow magical.  Lodi zinfandels are our special treat: big, juicy, and inexpensive complexity to get dizzy over. But it seems the secret is out. Lodi zins are everywhere -- in San Diego, anyway.

It may be time for another home blind wine tasting with friends. Who's in?

Kern River Citra Double IPA

A Taste of Spring Fever

East coast or West coast, about this time of year everyone is itching for spring. And a string of rainy days had made that itch worse here in San Diego.

So I was disappointed to find the patio closed at one of my favorite beer joints recently.

But I quickly recovered when I heard my friend rave about the beer he was drinking – a very citrusy IPA from Kern River Brewing, aptly named Citra.

This beautiful orange beer has an aroma that instantly transports you to citrus groves and the fresh outdoors. And the slightly viscous body is soft and smooth and absolutely heavenly going down.

We sat inside on our bar stools, sipping our tastes-like-the-outdoors beers, and continued to dream wistful dreams of the coming spring.

Grapefruit Fizz

Fun with the Out-Laws

Any minute now, G will back from the airport with his parents. I should be doing one more house pick-me-up, but I already worked hard today. And it's happy hour.

Sipping on a Grapefruit Fizz, I sit back, waiting for the headlights to swoop across the windows. This drink is ... different. Bright. It's oddly similar to a Dark and Stormy.

The grapefruit makes me think of Borrego Springs. Years ago, my dad had a tree or two in his yard there, and my sister and I would weave in and out of the branches to fill paper sacks of the sweetly floral fruits. Tickled. Over grapefruit.

This is what I'm thinking when the door swings open with a rush of night air and a penguin shuffle of suitcases. Heyyy! Maybe we'll escape to Borrego Springs this weekend to see the desert flowers.

2007 Rudolf Müller Eiswein (Ice Wine)

Drip, Drip, Drip

Though we still have massive amounts of snow on the ground in the midwest, the steady trickle off the roof means one thing: The thaw is here. And it couldn't come any sooner.

I am more than ready to toast the beginning of the end of this icy season by opening a bottle of Rudolf Müller Eiswein with my sweetie.

I made some simple crostini with toasted baguette topped with blue cheese and drizzled with honey to counterbalance the sweet and intense flavor of the eiswein.

Hooray, spring is on its way! We've made it (almost) through another Minnesota winter.

Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene

A Not-So-Sour Split

The final day of a great visit is never easy. But a special beer can help soften the blow. 

So before I left Wisconsin, my host and I shared an almost champagne-split-sized bottle of an almost-champagne-tasting beer – Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene.

A gueuze is a type of lambic beer where they blend old and young lambics. Expect to feel your lips pucker, because these ales tend to be dry and sour.

The Cuvee Rene is actually a touch fruitier and sweeter than most of the other gueuze I’ve had.

No pucker, but a nice combination of funky sours and champagne fruits, like apple and citrus. And all very bubbly.

Cranberry Thyme Crush

Stingy with the Social Lubricant

At a conference on the bay, I was spoiled by a constant presence of libations: dark coffee with real cream, Mighty Leaf hot tea, tiny soda bottles on ice, and sweating silver pitchers of water. Somehow, a drink in hand, any drink, makes chatting with strangers easier.

Drinks and "what do you dos" should come even more easily at the nonsponsored evening networking mixer, right?, considering alcohol is involved. I was disappointed.

$11 later, a tiny glass packed with ice in hand, I slurped up the vapors of gin and tonic before even stepping away from the black cloaked bar-stand.

Lucky for me, G was busy crushing fresh cranberries for my arrival home.

Blason de Bourgnogne Crémant Rosé

Books and Bubbly

It all started five years ago. Amy suggested a few of us moms get together monthly for a book group. She'd already chosen our inaugural read, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

So it seemed fitting, a half-decade later, that we all cozied up in Monica's fabulous home theatre to watch the movie version starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. Seems like many of the books we've shared have become Hollywood blockbusters, and finally—with a tongue-in-cheek superior air—the seven of us can actually say, "Oh, I read the book."

Monica, the gracious hostess that she is, prepared theatre-style popcorn on her stovetop. And I poured the bubbly: Blason de Bourgnogne Crémant Rosé.

New Glarus Cran-bic

A Berry Good Beer

No doubt, my favorite thing about visiting Wisconsin is the company I keep there.

A close second may be the beer.

On my most recent visit, I got to try a hard-to-find new offering from the folks at New Glarus: Wisconsin Cran-bic.

Even better, my host was wise to snap up every bottle he could find when it was released, so I enjoyed several bottles during my stay.

Rosemount Shiraz 2007

Winter Barbecue

One sip of an intense and fruity Rosemount Shiraz, and the craving hit me: baby back ribs, creamy coleslaw, and cornbread muffins.

I couldn't convince anyone to clear the snow from the outdoor barbecue, let alone cook outside. But I wasn't about to wait for July. Anyway, this shiraz might seem a little heavy in the heat of summer.

But in the winter, the cozy, fruity and rich Australian red holds up superbly to the dry-rubbed and barbecue-sauce-basted, oven-broiled racks.

As I licked my sauce-stained fingers, I imagined warm evenings outdoors by the barbecue: Only a few more months to go.