2017 Snack Bracket is back!

Click here to vote for which snack you want to advance to the next round!

https://goo.gl/forms/8Ds2BberZHjrRtmt2

64 snacks enter. One must emerge victorious.

 

Mixology Crash Course: Closing Thoughts

Peppermint Bark Liqueur

Just found a great resource of amazing ideas and beautiful photos!

Boozed + Infused

What do you do if your Secret Santa recipient says they like peppermint bark candy and Grey Goose Vodka? You make peppermint bark liqueur!

The flavor of this liqueur is very pepperminty! The chocolate flavor is more subtle, but to remedy that, I’ve increased the cacao nibs in the recipe. (Plus, I had to gift this to my co-worker before it had a lot of time to infuse. A longer infusion time will definitely help!)

Peppermint Bark Vodka

1.5 ounces Candy Canes (about 10 mini candy canes) or Peppermint Candies

1/3-1/2 cup Cacao Nibs

1 1/2 cups Vodka

4 Tablespoons Simple Syrup (or to taste)

Crush the candy canes. Combine first three ingredients in a jar, and close tightly. Shake well to combine. The candy canes will dissolve quickly, but it will take a while for the cacao nibs to infuse properly into the vodka. Ideally, you would wait about…

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Cuban Old Fashioned

A great video (and Youtube series in general) about the history and recipe of this delicious drink.

 

(PS: Sorry I have not been posting anything lately. Ever since my camera was stolen I haven’t been in the mood to make new posts.)

Lemon Verbena Gimlet Cocktail

It’s 95 degrees out right now.

Real feel is something like 101.

Humidity is pretty awful.

Time for a gin drink. A GIN drink! With fresh herbs and citrus juice.

Let’s get right to it:

Lemon Verbena (or any herb, really) simple syrup:

• For the simple syrup
  • Equal parts sugar and water, plus several leaves (no stem) of herb of choice. I used lemon verbena leaves.
  • Add all ingredients to sauce pan over low heat, stir until sugar dissolves. Let cool, then strain into jar, and put in fridge. Lasts up to a week or so.
• A gimlet is:

Gin + lime juice + sugar (or simple syrup)

For this recipe I did:

• 2 oz gin
• 2 oz lime (this is very citrusy, which was great for the heat!)
• 1 oz simple syrup
• lemon verbena leaves and mint leaves as a garnish

Shake vigorously with ice, double strain, garnish.

The herbs for garnish are not just for looks. When you stick your nose in the glass, your nose is overwhelmed with a lot of aroma. The smell is a big part of the cocktail experience. I used a toothpick because I plucked the leaves from the stem.

Enjoy, and stay cool. Drink lots of water!*

 

*A great thing I heard regarding drinking water right when you wake up: Drink a glass of water right when you wake up. Why? It’s been 6-8 hours of no drinking fluids. Wouldn’t you be thirsty otherwise? It’s a great, easy way to wake up.

Cocktail Youtube Channel: Distinguished Spirits

I want to promote a Youtube channel that I’ve been following for a while: Distinguished Spirits.

I think these are the best shot cocktail recipe videos on Youtube.

Here is an example of a drink I love (of course it uses mezcal):

Youtube Channel

Distinguished Spirits Twitter

 

Pickle Brine in Cocktails? Taste Test #1

This is what I imagine cocktail creation looks like.

Especially when it comes to a new, unique ingredient that seems hard to incorporate.

Pickle brine.

Yup. And now it’s being canned for the general public to drink.

To many this may seem odd and quaint. Even if you love pickles you may raise an eyebrow at brine marketed as a beverage. As for me, I already know the power of drinking vinegar in the form of shrubs (sugar + fruit + vinegar) by itself or in a cocktail, so drinking brine by itself does not seem far off.

It helps to have a friend who is in the canning business, because when this local pickle company approached my friend to can their brine, I got excited because that means I get to try it before it’s on the market.

For the first time ever, I feel hip as s***!

But can this tasty, savory and salty drink find its way into a cocktail recipe? That’s what I’m really curious about today.

2016 Snack Bracket: Round 2

The second round of the Third Annual Snack Bracket is here.

Vote by clicking here!

Want to see the whole bracket? CLICK here!

Oh Snacket. The emotions it stirs.

“I will personally end the tyranny of Samoas. Give me Tagalongs or give me death.”

Thank you for participating in and spreading the first round of this year’s Snacket. I’m glad some of you liked it. I enjoyed this comment:

“The 2016 Snacket is wonderfully-organized thus far, and I appreciate the layout. This really ought to go out to the masses, and by “masses,” I don’t mean those friends/acquaintances reached by grassroots, word-of-mouth, send-to-everyone-in-your-social-circle means. No. I mean every U.S. citizen. Get me a presidential nominee who will make the Snacket a mandatory annual test. It would be like the Census, except much more fun. (…At least until the sweet 16 and beyond, when things get wonderfully anarchic.)”

For the first Round, we didn’t have any big upsets. That usually points to some good ranking by the Snack Bracket committee (which convenes in Geneva a month before the Snack Bracket is created).

In Sweet-Small, #10 Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds narrowly beat out #7 Junior Mints, 55% to 45%. Junior Mints were ranked #5 two years ago and #4 last year, but they can never catch a break.

In Sweet-Large, #14 Nutella was winning for several days, but #3 TJ’s Brownies with Sea Salt barely won 53% to 47%. No upsets in that region.

Salty-Small showed us 7 seeds are not safe. #10 Salt and Pepper Kettle Chips barely beat #7 Lightly Salted Nuts. Any nut you wanted!! The power of pepper, I guess.

Salty-Large is where things got messy. THREE UPSETS!

• #9 Ruffled Chips w/ French Onion dip trounced #8 Buffalo Chicken Dip, 58% to 41%
• Two new-comers #11 Soft Pretzel beat out #6 String Cheese, 59% to 40%
• And #10 Pizza Bagel Bites beat out #7 Chex Mix, with a rousing 64% to 36%.

 

Overall, though, you were all pleased with how things were seeded. Look at the comments!

“Seriously issues with the underrating of delicious salty snacks. That low for a soft pretzel!? This is the season for upsets.”

“For a full year, I had forgotten how painful these choices were… until now. It’s only the first round, and you’re making me choose between buffalo chicken dip and ruffles and onion dip!? And Cheese Puffs as a 16 seed!? It already hurts.”

“I can’t believe veggies and hummus are a #2 seed. If only they’d been up against something less gross than jalapeño poppers…”

“Nutella is a 14 seed? Who made this bracket!?”

“I feel like the committee needs to take a hard look at seeding. Some products were grossly overseeded/underseeded.”

As for the match ups themselves? Well, that was science that brought them together. You can’t argue with science, though some of you did:

“How dare you make me choose between chips and guacamole and spinach artichoke dip. HOW DARE YOU.”

 

“I am disgusted that you would put Trader Joe’s bite-sized brownies with sea salt against Nutella. Have you no mercy?”

“Having to eliminate veggie straws or movie theater popcorn in the first round?! Brutal. That’s a choice you can’t feel okay about making until the sweet 16.”

“Also, fig Newtons are so good, but putting them next to Samoas never gave them a leg to stand on!”

“Reading that I had to choose between Chips and salsa vs tater tots made my heart stop. “Crappers, how will I choose!?” I thought. I really didn’t like that feeling of my heart stopping, and maybe tater tots are more likely to lead to that? Hmmm is the universe telling me to go with the chips?”

 Next year I think I’ll put it to a vote which snacks sound be included.

“The Snacket Selection Committee will rue the day that they somehow decided E.L. Fudge cookies were not worthy of a tournament bid. FOR SHAME. SHAME. Sleep with one eye open, committee, for I am hiding in your closet and am ready to pounce. Meowwwww”

“Also, where the hell are combos!?!? Those bitches are snackable as hell.”

“not enough reese style candy. seriously, there are dozens of other reese type candies that would win the whole bracket. nutrageous? fast break? puffs (the cereal)? dark chocolate? big cups? sticks? xmas tree shaped? pumpkin shaped? even sugar free reese’s would win”

 

Also, over 135 people votes in Round 1!! Keep spreading the word!

Last word: this whole thing is a ruse to expose those individuals who voted for Altoids. What’s wrong with you?? I have your names, emails and social security numbers and Obama will read them out loud at his next State of the Union address. 

 

Good luck in Round 2!