mixed drinks

Honestly, I rather preferred to participate challenges - though actually my recipes are too edgy, often to straight forward and I am too pragmatic, to actually come at the end to the top. Not seldom I blamed it to the judges - especially if you are looking at the winner recipes, this is quite suggesting [winning recipes are most often no potential classics, but crowd pleaser]. Yesterday though, I was asked, if I would judge the Marie Brizard classic cocktail ccompetition, here in Dubai.  

Well, folks, the moment everyone's been waiting for is here. The second movie in the Twilight series, New Moon , finally comes out today. Whether you're dying to see it or excited that the hype surrounding it will die down, there's only one way to celebrate — with a cocktail!  

Country Gentleman Cocktail: apple brandy, orange curacao, lemon, sugar. Served up. Georgia Mint Julep: fine whiskey, fresh mint (not muddled) and powdered sugar.  

Cocktails can be rich and rugged like a Manhattan, or crisp and sharp like a martini, or bright and tangy like a daiquiri (they can also be sweet and murky like a Bahama Mama, but we won't go there right now). But with the holiday season approaching, your taste buds might feel the need for something with a little more elegance—that's where the French come in. Composed of two great Gallic spirits (cognac and the herbal liqueur Chartreuse) along with some lemon juice and bitters, the Champs Elysees is the  

Flying in under the radar this week was Pennsylvania-themed (huh?) Rye House (11 West 17th Street). The write-ups were intriguing enough - house-made rye? sausage, coleslaw and fries in a sandwich? - plus we are big fans of brown liquor so went in for an early look.  

In looking for good autumnal cocktails to feature, we came across this delicious ginger concoction from DOSA , which has been doing great stuff with pairing cocktails to their food. The Ginger Ante cocktail, created by bartender Usman Chaudhary, would be perfect as an opener for Thanksgiving dinner, particularly with some roasted pumpkin seeds to nibble on, or this stuffed snow pea appetizer that Brock likes so much. All the ingredients in the drink are fresh and house-made, and Usman worked with techni  

For those who didn't waste a portion of their youth reading about the French and Indian War, Rogers commanded a band of soldiers who wore green uniforms and fought "Indian style" in the woods of New York. The film is a fictional account of Rogers' Rangers and their 1759 raid against an Abenaki village. Early on, there's a scene where Tracy mixes up a pitcher of hot buttered rum at some frontier tavern. That scene--a bowl of steaming water, jugs of rum and Tracy scooping out mounds of butter and brown  

The music is loud, the sushi inventive and the drinks sweet. RA Sushi is better known for its deafening rock and roll, party-friendly cocktails and irreverent attitude (condoms, rather than matches on the bar), than for offering up cosmopolitan flavors. But Alex Summer, the nationwide chain's beverage director, has made this annual cocktail menu update one that moves the restaurant toward fresh ingredients and more complex flavors.  

After 10 years of serving satisfying, elegant dishes in a chic setting, Sam Fox and his team at Bloom have revamped the food, the drinks and the decor, and added a daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. to entice everyone to come check out the updates. The 16 wine flights are half-off, as are the nine new signature cocktails and the more than 15 appetizers. Beers, champagne and sangria are discounted, too.