The Flushing Meadows Highball and Others

Though I went to Chicago this past weekend to attend the Godzilla/Kaiju themed convention known as G-Fest XX, I tried to find some moments of peace where I could enjoy a nice cocktail or two. Since I was with my son, I didn’t indulge as much as I probably would have had I made the trip on my own. But I was able to find some time. For more information on day one of my trip, click on the link for my blogpost In Chicago and Illinois Part I from my other blog Observations and Rants of a Native New Yorker.

I didn’t wait to leave New York City before having my first cocktail. At the Delta Shuttle terminal there is a small bar that makes some interesting cocktails for the travelers. One of which that I ordered was the Flushing Meadows Highball. Named after the park, which hosted the 1939-1940 and 1964 World’s Fairs, Home to the U.S. Open for Tennis and the New York Mets, this cocktail was one that I expected to be sweet but was actually milder than I expected.

Here is what is in the cocktail:

Flushing Meadows Highball
Vodka
Cucumber
Mint
Lemon
Ginger Beer

I expected the Ginger Beer to give it a little sweet kick but found that the flavor of the mint and the cucumber overpowered the ginger beer. It was very smooth and mild. Just what I needed to take the slight edge off of flying.

As we were in flight, I was flipping through the Delta Sky Magazine that is provided on the plane, I found the recipe for an interesting cocktail known as The Pachamama. As you can see in the picture, the Pachamama was created at the MC Kitchen, which is located in Miami and according to the beverage director Marcus Wade:

The Pachamama is inspired by the Peruvian traditional corn beer called Chichi

Here is the recipe as listed in the magazine:

Cool down in style this summer with this Peruvian-inspired, sun-kissed cocktail courtesy of Miami’s buzzy MC Kitchen.

2 oz. Florida sweet corn kernels
1 large whole strawberry
Dash of oregano
2 oz. molle berry Aya
1 ½ oz. Pisco Capurro
1 ½ oz. Verjus soda

Combine and muddle the Florida sweet corn kernels, strawberry, oregano and molle berry Aya. Add Pisco Capurro and Verjus soda and shake with ice. Strain and serve.

This sounds like an amazing cocktail to try.

It wasn’t until dinner that I decided to have a second cocktail for the day. This time we went to the Pickwick Restaurant in Park Ridge, Illinois. Now the Pickwick Restaurant is an old school restaurant/diner that had very friendly service and is located right next to the Pickwick Theater. We were waiting for the Kaiju movie double feature to start and I noticed that they served cocktails. After looking at the prices, how could I say no to ordered something. I decided to order a Strawberry Margarita. Since they had to blend it, I didn’t feel like making the hostess/bartender work any more than she needed to, I instead changed my order to a regular Margarita. Now I felt as if I was at Dallas BBQ with the Margarita that was served to me in a goblet. And all for $4.95!!!!! It was a simple and basic margarita served nice and cold. It was the perfect drink to have before sitting through almost seven hours of movies.

The next post will highlight the two cocktails that I had at the hotel bar known as the Visibility Bar.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla

The Monkey Bar Part 2

For my second cocktail at the Monkey Bar, I asked our server Melissa to recommend something completely different from The Perfect 10. She recommended a cocktail called a Pimm's Rangoon. Since I was game, I told her let's run with it. Here is what was in the Pimm's Rangoon.

Pimm's Rangoon
Pimms #1
Dry Gin
Ginger
Lemon Juice
Muddled Cucumber, Strawberry and Mint

As you see in the picture, the cocktail had a nice pinkish hue to it. I loved how the cucumber, strawberry and mint blended together to give it a nice light feel. The fruit taste was slightly sweet but not overly sweet. The ginger gave it a little kick. But what is Pimm's #1

According to the website for Pimm's:

London's dandiest city gents loved to partake in oysters and gin. But with its bitter tang, gin was knocked back, not savoured. Enter shellfish-monger James Pimm and his famous central London 'Oyster Bar' in 1823. Patrons soon swallowed oysters with the PIMM'S 'house cup'. Flavoured with liqueurs and fruit extract, this more palatable long drink 'gin-sling' kick-started the great British PIMM'S story.

Pimms now has a new flavor which is Elderflower and Blackberry. I need to have a taste of the Original Pimms and the new version on its own. Sounds tasty on its own. For more recipes using Pimms, click here.

So that was the last cocktail of a very entertaining night with Momma-San. Here's to another 11-years together. =)

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla

The Cucumber Gimlet

I finally found a cocktail that I could use the Cucumbers that were left behind at the bar last week after a scavenger hunt/birthday party. In searching online for a cocktail containing Cucumber, I found a post on the TastefullyJulie blogpage. The cocktail she created is called the Cucumber Gimlet and it contains all fresh ingredients along with the Gin she chose to use: Bombay Sapphire. Now since I had every ingredient she used, I decided to follow her recipe to a "T" with one minor detour. I followed her method for making simple syrup. Instead of boiling the water, dissolving the sugar in the water and letting it sit until it cools down, she takes the sugar and cold water in a bottle and shakes it until mixed. It doesn't create a mixture that is as thick as traditional methods of making simple syrup but like her, I found that this method worked in terms of time. As per my routine, I substituted Splenda instead of the sugar in the simple syrup.

Here is her recipe:

Cucumber Gimlet
Recipe type: cocktail
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
1 small cucumber, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces simple syrup
3 ounces gin of choice

Instructions
Muddle 8-10 pieces of the cucumber with the lime juice in a drink shaker.
Add simple syrup, gin, and ice.
Shake well, strain and serve.

I asked Momma-San what she thought of it and she said that she liked it but wasn't sure if someone who didn't like Cucumbers would like it since you can taste the Cucumber in it. Well, I'll debunk that statement since I don't particularly like Cucumbers but I like this cocktail. Upon first taste, I found it to be extremely smooth. If I didn't know any better I wouldn't have known there was any Gin in the cocktail let alone Bombay Sapphire. The Cucumber flavor is very subtle and blends perfectly with the lime juice and the simple syrup for a very sublime flavor. The cocktail is also very aromatic.

As you can tell from the picture, the cocktail is very elegant, simple and easy to make once you have everything prepped. This is definitely a go-to cocktail if you want to impress a certain special someone. ;)

Thanks to TastefullyJulie for the cocktail recipe and feel free to check out her site.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla