Hailing from Madrid, La Pivón Vermouth was inspired by the daily 11-12pm Spanish ritual of La Hora del Vermut (“Vermouth Hour” for those who need that translation). La Pivón is made with local herbs and botanicals like cardamom, wormwood, cinnamon, clove, orange peel, lemon peel, gentian, as well as oranges from Valencia, Spain. The perfect cocktail for Vermouth Day on May 15, serve it … Continue reading
Fino sherry is super refreshing for summer – light, dry almond skin and served cold (often with a plate of great jamon) – but you can also put it into a cocktail. Make a bare-bones version with just fino sherry and soda water, or you can follow the official recipe: 2 oz Tio Pepe Fino … Continue reading
If you walk through a piazza at apertivo hour in Italy, it’s a sea of orange with this cocktail in seemingly every table. The trend has caught fire stateside too and has even sparked a fierce debate over if it’s good or if it sucks. Grapefriend has been drinking them for years since the slight … Continue reading
Today is Mardi Gras, so make what’s known as the official cocktail of New Orleans! In the 1800s, apothecary owner Antoine Amedie Peychaud used to make his friends brandy toddies with his family’s bitters. (To measure the ingredients, he used a double-ended egg cup called a “coquetier,” which is where the word “cocktail” comes from!) … Continue reading
Who cares if the race itself only lasts two minutes? The hours before (and after) are even more fun because they’re julep-filled. Mint juleps are delicious and so pretty, traditionally served out of these awesome silver cups (I use them for flowers afterwards). They’re really easy to make too: Muddle 1/2 an ounce of simple … Continue reading
Yum to the rum. Just got back from Negril, and when you’re in Jamaica that’s what you drink. My favorite rum cocktail was the Dirty Banana – super refreshing and you’ll never feel guilty if you have it very early in the morning because it’s basically a nutritious shake! So here’s the recipe for 2 cocktails: … Continue reading
In Greek and Roman times, aromatized wines were created for health purposes. Leapfrog to the 19th century, when Luigi Rossi learned about herbs from village families and had his own liquor shop in Turin where he supplied botanicals to bigger distilleries. Alessandro Martini was his partner, who traveled the world to ensure global distribution. And so, … Continue reading
Personal stylist. Personal driver. Personal chef. Many celebs partake of such luxuries. But personal mixologist? Now that is grapefriend-worthy. Justin Timberlake has proven his GF status with this one. As it’s his 35th birthday today, he got a special cocktail created just for him. It’s called The Three Five (I like it) and it of course … Continue reading
I was looking for a good whiskey cocktail and came across a recipe for Raymond Massey cocktails (named after an actor). Those are rye, ginger syrup, champagne, and lemon peel. Well I couldn’t find ginger syrup and my friend has a bad reaction to champagne (tragic) so we improvised! I created these Spring Massey cocktails: … Continue reading
The final seven episodes of Mad Men begin tonight! I don’t think there’s been any show where more people drink, and usually whiskey. Sales of whiskey have actually been up in the US in the past few years – if the cast was drinking real whiskey while filming the show, sales would’ve been through the roof! It got … Continue reading
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