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
Giving anything but grapes would just be completely un-grapefriendy or friend-y at all pretty much. So here’s my rundown of some great and fun bottles to give to all types of people in your life! token cheer Ah, the perennial holiday must: the token gift as a small but happy thanks to all sorts of … 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
Ken Cosgrove has never been a key player on Mad Men. I mean I loved the “It’s my job” speech, but until this episode I’ve never felt riled up about him. But then, he popped a Chateau Margaux at dinner. Suddenly, we have a new official grapefriend! Chateau Margaux is a grand cru from Bordeaux, and one … Continue reading
It’s the end of an era. And the most fitting way to send off Mad Men and its 60s-70s time period is with a fab cocktail party. Grapefriend always does a wine count for each episode, but a finale party should honor the most-loved alcohol on the show: whiskey (which I also love). I’ve scoured through … Continue reading
Abby was out last week, leaving me to my own paltry plot devices. Luckily, she has returned… I’m back, Grapefriends! Sorry to have missed you last week in what was a very dramatic episode. To be honest, I really could have used a drink before this episode even started thanks to Scandal’s lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy … 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
Dearest Gladiator Grapefriends: Apologies for missing the action last week! Between SXSW and other real life obligations, we missed Liv’s return to wine. But fear not, we’re back on track with an extra long recap. Let’s quickly talk about last week where we opened an episode with Liv guzzling white wine straight from the bottle. … Continue reading
Things continue to be horridly non-grapey on Scandal. I’ll let Abby walk you through the non-wine plot and get back to snoring… Well, Liv didn’t die at the hands of her kidnappers. I KNOW…HUGE NON-SHOCKER. The most realistic part of this episode was Quinn admitting that she couldn’t get that red wine stain out of the … Continue reading
Drinks served on St. Patrick’s Day are usually green-dyed beer and maybe wine. You can’t really even just honor Ireland by drinking an Irish wine since there’s very little grape growing there, although there are a few vineyards and producers which are mostly in Country Cork. But let’s face it – no one in the … Continue reading
