Post-Party

I guess this is the come down.
After so much drink and food, January can be a difficult transition. I worked hard to get up to party pace, and now I have to let it all go? Mid year, I floundered to maintain my cool at parties; the spins, cold showers. Now I'm able to drink through the evening and still hold a stimulating conversation. There's got to be the golden mean between teetotaller and lush.
Here's a solution...champagne! It's lighter than liquor and stronger than beer. It's fluffy and fanciful, and you can drink it any any time of day! Bubbly makes me feel classier.
So, let's lift a flute and get through January!

Eugene 75
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 oz. rose liqeur
1 oz. Sapphire
fill the rest of the way with champagne

Hot Cha Cha

It was a very swilly Christmas. I ushered in the new year with lots of beer and whiskey. No mixed drinks for me, unless you count the champagne cocktail I created by adding Lemoncello to mimosas. My main drinking buddy was sick, though, so we made tons of Hot Toddys.
What an amazing beverage this is! A simple synthesis of hot water, honey, cinnamon stick and bourbon, it warms the cockles of your heart. It doesn't even matter what you put in it, if it's a hot, sweet alcoholic drink, it can be called a toddy. Nice and flexible that, just like my Scottish memory.
After drinking so much for the holidays, it's hard to bring it down a notch in January. So, I went to Davis for a martini after work last night, as part of my "bartender education". Thai told me that Chris is a real mixologist, and he didn't lie. My fears of straight gin and vermouth melted away in the cold, clean, dry, floral citrus bracer he set before me. Here's to a new year filled with fabulous drinks!