Tag Archives: cocktails

The “It” Beverage of The Summer of 2018

It’s official. Now that we’re in the thick of the summer of 2018 we can indeed call it: The beverage of the season is, drum roll please, the canned cocktail. This ready-to-drink format has taken not just our store, but the whole country by storm. Seems gazillions of you have taken a shine to these little aluminum canisters and the well-made, thoughtful, delicious drinks inside of them. And you’re taking them to your porches, your decks, stoops, parks, beaches and boats in record numbers.

Producers of many leading brands have rushed their versions of canned cocktails to market, which has unfortunately resulted in a glut of questionable offerings that deliver less quality and more hangover. Our team has tasted so many of them this season that they’ve lost track. But what we haven’t lost track of is our drive to separate the bad from the good, to find the tastiest, well-crafted, most fun versions of this super popular format for you.

Here are 11 we’ve added to our shelves and coolers over the past month that we just love. Most are new, others are so good we’re calling them the classics already.

Sons of Liberty Loyal 9 Blueberry Lemonade
Yep, our pals from just down the road took their incredibly popular vodka lemonade and made it more New-England-Summer by adding blueberry to the mix. It’s a touch lower in alcohol than the straight lemonade version and we love love love its refreshing, winning style.
$11.99 / 4pk
$2.99 / single

Half-Seas Sparkling Cocktails
Serious cocktail aficionados will find much to love in this line of premium bubbles made by the team behind the popular Seattle-based Scrappy’s Bitters. Each offering is made with real distilled spirits, pure cane syrup and natural flavors. They’re solid cocktails, and are as tasty as the day is long.

Half-Seas Bramble
The original Bramble cocktail was created in London in the 1980s and is a mashup of dry London gin, tart citrus and juicy berries. This sparkling version pays tribute to the OG recipe and adds a touch of effervescence for a delightful tingle. It’s an incredibly balanced, dry, adult cocktail in a fun-sized format.
$15.99 / 4pk
$4.49 / single

Half-Seas Daiquiri
The Daiquiri is arguably one of the most well-known cocktails in the world, and this canned sparkling version remains true to the original ingredients, with white rum, tart limes, sweet pure cane sugar, and the added twist of effervescence. It’s refreshing – and the only way it could possibly be easier to enjoy would be if we drank it for you. Which we’re happy to do.
$15.99 / 4pk
$4.49 / single

Half-Seas Paloma
A mix the finest Mexican tequila with Half-Seas’ own all-natural, refreshing grapefruit soda, pure cane syrup, and zesty lime make this a not-to-be missed summer treat. Bring on a platter of fish tacos, please!
$15.99 / 4pk
$4.49 / single

Bravazzi Blood Orange Hard Italian Soda
Inspired by the iconic Italian fruit sodas, these hard versions are made with lots of amore and nothing artificial. They’re bright, fizzy and fruity thanks to real fruit juice and natural cane sugar. One sip and you’ll feel as if you’re on the Amalfi Coast!
$8.99 / 6pk
$2.25 / single

Joia Sparkling Greyhound
Come on, folks. There’s so much to love here. Premium vodka with all-natural grapefruit, chamomile and cardamom. This bubbly cocktail is low in sugar and calories if that sort of thing matters to you. If it doesn’t, drink it because it’s really, really, tasty.
$12.99 / 4pk
$3.99 / single

Monaco Cocktails
And for something a bit different – you can’t go wrong with the $2.99-a-pop Monaco cocktails given the pure amount of flavor punch packed into each can.

Monaco Mango Peach
This is a sweet and easy treat for a hot day. Freshly pressed mango juice flavor is blended with two shots of peach vodka. Nothing cerebral – and nothing wrong – with that!
$2.99 / single

Monaco Tequila Lime Crush
100% blue agave tequila and fresh lime flavors. Nothing more. Nothing less.
$2.99 / single

Monaco Citrus Rush
They say it’s like an adult energy drink. We say why not. It’s vodka infused with citrus & vanilla flavors for a sweet kick and a smooth finish.
$2.99 / single

Fishers Island Lemonade
So though it’s not technically new to our shelves (we’ve carried it for the past several seasons), this can deserves a spot on this list because it delivers, year after year, a super refreshing, slightly sweet, slightly tart bang for your buck. Is $5 a lot for one can? We don’t think so, when you consider each can contains the equivalent of two well-made cocktails. Enjoy with care: it’s scrumptious flavor packs a high-alcohol wallop.
$14.99 / 4pk
$4.99 / single

Ramona Ruby Grapefruit Spritz
This wine-based cocktail made its debut at Bottles last year, but we’re including it here because it’s terrific an a no-brainer for delicious summer fun. It’s an organic ruby red grapefruit wine spritzer that all the cool kids with great taste are drinking. It’s dry and balanced and refreshing – and look at that spectacular packaging!
$19.99 / 4pk
$5.49 / single

Cheers & enjoy!

prices subject to change

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Cocktails For A Crowd

When entertaining at home there’s perhaps no more stressful time than those first few minutes when guests have arrived, but you’ve yet to light the candles, put the roast in the oven, or get dressed.

To lessen that crunch-time agita, consider setting out a simple but impressive drinks spread that your guests can easily help themselves to while you finish your prep. And with just a little bit of advance planning, you can offer bar-quality cocktails without having to play bartender when there’s so much else to do.

What we like best about this first recipe, created by Kayleigh Speck, bar manager at The East End, is that you can make it three days in advance. This means you can have your Thanksgiving cocktails done and off your mind on the Tuesday before.

One batch of this seasonally-spot-on and absolutely delicious recipe makes enough for a welcome cocktail for 8-10 people. It’s a snap to make, and can be easily stored and served in 33oz glass swing-top bottles. We sell this version at Bottles for just $5.99 (plus tax).

So whip up and bottle a batch or two on Tuesday and forget about it until Thursday, just before your guests arrive. All you’ll have to do then is set the bottles out on ice, alongside cocktail glasses and a bowl of orange peels for garnish, then get back to the business of the million last minute bits that will need your attention.

The Apple of My Eye, For A Crowd

8 oz bourbon

8 oz apple brandy

6 oz sweet vermouth

4 oz cointreau

3 oz water (for dilution)

8 – 10 dashes Angostura Bitters

Garnish: orange peel

Makes approximately 32 oz, enough for 8-10 guests

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. This batch can be pre-bottled up to 3 days in advance, sealed in latch top bottles, and refrigerated. Serve chilled, poured into cocktail glasses and garnished with an orange peel.

Equally as impressive – and just as easy – is the tried, true, traditional and totally cool punchbowl presentation. All that the recipe below, also created by Kayleigh, requires is that you

pour all of the ingredients together in a punchbowl over a big block of ice just before you guests arrive. (And if you forget to prepare your large-format ice the night before, don’t fret: the punch is just as good over individual ice cubes in the punch mugs.)

FINE-Apple Punch, For A Crowd

Makes approximately 32 oz, enough for 8-10 guests

6 oz gin

2 oz cointreau

½ oz Allspice Dram***

6 oz lemon juice

8 oz pineapple juice

10 oz sparkling apple cider (non-alcohol)

Large format ice (formed in a bundt pan, or large cubes)

Garnish: cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl over large ice cubes or an ice-mold. To serve, ladle into punch glasses and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

***A note on Allspice Dram: this bitter and super sweet rum based liqueur is spiced (with allspice, natch), and is a key component in many of the tiki drinks that Kayleigh and her team make at The East End. It’s also terrific in an Old Fashioned, and several tequila-based cocktails. Given its unique flavor and versatility, It should be on any serious home bar.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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(prices subject to change)

What to Pair with Oklahoma!

If you haven’t yet moseyed on over to see Trinity Repertory Company’s widely-praised production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”, do it now. Mosey now.

And while you’re there, sip on “The Farmer and the Cowman,” a cocktail we created with Curt Columbus, Trinity’s Richard L. Bready Artistic Director, to pair with this quintessentially American show.

trinity_farmer

“The Farmer and the Cowman”
Fill a tall glass with ice, add 1.5 oz Bulleit Bourbon and 5-8 dashes Fee Brother’s Rhubarb Bitters. Top with soda water and garnish with a wagon wheel of lemon.

And If bourbon’s not your thing, try one of “Curt’s Picks.” They’re the bottles that Curt – a true wine lover with an experienced (and wonderful) palate – chose to pair with the show.

trinity_oklahoma_wine-sm

Said Curt:

“Line 39 Sauvignon Blanc is dry and crisp, without being overly sharp. Some sauvignons can be too grassy, and this one has really nice round fruit to it. We had it last night with Asian food, and it was terrific, although it is a really great Spring sipping wine!”

“The Charles & Charles is a stylish American rosé, crisp and fruity, with notes of ripe apple. LIke all of the rosés I enjoy, it is not sweet, but is great with seafood, chicken and spring pastas. Of course, it’s also fun to sit and sip on your porch!”

Enjoy the show – and if you enjoy the wine – visit Bottles, as 20% of each bottle purchased in store will be donated back to Trinity Rep through the duration of the production.

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The Irish Mountain Marma

We loved the Irish Whiskey-based cocktail that Lily created for us last week so much so we asked her to do another.

To complement the whiskey, Lily used a pantry staple – marmalade. The drink is sweet & tart, with wonderful aromatics from rosemary and a slightly bitter finish thanks to the addition of Montenegro amaro. It’s delightful anytime of the year, not just on St. Patty’s Day.

powers_lemon
The Irish Mountain Marma
makes 1 cocktail

2 oz Powers whiskey
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Montenegro
1 tbsp marmalade*
1 small, 1″ sprig of rosemary
1 larger sprig (for garnish)

*For this recipe, orange marmalade was used but lemon grapefruit marmalade is also quite nice.

Place small sprig in shaker, add Montenegro and gently muddle once with a muddler or wooden spoon to release the rosemary flavor.
Add whiskey, lemon, and marmalade.
Fill shaker with ice and shake until frost forms on the outside of the tin.
Double-strain into a tumbler, garnish with remaining sprig of rosemary and ice.

Enjoy!

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Drink Your Chocolate

Skip the chewable chocolate this Valentine’s Day and give your sweetie the sippable sort. We’re crushing on a few bottles made with real chocolate and genuine skill, those that are good enough to be enjoyed year-round.

Meletti Cioccolato
Thick, dark, creamy, this Italian liqueur is pure pourable decadence. It’s made in Italy with milk and Dutch chocolate, sugar and alcohol, and is intensely rich and smooth with a balanced sweetness. We’re crazy for the Cioccolato any way it’s served: cold & neat (think adult pudding pop), warmed, over ice cream, or as a mixer in any number of cocktails.

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
This full-flavored dark beer made with chocolate malt and real chocolate is luxurious without being overtly sweet. It’s certainly a satisfying treat on its own, but for something special, consider combining it in a frosty mug with vanilla ice cream and bourbon for the ultimate grown-up float.

Nickle Creek Decadence
A Rhody original, from Foster! This beautiful bottle, reminiscent of Port, has warm flavors of cherry and plum that make way for a dark, bittersweet chocolate finish. It’s a delicious way to end a romantic dinner.

Cheers and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Bourbon 101

Whether we’re turning neophytes onto bourbon or introducing new finds to long-time aficionados, we at Bottles love talking about bourbon. We love talking about it, writing about it, sipping it, mixing it, discovering new distillers and re-discovering old distillers. We just flat out heart bourbon.

To spread the love to team members that are new to the store, we give them a crash course in the beloved brown spirit. A “Bourbon 101” to prime their palates for the joys ahead.

And given the sheer volume of questions we get in-store about bourbon we’re sharing our primer with you. What follows is meant to give you the basics on what it is and how it’s made. Once you’ve got that down, come in to the store or give us a call for the fun stuff: the flavor differences between styles and producers, which is sweetest, which is strongest, how best to enjoy bourbon and which makes the best Manhattan (just our opinion , of course).

Did we mention we love talking about bourbon?

Cheers!

A Pair of Pear Cocktails

This time of year we’re always on the lookout for easy-drinking, flavorful cocktails that don’t pack a killer wallop, i.e., those that we can sip on all weekend long. This pair of pear cider cocktails make great companions for strenuous Sunday relaxation activities such as marathon sessions of book-reading, Netflix binge-watching, and backgammon-playing.

The following recipes were created by our newest team member, Lilian Rogers, a truly skilled cocktail-crafter whose passion for the culture of cocktails is infectious. Enjoy these, and stay tuned for more from Lily!

The Smoking Mule (photo above)
This drink is earthy, smokey and creamy with tart pear notes. The ginger beer ice cubes take their time to melt, making it a great slow-sipper. Makes 1 cocktail.

4oz Sonoma Cider’s “The Pitchfork” Pear Cider (hard cider)
1oz mezcal
.5oz freshly-squeezed lime juice
.75oz vanilla simple syrup (or, regular simple syrup with 2 drops of vanilla extract)
4 – 6 ice cubes made from ginger beer
1 fresh pear, for garnish

Fill a high-ball glass with the ginger beer ice cubes. Pour in mezcal, lime juice, and vanilla simple syrup, and stir once gently to combine. Top with the pear cider, and garnish with a slice of ripe pear and a straw.

The Garden Trowel
Ethereal with beautiful, complex botanicals, this cocktail is creamy and balanced by crisp pear notes. Makes 1 cocktail.

4oz Sonoma Cider’s “The Pitchfork” Pear Cider (hard cider)
1oz botanical gin (such as Uncle Val’s Botanical, Hendrick’s, Farmer’s Organic Botanical)
.75oz freshly-squeezed lemon juice
.75oz vanilla simple syrup (or, regular simple syrup with 2 drops of vanilla extract)
1 fresh pear, for garnish

Combine gin, lemon juice, and vanilla simple syrup into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until slight film of condensation forms on the outside of the shaker. Strain into a rocks glass (8oz or larger), top with 4 oz pear cider. Garnish with a slice of ripe pear.

Cheers and Enjoy!

The Bitter Peruvian

The popularity of aperitif-based cocktails — those with Campari, Aperol, etc., such as the Negroni — shows no sign of abating anytime soon. And we’re good with that, as we very much like their balanced sweet/savory combination, and their grown-up (aka, bitter-ish) finish.

Our version here is modeled on these aperitif cocktails in that it has as its main ingredient “Baladin Ginger,” a bitters-based Italian soda that interestingly enough does not have ginger in it. (Oh those wacky Italians.) Rather, it’s made with natural brown sugar, lemon, herbs, bitters and orange zest – aromatics similar to those used in bitter liqueurs, minus the alcohol. We mix it with pisco – the Peruvian wine-based spirit – to create an easy-drinking, delightfully tart cocktail. It’s low in alcohol, and has a lovely bitter finish.

INGREDIENTS
1oz pisco
1oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
1 bottle (100ml) of Baladin Ginger Italian soda
3 dashes Fee Brothers Rhubarb bitters

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine pisco, lemon, and simple syrup over ice in a pint glass and stir gently to combine.
Top with Ginger soda and 3 dashes of bitters.
Garnish with lemon slice.

Cheers!
-Lilian

The Bottles’ 2015 Gift Guide

We scoured the wide world of beverages to select the perfect gifts for wine, beer and cocktail enthusiasts this year. They’re the bottles that are in-demand, on-trend, highly-acclaimed, and flat-out awesome.

Here’s what to give (and get) this holiday season:

Four Roses Private Label Bourbon: Bottles’ Barrel #3

Available only at Bottles: our private barrel (hand-selected by us!) of this highly sought-after bourbon: extremely rich & uncut – ideal for the hard-to-shop-for bourbon lover. Limited quantities availability.

$59.99

True Born Gin “The Belgian Wheat Act” – Sons of Liberty

First released earlier this year, this genever-style gin distilled from beer brewed with traditional gin botanicals is for beer and gin lovers alike. Locavores, will love it, too – it’s made in RI.

$34.99

Fifty-Fifty Eclipse Imperial Stout

Delicious esoterica for the beer geek: award-winning Imperial Stout (various flavors) aged in oak bourbon barrels. The color of the wax enclosure indicates which bourbon casks were used.

$29.99 (22oz)

2010 Barolo

The gift for serious collectors: 2010 is widely regarded as the most outstanding vintage for Barolo in the past several decades. Choose from our selection of acclaimed producers of this iconic wine.

$45 and up

Creme de Noyaux Liqueur – Tempus Fugit Spirits

Hand-crafted, all-natural almond & hazelnut creme liqueur for the serious at-home bartender and after-dinner drink aficionado. It’s what we want this year. Limited quantities available.

$39.99

Sotol Por Siempre

Wildly popular with the country’s most talented mixologists, this regional mezcal is made with wild-harvested sotol rather than the standard agave. A must-have for the tequila / cocktail enthusiast.

$44.99

Green Chartreuse V.E.P

The limited-edition, V.E.P bottling of this classic, secret-recipe liqueur is given special treatment with long aging in oak barrels. Each bottle is hand numbered and encased in a collectable wooden box. A truly special gift.

$164.99

Mt. Etna (Sicilian) Wine

They’re what sommeliers across the country are buzzing about: wines from this volcanic region are the most interesting being produced in Italy today. An outstanding gift for all wine enthusiasts.

$15 – $65

1999 Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes

One of the world’s most iconic wines is at the top of the bucket-list for many an oenophile. The pricing on the critically-acclaimed 1999 vintage makes this a splurge-worthy gift-of-a-lifetime. Don’t miss out.

$249.99 (375ml)

Bottles’ Mystery Box of Nips

Five tiny bottles of booze all in one mystery box – who knows what they’ll get? One of our most popular gifts year after year. Makes a fun stocking stuffer or contribution to the Yankee Swap.

$14.99

AND, for true one-stop-shopping, ask a team member about our various, festive wrapping & gift card options.

Happy Holidays, and Cheers!

Party Math: A Guide to Buying – and Serving – Booze

The good news is the party’s a raging success and your guests are having the time of their lives. The bad news is the party’s a raging success and you’re about to run out of booze. Here’s how to never let that happen again.

Now that you have that down, ensure your party’s a smash by following these 8 Tips for Entertaining from team Bottles:

1. Don’t forget mixers & garnishes. Figure 1 liter of soda water/tonic/juice for every 3 guests; plan on 1 lemon/lime/orange for every 3 guests as well.

2. Have on hand at least 1 lb. of ice per person for storage & drink-making purposes. Which means your ice trays aren’t enough. Just go buy ice already, and put it in a cooler on the back porch. Trust us.

3. White wine is to be served chilled, not ice cold. Take your whites out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving. Most red wine is to be served a touch cooler than room temp. So don’t store it in direct sunlight, or, gasp, near the oven.

4. Worried about temperature fluctuations when buying cold beer? Fear not. Too much light and extreme heat (think noon heat in an un-airconditioned-car in August) are what will damage your brews. Subtle temperature changes are fine.

5. Always serve food alongside alcoholic beverages.

6. Place pitchers of water near the bar – and keep them filled.

7. Have a designated driver – or your Uber account – queued up for over-indulgers.

8. Reduce party stress by ordering your bottles in advance either in-store or via phone, and Bottles will deliver to your door day of!