Santa Toronja

"Santa;" Spanish for Saint. "Toronja;" Spanish for grapefruit. And of course, that Spanish for the tequila!

The name pretty much sums up this week's Greatest Drink. Oh, but a tasty one it is, too! Try this one out! You'll dig it!

The Recipe:

Into a large pint glass full of ice, add:

- a 4 count of silver tequila,

- a 2 count of St-Germain,

- a 4 count Grapefruit Juice, (Chris prefers the "Ruby Red!")

- a drop of Grenadine.

- Shake. Shake that thing like Charo's maracas!

- Strain over fresh ice,

- garnish with a fresh slice if lime and a maraschino cherry!

Chris's Notes: Recently, I began watching a new television show. It's called "Real and Chance: Legend Hunters," and stars these two brothers, a pair of South Central L.A. city slickers, all hip-hop and urban mod, going into deep wilderness to chase down creatures of mythical proportions. This particular entry in the Reality Show format plays heavily on the fish-out-of-water scenarios and more frequently than not has our two stars in the very middle of trucker-tanned rednecks and thick, inhospitable nature.

But it was while watching this show that I first saw the starting point of week's Greatest Drink. The stars, Real and Chance, (who also call themselves "Stallionaires," for some reason,) between actual "legend" encounters, often get a chance to "let down their hair," (sometimes literally as well as figuratively,) and will, more frequently than not, order a tequila and grapefruit juice.

"Oh, these boys got something right there!" I thought, and went straight out to buy some assorted grapefruit juices for further home research that week. It was the mix with the Ruby Red grapefruit juice that was most welcomed by my ever-discerning palate, so that is my first recommendation.

Still, there was something amiss. "What would Joe do?" I asked myself. And I knew instantly St-Germain was the ticket!

Thusly, I was very excited to see get to the Passage Lounge and run this by Joe!

Joe's Notes: As usual, Chris came bounding into the Passage Lounge, "Hey, Joe, you know what I have been drinking all week? Tequila and grapefruit juice!"

"You have been drinking all week?" I quipped.

Choosing to ignore my snippy remark he continued. "I think it is a great combo that we could really work with." Chris suggested that we add St-Germain. Not having the "Ruby Red" grapefruit juice at hand, I added a spot of grenadine for color and added sweetness. The result was more then worthy of an entry into TGDitWTW.

I don't use grapefruit juice in many cocktails. In fact, apart from the Seabreeze, the Pale Deacon and the Salty Dog, no others spring to mind.

It is not that I dislike grapefruit, it is just they do hold somewhat of an unpleasant childhood memory. The breakfast table, when I was a child in the U.K., was completely devoid of Count Chocula, Fruit Loops or any thing that a child may actually choose to eat. Oh no! We were given a halved grapefruit covered in sugar. The sugar made the bitter acid of the fruit barely palatable, the more sugar you added, the less of the grapefruit you could taste. So while the grapefruit acid ate away at your stomach lining, the sugar rotted your teeth, (think Austin Powers.) Looking back the toast was also a bit strange. Our mother only ever toasted the bread on one side. I had forgotten about this until I heard Sting's song "An Englishman in New York." In this song about Quentin Crisp he mentions this odd fact.

To accompany the half-toasted bread, we where given Marmite. Marmite is a thick black paste made from yeast extract.

If we chose to decline this breakfast we could always opt for my fathers choice: Porridge. Porridge is basically oatmeal but it is made so thick you could actually slice it like meatloaf. The thick splodge of porridge was then floated in cold milk and a dollop of strawberry jam was added.

I should probably leave all this behind me and give grapefruit another go. After all, I did very much enjoy this week's cocktail.

Although, I did read somewhere that grapefruit juice adversely interacts with some antipsychotic medications, (not that I have to worry about that just yet.)

Cheers,

Joe the Bartender

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This week's video: Hard Knock Life by Dr. Evil and Mini-Me.

Yeah, I know. Sorry.

She-Wolf

This week we are offering up the works of a long-time Greatest Drink supporter and contributor.

Cheers, Diane! And congrats for your Diners, Drive-ins and Dives appearance!

The Recipe:

- A 4 count of Gin, (the original She Wolf prefers Hendricks, but feel free to use the gin of your choice,)

- 2 count of St-Germain

- 1 ½ count of Campari

- Top with Tonic Water

- Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Joe's notes: This week's Greatest Drink in the World was concocted by Diane "Dee Dee" Wolf. Dee Dee and her husband Lee "Squire" Wolf own and run The Lobster Shanty restaurant here in Salem. After spending the day schlepping about in the Shanty's kitchen, Dee Dee will come into The Passage Lounge for her favorite libation, the She Wolf. Dee Dee prefers to use Hendricks gin in her She Wolf; I think it is fine to use Tanqueray or some other quality gin. The reason I give the option is that Hendricks can be quite expensive and with the combination of Campari and St-Germain it is quite possible that the subtleties of flavor in Hendricks would be lost.

Quite often Lee and Dee Dee are joined in the Passage by Lee's brother "Young" Kevin. (Wolfs often travel in packs).

This coming Monday night, (September 27, 2010,) The Lobster Shanty is going to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Hosted by Guy Fieri on the Food Network!

So sit back, mix yourself a She Wolf and join me in congratulating the Shanty Crew on their television debut.

One last thing, If Lee continues to say "We were raised by Wolfs" I am going to start calling him and his brother Rom and Rem .

Enjoy!

Chris's notes: Y'know, as a fairly regular fixture at the Passage, I have seen the Wolf pack come in, order their usuals and drain them fairly zealously on a number of occasions. But I always thought they were drinking something fruity, and sweet. I mean, C'MON! Look at that thing: All bright red and icy and just shouting, "Drink me, I am so refreshing!"

I imagined it to have a strong cranberry component, or some other ruby red juice found just inside of Joe's reach for just such a purpose.

"DAMN FOOL!" I chastise myself for my naïveté in thinking for even a moment that this bunch of foodies, restauranteurs and cocktail aficionados would embrace anything so commonplace. Of course, I found out about this drink in the best possible way: Joe put it in front of me!

Joe reminded me of the forthcoming Diners, Drive-ins and Dives episode and suggested this as a way to tie in with the local buzz.

As I said, I expected something fruity. When I sipped the She Wolf I was more than pleasantly surprised, I was a bit shocked. Pleasantly shocked, though!

Campari has a way of doing that to me. It has such a dominant flavor of bitterness, I just love it. The sharpness of the Gin and the soft flowery sweetness of the St-Germain blend nicely to sand off the edges off the She Wolf to bring it easily into TGDitWTW standards!

Incidentally, one of The Lobster Shanty's own signature cocktails, The Lobstertini, is scheduled to appear Monday night! It has the honor of accompanying the Shanty's (highly recommended,) Pan-Seared Mozzarella appetizer. Other Shanty offerings discussed will be their Marinated Steak Tips, and the Shanty's renowned Pulled Pork, warranting, I am told, Guy Fieri's patented move, "The Hunch."

Perhaps if Mr. Fieri returns to Salem, he could review the She Wolf on his show! There really isn't enough cocktail-based television on the airwaves these days...

Uh-oh, Joe! Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Call the networks! I'm prepping the pitch!!!

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Please forgive me. I can never resist making the Video of the Week somehow related. Here now, The B-52s.

The Royal Ascot

A BIG Happy Birthday to Joe the Bartender this week! As is the custom here at Greatest Drink In The World... This Week, a special celebratory beverage was in order. For his own special day, Joe decided to go with the The Royal Ascot.

The Recipe:

Into a champagne flute, add:

- one ounce (or to taste,) of St. Germain,

- five ounces of Pink Champagne,

- Garnish with a fresh strawberry and a small slice of orange

Joe's notes: The Royal Ascot cocktail is named after a drink I was asked to make for the actual Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot. For those of you unfamiliar with Royal Ascot, it is a five-day horse racing event, held at Ascot, which is about an hour outside of London. The first Royal Ascot race was started by Queen Anne in 1711. The race is held on land owned by the Crown, (that is what we in England call the reigning Monarch). Ladies' Day is the pinnacle of the five-day racing event. All the women wear elaborate dresses and even more elaborate hats. The gentlemen wear top hat and tails . This way of dressing started as a spill over from the Royal enclosure and over the years has grown into as much of the day as the racing itself. If you are going to attend the same horse race as the Queen of England you need to be properly attired, and who knows, you may even be mistaken for royalty yourself.

At the time I was asked to make a drink for Ladies day, I was employed by or a rather prestigious London hotel group. To be presented with such a request was quite an honor. I was given an unlimited budget, so I ordered a shipment of Moet & Chandon Champagne and some fresh frais du bois from France. I then steeped the frais du bois with some demerara sugar and top quality Kirsch. This I stored in huge airtight glass jars in the wine cellar for a couple of weeks. A day or two before the big event I strained the strawberries and handed the pulp over to our head chef to make some little tartlets with.

On the day of the event I travelled with my entourage and set up under the billowing white tent that I had been allotted, (not to far from the Royal enclosure itself!) The day started very well. I put an ounce or two in each champagne flute and topped it of with the Moet. As I handed them out I received many "Yummies!" and "Delicious, Darlings" from the elaborately dressed ladies of Ascot. After about an hour I noticed that the noise level in my tent had increased dramatically. The ladies where getting a bit tipsy, some of the "posh" accents were slipping and their true East London accents where coming out. I was getting a little concerned but still not too worried until I spotted one Ascot Lady standing on a chair holding court. Her hat had slipped, thankfully covering most of her makeup smeared face, she had one shoe off, and was waving the other rather threateningly at a group of sniggering women! I unfortunately was unable to reach her in time before she fell and landed on the table of our strawberry tartlets.

I was advised by the Ascot authorities to close my tent for the day. Looking back now, I realise that I left the fruit fermenting for a little too long and had managed to produce a rather potent drink. I was never again invited back to Ascot, but thankfully the whole incident was quietly swept under the table, as is the British way.

Chris's notes: Incidentally, Joe insisted on this being the drink of the week this week as this Sunday marks his, (oh, let's say 39th,) birthday, and of course, no one could argue. The Royal Ascot, (which, in fairness, I thought was either that scarf-y necktie worn by foreigners, or a donkey's bed ,) was apparently named after someplace in Britain, (see Joe's notes!) and I suspect Joe was feeling a tad homesick.

However, after it was made up and served, research partner, Kerry, declared, with her first taste of it, that it was like, (and I am quoting, minding you!) the "most deliciousest strawberry soda in the world!" (She does have a way with words!)

This evening we were joined by guest researcher, Jill, who hearing it to be for Joe's birthday, decided to order one of her own. After her first taste of Joe's drink du jour, (or "de la semaine," as the case may be!) she commented on how she found The Royal Ascot to be "fresh, and sparkling, yet not pretentious."

Much like Joe himself.

(Only vaguely-related video here: "Ladies' Night ")

Boston Tea Party

No more should New York hog all the glory with the Long Island Iced Tea! Here is a recipe for a beverage that bests that brew pays homage to America’s sports team, The Boston Red Sox.

It’s official name is “The Big Papi Boston Tea Party” and was developed in honor of the Red Sox slugger. It is like a variation of the Long Island Ice Tea, but all Bostoned up in some key ways to make this the superior drink!

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail mixing tumbler;

- pour a 2 count of Absolut Boston, (a limited edition vodka from Absolut flavored with black tea and elderflowers!)

- pour a 1 count of Brugal Dominican Rum,

- pour a 2 count of Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila,

- pour a 1 count of Bombay Sapphire Gin,

- pour a 1 count of St-Germain,

- pour a 1 count of triple Sec,

- add a splash of sour mix,

- add a squeeze of fresh lemon,

- shake vigorously

- strain into a 16 ounce pint glass filled with ice,

- top off with a splash of Coke,

- garnish with a wedge of fresh lemon, orange and/or a cherry.

- Original recipe by Joe the Bartender, Passage to India restaurant, Salem, MA

Show your support for the Red Sox and make this your beverage of choice!