Cocktails, Spirits, Bars

Nonfiction Bragging–Bloomberg Businessweek Quote!

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a bragging post. This one is courtesy of my being quoted in a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article on the origins and staying power of RumChata.  You may recall that I reviewed RumChata back in 2012, and you can read that review by clicking on the picture.

RumChata01

What did I have to say about RumChata for Bloomberg Businessweek? It’s just a quick quote on its versatility:

The drink also simplifies home cocktail making, says Eden Laurin, managing partner of the Violet Hour, a cocktail bar in Chicago’s hip Wicker Park neighborhood. Drinks with more than three ingredients are confusing to make, Laurin says, so having one spirit with several flavors is appealing. “It cuts out a step by already having cream, spice, and rum combined in pleasant ratios,” says Rebecca Gomez Farrell, a food and drink blogger in California.

Swing by the article to learn more about this unique–and fast-selling–cream liquor.

Nonfiction Bragging: My Winning Cocktail, the Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini at the Washington Duke Inn

Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini at the Washington Duke Inn

For the month of December, you can order a cocktail of my very own creation at the Washington Duke Inn’s Fairview Dining Room and Bull Durham Bar. I won first place in their Blog Nog cocktail competition for my riff on a Terry’s chocolate orange. It’s that magical stocking stuffer we’ve all had on many Christmas mornings. Give it a whack, and the ball breaks into a million perfect slices of orange-flavored chocolate. My trivia team, Wrong Answers are Sexy, gets the credit for coming up with the theme of chocolate orange, and Tara Skelly in particular gets honors for being my taster.

The night of the winner unveiling, Durham Magazine posted a brief piece on my victory, from which I’m stealing this picture.

Me and my Frosty.

You can also watch the following video of bar manager Chris Thomas mixing up the concoction.

But if that’s too much work for you, then here’s my recipe with the tweaks the bartending team came up with to make it better—mainly, they perfected the rimming steps. The drink naming was a team effort led by Don Ball, the director of food and beverage at Washington Duke Inn, from among the fellow competitors and food bloggers who came by for the unveiling.

Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini

2 shots orange juice
1 shot Stoli Vanil
2/3 shot white crème de cacao
1/3 shot Grand Marnier
1 shot cardamom-infused simple syrup
Finely grated Terry’s White Chocolate Orange
Granulated sugar
Slices of Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange

Directions:
Chill a martini glass. Rim the glass with extra cardamom syrup, then duck it in a mixture of the ground chocolate orange and sugar. Shake up the first 5 ingredients. Pour into the martini glass. Garnish with a slice of chocolate orange on the side.

Better yet, give the drink a try straight from the expert hands of Washington Duke’s bartenders! It’s $10, and you’ll find these cute little table toppers there.

Enjoy! And tell me what you think.

Nonfiction Bragging: WRAL Out & About Review of Southern Rail

You may have missed it last week—I know I did—but my second review for WRAL’s Out and About was published. This time, I visited Southern Rail in Carrboro to check out their dining scene, knowing full well that the drinking scene is worthwhile! Here are the results:

Southern Rail is a nightlife and dining complex in downtown Carrboro. The Station, their main bar, is housed in a refurbished train station, and the dining takes place in vintage railroad cars. They also have a large beer garden space and two more bars housed inside the facilities. On a warm night with a DJ or band playing outside, Southern Rail and the Station are happening.

I hadn’t tried the food since they first opened five years ago, so I decided to remedy that and investigate whether Southern Rail offered good options for a bite between drinks.

You can read the rest of the post and check out the pictures at Out and About.