Tiki Days of Summer in Oakland and NEW BLOG!!

Greetings! Please note that this blog is being moved to http://mixanthrope.com/blog/. Check out the new site with lots more recipes, stunning photos, and general booze fueled shenanigans! Mahalo!

Let me offer an invitation to join me for midsummer tropical cocktails this THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012, from 4pm til 1am at THE NEW EASY, (3255 Lakeshore Avenue Oakland, CA 94610) to celebrate the launch of new site and enjoy midsummer tiki madness! I'll be there with brand new original tropical cocktails and great tiki tunes, shaking em up behind the stick.

Before I can share with you the details of Thursday's new offerings, I had to make myself a drink (self-preservation, you know). So, while roasting up apricots for a homemade shrubb and chopping ghost peppers and strawberries for infusions, I'm keeping cool in Oakland with this collins. I've shared with you the Cape Verde Collins, inspired by the sounds and tastes of the Cape Verde Islands, but here is a new collins using spirits from Cape Verde itself. While I was in Boston on my way to Ohana, Luau at the Lake, I took a side trip to a shop in Boston that has a fantastic selection of Cape Verdian Grogues (a sugar cane rum spirit, similar to an agricole) and Ponches (liqueurs made from the grogues). As many of you know, I'm a big fan of agricole style rums and sugar cane based spirits, and these spirits from Cape Verde are amongst my favorites. Rich, vegetal, with lots of funk and presense, these are just so unique and wonderful. This collins makes use of a grogue and a ponche, and definitely does not apologize for itself.

Tropicana Grogue Collins

1.5 oz Tropicana Grogue (branco)

1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

1 oz Merlet Creme de Peche

1 oz Vale de Paul Ponche for float

top with Bouvet sparkling brut



Shake grogue with lemon and creme de peche. Pour into collins. Top with Vale de Paul Ponche (it will sink). Garnish with fresh mint and lemon half wheels.

For Thursday, be sure to join me for a new menu of these delectable desireables:

Fire and Ice: Smoky mezcal and ginger join my homemade triple pepper strawberry shrubb ( jolokia, jalapeno and fresno chilies with fresh strawberry) in a tall spicy and refreshing drink created for Tim Mayer and his killer recording of the namesake tune on his new album Resilience;

Lisbon Grogue: a spicy, grog style cocktail built around my newest falernum, with Delto Oro coffee from Portugal, pineapple, lime, almond and rich spices, and the unintimidatable Angostura 7 rum;

Falcon of France: my twist on Master Mixologist Randy Wong's twist on the aviation - this cocktail features a housemade roasted apricot-meyer lemon shrubb, gin, fresh lemon, maraschino liqueur and a pinch of Portuguese coffee.

Have a great 4th, and I'll see YOU, THURSDAY nite, at the New Easy!

-- Suzanne

Grand Lake Swizzle, and Farmers Market Cocktails

I'm back from Hawai'i, full of a million stories, and have found myself right in the cherry, sunny days of the launch of summer here in the Bay Area. Now that summer is upon us and we are rapidly approaching the longest day of the year, it's ripe time for farmers markets and fresh produce based cocktails. Luckily for me, I not only have the fabulous Grand Lake Farmers Market around the corner from my pad, but I am now sharing my creations on Saturday afternoons at the New Easy, thanks to owners Kolin and Summer-Jane! I'm thrilled to be a part of their award-winning Farmers Market cocktail program, and looking forward to sunny Saturday afternoons full of fresh herbs and delicious fruit and vegetable cocktails.

I created this gem from market ingredients this past weekend; enjoy the complex herbal flavors dancing with sweet summer cherries.

Grand Lake Swizzle

2 oz Pineapple-Infused Oro Pisco Moscatel
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/8 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dropperful Bittermens 'Elemakule Tiki Bitters
1 dropperful Bittermens Orchard Street Celery Shrub
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz 2-1 simple syrup
3 Rainier cherries, pitted and halved
3 sprigs Lemon Thyme


Lightly muddle cherries and thyme in the bottom of a collins glass with the back of a bar spoon. Build all other ingredients and top with crushed ice. Swizzle until a frost forms on the glass, wrap in a napkin. Garnish with a cherry and lemon thyme sprig and serve with straws.

Come and see me on Saturdays from 2-8pm at the New Easy, 3255 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland for fresh market cocktails all summer long.

I'll see YOU there!
--- Suzanne

Photo Interlude: The Big Island Part I

This week I have the great pleasure of visiting Hawai'i, and while enjoying the sun, surf and gorgeous views I've been taking lots of photos. There are many more to come, so enjoy!

Yours truly at the Kona Joe's Coffee Plantation:

A sunset from the deck of our condo:

Gecko:

Sign in the French Dive Shop near Captain Cook, HI:

Fancy a fancy dive helmet? These were on display at the French dive shop:

View from the coffee plantation:

Pineapple!

Green Kona coffee beans, growing:

Madonna in the cemetery at the Painted Church:

The charming interior of the Painted Church:

Caroline admiring the Painted Church:

Madonna and the serpent:

View down to the ocean from the door of the chapel:

Steps up:

The garden, cemetery and surrounding grounds:

I'll see YOU there!
-- Suzanne

Solar Eclipse Cocktails

Once in a lifetime, we all get to climb up on the roof, drink special cocktails invented just for that moment, wear dark glasses or welding masks and look at the sun being eclipsed by the moon while wearing tin foil hats, just in case...

... you mean that isn't how you spent Sunday's annular eclipse? Ah, well. The annular eclipse yesterday afternoon was very amazing indeed, and we felt some shenanigans were in order, so I mixed up an eclipse worthy cocktail and we climbed to the top of the stairs. The star of the cocktail was a dill-infused gin, which was nearly as brilliant as the sun itself. With the addition of the Basil Eau de Vie from St. George Spirits and Blade Gin, this is a cocktail fit not only for eclipse gazing, but also for summer sipping in the garden.

Eclipse Collins

1 oz dill-infused dry gin
1 oz Blade Gin
1/2 oz Basil Eau de Vie from St. George Spirits
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup (1-1)
soda water
Angostura bitters


Shake all ingredients except soda and bitters with cubed ice, and pour into tall collins or hurricane glass. Top with 3 oz soda, then fill to the top with crushed ice, leaving a mound heaping in the top of the glass. Splash ice mound with Angostura bitters, and garnish with lemon wheel and fresh dill. Serve with straw.

Cocktails in hand, shenanigans began. Me, with my safety hat, just in case:

A photo of the eclipse taken with aluminum foil over the lens:

A special kind of indirect sun gazing - the ukulele method:

The Hangar One Blimp came for a visit:

Nice afternoon for rooftop eclipse gazing with crazy space glasses and Paul McMillan:

And once again, the uke:

Needless to say, we had fun. Afterwards, dinner and more cocktails were in order, and since we already had the dill-infused gin on hand, Green Martinis were certainly the thing - dill-infused gin martinis with a handmade pickled quail egg garnish. Wild, unconventional, and certainly fitting for a historic solar day.
Cheers! I'll see YOU there!
-- Suzanne

New Easy Tiki Night

A great time was had by all at the New Easy on May 3rd - Many mahalos are due! First, to Summer-Jane Bell and The New Easy for asking me to step behind the bar; to Otto von Stroheim of Tiki Oasis for his amazing tunes (the sound system is so nice at the New Easy - Otto sounded AMAZING!); to Timothy Childs and Shelley Alger of ORO Pisco for generously offering to sponsor the event and donating the delicious ORO Pisco Italia and ORO Pisco Moscatel; to Meryll Cawn for all of her help with ORO and making the trip over to help me drink all that delicious pisco; and to Paul McMillan and Christopher Guiao for photos. Speaking of which, here they are:

The menu for the evening:

The bar:

Yours truly:

Happy imbiber of the blood of the Sumo Sumo:

Our gracious hosts Summer and Kolin:

ORO Pisco's generous offer of sponsorship gave me an even more delightful task - creating a custom cocktail with ORO Pisco. I was delighted to offer the Birdman's Passion.

Birdman's Passion

In ancient Easter Island tradition, once a year the birdman would swim across treacherous waters to a remote rock near the island and retrieve a bird’s egg. Successful birdmen became tribal champions for the coming year. This delicious cocktail of pineapple infused Oro Pisco, passion fruit, and fresh egg with surely make you a champion too.

1.5 oz Pineapple Infused ORO Pisco Moscatel
0.5 oz ORO Pisco Italia
1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 dash Amargo Chuncho Peruvian Bitters
1 oz egg white (approx. 1 large fresh egg white)

Dry shake, then shake vigorously with ice. Double strain into a single old fashioned or sour glass. Garnish with pineapple leaf, pineapple chunk and bitters design as desired.

With fresh ripe pineapple from Hawai'i, I infused the pisco for about 4 days before serving it. It was naturally sweet, fresh and delicious tasting. I highly recommend giving this cocktail a try!

Next up: a recap of the mouth watering Win Win Cocktail Competition, benefiting the Bartenders Relief Fund - stay tuned!

I'll see YOU there!

---Suzanne

Thursday, May 3 - Suzanne and Otto at The New Easy!

Clear your calendars, because you won’t want to miss the intoxicating Suzanne Long as she teams up once again with the illustriously illicit Otto Von Stroheim for their dynamic duo of tantalizing tropical cocktails and enchanting exotica tunes. That's right! I'm teaming up with the one and only Otto for a full night of exclusive tropical cocktails and only the best exotica platters spinning and shaking all night long. Don't miss this chance to satisfy your thirst - Join me at The New Easy, 3255 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, CA 94610, Thursday, May 3, 2012. Try new cocktails like the Sumo Sumo and the Urban Cannibal (and take home the tiki mug!), plus tried and true favorites like the delicious Black Orchid, for one night and one night only in May.

Otto and I will see YOU there!
--Suzanne

Give Gin a Chance

If I had a nickel for each time an enchanted person has said to me, "I never liked gin... until I met you!" I'd be a rich woman indeed. The chance to share this magnificent spirit is quite enough riches for me, though (well, even if not at least it's faster than collecting nickels).

During happy hour yesterday at The Pad, we were looking for something bright and springlike like the glorious breezy weather we were enjoying. This treat with muddled very ripe Bartlett Pear, a strong ginger syrup, fresh lime and the consummate Martin Miller's Gin will remind you of how much you love gin (or perhaps coax you to come over to our side).

Give Gin a Chance

1/4 of a very ripe Bartlett Pear, diced for muddling
1/2 oz Strong Ginger Syrup (see below)
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1.5 oz Martin Miller's Gin

Muddle pear with ginger syrup and lime. Add Martin Miller's Gin and shake well with cubed ice. Strain into coupe. Float lime wheel.

To make the ginger syrup, take a large hand of ginger and peel. Grate into a pot and add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, strain ginger, then bring to a boil once again. Once boiling, add two cups sugar and stir until clear and granules have dissolved. Allow to cool, and refrigerate.

My advice? Just try it, and then tell me if you like gin or not! It is quite a challenge indeed to NOT like Martin Miller's fantastic gin. After all, how can a person argue with "let's just make the best gin in the world, and who cares what it costs?" Martin Miller has such a dedication to perfection that he doesn't even bother with London water to finish his gin - only the purest H2O from Iceland will do, with the tagline "Born of love, obsession, and some degree of madness." My kind of fella. It really is exquisite. Makes the most heavenly martini, also.

I just the other day read something amusing about whether Pisco might be the "new gin." A response of "I'm still waiting for *gin* to be the new gin!" amused me. We are, in fact, experiencing what could even be cheekily called a gin renaissance, with the new and spectacular gins released from St. George Spirits (I have sung their praises many times), Martin Miller's, Nolet's, Hendrick's (huge growth this past year), Aviation, the sexy offerings from Anchor Distilling, and many more. Everything from cucumber and rose to Douglas Fir tips, one thing is definitely for sure - these ain't your mama's gins.

Raise a glass - perhaps even as we do to The Queen, God Bless Her - and enjoy.

-- Suzanne

Cocktails on the Ides

For many, it is simply a rainy March Thursday, with little to be said for itself. For history, it was the famed day Julius Ceasar was murdered, back in ol' 44 BC. For you and for me, it's a gorgeous day to share a cocktail or two. For those of you who've been reading this blog for a while, you'll remember a cocktail I served last year at Forbidden Island called the Ides of March (invented this day last year). For your drinking pleasure this afternoon, I offer up the Ides, as well as its 2012 counterpart, The Soothsayer.

IDES OF MARCH (Suzanne Long)

1.5 oz Disaronno Amaretto
1.5 oz Maurin Quina
1 oz Black Maple Hill Small Batch Bourbon
Dropperful of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

The story behind the Ides of March cocktail is a delightful in-the-industry sort of story. I was at Forbidden Island well after closing. It was clean and quiet. I was thinking about leaving, but a bottle of Maurin Quina had been dropped off by a rep that day, and I had tasted it and completely fell in love, and I just wanted to put a cocktail together with it before I left. So, I added some of the Black Maple Hill small batch bourbon and with the amazing almond notes in the Maurin Quina, I felt like the DiSaronno would be a nice addition, and nothing that nice couldn't be finished off beautifully with a hint of the spicy chocolate in the mole bitters, so I dashed that in too. I was on the working side of the bar and poured the cocktail, took one sip, and loved it so much that I walked all the way around the bar and sat down and savored that cocktail. It was nice to sit, quietly, enjoying the cocktail, and be in a beautiful bar which was silent and still. The Ides of March was named for the day that I created it and secondly for its rich, blood red color. I enjoy them whenever I can get my hands on a bottle of Maurin Quina.

Maurin Quina, for those who are not familiar, is a glorious spirit based in Quinine with spectacular almond and cherry notes. The image shown here is quite well known, designed by Leonetto Cappiello, an Italian living in Paris at that time. Many have mistaken it for a turn of the century absinthe ad. As I understand it, the spirit went out of production around 1906, and was only re-introduced to the American and European markets in the last year or two.

THE SOOTHSAYER (Suzanne Long)

1.5 oz Henry McKenna Straight Bourbon
1 oz Otima 10 yr Tawny Port
.25 oz Bénédictine
Dropperful of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into small cocktail glass or champagne coupe. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

The Soothsayer is a fitting counterpart for the Ides. I wanted something that would have that rich warming feeling but with a little bit more complexity. The Otima 10 has some really nice bitter chocolate and orange notes, so the Xocolatl Mole Bitters from Bittermens were a natural to drive the flavor home. They play very nicely with Bénédictine, too.

Typically we toast to the Queen's health with every cocktail at The Pad, but today, it seems as if we'd do well to toast to Ceasar, as well. I'm off to another Soothsayer - and here's luck to all of you, with no reason to fear the Ides!

I'll see YOU there!

--Suzanne