Sayuri

Along with a very very tasty, one of the best Ramen in Katana Ya, San Francisco, I bought this bottle and couldn't finish it. It is said that Nigori, the creamy Sake is the original of all Japanese rice wine. It did taste a little bit of the aroma but, in general, this bottle is only ok.... will buy some lychee juice and mix with it.

Beautiful Bottle.............. will clean it and use it to contain pineapple juice.

Okinawa Palm

I got the recipe from Japan Times Online. Made a slight change on the proportion of the alcohol.

Recipe:

Awamori 1.3 pt
Malibu 0.7 pt

Orange Juice 2.o pt

Grapefruit Juice 2.0 pt

Stir over a glass with ice.

Though it looks like a glass of OJ to me, it tastes really good ^__________^

I bought this bottle of Awamori in a grocery store in Japan Town (Nihon Machi) in San Francisco. Besides a huge selection of imported wine, customers can also find a lot of imported food from Japan. Highly recommanded to any Japanese culture lover (and food lover).

The lable on this bottle is the primary reason I bought it as it seemed the lion was, staring at me and threatening me to bring it home, so... Superstitions, hahaha. It got a sense of Okinawan cultural style.

Anyway, the bottle contains 24 % alchohol by volume. It is regarded as a light Soju.

Make a wish with beer and fire.

Last week my friend and I went to Ocean Beach for Bon Fire. It was the night after Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. Anyway, we set up a fire with apple wood and played "Who's the Killer". And before we left, as good citizens, we exintinguished the fire with our beer. Before we did that, everybody made a wish (all very practical and nobody said "I wish for world peace"), then take a sip of the beer and threw it out on the fire. Yeah, a unique and crazy way to make wish.

Still, there were plenty of beer left, so, I just simply mix some with sprite.

We had a wonderful night without full moon. (too foggy)

Violent, Bloody, Healthy???

I am only doing the easy version of the Bloody Mary. Already a great fan of V8, the Hot & Spicy version cheers me up everyday and gives me fibre I need. The product gotta be promoted for your health's sake!!!!!

My advice is, if you drink V8 Hot and Spicy, don't put it on ice...just get it chilled in the fridge. But if you do it for cocktail, surely you need ice to help dilute the drink....

For V8 Hot and Spicy already has % of sodium, I see no point to put celery salt on top of the drink except for decoration's sake. (I sometimes think, if for the aesthetic reason, I would use grounded black pepper instead)

Should I call this Bloody Mary is Gothic drink??? (sorry, just finished reading Carmilla, can't help being dark and grotesque)

Recipe:

Vodka 1 part

V8 Hot & Spicy 6part

**Build on ice**

Asking for freedom? Cuba Libre

As you can see, the drink was done in day time.

The reason to pick this drink for trilal is that, I just watched Olympic Games, Women's Volley Ball, Cuba vs Poland online. It was not live but........frankly, I think the Cuba team did much better a few years ago. Their teammanship didn't impress me as much as the Poland team. So, wanna cheer them up in my own way, wanna see them shine in the Olympics!

Receipe

White Rum 1 part

Coca Cola (Sorry, I don't drink Pepsi) 3 part

Lime Juice a squeeze

***Stir 6-8 times. Garnish with a wedge of lime.***

I do like to see you people fight!!!!!!!!

New glasses

I'm happy to know that this weekend I'll be able to get some new glasses in different shapes. Hurrah!!! I will surely get those in queer shapes in my budgets. Just took a look at the following website, well, I think they're ok, but still you have to touch the glass and see if you like the actual thing.

Californian, am I not?

Again it's a simple drink I make. I can make, so can you. The title of this drink makes me medidate about my status as a California. It is more than 10 years that I live in California, but still I don't feel like belonging here. Anyway, here you go, Californian

Receipe:

Vodka 1 part

Orange Juice 2 part

Grapefruit Juice 2 part

**Stir for 6-8 times**

For this drink, I used my beloved Pink Vodka. Any objection? For me, sometimes I pour the alcohol after the OJ. I don't like to have the vodka sinking at the bottom (though stir will be made)

Simple and Great, Simply Great

Malibu with Cranberry juice. This simple drinksarouse my aspiration to South Asia and reminds me the truth that Simple is the Best.

Recipe:

Malibu 1 part

Cranberry Juice 3 part

***Stir slightly***

Electric Popsicle

Receipe:

Midori 1 part

Blue Curacao 1 part

Lemon-Lime Soda 3 part

***Build on Ice***

In fact I have pour the Midori first , then the Blue Curacao, then the soda. But look! The blue color is at the bottom, then the green, then the trasparency. It possibly means the Blue Caracao has more sugar in it, so then the density is higher. Thank you my science teacher in high school.

My kitty's Maitai

This is Maitai I made. I believe I poured too much lemon juice into the drink...but miraculously, it didn't taste too sour for me.

Anyway, here you go, Maitai 1st strike:

Recipe:

White Rum 4.5 part

Cointreau 1.5 part

Pineapple Juice 3 part

Orange Juice 3 part

Lemon Juice 1 part

Grenadine Syrup 1 part

For the Grenadine Syrup, I bought Rose's. Any recommendations on other brands? Surely the syrup will be spend very soon.

See what a great job I've done!!! Even my cat wanna have a sip.

Blue Hawaii

I just bought a bottle of Bacardi silver rum, a bottle of Malibu, and a bottle of Cointreau last night in Safeway. Well, that means, I'll be making a lot of drinks with the rum and white curacao combo.

Blue Hawaii was what I mean last night. It's stronger drink that I thought. (40% alcohol in Rum)

Recipe:

White Rum 4.5 part

Blue Curacao 4.0 part

Pineapple Juice 4.5 part

Lemon Juice 1.0 part

Shake the ingredients with ice. Pour into glass. Garnish with lemon slice.

Recipe Source: The "Bible" introduced in other entries.

Personal preference: I even put the lemon slices into the glass to enhance the lemon favor.

Edo cocktail

It is a recipe I got from the Midori official site:

http://www.midori-world.com/

Recipe:

Midori 1 part

Blue Curacao 1 part
Vodka 1 part

Grapefruit Juice 1 part

Orange Juice 2 part

Pineapple Juice 2 part

Shake them with ice. (The original recipe is to blend the drink)

I'm still pondering what should be garnished with the drink. Any suggestion???

Erik Satie's piano music

This is the CD I owned. Oh my god!!!It certainly worth the price...

In my opinion, Erik Satie's piano solo music is the best "funiture music", as the composer called it, for one who drinks alone at home. Aldo Ciccolini is surely the best interpreter and performer for Satie's work. Well, I'm not saying the Gymnopedie I & Trois Gnossiennes are not suitable for concert hall........

Lang Lang has played some of them for The Painted Veil's soundtrack last year. It was a nice version but still, compared to Ciccolini's passionate performance (I really admire Ciccolini's control on the dynamics ), Lang Lang's version is only so so.

I guess maybe Satie himself is an acoholic too, (and he's always a single lonely man) ...he got drunk all the time like so many famous musicians...Mozart surely is a classic of the case.

Anyway I highly recommand people to buy this CD..Ciccolini Bravo........

Sunset in the blue

I got the receipe from official site of Hpnotiq
http://www.hpnotiq.com/

It tastes really good and fruiy and the cocktail has a fantastic appearance with Blue, Red and Orange color. However, stir it a little bit when you drink it.

Receipe:
Hpnotic 2 part
Cranberry Juice 1.5 part
Pineapple Juice 1.5 part

Build it on a tall glass.

Cocktail Text Book

This is the book I've been using. The title of the book is Kihon No Cocktail. Satoshi Kitamura is the author. It is originally a Japanese publication, then the text is translated to Chinese and published in Taiwan.About the author, he is a professional bartender working in Ginza and he is the owner of BAR Wine Museum (hope the translation is accurate).

What is so appealing is actually the picture of the drinks. We have to give credit to the photographer. And that's one of the reason I bought this book.

The other reason is the brief introduction to the materials he uses. Although to me he's half-advertising, half-instructing, the information got from this book is invaluable.

The only thing I wanna complain about this work is that there're some mistakes about the nationalities of some of the bottles. For example, he (or the editor, or the translator??) mistakes Hypnotiq as an American Product (it's surely French!!!). Also, Midori is no more a product from Japan; the melon liqueur is majorly manufacturing in Mexico now.

Bartender Anime

Very nice anime: wonderful graphics (they're doing 3D on the bottles and glasses), rich story, informative for the profession. I've been watching this series on Youtube. What I don't like is the character design.........and the movement of the character..a bit slow-motion, not very lively..Maybe the producers spend all the time on the drinks...

The EP is wonderful too..I believe what's made is a glass of Nikolaschka.

P.i.n.k. Dragonfly

I tried to make it following the recipes got from the official website of Pink Vodka...
http://pinkspirits.com/
**Here is how it looks like **
Recipes:
1 1/2 part Pink Vodka
1 part Melon Liqueur (I used Midori)
1/2 part Lime Juice
1 part Apple Juice
Shake it with a ice, then pour the drink into a glass.

Honestly I think I should go get some more glasses in different shapes. Tired of the two I have...

About the drink, I would say we can adjust the amount of lime juice, as its sourness would cover the taste of the ingredients. My friend Mr. A commented that he didn't feel like drinking cocktail.

Also I'm trying to do some garnishing. Only by doing it will complete the drink. Since I have many fresh lemon at home for this week, (one of my relative plants lemon tree in her back yard, lucky me) I should start practising "fruit sculpture" with lemon.

Empty bottle, empty heart

I bought this 375ml bottle in Bevmo. The liquer smells so good.....and I made several drinks with this popular French blend. Will show the drinks and the receipes in latter entries...

It is even good to just make it on the rock with a squeeze of half a lemon...(I poured the drink in an old-fashioned glass)

Anyway, next time I'll buy the bigger size bottle. (It is always on sale, I'll wait for the next time)

Nice to meet you guys.