Oh my. This is definitely not the Kahlúa you might be used to. This is delightful, eye-rollingly yummy and goes down so very very smoothly.

I love my coffee, and will drink it at almost any time during the day. Nothing suits aromatic, freshly brewed coffee like fresh cream. As a nod to the art of java and to whet the appetites of coffee connoisseurs, comes Kahlúa Coffee Cream.  This
limited-edition premium coffee liqueur combines Kahlúa, which is made from handpicked Arabica coffee beans, along with fresh, natural cream; a simple yet bold way to add a little indulgence to the coffee-drinking experience.

You can, of course, drink your Kahlúa Coffee Cream in your coffee, served neat or on the rocks, but also in cocktails. Cocktail recipes by New York City-based mixologist Julio De Los Santos:
Kahlúa Cognaccino
1 part Kahlúa Coffee Cream
1/2 part Amaretto
1 part Martell V.S. Cognac

Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a flute dusted with nutmeg.
Kahlúa Mexicano
1 part Kahlúa Coffee Cream
1 part Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
1/2 part Sambuca
Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Serve over ice in a coffee mug.
The Curious Russian
1 part Kahlúa Coffee Cream
1 part Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
1 part Absolut Vanilia
Lightly shake and strain over ice in a rocks glass. Vanilla bean garnish.

“What’ll it be?” - the question every bartender the world over asks when patrons saunter up to their bar.  Show your drink preference with one of Buji Bijoux’s Gatsby Tag necklaces and never end up with the wrong drink again.

“Gatsby Tags,” Buji Bijoux designer May Chen took a quick turn to retool early 1900s liquor tags into brassy necklace charms.  Retail prices run from $206 to $313 and are available in some of the trendiest shops, stops, and boutiques around North America.

A resident of New York by way of New England, the Midwest, and the Far East, “Buji”—”chubby girl” in Japanese—was May Chen’s affectionate nickname as a toddler in Taiwan. It stuck long after May lost her apple cheeks, a testament to her enduring spunk.

Buji Bijoux is where East meets West, playfulness meets sophistication, and nature meets city chic. These unique juxtapositions lead to creations of palpable beauty.

Woodford Reserve scoured the country for the single-most well-crafted Manhattan in the nation. Just recently, Woodford Reserve bourbon and Esquire magazine have crowned Jeromy Edwards from Louisville, Kentucky and his “Cider Manhattan” as the “Master of the Manhattan” for 2009.

Seems only fitting that Jeromy is from Louisville - home to Woodford Reserve.

Jeromy’s cocktail was reviewed by a distinguished panel of experts along with the seven other bartenders creations from across the country. Edwards and the other participant’s cocktails were critiqued on creativity, ingredients, presentation and taste. The judges included Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris, Executive Chef Christopher Lee, Mixologist Julie Reiner and Spirits Journalist Jack Robertiello.

The Cider Manhattan along with the other seven recipes will be featured in a Woodford Reserve advertisement in the January edition of Esquire, but you, dear readers, get a sneak peek at Jeromy’s Cider Manhattan:

Cider Manhattan crafted by Jeromy Edwards

• 2 oz. Woodford Reserve® bourbon
• ¾ oz. Cider Reduction
• ½ oz. Antica Vermouth
• Dash Angostura® bitters
• Grand Marnier flambéed cherry (preferably Rainier Cherries)

Flambée cherry in the martini glass, allowing it to caramelize. Place drink in shaker and turn - don’t shake. Pour into glass after it has cooled.

Macallan, my favourite scotch (I am loving on the 18 year old scotch - it’s the first scotch I’ve able to really enjoy) produced a 57 year old single malt whisky in Lalique’s Finest Cut decanter – the third in a series of six decanters that are inspired by The Macallan’s six pillars, the unique elements that combine to make the whisky so special.

Containing an exceptionally rare single malt whisky, the Finest Cut decanter is valued at $15,000 and will be available by special order beginning in October 2009, and there are only 72 bottles available. The introduction of The Macallan in LALIQUE Finest Cut decanter comes on the heels of the August 2009, record-breaking, £11,750 ($19, 080) sale of one of The Macallan’s 50^th anniversary bottles at a Glasgow, Scotland auction.

The 57 year old whisky has been vatted together from six casks made from two different  species  of oak; the first, a 1950 American oak sherry butt, and the second, a vatting of Macallan from first-fill Spanish oak sherry butts originally filled in 1949, 1951 and 1952.  The result is a softly sumptuous single malt, showing off the classic dried fruits, spice and hints of peat redolent of The Macallan house style of the early 1950’s. The age statement of 57 years old is determined by the youngest cask which was filled in 1952.

The tasting notes for the whisky are:

Colour Mahogany

Nose Ginger, raisin, orange, vanilla, oak notes in the background

Palate Rich in spices, sweet fruit, toasted oak

Finish Long and full bodied

Alcohol Strength 48.5% Alc./Vol.

Update: The party is full, guys! Sorry! No tequila for you!

Want to go to an invite-only Don Julio event in Vancouver on Monday evening? Drinks after Dark readers have special access to Craft & Craftsmanship at the Goldfish Room in Yaletown.

Don Julio, the worlds first luxury tequila has offered Drinks After Dark 40 tickets (each ticket is good for you, plus one),  for a private evening of creativity, distinction and craftsmanship.

You will experience enlightenment (and charm) as renowned Michelin 3-star New York mixologist Brian Van Flandern as he explores the art and craft of Don Julio’s signature tequilas. Each of the Don Julio marques; Blanco, Reposado, and Anejo will unveil a new version of The Don.

DATE: Monday, November 16th
TIME: 8pm
WHERE: Goldfish Pacific Kitchen (1118 Mainland Street)
ADMISSION: Complimentary with invite (see attached). Please RSVP to
CAPACITY:Limited to 300 people

If you are interested in going to this event, (even if you’re one of the people I’ve spoken with on Twitter and have said “yes, you’re on my list!”) print out the invitation below and send an RSVP to [the email address I just removed], giving them your first and last name.  That gets you on the list. (Right click, or cmd click and “view image” to get printable size.)

About Brian:

World renowned Michelin Three-star mixologist Brian Van Flandern has been a professional bartender in New York City for over 18 years. In 2004 Brian helped open Chef Thomas Keller’s now famous restaurant PER SE as the head mixologist. Applying Chef Keller’s philosophy of flavor profiling to cocktails taught Brian to create well-balanced food friendly cocktails. His recreation of the classic Gin and Tonic (he makes his own tonic water with quinine powder imported from Brazil) has garnered national attention.

In 2006 BOLS Liqueurs of Amsterdam held the BOLS 200 Masters International Championship where Brian Van Flandern was ranked the number two bartender in the world. In 2007 Brian Van Flandern won the United States Bartenders Guild (USBG) IRON BAR CHEF COMPETITION hosted by Tony Abu-Ganim and Judged by Francesco LaFranconi and Dale DeGroff. In 2008 Tanqueray Ten Gin named Brian one of the top ten bartenders in the world and was hired as Diageo’s first ever Global Tequila Ambassador. And in 2009 Travel and Leisure Magazine named Brian one the Top Ten Hotel Bartenders in the World.

COOL: Drinks after Dark is holding a private tasting event with Brian on Friday evening at an undisclosed location. If you are a fan of MissManifesto on Facebook, you could be at that private tasting!

Head to our fan page and leave me a message telling me why you should get to come with. For an extra entry, leave a comment here, or follow MissManifesto on Twitter and @ me and her, and we’ll draw a pair of tickets on Friday at noon.

Much like fine wine, there’s a lot that goes into good bourbon, and it’s a pretty precise science.

Back in November of 2008 the fine folk at Maker’s Mark flew me to Louisville (Lou-a-vull if you want to pronounce it like the locals) and let me spend about 4 hours with Kevin Smith, the Master Distiller for Maker’s. The Master Maker if you will.

Maker’s Mark has a long and varied history starting shortly after prohibition in 1933.  One thing lead to another, and the Samuels family - the very same that owns Maker’s now - bought the brand in 1943.

In 1954, Bill Samuels Sr. started playing with ways to make the bourbon smoother around the edges, and replaced the rye with red winter wheat. After much trial and error, the formula that is today’s Maker’s Mark was born.

Bill’s wife, Marjorie (and this is one of my favourite parts of the story) has left her mark all over the Maker’s Mark bourbon - she was a fan of classic pewter pieces, which always carried the mark of their maker. This led her to create the SIV symbol, that stands for Samuels, 4th Generation, which is still used today. She also created the type face and was the one to begin hand dipping the corked bottles into red wax, which is something else that continues to this (day and it’s really cool to see).

By the fall of 1959, after a six year maturation, Maker’s Mark is finally available for market. The first bottle was  4 fifths of a quart and sold for $6.79 a bottle. In the first year, Maker’s sold 250 cases all of which happened to be in Kentucky. Too bad those prices aren’t the same today!

Kevin took me through everything there was to know about Maker’s Mark - from trying the neutral spirit, which essentially amounted to moonshine - all the way through dipping my fingers into the ageing bourbon.

We walked into the fermentation room, and all I could see were eight huge, open fermentation tanks, all seething and bubbling under a crust of yeast as the alcohol fermented. Kevin walked up to one of them, gestured for me to join him, and broke the crust of yeast, swishing his fingers around in the tub.

“Come on over here and try this! This one is about four days old.” All in all, I think I tried about 4 or five different ages of bourbon, all from 2 days old up to 6 or seven days old. It freaked me out at first to have him tell me just to shove my hand in there, but it was really freakin’ cool!

We stopped at the small building they print and die cut all of the labels for the bottles, and then onto where they hand dip every single bottle. They work in a team of four, and each person has a pretty distinct style, to the point where you can actually tell (provided you know the people and see the bottles often enough of course) which person has dipped which bottle.

The entire Maker’s Mark operation is - quite honestly - one big family. There’s not a ton of people working there, and everyone is friendly, joking and just plain fun.

If you ever get an opportunity to go to Louavull, make it a point of going to Maker’s Mark. It’s a gorgeous distillery, and you’ll get a tour like no other.

More images from the tour:

This Friday, I’ll be sitting down with a couple of guests at Morton’s, The Steakhouse in Vancouver BC to enjoy some Hill’s Absinthe and experiencing the amazing event that is the ritual of Absinthe.

Absinthe is an old old spirit, but if you don’t drink it properly, the end result is a not very palpable cocktail. In fact, many people’s first experience with absinthe is in shot form - hands down the worst way to drink absinthe!

The traditional ritual involves dripping ice water very slowly over a sugar cube placed on a slotted absinthe spoon (though, in a pinch, two carefully balanced chopsticks will work as well) into a glass (an ounce or two) of Absinthe. The water drips through the sugar and into the glass, clouding the liquid. The clouding is the result of the anise coming out in the absinthe and making the drink actually taste good!

The event on Friday will feature Hill’s Absinthe, served in three cocktails, as well as in the traditional way. Guests will also enjoy Oysters Rockefeller made with Absinthe, Crab-stuffed mushrooms,  sliced tenderloin on Crostini and Morton’s famed Mini Prime Burgers (which is quite seriously worth the price of admission right there!). Guests will also receive a special gift.

Tickets for this amazing event in the Morton’s Private boardroom are available for just $40, and can be reserved by calling 604-915-5145.

[Image courtesy Hills]

I just finished fighting a nasty cold, and as soon as people hear me speak, they figure it out pretty quickly and then tell me to go curl up and create myself one of many Old Wive’s Tales to cure the common cold.

So, what are these ‘cures’? They mostly centre around the Hot Toddy. There’s tons of different ways you can make a Hot Toddy, from everything to Whiskey, Rum or Gin. The prevailing theory is that a hot toddy’s mixture of piping hot water, rum, and lemon can provide a lot of relief. Alcohol has an anti-inflammatory effect on mucous membranes and can help reduce fever.

(image source: CartoonStock)

Well, ok, sure. I’ve also heard that whiskey will take away a cough (though I’m unsure as to how this works, but go with it), and that shots of tequila taken in a hot bath will speed your recovery from a cold.

Whatever you believe, whether these will really work or not,  you stand the chance to at least forget you have a cold for a little bit.

Gin, honey and lemon
2oz of Gin
2 tbsp of honey
Juice of one lemon

Pour it all in a mug and top it off with boiling water, breathe vapors deeply while drinking, sleep.

Cure All Toddy
1-2 oz Scotch whiskey
1-2 tsp lemon juice
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2-5 whole cloves
honey to taste (optional)
Hot water

Put the lemon juice, cloves and whiskey in a glass or mug. Fill the glass with hot water. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey, if used. Stir. Sip slowly, and inhale the vapors if you have head or chest congestion. Substitute rum for the whiskey if you prefer.

After the success of “You wanna learn how to drink…” and a subsequent discussion on Twitter, I realized that people want to learn how to make some of the fancy drinks you can get in the bars. You know the ones, they seem complicated, and so you just don’t attempt them at home, or, in the case of today’s drink, you’ve seen so many different recipes, you just don’t know what the definitive one is!

Be afraid of your cocktail shaker no more! Drinks After Dark is here to help you branch out, impress your friends and best of all, enjoy some of the drinks you thought were only available in a bar.

The name “Rum Runner” comes from the days of Prohibition, when any and all alcohol was prohibited. The rum runners, or bootleggers, were the guys who made sure people still got their favourite spirit and avoided the taxman. Doesn’t take much for people to determine what they want, and then find a way to get it. (image source: Wikipedia. Rum runner sloop “Kirk and Sweeney” with contraband stacked on deck)

There are easily as many recipes for the Rum Runner drink as there were Rum Runners themselves on the seas. After going through my books, I finally found two recipes that agree, and am declaring this the definitive Rum Runner recipe (or, at least my definitive version). As always, tweak to taste and make your own version.

Drinks After Dark Rum Runner

1.5 oz light rum
1.5 oz dark rum
2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1 tbsp simple syrup
1 dash bitters
1 maraschino cherry

Fill a cocktail shaker 1/2 full with ice. Add everything but the cherry and give it a good shake. Strain into a highball glass 1/2 full of ice. Garnish with the cherry.

Is there anything in particular you’d like to learn how to make? Leave me a note in the comments and I’ll schedule it in!