Weinstein - The boozy blender

Copyright 2015 by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-8041-8670-4
eISBN 978-0-8041-8671-1

Book design by Ashley Tucker
Cover design by Jessie Bright
Cover photography by Evan Sung
Photography by Evan Sung

v3.1

ITS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. The suns just starting its long salaam to the west. Youve worked in the yard all day and you want something icy-slushy, fruit-laced, and refreshing to help you kick back: a drink with hints of citrus, a bit of rum (to ease those sore muscles), and a smooth, rich texture. You reach for the blender.

Or its Friday evening. A cold front has blown in; the temperature outside is headed below freezing. As logs crackle on the fire and the soft light begins to ease the tension of a long week, you want a treat, something creamy and a little decadent, with a touch of bourbon to ward off the chill. Youre craving mellower flavors with fewer fruit notes and an earthier taste: a sophisticated sip for the kid inside. Once again, you pull out the blender.

Summer or winter, afternoon or evening, you want a frozen drink. And weve got your back. The Boozy Blender is our latest collection of cocktail delights: new flavor combinations, a few old favorites perfected for the modern kitchen, and lots of terrific ways to shave the edge off the day.

Were happy to be back in this gameits been a long time since weve written about frozen drinks. Sure, weve been drinking them but we havent published a frozen drink book in more than a decade. Wow, times have changed!

First off, theres a wider selection of just about everything involved in the process. There are more frozen fruit choices, better fresh berries, and a wider range of mixers on the market. Plus, the variety of fruit-based liqueurs and syrups is outrageous. Dont worry: We wont call for anything strange. No betel juice liqueur here! But we all now know that theres more to triple sec than the tongue burn from cheap alcohol. And we can all take advantage of the wider array of micro-batch vodkas and small-run rums to make our slushy potations extraordinary. Theres no point in rotgut, even in a poolside drink.

Booze aside, twenty-first-century drink mavens now home-make just about every element of a cocktail. Frankly, were thrilled because this time around, we, too, get to show off our recipes for falernum, dram syrup, and grenadine. Back in the 90s, friends called us nuts when we made these. Now, were loping with the (well-lubricated) herd. Youll find our ingredient recipes throughout under the header DIY Excess.

However, we dont call for any flavored vodkas. We prefer the taste of fresh juice, rather than a vodka shortcut. As a general rule, we want more punch in every sip, not less. If were going for a powerhouse hit, well use a raspberry or peach liqueur, a more intense note than a raspberry or peach vodka. A liqueur will also give the drink more body and a touch of sweetness without our having to add sugar.

Blenders have also improved overall since we last tackled this topic. As a general rule, theyve got more powerful motors and stronger blade action, even if the models come in various levels of brawn. There are the standard kitchen blenders with better control and more stable canisters, the semiprofessional models with metal canisters that have long graced bars across the country, and the big behemoths, the power monsters that pack up to 4 horsepower under the hood and can blend frozen drinks in seconds (right after youve ground wheatberries into flour or bricks into quarry dust). Every drink in this book can be made in any of these blenders, provided (heres a caveat) that you watch the timings and have the hang of your machine. Supercharged blenders will do the job in seconds, in less time than we recommend. Standard kitchen blenders will require a little more attentionlike flicking the motor on and off, shaking the canister occasionally, and making sure to stop the machine if you need to rearrange the ingredients inside. After proper measuring, knowing your equipment is the second biggest part of perfecting a frozen drink.

Across the board, the blender canisters have also gotten larger. Thus, these recipes make two drinks each, not just one. In fact, if you have a blender canister larger than 56 ounces, you can double these recipes and make four drinks in one go. You can start your party with a single batch. Now theres a change worth celebrating.

Throughout this book, weve included some garnishing ideas for those of us who think looking good is a part of drinking good. Weve also included some ways to take a concoction to the next level under the header Like a Pro (e.g., using an aged tequila, rather than a silver one). And weve called for specific glassware for a few drinks because the aesthetics of cocktails drive some of us writerly/foodie OCDs nuts. (Obviously that drinks going to taste the same, no matter the glass. So feel free to ignore our recs.) Finally, weve put together a collection of simple nibbles, snacks that go great with cocktails. None have a formal recipeall are narrative ideas to make your party better.

Before we get to the drinks themselves, lets talk about the five most pressing concerns for success. Heres where the rubber meets the roador the blender blades hit the ice.

HOW TO USE A BLENDER Okay, lets dispense with the niceties. Plug it in. Keep the lid on (unless youre keen on repainting your kitchen). And dont operate it in the sink, tub, or pool. In fact, dont operate it near the sink, tub, or pool.

The machine does its blending with blades spinning inside a closed compartment. This may seem obvious, toobut its amazing how many people stick a wooden spoon in there while the things whirring away. Do not do this under any circumstances. In fact, its best to unplug the blender before reaching inside, period. And take care when you clean out the canister. The tipsy should not be around sharp blades. (A word to the wise should be sufficient.)

Incidentally, those blades wear out with time and ice. If youve used your blender a lot over a few years, or even if youve used it infrequently over the past decade, you should probably order new blades. Otherwise, making a drink stocked with ice will be as fun as trying to carve a turkey with a butter knife.