November 2nd, 2008 by christian
I was looking through my liquor cabinet on Saturday and found a bottle of Square One Cucumber, left over from the last Nirvino Mixology Event. I decided to pull it off the shelf and play around with some different ingredients. After a bit of experimentation, I ended up making a variation on the August Sun, a cocktail created for the launch of Square One’s new Organic Cucumber Vodka. The variation is simply a 1/4 teaspoon of course ground black pepper added to the recipe. It gives the cocktail a bit of kick for fall weather and balances out the acid from the tomato and sweet from the agave nectar.
Last night at a dinner party, I concocted my variation on the drink for a group of friends. Seemed to go over well as an aperitif. The August Sun is a unique cocktail that surprises most people with its light and refreshing taste. It also brings out the best in the Cucumber Vodka. If you’d like to try a professional version out, go down to Elixir in San Francisco and ask H to whip one up for you.
August Sun Variation
- 6-7 Fresh Cherry Tomatoes (yellow in color)
- 4-5 Fresh Basil Leaves
- 1 1/2 oz. Square One Organic Cucumber Vodka
- 1/2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1/2 oz. Organic Agave Nectar
- 1/4 tsp. Course Ground Black Pepper
Muddle tomatoes with basil in a mixing glass until completely crushed and juiced. Add all other ingredients. Shake briefly with ice and strain into a martini glass using either a julep strainer or a double strainer. Float a tomato slice and a basil leaf on top as garnish.
Tags: agave nectar, august sun, cocktail recipe, cocktails, Nirvino, square one cucumber vodka
October 21st, 2008 by christian
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Monday night’s Mixology Contest was action-packed! Everyone did a great job reviewing and judging the cocktails from their mobile phones. A big thanks to our fearless Fox Force 5, who concocted some fantastic new Square One Cucumber-inspired cocktails.
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Competition Results
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Send a toast to Monday night’s femme fatals by clicking on their names below:
- Brooke Arthur - Fall Fizz @ Range - Best of the Night - Audience Award
- Tina Brandelli - C-Note @ Alembic - Most Creative and Unique
- Amanda Reed - Square Root @ Zinnia - Best Use of Square One Cucumber
- Alicia Walton - Rosemary Spice @ Elixir - Best Poolside Libation
- Kathleen Neves - Some Like It Hot @ Levende - Best Hair of the Dog
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Square One Cucumber Organic Vodka
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If you’re interested in stocking your home bar with Square One Cucumber, here are some of the local San Francisco establishments that carry it:
- Mollie Stones
- John Walker & Co
- Swirl on Castro
- Beverages & More
- Urban Cellar
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Tags: blackberry, cocktail, cocktails, competition, contest, drinks, Elixir, iphone, Mixology, mobile phone, Nirvino, ratings, reviews, scores, square one organic vodka
October 16th, 2008 by christian
Dagan Ministero and Guilhaume Gerard are all about, you guessed it, terroir. Their wine bar, Terroir Natural Wine Merchant, offers patrons reasonably priced, easy-to-drink wines that are both organic and authentic. The wines served at Terroir are made using biodynamic farming, organic native yeast fermentation, and low amounts of sulfur additives or some combination of the three. Each wine also exhibits the essence of sun, soil, terrain, and climate for its particular region of the world. What does that mean and why should you care? Bottom line, it means that you’re going to get a more natural and unique experience with Terroir wines, while still having fun drinking them.
The Nirvino Crew had the opportunity to taste some of Terroir’s latest offerings with Dagan and Guilhaume yesterday and they were beauties. Check out our tasting notes from a couple of the standouts:
Pascal Janvier Cuvee de Rosier Pineau d’Aunis
Francois Pinon Vouvray
Tags: Biodynamic Farming, Francois Pinon Vouvray, Native Yeast Fermentation, Nirvino, Pascal Janvier, Terroir Natural Wine Merchant, Wine
October 8th, 2008 by christian
Yesterday, we kicked off our Ten Best San Francisco cocktails list in typical Nirvino booze-soaked fashion. Bourbon & Branch, Absinthe, Beretta, Cantina, Elixir, Alembic, Zeitgeist, Jack Falstaff, Epic Roasthouse were all on the docket. The highlights of the afternoon were two off-the-cuff jams sessions from mixology savants Joel Baker @ Bourbon & Branch and Jeff Hollinger @ Absinthe. I’ll be posting details on each of our sessions in the next couple weeks. For results of the first Ten Best issue and all the cocktail photos from the afternoon, check these links out:
Tags: Absinthe, Alembic, Ana Mandara, Beretta, Bourbon & Branch, Cantina, Elixir, Epic Roasthouse, Jack Falstaff, Ten Best Cocktails San Francisco, Zeitgeist
Sarah: We will miss you and Dan at the Gran Crew dinner tomorrow night! We'll let you know if ...
chef Vincenzo Esposito: I will try it Great thanks!!!! also great wines I was born in Viterbo and that is Wine ...
Camie: This would be an awesome practice to see adopted for California wines. I really dont ...
Sarah: Cool pics! Last night was so much fun!
Sam: Local venue hit the spot! The people were nice and Frias was quite nice. Manolo (Frias ...