I feel like Sandra Lee!

It's true!  I got bored and combined store-bought ingredients (vodka) with some fresh ingredients (cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans) and BAM!  I somehow ended up with Aftershock.  

The Devil

For real.  If you're not British, you're probably not all that familiar with this syrupy, cinnamon liqueur, but I remember ferreting it back from London for my little brother-in-law out in Australia.  It's expensive as hell in the UK (£26), and I recently found it here stateside (B and his little brother were thrilled) for about $20, but I was aftershocked (wah wah) by how similar this ended up tasting!

Aftershock is no joke.  It makes you do questionable things.  Like take another shot of Aftershock...

Look how happy everyone looks before the Aftershock! 

And I think the Bean's face says it all...This was her first shot of Aftershock ever.

It's really not a terribly difficult concept, but I'll tell you, what, little bottles of flavoured liquor certainly do impress!  Basically, you take a bottle of vodka (I used this because it's clear and takes on other flavours really well) and stick in some of whatever flavour you want.  I did this cinnamon vanilla bean one, thinking it would be a nice addition to egg nog, and a spicy chili one, which makes a great shot or a delicious addition to Bloody Marys (and helped me to utilize the heaps of cayenne peppers and serranos that our garden was kicking out).

One thing that surprised me was how quickly the cinnamon and vanilla bean turned the clear vodka into a caramel bourbon colour (this change started immediately, and piqued about 36 hours later):

Still, my favourite is the chili vodka, because I love that you can see the peppers and I love how it elevates a regular Bloody Mary.  Plus, it looks fantastic in smaller bottles as a gift.

I think the possibilities for this are limitless, and I definitely want to make a Meyer lemon or Satsuma variety now that citrus is in season.  Let's not lie, I'm probably going to make a Jolly Rancher or Sour Patch Kids infused vodka any day now as well.  :/  The funny thing is that I don't like vodka.  I have friends that drink vodka tonics, vodka waters, etc. and it makes my stomach turn.  It tastes like paint stripper to me on its own, but the flavours definitely make it tolerable and, dare I say, enjoyable?  Well, I still wouldn't choose to drink it on its own, but it's definitely great for cocktails.

Bottoms up!

Sunday Funday Bloody Mary Bar

Today I FINALLY made time to see one of my good high school friends that I've been playing, "We should hang out some time," with for the last 6-12 months, feeling threatened by her imminent departure.  Turns out she's not leaving anymore (a selfish, "YAY!" for me), and we got to enjoy some Bloody Marys in the Texas sunshine before it gets unbearably hot.  It was the start to a pretty awesome Sunday Funday.


I'd been on the prowl for a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar for months, as I don't particularly like the bland, tomato soup tasting Bloody Marys you get in most bars (and there's always the anchovy risk in unknown pre-mixes), but I do love a good peppery, spicy, cleans-your-clock Bloody Mary that is closer to drinking salsa than anything else.  You know what they say - if you want something done right...spend forever searching for a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar!


While the set-up at Uncle Billy's was ultimately disappointing (a smallish tray with three bottles of pre-mix - thankfully one without Worcestershire sauce that contained anchovies - some olives, pickled green beans, and several bottles of hot sauce), I think I managed a pretty good drink.  I had severe heartburn by the end of the first one, so I obviously did something right!

I think I did a pretty great job on the garnishes as well - my drinks never come looking this good!

Breakfast of Champions Bloody Mary

(What I make at home, not what I had at Uncle Billy's, unfortunately.)

Ingredients

• Mr. & Mrs. T's Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
• Splash of vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (I use Annie's)
• Splash to glug of Stubb's Wicked Chicken Wing Sauce
• Splash of jalapeño or olive juice
• Several cranks from the black pepper grinder
• Several shakes of celery seed
• Several shakes of celery salt (up the celery seed instead if you want to cut the sodium)
• Squeeze of lemon or lime
• Olives, lime wedges, celery stick, or pickle spear to garnish

Preparation (very complicated)

1. Put some ice in a glass.
2. Fill 2/3 of the way with the Bloody Mary mix.
3. Shake, splash, crank, and squeeze the rest of the ingredients into the glass.
4. Stir with a celery stick or pickle spear.
5. Enjoy!

Oh, you can add vodka if you want as well, haha!  I drink this (sans vodka) on mornings where I don't have time to make breakfast and I stick a green straw in it.  I can still remember my new boss' face the first time he saw me walk in with one of these.  Was it shock?  Nope.  Pure jealousy!

As an aside, check out your local Ross, TJ/TK Maxx, Marshall's, or HomeGoods store for an awesome array of well-priced mixers and drink fixin's (no, that's not possessive, it's a plural southern drawl :).  You'd be shocked by how many $2 or $3 bottles of really interesting stuff they have.  Plus, there's usually a great selection of fancy salts and sugars (for the rim of your glass) on the cheap as well!