By Paul Nelson –

Blessed as we are to live in the Southwestern US, we’re privileged to have access to citrus relatively easily this time of year. A parishioner graciously gifted me with a basket of oranges from his tree, and I wanted to put them (or at least one of them!) to good use. Plus, we’ve got that bottle of mezcal from last week to work with, right?

By Paul Nelson –

I was first introduced to mezcal when I inherited a half-bottle from my best friend who was moving away for work after college. I didn’t really know what it was, but it was cool because there was a worm in the bottom of the bottle.

I haven’t had mezcal in the last 20 years probably, but I happened upon a bottle of it at the local grocery store and picked it up for nostalgic reasons. Then I stumbled across this article in Slate on the burgeoning mezcal industry and figured it was time to do put that bottle to use. 

By Paul Nelson –

I’m somewhat back into my normal routine after traveling to the other side of the world. Ready for something different, I checked out one of my cocktail recipe books for some new ideas the other night. What I came up with was a little something called the Apple Fizz. 

By Paul Nelson –

Cocktails, as much as I love them, are not a universal thing.  Several of the places I’ve traveled over the years really just don’t do them. It’s not their culture. They may have a distilled beverage that they drink over ice, but there isn’t a history of mixing it with anything else to create a cocktail.  We’re finding out that this is sort of the case with Vietnam. I hope to report on some locally sourced and inspired creations at one place in town. But in the meantime, we relaxed on the rooftop of the second-tallest building in Hanoi, the Lotte building (check it out here if you’re curious) this evening after dining on street sushi. There we tried a cocktail with a Southeast Asian flavor courtesy of passion fruit juice. My guess as to the recipe would be:

By Paul Nelson –

In a few days, my wife and I will be heading overseas to Vietnam and Thailand to visit with friends and do some other stuff.  It’s been over two years since we found a Vietnamese inspired cocktail in an issue of Sunset magazine, and while I hope to be able to share some local recipes in the next couple of weeks, for now, this is as close as I can get to a Southeast Asian cocktail I’ve actually made. This originated in Seattle, and is named for Tran Hung Dao, a 13^th century Vietnamese general regarded by many as one of the most brilliant tacticians in military history due to his victories over, among others, Kublai Khan. It takes a bit of work, but the complexity of flavors will likely have you making it over and over again, particularly if you enjoy Asian food!

By Paul Nelson –

We’re familiar with the major liquors that make up a majority of cocktails in the US: tequila, whiskey/bourbon, rum, gin, and vodka. Each has major brands that you’ll typically find in your liquor store or bar. Each also represents just one type of production or process. Around the world, there are other liquors that are similar in some respects to the ones we’re familiar with but different enough to be worth exploring.

By Paul Nelson –

A couple of years ago my wife and I were able to get away by ourselves for a week. We headed up the coast to San Francisco and enjoyed time in that city and the beautiful country north of there. After a long day of walking around the city to see the sights, we found ourselves in the financial district. It was on a weekend so it was fairly deserted. We were pleased to stumble upon Harrington’s Bar and Grill, a delightful little pub in a historic building.