Beers, Bands, and Buds

Not A Bad Day in Bed – Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Resort, Cabo San Lucas

Photo by Samantha Turner

A beer rapidly growing in popularity is the newest product bud light has released. This tastes and has the calories of a lighter beer but contains 6% alcohol as opposed to  the 4.2 you will find in plain bud light. This beer also comes in a dark blue glass bottle. It is actually pretty cool looking. We got two cases of this beer when it first came out to see how sales on them were. They flew off our shelves in less than one night! Now, distributors in the area are having a hard time keeping them on the shelf. For the past 2 weeks we were unable to get more because they are totally sold out! If you find a distributor with them, I would definitely recommend you give it a try! It’s delicious and “more bang for your buck”.

IMAGE: http://beerstreetjournal.com/images/Screen-Shot-2012-01-05-at-3.48.18-PM-570×370.png

I have noticed in the past week that out bar has been getting a much smaller happy hour crowd. I can’t help but blame it on the fact that we do not hace outdoor seating available. Manayunk offers multiple bars and restaurants on main street that offer out door seating. When the weather begins to be this nice, people do not want to go and sit inside a dark bar. The owners recently added an outside deck to oBR of our other locations, Kirklyn. Over the past week, this bar has been PACKED with happy hour and early evening customers. I definitely think it is due to the fact that they now have outdoor seating. Which leads me to the question: would you avoid a bar with inside seating only on a nice day?

We just got a new beer on draft: Hoegaarden. The one we have is Hoegaarden Brewery’s most popular: their Belgium wheat beer. This has 4.5% alcohol but has a smooth,relatively light taste. This is a beer ordered by both many men and women. This is a great beer to consider for the warm weather. It has a light, summer taste to it. You garnish this with a lemon wedge.

Spring has finally sprung! This beautif weather has inspired people to spend more time outside for the past few days. When the weather is nice, I love to cool off on my back deck with a refreshing margarita. This is a great drink to prepare if you are going to have some friends over or relaxyour side. you make yourself a margarita, you’ll need:

Tequila (your preference- we generally use Jose Cuervo) (1.5 oz)

Triple Sec (1.5 oz)

Lime Juice (dash)

Sour mix (a cup)

Salt/sugar (if preferred)

Lime wedge

First, decide if you want sugar or salt around the rim of your class. If so, pour the salt/sugar on a small plate and trace the rim of your class with a lime wedge. Then put the glass upside down on the plate to get the salt or sugar to stick to the rim. Then grab another glass (or shaker) and fill it with ice. Add the tequila,triple sec, and dash of lime juice. Fill the glass the rest of the way with sour mix. Cover and shake. Now grab the alreadyslatted glass, and pour the contents into that (including ice!)  Garnish with lime and straw and enjoy!

IMAGE: http://www.americancocktails.com/images/drink_images/drink-o-pedia/dop_margarita.jpg

A Swedish fish shot is extremely populargaming girls to order. It is considered a “mixed” or not straight shot. This shot can also be turned into a drink, which is one great thing about it. It is a very sweet tasting shot which is how it got its name: Swedish Fish. I am a huge fan of this shot because it tastes like candy. To make this as a shot, you’ll need:

• Black Hous Liquor (1/2 oz per shot)
• Peach Schnapps (1/2 oz per shot)
• Cranberry juice (one splash per shot)

Fill a cup or shaker with ice. Add the Black Haus and Peach Schnapps. Add a dashcard cranberry juice (or a few depending on how many you are making). Cover then shake. Strain the liquid into a shotclass and enjoy!

If you want to enjoy this beverage as a drink:

Fill up a cup with ice. Add 1 oz of Black Haus and 1.5 oz of Peach Schnapps. Fill the rest of the glass with cranberry juice. Shake. Garnish with lime and enjoy!

IMAGE: http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FVY/3P40/G3TE15WP/FVY3P40G3TE15WP.MEDIUM.jpg

This shot is my absolute favorite to order at the bar. If you are big on ordering “mixed” shots at the bar, you should consider trying a Lemon Drop! It is the same price as mixed shots (like Purple Gatorade), but (basically/all) vodka. I am HUGE on sugar, which might be why I am such a fan of this shot. To make it, all you need is:

• Citrus flavored vodka
• Lemon Wedge
• Sugar
• dash of sour mix (optional)

To make this shot, first chill the citrus vodka. This can be done by simply pouring over ice in a shaker or pint glass. If you prefer a dash of sour mix to (somewhat) dilute the shot, add it here. Then, grab a strainer and pour the liquid content into a shot glass. Cover the lemon wedge with SUGAR and serve (or take). First, take (and swallow) the shot of vodka. Then, quickly bite into the sugary lemon wedge. This takes away the bite of the shot and any “vodka taste” that you have in your mouth. For presentation, I usually sugar the rim of the shot glass as well. This isn’t exactly necessary – but it looks nice! I would highly recommend this shot to anyone who frequently buys shot at the bar. This one tastes good, and is just as expensive as a mixed shot that is diluted and weaker!

Image: http://eatdrinkhoboken.com/files/2011/09/IMG_4877-640×350.jpg

This past weekend, we had a band come in called FunZaLuv. This band consists of two men, Christian Zajac (called “Crit”) and Ron Rotelli (called “Ru”). Both men are vocalists but play guitar, piano, bass, and the harmonica. With different technologies today, these two are able sound like a full band when they are performing. FunZaLuv has a large fan and faithful fan base. They play a variety of music: ranging from Folk music to Rock music, Irish music to rap music, and everything/anything in between. They performed songs that my grandfather would enjoy as well as songs I enjoyed. With such variety, everyone leaves pretty satisfied. FunZaLuv takes minimal breaks and aims to perform all night long. They interact with everyone in the bar, encouraging them to join in singing and even get up on stage. This is a must-see band. They had everyone out on the dance floor all through the night.

This is a local performing band but you’ll be able to find them in Sea Isle City this summer, too! Make an effort to check out their website and try and get out to one of their shows! Great performers, you won’t be let down!

Photo: http://www.funzaluv.com/photos.cfm

This will be the last “Irish dedicated” shot I post, I promise! Recently, people have been substituting different liquors for the Jameson in an Irish Car Bomb. One substitution I have found particularly interesting is called a “Sham-Bomb”. In this, you substitute GREEN Creme de Menthe for Jameson. It is prepared the exact same way as a Car Bomb, with:

• 1 ounce of Green Creme de Menthe
• Dash of Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1/2 pint of Guinness (more or less by preference)

This is done the exact same way as a Car Bomb. Pour the Creme de Menthe into a shot glass and add a dash of Bailey’s Irish Cream. Pour the Guinness into the pint glass (roughly 1/2 of the cup). Drop the shot glass into the pint glass and CHUG!

This one is easier to do for a lot of people because the Creme de Menthe adds a sweet, “thin mint” like taste. It is a weaker/less intense version of an Irish Car Bomb. The cool thing about this shot is the color since Creme de Menthe is green. The color is where the title comes from: “Sham-Bomb” because it is green like a shamrock.

Photo: http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwrzm8ntb61qasoz9o1_500.jpg

Over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I looked into different uncommon shots to make that go with the “St. Paddy’s” theme. The best tasting one in my opinion was an “Irish Potato” shot. It tastes just like the Americanized Irish Potatoes that you can buy in any grocery/candy/convenience store during March. To make this shot, you need:

• Baileys Irish Cream (a dash ounce per shot)
• Goldschlager (1/2 ounce per shot)
• Malibu Caribbean Rum (1/2 ounce per shot)

The Malibu rum will provide the coconut flavor, goldschlager provides the sweet, cinnamon taste, and baileys makes the shot milkier and smoother to go down. To make this shot, simply get a Cocktail shaker (or fill up a pint glass with ice), add together all of the ingredients (no specific order necessary), cover and SHAKE! Once the drink is well shook, grab a strainer, pour, and enjoy. This is a must try! If you are going to order it at a bar, I would make sure you remember the ingredients since it isn’t a very popular shot. We advertised this one on St. Paddy’s day – otherwise no one probably would have known about it to order it.

IF YOU WANT A “STRONGER” VERSION: Replace the Goldschlager with Cinnamon Flavored Vodka. This will make the shot higher in alcohol, but definitely takes away from the taste of it. It still tastes somewhat like an Irish Potato, but the vodka adds a bite/burn to it. It’s still a decent shot this way, but if you are big on pleasant tasting mixed shots, keep the Goldschlager.

Photo:

http://luekensliquors.com/store/goldschalager-schnapps-750ml/

http://www.barnonedrinks.com/tips/dictionary/images/171.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn5Tc0_Egh0/SI8RCeUElnI/AAAAAAAAAJI/EtOQyY-Z1nU/s400/malibu_rum.jpg