How you doin’? It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas—my favorite time of year. Great meals, wonderful baked goods and a fantastic winter wonderland cocktail.
 
Meet my Gingerbread Martini. This cocktail emerged as a creative twist on classic holiday flavors, capturing the essence of gingerbread in a smooth, festive cocktail at my Palm Grill Restaurant.
 
I was inspired by the nostalgic tastes of gingerbread cookies—packed with spices such as ginger, cinnamon, and molasses. My Gingerbread Martini will quickly become a popular choice for your holiday celebrations.  It is a festive cocktail that combines flavors reminiscent of gingerbread cookies, often made with ingredients like vodka, Baileys Irish Cream, and gingerbread syrup. It’s a cocktail that feels festive from the first sip. It is perfect for cozy gatherings or special celebrations; this cocktail is a quick way to add a little holiday magic to any occasion.
 
Here’s how to easily make this delicious cocktail at home.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes (when the gingerbread syrup is made ahead of time)
Yield:  1 serving

Ingredients 
2 ounces vanilla vodka (from freezer)
1 ounce dry vermouth (chilled)
1 teaspoon amaretto
1⁄2 teaspoon gingerbread syrup (I prefer Monin) or see my recipe below
2 ounces cream or half n’ half
6 drops Bob's Ginger Bitters
Add a swirl of whipped cream on top for a creamy finish.
Gingerbread cookie for garnish
Consider a sprinkle of colorful holiday sprinkles over the whipped cream for a fun, festive look.
 
Directions

1. Read the recipe all the way through before starting. Measure all ingredients and have at your side.
2. Freeze a coupe or martini glass .
3. Prepare the garnish of gingerbread or ginger cookie.
4. In a cocktail shaker and shake all the ingredients with ice.
5. Strain into a frosty glass.
6. Garnish with gingerbread or ginger cookie rested on the rim or add a swirl of whipped cream on top for a creamy finish.

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ChefSecret:  For a special touch, dip the rim of your martini glass into a bit of gingerbread syrup. Then, press the rim into a plate of crushed gingerbread cookies or graham crackers for a sweet, spiced coating that complements the cocktail’s flavors.
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                                                       Gingerbread Syrup
Making homemade gingerbread syrup is quick and simple, adding authentic flavor to your Gingerbread Martini.

Ingredients 
For the homemade gingerbread syrup
1 cup sugar – to sweeten and thicken the syrup.
1/2 cup water – to dissolve the sugar and carry the flavors.
2 teaspoons ground ginger – for that classic gingerbread spice.
1 teaspoon molasses – adds a rich, deep flavor.
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon – for a warm, spiced aroma.
 
Directions
To make the homemade gingerbread syrup

1. In a small saucepan, add the sugar, water, ginger, molasses and  cinnamon stick (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, if preferred).
2. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar dissolves fully.
3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let the syrup simmer for about 5 minutes. This allows the flavors to blend and the syrup to thicken slightly.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the syrup cool completely. Allowing it to cool helps the flavors deepen.
5. Pour the cooled syrup through a fine mesh strainer into an airtight container to remove any cinnamon stick pieces or ginger particles.
6. Store the syrup in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

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Quip of the Day:  Why did the gingerbread man go to school? Because he wanted to be a smart cookie!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #HappyHour2025 #MerryChristmas #GingerbreadMartini #Gingerbread #Martini #Vodka #Vermouth #Amaretto #GingerBitters #HolidayHappyHour #Cheers #HolidayRecipes #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                         ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? It’s time for some holiday cocktails. As the weather turns to winter and plenty of snow, we need to warm things up a bit. I hate cold weather. So, I move on to my Hot Butter Rum or Fun.
 
Hot buttered rum is a mixed drink containing rum, butter, hot water or cider, a sweetener and various spices (usually cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves). My Hot Butter Rum is especially popular in the fall and winter and is traditionally associated with the holiday season. In the United States, hot buttered rum dates back to colonial days. During that time many families had their own recipes, and early Americans believed rum to be nutritious, healthful and a strengthener of the body.
 
Many people often ask, “What does a Hot Buttered Rum taste like?” And what most of them really want to know is, “Does it taste like butter?”
 
Don’t worry, though. Hot Buttered Rum doesn’t taste like you’re drinking butter. Instead, it has a super-rich, sweetly spiced flavor with hints of vanilla. The butter also gives the drink a phenomenal texture. It’s smooth and velvety, a genuine delight to the senses. It’s a complex drink with hidden depths. You’ll love its aromatic spices and gently sweet flavor. And the pleasant, boozy feeling it leaves you with is nothing but the best.
 
Rum is the OG pirate drink, more than just booze—it’s like a symbol of wild adventures and rebellion. It started in the Caribbean, made from sugarcane leftovers, and gets its epic flavor from chilling in oak barrels. Back in the day, rum was the liquid courage for many pirate antics on the high seas. With a history full of mutinies, treasure hunts, and drunken fun, it’s full of surprises.
 
Prep time: 10 minutes
Yield: 12 cocktails
 
For the batter
1 pound dark brown sugar
1/2 pound softened unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
 
For the cocktail
Boiling water
Dark rum
 
Directions
To make the batter

1. Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter together.
2. Add the spices and continue to mix. 
3. Refrigerate the batter until ready to use. 
4. It will keep refrigerated for the entire holiday season.

 
To make a Hot Butter Run Drink

1. Place about 1 tablespoon of the butter batter in an 8-ounce mug.
2. Add 6 ounces of boiling water and 1 ounce of dark rum.
3. Mix well and garnish.

 
ChefSecret:  I like to top My Hot Buttered Rum with a little whipped cream or some mini-marshmallows. A cinnamon stick is nice, too.
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Quip of the Day:  Derrick rode to the liquor store yesterday on his bicycle. He bought a bottle of Rum and put it in the bicycle basket. As he was about to leave, he thought for a moment. “If I fall off the bicycle, the bottle might break.” To avoid that, he drank all of the rum before he left the store. It turned out to be a very good decision because he fell off the bike seven times on his way home.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #HappyHour2025 #MerryChristmas #HotButteredRum #HolidayHappyHour #Cheers #HolidayRecipes #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                              ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? We hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
 
Spicy foods are the rage today and so are “hot” cocktails. In this twist on a classic, a bartender at Clover Club in New York City reinvented a traditional Negroni cocktail by adding some mezcal, chili liqueur and spicy bitters to give the Negroni a smoky and piquant finish.
 
The most common misconception around spicy cocktails is that they’re just heat and no nuance or flavor—but when you tap into spice with actual flavor by using the right ingredients, you can create an enticing, savory drink with some serious heat. Combining different spicy ingredients—such as Ancho Reyes red chili liqueur and Bitterman’s’ Hellfire Habanero Shrub bitters, in this case—can help to reach those levels of complex spice that makes this cocktail a winner.
 
With your newfound spice level skills, there’s a whole world of possibility ahead. Playing with fire won’t necessarily get you burned.
 
Ingredients 
1 ounce mezcal
3/4 ounce Campari
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce Ancho Reyes red chili liqueur
2 drops Bitterman’s Hellfire Habanero Shrub bitters
Garnish: lemon or orange peel or a skewed fresh pepper
 
Directions

1. Read the recipe all the way through before starting. Measure all ingredients and have at your side.
2. Add the mezcal, Campari, sweet vermouth, chili liqueur and bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled.
3. Strain into an Old Fashioned or rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Garnish with a lemon or orange peel or a skewed fresh pepper.

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ChefSecret:  I like spicy base liquors.  As the mixologist in your own home if my heat level is still not sufficient for the heat seeker in you, there are other methods to raise your drink’s rating on the Scoville scale.

For some extra kick, you can infuse mezcal or any other base spirit with your own custom pepper combination. This could be as simple as adding some sliced jalapeños into a bottle of spirits, or a curated mélange of hot peppers, depending on the flavors and level of heat you’re hoping to achieve.

Either way, check on the mixture after one hour, and then taste every hour after that until you deem it ready. If you want it to be extremely spicy, you can leave the infusion overnight and see what it tastes like the next day.
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Quip of the Day:  A day without cocktails is like… just kidding, I have no idea.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.
 
#Cocktail #SpicyNegroniCocktail #Mezcal #Campari #Vermouth #AnchoReyesRedChiliLiqueur #BittermansHellfireShrubBitters #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #HolidayRecipes #Thanksgiving Recipes #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                                    ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? I’ll bet you have a bottle of some obscure liquor all the way in the back of your liquor cabinet or on the top shelf of your bar getting dusty. Thank goodness, with very few exceptions, liquor doesn’t go “stale.”
 
I had a bottle of Cherry Heering that I didn’t quite know what to do with. Heering Cherry Liqueur is a Danish liqueur flavored with cherries. It is often referred to simply  as Peter Heering or Cherry Heering in books and cocktail recipes. Heering Cherry Liqueur is often used as an ingredient in cocktails including a Singapore Sling and Blood & Sand. Cherry Heering can also be used in baking.
 
But I digress…  Personally, I’m not particularly fond of cold weather or winter sports. I will be a good sport and go with friends to snowy weather areas, but while they are outdoors freezing their buns off, I’ll be inside, nice and warm preparing (or contemplating) cocktails and dinner at the lodge. One drink I prefer as a winter warm up is my Snowmobile Cocktail. This is a great way to throw off the chill from a day of skiing or snowboarding.
 
Ingredients 
1 ounce Heering Cherry Liqueur
1 ounce coconut liqueur
1 ounce white rum
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1-1/2 ounces sweetened cranberry juice
 
Directions

1. Fill an old fashioned glass half full of ice.
2. Add the cherry liquor, rum and lime juice.
3. Stir to combine.
4. Top off with the cranberry juice.
5. Garnish with cherries and a sprig of cranberries.

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ChefSecret:  Can’t find fresh cranberries? Substitute a quarter lime as a garnish.
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Quip of the Day:  I tried to tell a joke about Danish design, but it was too minimalistic to be funny!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #SnowmobileCocktail #HeeringCherry Liqueur #CoconutLiqueur #WhiteRum #CranberryJuice #LimeJuice #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #HolidayRecipes #Thanksgiving Recipes #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                              ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? I love the balance of fresh fruit, fruit juices and liquor. In this Blackberry Bourbon Sour I use a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, sweet orange juice and muddled blackberries creating a beautiful balance with the bourbon’s richness.
 
Aromatic Experience: Muddling fresh rosemary at the bottom of a shaker releases herbal notes that pair perfectly with the fruit. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary, a cinnamon stick, or even a lemon twist for a little bit of extra flair. Thread the sweet blackberries on a rosemary sprig for an outstanding natural garnish.
 
Here is how it comes together… the lemon juice adds a bright, tart acidity that balances sweetness. The orange juice adds mild citrus sweetness. Blackberries infuse a rich blackberry flavor. The rosemary gives this cocktail an earthy, aromatic touch. The simple syrup, honey or maple syrup add a touch of sweetness. The bourbon is the backbone of this cocktail. The orange bitters give this drink a subtle depth.
 
Prep time:  6 minutes
 
Ingredients 
For the cocktail
1 ounce freshly squeezed  lemon juice
1 ounce freshly squeezed Mandarin orange juice
12 whole blackberries
 
For the garnish
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 ounce simple syrup (50/50 water : sugar)
2 ounces Kentucky bourbon
3 ice cubes
1 large round or square cube of ice
3 drops orange bitters
 
Directions
Prepare to make the cocktail

1. Add the lemon and Mandarin orange juices and all but 4 blackberries to cocktail shaker.
2. Add 4 rosemary leaves.
3. Muddle the fruit, fruit juices and rosemary.
4. Add the simple syrup and bourbon.
5. Set aside while you make the garnish.

To make the rosemary garnish and prepare the cocktail

1. Remove most of the leaves from a rosemary sprig to make a rosemary skewer leaving enough on the end for show (see picture above).
2. Use a cocktail pick to skewer 4 blackberries.
3. Remove the pick and poke the rosemary stem through the berries to create a garnish. Set aside.
4. Place large ice cube into glass.
5. Add smaller ice cubes into the cocktail shaker and shake it like you mean it for about 30 seconds—make a show of it.
6. Strain the shaken cocktail over the large ice cube in the glass.
7. Float 3 drops of orange bitters over the ice cube.
8. Add the skewered blackberry garnish.

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ChefSecret:  I know this might sound a bit strange but muddling the fresh rosemary at the bottom of a shaker releases herbal notes that pair perfectly with the fruit and fruit juices creating an aromatic experience.
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Quip of the Day:  Q. How do you make a cocktail laugh?  A. Give it a good shake!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #BlackberryBourbonSour #FreshLemonJuice #FreshMandarinOrangeJuice #FreshRosemary #AngosturaOrangeBitters #LemonJuice #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  

                                                                                  ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? If nothing else the name of this cocktail should be enough to try it. This light and approachable vodka cocktail by Pete Vasconcellos, beverage director of Albert’s Bar, was originally created for sister bar, The Penrose, when it opened eight years ago. But the refreshing Itty Bitty Pretty, with its intriguing layers of flavor, became so popular that it was brought back several times, including for the opening menu at Albert’s Bar.
 
The secret is using Americano Bianco. After a liquor rep dropped off a bottle of Americano Bianco one of the bartenders started experimenting with the Italian aperitif that’s made from a base of Muscato with herbs, spices, and citrus. The mixologist added a half ounce and some basil to the classic Prohibition-era Bee’s Knees cocktail (gin, lemon, and honey syrup). A fellow bartender asked for vodka instead, it was perfect. As he poured the concoction into small cordial glasses for some patrons to sample, one woman remarked on the tiny size of the drinks, and the “Itty Bitty” was born.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients 
1-1⁄2 ounces Ketel One Vodka
1⁄2 ounce Americano Bianco chilled
1⁄2 ounce honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 water by weight)
3⁄4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
1 clean fresh basil leaf (garnish)
 
Directions

1. Pre-chill a coupe glass.
2. Shake all ingredients with ice.
3. Strain into chilled glass.
4. Garnish with basil leaf rested across the rim.

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ChefSecret:  Cocchi Americano Bianco is a quinine-flavored aperitif wine from  Italy's Piedmont region, known for its refreshing profile that includes botanicals like gentian and citrus. It has been produced since 1891 and is often enjoyed chilled with ice and a splash of soda.
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Quip of the Day:  I went on the vodka diet recently.  I lost three days in one week.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #IttyBittyPretty #Vodka #AmericanoBianco #AngosturaOrangeBitters #LemonJuice #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
                                                                                ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? Anytime is the peak time for delicious tiki cocktails like the ones we made at my Custom House Restaurants. Full of tropical fruit flavors, laden with rum and crushed ice, tikis are the quintessential refreshment. The Naked Ape embraces this tradition and is ready to provide a fun drinking experience.
 
The base of the cocktail is split 3:1 between black blended rum and lightly aged overproof rum. Black rum brings deep, rich molasses notes supplemented by the hints of vanilla, butterscotch and sweet spice. Overproof rum bolsters the black rum and adds a little sharper spirit making sure that cocktail base cuts through other ingredients with their distinctive flavor profiles.
 
Sweetness comes in the forms of cinnamon syrup, a traditional tiki spice with delicious warmth, and banana liqueur which is clearly present in the drink with those beloved ripe banana notes. A touch of lemon juice freshens the cocktail up with a touch of acid and keeps the sweetness in check.
 
Finally, a dash of Angostura bitters binds the ingredients together and gives the drink a little more complexity by bringing individual notes of rum and liqueur to the forefront.
 
The Naked Ape is a delicious and whimsically named cocktail, which can easily become a conversation piece at your next dinner gathering. So, I highly recommend giving this drink a chance.
 
Ingredients 
1-1⁄2 ounces dark/black/blackstrap rum
1⁄2 ounce aged 4-6 years overproof pot still rum
1⁄2 ounce banana liqueur
1⁄2 ounce cinnamon syrup (I prefer Monin brand)
1⁄2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
ice
cinnamon stick (for garnish)
banana chunk (for garnish)
 
Directions

1. Freeze a double old-fashioned glass.
2. Assemble the garnish of cinnamon stick and a banana chunk.
3. Add all ingredients, except garnish, to a shaker.
4. Shake all ingredients with ice like you mean it.
5. Strain the shaken cocktail into glass filled with crushed ice.
6. Garnish with cinnamon stick and banana chunk on rim.

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ChefSecret:  Have fun with this drink and play around with different garnishes.
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Quip of the Day:  Monkey Business on a Bus
This guy has an ape, and he wants to go down to Florida for spring break, so he and his ape get on this Greyhound bus and head down. On the way there's a terrible crash. The bus drives off the road and everyone on board dies. It's a horrible bloodbath with body parts scattered everywhere. Everyone is dead at the scene except the ape.
The police are trying to figure out what went wrong. They have no witnesses. It was a single-vehicle accident. So, they bring the ape in to interrogate him. The detectives figure it's a long shot, but it's the only way they'll ever know.
In the interrogation room, the detective sits down across from this ape. The ape looks back at the detective as if he's waiting for questioning. The detective says, "This is ridiculous, but let's give it a shot. What the hell happened on that bus?" The ape of course, can't talk, so he stands up and mimes dancing.
The detective says, "Dancing on the bus, so the party started a bit early?" The ape nods energetically!
The detective says, "Well, that could certainly be distracting. This stupid ape is actually helping. Can you tell us anything else, ape?". The ape gestures as if he's tipping back a bottle to drink from it.
The detective says, "Drinking, dancing and the highway, that's bad news. Anything else?" The ape puts his thumb and forefinger together to his lips and inhales noisily, then stares at the ceiling.
The detective says, "Marijuana? They were getting high, dancing and drinking?" The monkey nods enthusiastically!
The detective says, "This is really bad, but one hell of a smart ape. Anything else happening on that bus?" The ape bends down to the table, plugs one side of his nose and sniffs.
The detective says, "Holy shit. Cocaine on the highway, that's incredible! It's no wonder they crashed! What were you doing while all this was going on, ape?"
The ape looks over his right shoulder, puts his two hands up in front of him and swings them back and forth, as if handling a steering wheel.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail#NakedApeCocktail #Rum #OverproofRum #BlackstrapRum #BananaLiqueur #CinnamonSyrup #AngosturaBitters #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                                   ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? As the season turns and the weather cools, I think of Bourbon—Tennessee whiskey—Jack Daniel's Whiskey to be specific. Here is a refreshing 4-ingredient cocktail with JD whiskey, perfect for fall days.
 
The Lynchburg Lemonade cocktail is named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, the hometown of the Jack Daniel's Distillery. It's one of the most popular mixed drinks and the Tennessee whiskey's signature cocktail. While the official recipe is slightly more elaborate than just mixing whiskey and lemonade, it's still quite easy and perfect for an early fall backyard barbecue.
 
To mix up an authentic Lynchburg Lemonade, you'll need just four ingredients, a tall glass and some ice. The featured ingredient is, of course, the famous Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, and this is undoubtedly one of the best drinks for it. There's something magical about the whiskey's smoky sweetness in this tart, sparkling mixed drink.
 
In addition to whiskey, you'll need orange liqueur (triple sec), freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon-lime soda, and lemon slices for garnish. Once you've gathered your ingredients, simply pour the whiskey, triple sec, and lemon juice into a Collins glass (or another tall glass), add ice, top with the soda, stir, and garnish. After one taste, you'll realize why it's long been a favorite.
 
The Lynchburg Lemonade is a relatively mild drink. On average, its alcohol content is around 8 percent (16 proof), which is slightly lighter than a glass of wine. However, because this cocktail goes down sooo easily it has been known to get people more inebriated than they expected. Aside from drinking too many, the issue often arises from overpouring the whiskey. To keep the drink manageable, maintain a balance of flavor, and help prevent hangovers, stick to the standard 1 1/2-ounce shot.
 
You can, of course, use a whiskey other than Jack Daniel's for this cocktail and it will be good, but it won't be an authentic Lynchburg Lemonade. Should you decide to change the whiskey, choose another Tennessee whiskey or a full-flavored bourbon.
 
Prep time:  3 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients
1-1/2 ounces Jack Daniel's whiskey
1 ounce triple sec
1 ounce lemon juice
4 ounces lemon-lime soda (Sprite or 7-Up)
2 or 3 lemon slices, for garnish
 
Directions

1. Pour the whiskey, triple sec and lemon juice into a Collins glass,
2. Add the ice.
3. Give it a light stir.
4. Top with 4 ounces lemon-lime soda. Stir well and garnish with lemon slices.
5. Garnish the cocktail with lemon wedges.

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ChefSecret: Some people prefer to use sour mix rather than lemon juice. This will make the drink slightly sweeter, but with a premium triple sec, which shouldn't throw the drink's flavor balance off too much.

Did you know: Canadians have taken Jack Daniel’s off the shelves because of the United States tariffs affecting Canada—all but Costco stores.
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Quip of the Day:  An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?" The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.....
...in a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says,
"Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.
3. I'm a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weightlifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.

Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy. Do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?"
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "No, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #LynchburgLemonade #JackDaniels #Whiskey #TripleSec #Lynchburg #Lemons #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                             ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

ow you doin’? Last week was a rainy week here in the Las Vegas valley. That’s pretty strange for this time of year, but when I reviewed the weather map, I saw that we have been between two major storms coming up from Baja. The unforgiving rain turned our roads into rivers and the dark clouds shut out the sun for about 3 days. And the lightning—what a great show!
 
All of our live plants are living it up with the extra precipitation. And our trees love all this water. After the rains, all the plants seem to get a huge growth spurt and new flowers start to appear. Rainwater is like crack for them, not to mention a much needed shower.
 
My Mandarin tangerine tree is starting to go into false bloom and explode with color. During the fall, all the green fruit is dotting practically every inch of the branches camouflaged amongst all the leaves. But recently after all the rains and a few moments of bright sunshine, the fruit is quickly turning color to a fantastic orange hue. It’s time for this tangerine sidecar cocktail recipe.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
We usually make this with ginger simple syrup (slices of fresh ginger infused into the batch of simple syrup) but it is quite good with a regular simple syrup. Adjust the simple syrup quantity to taste and by the sweetness of the tangerines.
 
Ingredients 
3 ounces fresh tangerine juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 ounces American Bourbon
3/4 ounce ginger simple syrup or regular simple syrup. See ChefSecret below.
Superfine sugar for coating the rim
 
Directions

1. Rub the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with a tangerine wedge and coat the rim with sugar.  Set your coated glass aside.
2. Put the tangerine juice, lemon juice, bourbon and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice.
3. Then shake it like you mean it; 15-20 seconds. 
4. Strain into your cocktail glass. 
5. Garnish, if desired, tangerine peel.

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ChefSecret:  Let me refresh your memory, a basic simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of sugar dissolved in water over the stovetop. (Example—1 cup of sugar dissolved in one cup of water). Allow to cool and use as needed. We usually make larger batches and keep on hand in the refrigerator. For the ginger variation, add several slices of fresh ginger into the sugar/water mix when dissolving. Remove the ginger before using.
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Quip of the Day:  "Ok Jimmy", said Ms. Par, " I have something behind my back that is round, orange and is a piece of fruit, what is it?"
"That's easy" says Jimmy, "It’s an orange!"
"Nope, it’s a tangerine, but it shows you're thinking."
Jimmy holds up his hand and says, " Ok Ms. Par, I have one for you." The kid reaches into his front pocket and says, "In my hand is something stiff, with a red tip and is about one inch long. What is it?"
"JIMMY!!!!!" exclaims the teacher.
The kid smiles, takes his hand out of his pocket and says, "Nope, it’s a match.... But it shows you’re thinking!"
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #TangerineSidecarCocktail #Tangerine #Bourbon #Lemons #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                               ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

How you doin’? What if we added bacon to a cocktail? That may not seem groundbreaking, but in 2007, it was practically a revolution.
 
To be clear, bacon had been added to cocktails before. Any bartender can (and indeed, many have) put a cold piece of bacon in a Bloody Mary to get weird and soggy at the bottom of the drink, or balanced a piece of bacon on the rim of an Old Fashioned to leave gross oily splotches on the glass, but the Benton’s Bacon Old Fashioned is a difference of kind. It is clean, precise and scientific, a technical revolution as much as a flavor one. There is nothing quite like Benton bacon.
 
The pioneering insight was not to add the bacon, but to remove it. Everyone loves bacon, after all, but absolutely no one wants shiny slicks of fat congealing at the top of their drink. But how to remove the fat? Oil is famously difficult to remove from water, as you know, but what about alcohol? As it turns out, it would take a couple of chefs, borrowing from a long line of perfumers to come across the answer, which is something bartenders around the globe now know as “fat washing.”
 
Alcohol, as you may already know from the bottle of vodka in the freezer, has a radically depressed freezing point—an 80-proof spirit has a freezing point less than -10°F, or about 40 degrees lower than water and some 110 degrees lower than animal fat. What that means is if you want to remove fat from alcohol, just place it in the freezer: Everything that’s not alcohol (the fat) will freeze, making it really easy to remove with a coffee filter, and giving you a deeply flavored infusion with none of the actual fat.
 
Back to 2007—Don Lee was working at PDT in the East Village, and frequenting Momofuku Noodle Bar, where he had one of the best bites of bacon he’d ever experienced, a slow-cured, hickory-smoked product from Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams out of Madisonville, TN. He got some of the extra bacon fat from the restaurant just to cook with on his own, but after hearing about the fat-washing technique from the chefs at the visionary restaurant, he decided to give it a go with the bacon fat into bourbon. Inspired by breakfast, he gave it the Old Fashioned treatment, a kiss of sweetness with maple syrup and an orange peel and spiced it with Angostura Bitters. It was an immediate hit.
 
Looking back, what’s amazing about the Benton’s Old Fashioned is the amount of restraint at play. Imagine discovering fat washing! If it were me, I feel like I’d have cranked up the infusion, extracting maximum flavor out of the bacon and blowing everyone’s minds.
 
Ingredients 
2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon*
1/4 ounce real grade B maple syrup
2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 large piece of orange peel, garnish
 
Directions

1. Add a large chunk of ice to a rocks glass.
2. Add the bourbon, maple syrup, bitters and stir for about 10 seconds.
3. Express the oils of an orange peel over the top and place the peel in the drink as a garnish.

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ChefSecret: This is how to make *Bacon-infused Bourbon
 
Ingredients
8 ounces of good American bourbon
1/2 ounce Benton bacon fat (find it here)
 
Directions
Put two or three strips of Benton bacon in a pan, and heat gently and slowly—you’ll want to make extra sure not to scorch or smoke the fat. When the bacon is almost cooked, pour off the liquid rendered fat into a separate container.
 
You need 0.5 oz. (1 tbsp) of fat for every 8 oz. of bourbon, so start with that ratio and scale up if you desire. Combine the two in a non-reactive container and stir. Let it sit at room temperature for four to 24 hours, then transfer to the freezer until frozen (about 2 hours). Strain the liquid off the now-solid fat through a coffee filter or cheesecloth, and it should be totally clear.
 
This cocktail was specifically inspired by the high quality of the Benton bacon, which is a good lesson to take. I tried this infusion with basic, grocery store bacon and the grocery store brand was flatter and with a lessor range of flavors.
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Quip of the Day:  Why did the pig bring bacon to school? For show and smell.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.
 
#Cocktail #OldFashioned #Bourbon #BentonBacon #BaconOldFashionedCocktail #HappyHour2025 #Cheers #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
                                                                                 ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025