As the days get longer, and Christmas draws near, it’s time for me to renew my focus on holiday drinks. Today’s entry is the Yule Mule. Based on the traditional mule formula of ginger beer, vodka, and lime juice, the Yule mule also introduces some subtle flavors of cranberry and orange. So tie a ribbon on that log, and stoke up the fire, and let’s get down to some mixology.
The Zombie is one of the iconic Tiki drinks from the late 1930s. Created by Los Angeles restaurant owner Donn “Don the Beachcomber” Beach to get a hungover customer through an important business meeting, it reportedly turned the customer “into a zombie” for the duration of the trip. The Zombie cemented its popularity during the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, and hasn’t looked back since.
Dia de los Muertos is almost upon us. The Day of the Dead is when the Hispanic culture celebrates those who have passed beyond the veil of life into the void of death. Every culture has its ghost stories, and one of the most ingrained is the legend of La Llorona. When one of our Sacramento peeps, Erica Vela said we should create a drink to celebrate the legend of the Weeping Woman, we couldn’t say no to that. After we show you how to make the drink, I’ll tell you a ghost story that has survived for over 500 years and counting.
It’s hard to imagine vodka not being that popular as a cocktail ingredient. But such a time did exist, back before the 1940s. Sure, vodka was big back in Europe, but gin was the far and away the go-to spirit for making drinks here in the United States. So how did vodka suddenly take off? It all began with a drink dubbed the Moscow Mule.
