Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Five most popular cocktails and mixed drinks

Even if this article of mine never gets published, I believe it is almost necessary for me as an alcohol lover to post this.

Cheers!

Five most popular cocktails and mixed drinks
 
- Vinaykrishnan Menon, 2011-10-18

There are thousands of cocktails, each with a variation of its own to the recipe, around the world. But some of the most famous cocktails are those that you can find in any pub, bar or lounge in the whole world. These are not only universally liked, but also learned by enthusiasts so that they can make these heady alcoholic concoctions in the comfort of their homes for themselves and their family and friends.

We’ve picked out the 5 most popular cocktails in the world for you to know about, and we’ve given you the recipe for each:

1. The Martini
This drink has many many variations to it, but here we shall show the the basic Martini, on which you can improvise as required.
a. Ingredients
75 ml gin, 15 ml dry vermouth, Orange bitters and 1 green olive or lemon slice for garnish. 
b. Recipe
Fill a mixing glass with ice cubes and pour the ingredients into this. Stir (or shake, if you are James Bond) for 30 seconds. Pour this into a chilled cocktail glass, ensuring ice is strained out, and add orange bitters to this. Garnish with the olive or the lemon slice and serve.

2. The Margarita
The Margarita is one of the most refreshingly addictive summer drinks in the world. This drink too has many variations across the world. The Margarita can basically be served either neat, frozen, or on the rocks. We shall show you how to make neat Margarita.
a. Ingredients
45 ml tequila, 15 ml triple sec, 90 ml sour mix, a dash of lime juice, a lime wedge for garnish, salt or sugar to apply on the rim of the glass.
b. Recipe
Fill a cocktail mixer with ice cubes, pour in the ingredients and shake well for about 45 seconds. Take the Margarita glass, and place the rim on a plate filled with salt or sugar (depending on your taste). Make the glass upright and pour in the mixture into the glass along with the ice cubes. Fix the lime wedge on the rim of the glass as garnish and serve.

3. Long Island Iced Tea
The Long Island Iced Tea, also known as LIIT, is a classic cocktail.Having 5 different white spirits, this drink is particularly easy to keep on refilling owing to the sour mix and cola additions.
a. Ingredients
30 ml triple sec, 30 ml tequila, 30 ml light rum, 30 ml gin, 30 ml vodka, 15 ml sour mix, 75 ml cola, 8 mint leaves, lime wedge for garnish. 
b. Recipe
Fill a cocktail mixer with ice cubes, pour in the alcoholic ingredients and shake well for about one minute. Then pour in the cola on the top and add the mint leaves and gently stir for about 5 seconds. Pour this mixture into a tall glass (Collin’s glass) and add the lime wedge on the rim of the glass as garnish. You may even put the lime wedge garnish into the mixture itself.


4. Screwdriver
One of the easiest recipes in the book, the Screwdriver is the perfect source of vitamin C. It is one of the world’s most popular summer drinks, and some Russians even love it in the winters. 
a. Ingredients
60 ml vodka, 150 ml orange juice. 
b. Recipe
Pour both, the vodka and the fresh orange juice, into a tall Collin’s glass which is filled with ice cubes. Stir well for a minute. Presto! Your Screwdriver is ready to be served.

5. Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary is the cocktail drink that the world turns to for getting over a hangover, because of its spicy tomato taste. It has a few variations, based on whether you want it to be more alcoholic (Bloody Maria) or non-alcoholic (Virgin Mary). We’re going to show you how to make the standard Bloody Mary. The catch to making a great Bloody Mary is to follow order in which the ingredients are added in the glass.
a. Ingredients
90 ml tomato juice, 45 ml vodka, 15 ml lemon juice, 10 ml Worcestershire sauce, some celery salt, hot pepper sauce, ground pepper, lime wedge for garnish. 
b. Recipe
Pour the tomato juice in a tall glass with ice cubes. Add the vodka and then the lemon juice in the glass, one after the other. Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a bit of celery salt and ground pepper, and a dash of hot pepper sauce. Mix well in the glass. Garnish with lime wedge and serve.

Hope you enjoy making and drinking these amazingly popular cocktails. We know we enjoyed both, the preparation, and the celebrations after drinking.

- Vinaykrishnan

Ever Slipping Sands

Every moment that I have,
It slips away like a wave,
Notice the sand around your feet when you stand in the wave that passes away.

Ever slipping, ever moving.
Nothing I can do to stop it.
Tell it to please stop for at least one moment so that I can see you.

Love. Is. Difficult.
Or so they said.
I realized it is not true as long as you don't want it to be true.

- Vinaykrishnan.


Dad's Photography

My Dad has always had a penchant for photography. Call it his ill luck, or my poor finance management, he could never, however, have a fantastic camera to work with. He always had to do with nominal, cheap cameras that were only ordinary at best.

Yet he never ceases to amaze me with his photography. Here are some "National Geographic" pictures that he shot at a recent vacation he took.




I'll post more and more as he keeps sending me his photographs.

Cheers, Dad!!! You are awesome!!!

- Vinaykrishnan.

The Turn Of Events.

It was quite a kiss,
A lip-lock, that started
Not from the fullness of the lips,
But from the twinkle in the eyes.

The notes that played in my head at that moment,
Mozart looked amateurish at that time,
The inviting appeal of the kiss,
Making me want more.

The way our bodies moved
To the rhythm of the night,
Unerringly intimate,
Surprising delight.

And then the closet opened,
Skeletons and hideous bones,
Baring it all open,
Jaws and maws of monsters.

All under the bed,
Over the table,
Slowly spreading rot and foulness,
Terrifying me as I hear the familiar ring.

The alarm of the cell phone,
Ushering in the morning,
A cold sweat I woke up in,
To realize the turn of events.

How a single kiss
Could be so fatal,
That it turned from intimacy
To horror in bed.

- Vinaykrishnan.