ring in the new year with style, sophistication, and libation… with a champagne cocktail in your hand. a glass of bubbly is fine enough–but a champagne cocktail is simply grand! make your new years resolution to become a cocktail aficionado, and start at midnight! cheers to a healthy and prosperous new year filled with abundance!

It is not everyone that can celebrate being 500 years old. Back in 1510 the Benedictine monk Dom Bernardo Vincelli created a mythical elixir… and that alchemical creation is still called for today in the world’s most famed cocktail lounges. here’s an easy peasy recipe made with the famed 500-year-old benedictine liqueur:

THE BENEDICTION

3/4 oz. Benedictine Liqueur
Dash of orange bitters
Top with champagne

Add Benedictine to a champagne flute. Add the bitters and fill with champagne.

The Benedictine Limited Edition bottle is $32 at fine spirit shops

henri bendel through holiday with our new wine glasses. our cocktail candles, of course, will also be available. cheers!

HOW TO BOOZE EXQUISITE COCKTAILS AND UNSOUND ADVICE… THE RIGHT DRINK FOR EVERY OCCASION by jordan kaye & marshall altier

this book is hysterical. first of all the graphic design is very cool—appropriately antiquated in appearance. the illustrations are superbly cross-hatched renderings of various bar utensils. there’s a pair of goats on the cover, which is enough to make me buy it right there! as a recipe book, “HOW TO BOOZE” offers a well-stocked assortment of prohibition-era tipples, and a smattering of more modern day delights. each spirit category is also briefly explained, further legitimizing it as a bar book.

but the real meat of this manuscript lies in the author’s intimate narrative. according to mr. kaye and mr. altier, each libation has an appropriate situation in which to imbibe it. the glorious writing style outlining these specific events is witty, dark and just wrong.

EXAMPLE CHAPTER ONE: “you will regret this, you already regret this… it can be grim work, bedding down the homely. but the truly unattractive do have the right to sex. and sometimes, it’s just your turn to turn to give it to them. others shirk their duty; you are worthier than that. where lesser folk yawn and slip out the door, you buy two more rounds and bravely step up to the challenge. verbal overtures are cast and received. trembling hands are placed on frightening thighs. the direction is ominous, but it’s clear. and every time you raise your eyes from the bar, you suffer a crisis of confidence—masked, it’s true, as a spasm of disgust. christ. will i really do that? less a rhetorical question than an admission of illness.”

need i say more? this book is raunchy, politically incorrect and and makes more sense than i care to admit. get it for the less sensitive souls on your list… HARPER COLLINS $15

cheers to EXAMINER.COM’s jackie silver, for toasting our SHOT GLASS CANDLES!

VIA EXAMINER:
“Based on Medieval Herbal Astrology, plants have signs like people, according to “mixologist” and artist Gwen Sutherland Kaiser, founder of Intoxicated Zodiac, a company that offers “Cocktail-inspired Shot Glass Candles” based on Astrology. Each candle’s Zodiac sign has an exclusive scent which is associated with its unique cocktail recipe.

Kaiser created a cocktail recipe and astrological illustration for each sign. Her experience as a Manhattan bartender, New York product designer and life-long astrology buff led her to create Intoxicated Zodiac, Astrology of the Cocktail. Intoxicated Zodiac blends, shakes and serves up those famous bar scene lines with a twist… “What’s your sign? Can I buy you a drink? C’mon baby light my fire!” Her favorite line these days is, “do you have Martini rising?”

The recipes use plants, herbs and flowers associated with each individual sign. In Medieval times, those who could not afford traditional medicine cured themselves with the supportive and nurturing plants of their sun sign. Today, this topic is enjoying renewed interest as people realize the enormous healing potential of botanicals. This uncommon collection has been formulated using the work of renowned herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper, as a guide. In his book, Heal Thyself, Culpeper identified the Zodiac sign of each and every plant he found. This book is still in print today, 300 years later.

The Shot Glass Candle retails for $14 and is available in New York at Henri Bendel through the holidays. They can be purchased year-round at IntoxicatedZodiac.com.”

if you’re stuck for stuffers for the man in your life (or the stiff-drinkin’ woman) consider yourself… unstuck. santa has just delivered the most awesome little drams of whisky, right to my door—hey, i don’t have a chimney. each dram is a dream come true for whisky fans… because it’s actually a handmade sample of the highest caliber scottish malt; bottled and sealed with an authentic wax closure; an ancient-looking label adorning its front. as a graphic design and product junkie, it is simply too cool for me open, for each sample dram is a piece of art in itself. when your “stocking stuffee” does actually break down and open one of santa’s sample drams, they’ll be able to choose their favorite… and with one bottle, their birthday present quandary is solved! MASTERS OF MALT is great for gifts, even when gifting yourself ; )

here’s what was in the collection of samples i received to give you an idea of the fineness of spirit available:
1. Master of Malt Bowmore 26 Year Old

2. Ichiro’s Malt 1991 Five of Clubs

3. Master of Malt Arran 12 Year Old Single Cask

4. Bruichladdich Octomore 02.2 Orpheus

Our Intoxicated Zodiac candles will be in Henri Bendel through holiday. Swing by and pick up the perfect stocking stuffer, birthday present, hostess gift, or haunakah present. Because all the best gifts come in brown and white boxes ; ) Imbibe Wisely, Live Healthy, Love Freely, Burn Safely… Cheers to a blessed yuletide season!