how awesome is this 45 shaped bottle filled with tequila!??! i’d say pretty damn… sorry folks, it’s a limited edition from the innovators at HIJOS DE VILLA. check out their eco-art-wrapped rum bottle… it’s pretty wild too.
VIA TRENDHUNTER VIA COOL ADDICT VIA AMERICAN ART

those of you familiar with Intoxicated Zodiac know that pretty much every day is EARTH DAY around here! so i’m going to honor this holiday by paying homage to another that was sorely overlooked. that would be WORLD WATER DAY. it passed without much fanfare about a month back.

angus winchester wisely declares in the march 2007 issue of BARTENDER MAGAZINE, that the most important cocktail ingredient is not vodka, not gin, not lemon, nor sugar… it’s water! ice, ice, baby…

he states that “the most important thing he has learned in 15 years of bartending is a pint of water and two paracetemol before bed.” ok, i have no clue what para whatever is, but angus goes on to rightly claim that “bartenders should give them tap water at every opportunity. [he] suggests after a while those who drink water will feel better the next day and make the connection, or maybe you could use the reason you are encouraging water drinking to demonstrate your knowledge and increase your connection with the customer.” in [his] fantasy bar every cocktail would come with a water back.”

i could NOT agree more. i practically have to beg the bartender to get me water when i’m out for the night. not to mention, in a crowded bar who needs dehydrated bad breath? plenty water makes for more than just long lines at the lou, it helps freshen breath.

there are several types of waters which include mineral water, artesian water, sparkling water, spring water, sterile water and well water.

of course there are a zillion enhanced waters on the market. most recently, HOLY DRINKING WATER, has become available! yes, blessed water in a bottle.

last year, THE NEW YORK TIMES wrote a pretty groundbreaking piece on cocktails. it had to do with the spiritual quality of water and it’s effect on the taste of cocktails.

EMPLOYEES ONLY in NYC did an experiment inspired by a Japanese photographer Masaru Emoto, who believes that water is positively or negatively affected by energy. “By taking photos of frozen water molecules, Emoto found there was a difference in the crystal structures of water that had been blessed with prayer and water that hadn’t.” “So [they] conducted an experiment. Five bartenders, all making the same drink. A daiquiri. Measured pours. The same ice. And the drinks were all different. [They] repeated the experiment many times, and always the same result.” it brings a whole nother meaning to the phrase “think positive,” doesn’t it?

“We cannot know why this is,” Mr. Zaric said. “We can only observe the consequences.” But Mr. Zaric has a theory, of course. “If the bartender is relaxed and confident the drink will taste one way,” he said, pausing to shake a martini. “If he’s anxious, if his buttons are being pushed, the drink will taste another. The bartender doesn’t want to make you a bad drink — it just comes out that way.”

THE CRYSTAL ON THE LEFT WAS PHOTOGRAPHED WITHOUT PRAYER. THE ONE ON THE RIGHT WAS AFTER AN HOUR LONG PRAYER SESSION. a picture is worth a thousand words! (credit)

Below you’ll find some interesting water-related tidbits…

***the average amercian family consumes 300 gallons of water a day. when you count watering the lawn and washing dishes, clothes and cars. some ideas on recycling water:

1. while waiting for the tap to heat up, save the cold water in a pitcher and use it to flush the toilet. got a humidifier? empty it into the plants. and don’t let your pet’s unused water go to waste. don’t just dump it down the drain, dump it into a plant.
2. install a low flow showerhead.
3. collect rainwater. yes, you can set up a fancy gathering system. or just use a few five gallon pails to start with.

***the term WATER WAR refers not to kevin costners bombed movie, but a very possible catastrophe. corporations are buying up what was once free. forget about gold - water treatment stocks is where it’s at - but keep it diversified. not every company will make it, but the future is strong for liquid investments.

***if you’re in the big apple, catch the WATER=LIFE EXHIBIT running though may 26th, at the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

check out this cool water “bridge” recently discovered by scientists. VIA PHYSORG

celebrate this earth day by appreciating water. also, it wouldn’t hurt to check out my OFFICIAL LIST OF ECO-ALCOHOL or to peruse colleen’s EARTH DAY PIECE too.

ok, so every other cocktail blog in the ’sphere have all ready talked about New York’s new vodka, but I deem CORE VODKA cool enough to be blogged for the millionth time! as a new yorker, i’m pretty psyched to have such an innovative vodka coming from long island, an area of new york usually known for it’s wineries. the apples are grown right here in new york’s hudson valley, the epicenter of Intoxicated Zodiac : )

CORE VODKA also happens to make intoxicated zodiac’s prestigious OFFICIAL LIST OF ECO ALCOHOL. yup… here’s why:

“100% crop utilization of apples, by allowing the pressing, fermentation and distillation of all apples, regardless of quality. no waste! A byproduct of distilling is methanol, which, when mixed with old donut oil, can be made into bio diesel for eventual sale or use in farm tractors. The state-of-the-art distillery is environmentally friendly, electric, and when combined with photovoltaic solar panels, may eventually become energy generating. The byproducts of the distillery may also be combined to make 100% organic fertilizer and is easily broadcast into the orchards.”

VIA LUXIST VIA MARTINI GROOVE

thanks to susan, who wrote in with her newly discovered hangover cure-all, we can all avoid at least one headache. she swears it works, but i have not had a chance to test it out myself. (i’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing!) mind you, if we all drank one glass of water for every cocktail, we wouldn’t even have to deal with this problem!

From ‘The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies’ by Vasant Lad.
AYURVEDIC HANGOVER CURE

ONE GLASS WATER
1 TSP FRESH LIME JUICE
1/2 TSP SUGAR
PINCH SALT
1/2 TSP BAKING SODA

except for baking soda, add all ingredients to water and stir. right before drinking, add baking soda.

Nudes are my favorite type of art. The human body is so incredibly beautiful, and so incredibly repressed in our societies. kudos to Christiania vodka for sponsoring the NEW CLASSIC NUDE 2E ART COMPETITION, the second installment in a series of art competitions sponsored by the Christiania Art Foundation (CAF). apparently, christiania’s got great taste in both vodka and art…

here’s the best part… anyone can enter this competition! the rules are simple:
1. must be uploadable
2. must be submitted “free of use restrictions”
3. must be usable on a public billboard (approximate dimensinos are 60 x 40)

winners will have their image placed on a billboard in a major city. how cool is that? see rules and past winners here…

tomorrow, sat. march 29th at 8pm, the very first EARTH HOUR will take place. all lights will be off for a solid hour no matter location, occupation, situation, ect. easy if you’re home watching a flick, but not so easy if you’re running a restauraunt! some innovative peeps from the land down under thought up a good earthy tipple:

“Add A splash or two of vodka, spiced rum, prickly pear pulp, honey, one or two other ingredients and the finishing touch — a passionfruit shell soaked in alcohol and set alight. And you have it: THE EARTH HOUR COCKTAIL”

When bartenders Stuart Moss and David Cockayne, from St Kilda’s Mink bar, set about creating a drink to celebrate the global call for action on climate change they had some clear objectives.

The ingredients must be organic and symbolic of the seven continents. And because electric blenders will be switched off during the hour, it had to be muddled.

But the real challenge was that the cocktail should cast light on patrons sipping in the dark.

They investigated chemicals to make the drink glow in the dark — but that would be against the “organic objective” — and even considered mini solar panels dunked in the cocktail.

“We thought maybe tiny bulbs we could sit in the sun for the day to charge and then drop them into the drink,” Mr Moss says. “But it wasn’t feasible; it was too expensive ($40 a pop).”

After 15 hours of trial and error, it was an empty passionfruit shell soaked in rum and set alight that did the trick. The garnish can be set aside, shining bright for up to 10 minutes.

“I’m not going to change the world, but it’s raising awareness,” Mr Moss says. “If we can get people who are drinking at Mink … asking why are we drinking this, it’s a conversation point and they will start talking about it.”

Mink is one of more than 70 restaurants and bars around Melbourne, and some in regional Victoria, that have signed up to Earth Hour. Many are using candlelight for the hour or designing special menus using local ingredients to minimise “food miles”…

continue reading on THE AGE

wouldn’t it be cool if this were true? well, it can be! but first, we have work to do… (spoken like the slave master capricorn i am)

Ann R. Tuennerman is the founder of the wildly successful Tales of the Cocktail annual event in New Orleans. She has been campaigning diligently to make the Sazerac the official cocktail of louisiana. Senator Murray is expected to broach it at the next appropriate chance he gets… which looks like this weekend. so, time is of the essence - join me in urging the senator to start the ball rolling on sazerac legislation! the exquisite city of new orleans deserves their own cocktail more than anyone. not only was the sazerac invented in new orleans, but after all they’ve recently endured… that town could sure use a drink!

here’s how to help:
send a short email to Senator Murray, and cc assistant Tonice Duncan (cc ann as well). The senator and his assistant have been very helpful. please show them that there is support for this bill and the sazerac is worthy of such a designation.

Murray, Sen. (District Office)
murraye@legis.state.la.us

Tonice Duncan
toniced@yahoo.com

Ann R. Tuennerman
ann@talesofthecocktail.com

here is a copy of ann’s original letter to senator murray:

Dear Senator Murray:

On behalf of the non-profit New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society and Tales of the Cocktail, I am writing to respectfully request that you sponsor proposed legislation that would establish the Sazerac Cocktail as the official State Cocktail of Louisiana.

As you may know, the Sazerac was invented in New Orleans by 19th century pharmacist Antoine Amedee Peychaud, who operated his apothecary in Royal Street in the French Quarter. Peychaud, a refugee of the slave rebellions of St.-Domingue (which became the nation of Haiti), concocted his own special blend of aromatic bitters, and added them to French Brandy, made by Sazerac des Forge et Fils of Limoges, France, along with a little Louisiana cane sugar. That classic libation, over the course of the 19th century, evolved into the drink we know today, the Sazerac, which is composed of rye whiskey, sugar, absinthe (or a substitute), and Peychaud’s Bitters. Regardless of whether it was the world’s “first” cocktail, it is among the first, and likely the Sazerac is the first cocktail born in the Crescent City.

As noted above, the Sazerac has evolved over time, and represents history in a glass. The substitution of rye for brandy, which historians have traced to around 1870, is reflective of the changing demographics of the city. With the wane of the French Creole influence on the city, and the increasing numbers of Americans, it was natural to substitute American rye whiskey, which was coming down the Mississippi on flatboats from distillers who carried their product for export via the rivers and canals of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Ohio Valley. The addition of absinthe reflects the popularity that oft-maligned spirit had in New Orleans, a
flourishing Bohemian and artisan community then, as it is now. But Peychaud’s Bitters, a local product, has remained the constant, beautifully marrying together the seemingly disparate flavors of the rye, the absinthe and the sugar. It is the ultimate sipping drink, created for contemplation, and it’s no wonder it was a favorite of notable characters such as Huey Long, O. Henry, and many others who have spent time in the Vieux Carre.

And the Sazerac is as important to tourism as any offering from the kitchens and saloons of Louisiana. It is a drink that is still made in the time-honored way, with the original ingredients. When folks come to New Orleans, they want certain things authentic and original to the Crescent City, be it a beignet, a po-boy, a cup of chicory coffee, Oysters Rockefeller, bread pudding or Bananas Foster. The Sazerac deserves a special place among the classic drinks that have their birthplace in Louisiana, and I can think of no drink more deserving of the honor of
Official State Cocktail than the Sazerac.
photo credit
photo credit

personally, i think the smoking ban was one of the best things to migrate over from london. i do believe that residents of minnesota feel differently. BBC NEWS reports an interesting bit on bar patrons smoking through a loophole. they put on a play in the bar, and pretend that smoking is part of the act! they even go so far as to have props and label things like “stage door.” pretty smart, i will give them that… the health dept. is vowing to shut them down, but for now they’re still up and acting… read the full story here.

if the thought of learning the fine art of bartending bores you, fear not. boys, and lesbians, the topless academy of bartending has come to your rescue! sex on the beach demonstrated by a topless chick, what more could you want? if guys bought each other gifts, this would be the perfect one. VIA LIQUOR SNOB

if you read trendy mags, frequent nice haunts, or have hip friends, you’ll likely know that absinthe was recently legalized in the US. and in case you couldn’t tell, we’re exited about it!
but what to do? where to buy? how to make? when to drink? seems everyone’s getting in on absinthe’s act, and there is a plethora of websites selling absinthe and its related wares. what originally started as a medicinal healing tonic two centuries ago, grew into a feared libation, causing it to be outlawed in many countries. the US only legalized it again late last year (thanks to some very dogged absinthe enthusiasts)! with such a dramatic and colorful past, we just can’t help but be more than a little curious. the person behind the infamous ban was 18th century french druggist henri schmidt, who said absinthe lead straight to the madhouse or the courthouse. thujone, the hallucinogenic ingredient derived from wormwood, is what’s to blame. commonly referred to as the “green fairy,” there is a type of absinthe made from white herbs known as the “white fairy” as well. thujone can be found in many other plants too. sage, various varieties of lavender, cypruss and juniper, tansy, mugwort, yarrow and white cedar all contain this mind-altering substance. while absinthe originally contained large amounts of the psychoactive element thujone, today it contains only the legal limit, which is said to cause no side effects. so fear not, explore absinthe in this blog. ready to taste forbidden fruit of the spirit world and go buy absinthe? do it right, and hold a proper dégustation. for those of you not fluent in french, that means, a careful, appreciative tasting.” yup, go all out - get the cool absinthe set and the funky spoon to go with it… enjoy and buy absinthe.