The Disappointing Guest

Have you ever had an acquaintance you ran into after a long time? You had fond memories of them, so you eagerly invite them over, sure they will mix well with your new crowd. They were always so smooth.

And then they arrive..........were they always this harsh? Every interaction seems so biting. And though they don't stand out too badly when blended in with the other guests, you don't find yourself seeking them out. To top it all off, they gave Shaker II a headache the next day. I've never seen that happen.

I'm sorry Pearl Vodka, you won't be invited back.

Tri-umphant!

So, we hadn't planned to shake tonight, but we could not let Miss Sheridan's very first Triathlon go unacknowledged. Scrounging around in the pantry and bar resulted in an impromptu, but quite enjoyable celebration of Sheridan's accomplishment: The Santa Barbara Triathlon. Yay Sheridan!

And what better way to mark such a momentous occasion than with martinis? And what better martinis than our very own special recipes. Yes sports fans, these came right out of our weekend addled brains. And on the seventh day, the shakers looked upon what they created, and it was good. Soooooo good.

First off The Staciatini. All the deliciousness you desire, all the booze to soothe your thirsty spirit. Champagne sorbet, St. Germain, Vodka and a splash of champagne......it is frothy and sparkly and entices you to drink another. And another. And.....oh, well you get the idea. Yes, yes and yes. Try to resist. I dare you.

Sheridan gives this one 4 3/4 olives, I give it 5 olives~. Almost the golden olive.

Next is Mother's Rose Garden. St. Germain, rosewater and vodka. So incredibly lovely. And garnished with rose petals from the Balcony Garden . Delicious.
We give this tini a 4 1/4 olives. Lovely.
Well, it was a short shake tonight. We are looking forward to doing a fun shake theme night soon, so stay tuned. A bientot alors, mes amis!!

Strategy Session....and Cocktails!

Hello from Red Shaker headquarters. The Shakers decided to get together to plot our merchandising empire......over drinks, naturally.

As a change of pace, tonight we journey on a lovely river of bubbly: Champagne drinkies! As these are not officially martinis, we are suspending our olive rating system and just commenting on the drinks.

First off, The St. Germain Champagne Cocktail
A lovely summer drink. Slightly sweet. but not overly so. Sheridan says, "I'm in love with St. Germain". I think that's still illegal in 29 states, but we can all dream of a day when equality reigns.

Next up is the Champagne Julep.Yes sports fans, that is exactly what it sounds like- a mint julep made with champagne and cognac instead of whiskey. Ok, this one takes the triple crown! Even Miss Sheridan, who is not a mint fan, enjoyed this. I would happily drink this while sitting on the veranda entertaining my beaus. Tomorrow may be another day, but we need another bottle tonight.

In between our libations, we are actually putting together our Red Shaker Shop. Coming soon: t-shirts, boxers and a variety of products celebrating the Shaker Life!

One Technical note: in addition to blogspot, you can now reach our page at:

www.theredshaker.com

Whilst Sheridan deals with the technical side of things, I wonder what drink we should have next.............

La Vie En Rose~champagne with rosewater. Mmmmmm, this smells amazing. The rose flavor is subtle but definitely there. We like this one! Note: as I didn't have any rose champagne chilled, we made this with brut. The recipe used rose. for an enormous list of champagne based cocktails, go to http://www.wineintro.com/champagne/cocktails/index.html

You won't run out of options with this website. Really comprehensive and fun. We will be trying many more from this site in the future. I do love my bubbly.

Thanks for joining us for this impromptu strategy session. Check back soon for links to the store and be the coolest or at least the drunkest kid in your neighborhood by sporting the Red Shaker gear!

Shake ya later! ;)