For tonight's Cocktail Moment ahead of the Kentucky Derby, rather than showing you how to make a Mint Julep, which is an acquired taste, Rachel showed how to acquire the taste. This is how you train yourself to like the taste of a mint julep, if you don't already.
It's one of the great Old Man drinks of all time: The Stinger.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 oz. Cognac or Brandy
- 3/4 oz. ounce creme de menthe (get a good brand -- and get the clear one, not the green one).
That's it.
And then you have to shake the living daylights out of it. The key is to make it absolutely frigid. That's why you shake it with ice and then you pour it over ice.
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Rachel needs to write her second book about cocktails. Who's with me on this?
She should do the non-alcoholic version also, I would love to be a part of all this but, I can't on the other hand mint is very, very good for you. The mint alone would put my soul in a very soothing mood.
I am
Yes,she has giving many recipes already.
Well,
SALUD!
I'm going to have a Belgian pale ale in a mint green glass because it's an acquired taste.
Stinger's a good one.
Of course, the first time I tasted cognac, I decided firmly that we should from that moment on devote All the Grapes Forever to making it, but, y'know…still.
They use grapes to make cognac? What a waste of grapes!
Well then again double bach with a shot of cognac is tasty(at least I think it was, my memory of it is strangely vague)
Was I the only one expecting to hear 'enjoy your Stinger, now - because there's no brown liquor where your headed ... [wait for it] prison'?
White liquor strained through a dity sock gets pretty brown.
Apparently even MSNBC is worried about allowing people to blog on Vandersloot- since that blog was closed for discussion before I finished my post- However the drink blog was still open!
Mr. Vandersloot
Your apology does not ring true. You posted an ad that said that Mr. Zukkerman's work could not be trusted because of his sexual orientation. Your contention that being gay somehow made him unable to be objective in his pursuit of a story about pedaphilia in the boyscouts. Either you are making a statement that being gay disqualifies someones objectivity or you are making a statement that he was unable to be objective because the boyscouts have a terrible record in their treatment of gays and therefore he would falsify his coverage to punish them for their attitudes. This kind of behaviour from a reporter would make him a bad guy and a bad guy that was bad at his job as well. Yet your "apology" says he is good guy. Furthermore, Mr zukkerman received several awards for his exceptional coverage on this story. Is it therefore more likely that the army of lawyers that you employ have told you that by using Mr Zukkerman's sexual orientation to discredit him in the community where he lives and works might leave you open to a lawsuit yourself if he suffered monetary damages due to your blatant character assasination. Or is this simply an attempt to put a better spin on an incident that might reflect badly on the Romney campaigns already struggling image in the gay community? In this instance it might make sense to for America to judge Mr Romney by the company he keeps. You have clearly shown that you are willing to personnally attack a small town reporter and make others think twice before they report legitamate stories on you or anyone else you have decided to protect. If you were in the school yard you would be the cowardly bully paying someone else to beat up somebody you don't like. Isn't Mitt lucky to have you and your deep pockets in his corner to take care of anybody who might have a disenting opinion from you. One wonders just how much you are willing to spend or how far are you willing to go to silence others. Your "apology" is as sincere as Mitt's adherance to his principles- both are opportunistic.
There you go, you got it out.(I was too slow on that one also)
Got my hat (cowboy) and my mint julep mixings all ready for Derby Day! Is it better than 50/50 that we see the "curtain of death" after a broken leg! And they're off......
How much money does this guy have- the blog was closed before I completed my post and now the entire story is gone from the page. I salute you Mr. Vandersloot, you are obviously very good at shutting down free speach. Even the mighty MSNBC is afraid of you and your money.
[to Kathy: yes, definitely], Speaking of prisons, a friend of mine, who did some time, told me that if I was ever there and had nothing to serve a gentleman caller, one could take the juice AND peels of oranges (if'n you're lucky) and mix it with bread (for the yeast) and water and let sit until it ferments to taste. Strain through socks, the cleaner the better. Serve in finest cocktail glasses you can get smuggled in. Enjoy!
Rachel, I am a HUGE fan of yours. I have tried to show you to everyone I know who has a stake in the story whether it is about the economy, foreign affairs/wars, injustices regarding gay & lesbians, or especially women's issues, as I have a daughter (13), sister, mother, and wife (well ex, kinda)...
When I started to see your story about mixing drinks at Kentucky derby, I wondered... ARE YOU SERIOUS! for all the good reporting you do, why would you choose to glorify drinking, not just casual drinking, but the acquired taste of serious drings like the mint julip, or whatever it was since I cut off the video stream as soon I as figured what you were doing.
Realize, I am not an alchoholic, nor do I believe anyone is ... or at least if you have a perceived drinking problem do I think you should go cold turkey. I just know how many painful moments I have lived thru with my ex, who as we were trying to work it out again after 2 years of separation and state-forced divorce, I was hopeful that things were better again, until after landing my new job (4 yrs off work now), I came home, a little later than expected... because of the new job... she was well on her way to another drunk evening... and I had to "lay low" and accept the non-sense else dishes fly. Drinking... had destroyed more than just my marriage, it caused me to loose custody of my daughter (previous marriage).... and it (drinking to excess) I feel is the reason for so much pain I can't imagine that you of all people... my hero for the causes you stand and speak so eloquently about... would be so insensitive to glorify how to make a mint julip on your news show when so many like me are still out of work.
I start my first payroll job in 4 years on Monday. I met so, so many homeless people, and if not for luck of having family who would not let me fall homeless, I am sure I would have fallen on times so hard I may not have recovered. I worry about my ex, who we were back together, now apart again because of the non-sense brought about by drinking. Please Rachel, do not glorify this horrible topic in your short air time, when there are still so many in hard times... who need you to stay focused, and do serious investigative reporting on finding these people jobs... not how to make a mint julip that cost me not only my job (in 2008) but almost my life. I start anew on Monday. You too, ok?
She's been doing the drink on Friday for ages now. While it's sad that you've had difficulties with excesses in the past, please try not to project your problems onto someone else. And if it bothers you, just don't tune in on Fridays.
Not projecting... asking for her to work a full shift...
I have not asked in the orientation to my new job if I cutoff early this Friday (every Friday), and spend that last hour at my desk having a party, and teaching my co-workers how to properly mix a mint julip.
And, my point being, Rachel has a large audience who are listening closely to issues affecting them... who like me respect her for her intelligent handling of issues, many relating to the economy/jobs. My focus will be from 8AM monday morning to 5pm on Friday, and not until after the drive and am safely home will I consider having a drink to celebrate life.
Just my thoughts... you are entitled you yours.
She works longer hours than you, for sure, and shifts mean nothing to her. If she wants to spend a little time on her show to talk about responsible, entertaining drinking (which, by the way, is a safe habit for the grand majority of humans on this planet) and teach people how to make interesting drinks, that's her business. You couched it in terms of her doing some kind of harm, not "asking for her to work a full shift", so you can cease the rewrite; that's Lawrence's thing. She handles jobs and the economy plenty; 5 minutes or less each Friday will not be the difference between covering the situation and leaving her viewers in the dark as if they'd watched Fox.
Something about the way she handles a shot glass just drives me wild...
How do you make Bantha Milk? Please tell me no Blue Curacao!
This is the only drink my late Aunt Alice (my dad's sister) drank. So in honor of the day she was buried we had a Stinger. It is an acquired taste.
A question -- where's the PRISON you mention every Friday night. I understood it when you were in New Hampshire (bar is in 'the old jail'. Where's PRISON.
I don't like prison I would like it better if it showed more success stories and explained to the public how and what it was doing to help these people including education and spiritual guidance. We can certainly see the tax dollars being wasted. Maybe I'm wrong I never watch it to the end.
The prison show is more about helping we, the people who have never seen the inside of a prison, understand what it is like in there. Few people think about it, and even fewer understand what we have wrought in our society by investing so heavily in incarceration. It's a show everyone should watch, because it is a harsh reality to which most are blind.
I have to take issue, Rachel, with your characterization of a mint julep as basically straight bourbon with a bit of sweetened mint mixed in. If you think the drinks depicted in your recent cocktail moment as mint juleps are true to the julep form, you seriously need to revisit this drink in time for the Preakness (egads). Crushed ice does not a julep make! Rather, a real mint julep must be made with finely shaved ice having the consistency of fresh snow. The finished drink should wind up resembling a sweet, minty, bourbony Slurpee.
The ice can be properly rendered with an ice shaving machine. One should first muddle one or two mint leaves with about two tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of sugar in a glass, or better yet, a silver mint julep cup. To this, add about 2 oz. bourbon, a few inches of shaved ice along with a further sprinkle of sugar. Continue adding layers of ice with a bit of sugar until the glass is full. Then, and most importantly, stir vigorously for a minute or two until the surface of the glass becomes covered with a glorious frost (this is why snowy ice is critical), garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy. Each sip will include some delicious sweet, minty, bourbon in a slurry of the melting ice, which dilutes the bourbon just enough to take the edge off it.
Prison is having to go two days without the Rachel Show. 28 years sober (outing myself!) so I'll have to find some other way to occupy my lust for news. But! even after 28 years, I still remember Stingers ROFL.
Thanks Rachel, Your Stinger recipe sounded so good we walked down to our neighborhood dive bar and had one! Pretty tasty and a good excuse to take a walk on a beautiful spring night in Sonoma County.
Can someone please explain what the Friday night 'going to prison' allusion is all about?
Sure Auntie. If you stay tuned to MSNBC after Rachel on Friday night, there are multiple episodes of the show "Lockup" broadcast continuously until morning. The show visits different prisons, mostly in the U.S., but some abroad, too. Of course, if you watch Rachel on the internet, you won't get to see this.
i can't tell you how many times i have tried to order a stinger and the bartender had no idea what it was talking about.
I love your show, your ideas, your humor, and your thoroughness. You make research sexy. I feel horrible about what I am going to say this because my admiration for you. But I must say I was taken aback by your comments about the "teeny tiny teeny" etc. jockeys your referred to in this segment. As well as loving your show, I love horseracing, mint juleps ( I was with a trifecta winner today!) and all things racetracky. The strong professional jockeys did not deserve that comment.
I noticed that remark too, and was taken aback. I figure -- well, I don't know what to figure!
Rachel M. said a Stinger is a good way to learn to like Mint Juleps. She talked a little about liking/not liking whiskey. And I remembered reading (somewhere years ago) that if you don't like whiskey but want to acquire a taste for it -- mix it in milk. Was that a joke, does anyone know, or a real thing?
A little alcohol can loosen the tongue. A lot of alcohol can loosen ones hold over ones own values.
"Suffer through" a Rob Roy? I think those are great. Of course, I do drink straight Scotch and Irish, without ice, when I do drink.
Hey no fair!!!! I wanted the Bantha Milk! Maybe a Moment of Geek/Cocktail moment in the future? Cmon! What a bad tease... :)
on the great drink board at a Sandals resort, they had a Stinger listed. I ordered it and the bartender had to look at the board to see what was in it. I must have been the only one to do so for years. Tasty things, especially when it's hot on Saint Lucia!