A Cocktail Party Plus A Poem

Our resident mixologist, David Bruce Patterson, loves a well-crafted cocktail only slightly less than he loves a well-crafted poem. David crafts both for us, from season to season, here at MuskokaStyle. Scroll down… and stay tuned for more seasonal words + treats.

Black Flies Matter

Spreading disease 

And creating misery 

Oh, how we love the black fly 

As it bites in bloody tease 

We scratch and scream 

In hopeless futility 

Wondering how these vampires of bug 

Will be dead in our dreams 

But what did I hear 

Their saliva is good 

So full of protein 

For immunity’s cheer 

Well, that ain’t enough 

I still hate the buggers 

As I stand here, outside 

Sturdy, foolish and tough 

DeaBeePea 5-14-22 

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Sweet Potato Pie Cocktail

Sweet potato and cinnamon

No, it’s not dessert

It’s a sweet and savoury cocktail

Never to avert

-David Bruce Patterson

The confirmation of a common issue of contention: Although yams and sweet potatoes are both flowering plants, they are not botanically related. Yams are a plant having one embryonic seed leaf; sweet potatoes, often mistakenly called ‘yams’, are a plant having two embryonic seed leaves and are from the morning glory family.

Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. There are more than 600 varieties of yams. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier.

The sweet potatoes’ skin colour can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. Sweet potato varieties are classified as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’.

Cinnamon is named after the amomon, meaning fragrant spice plant. Ancient Egyptians used cinnamon in their embalming process. This process should not be required after this delicious cocktail!

Medieval physicians used cinnamon in medicines to treat coughing, hoarseness, and sore throats. As a sign of remorse, Roman Emperor Nero ordered a year’s supply of cinnamon be burnt after he murdered his wife.

The spice was also valued for its preservative qualities for meat due to the phenols which inhibit the bacteria responsible for spoilage. And now for the Sweet Potato Pie recipe….

SWEET POTATO PIE COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

Cocktail

4 oz Sweet Potato-Pear-Cinnamon Juice (recipe below)

2 oz Siempre Tequila Plata (recommended)

Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Sweet Potato-Pear-Cinnamon Juice (should yield 8-10 oz)

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled

1 pear, peeled and cored

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Cocktail

Combine the Sweet Potato-Pear-Cinnamon Juice and tequila in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake. Strain into a tall glass, filled with ice to your preference. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Sweet Potato-Pear-Cinnamon Juice

Juice the sweet potatoes, then pear. Stir in the cinnamon.

Sources: Thank you to the Library of Congress, The Food Channel, Wikipedia, iHerb, Earth.com, Linden Lane Farms.

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3 Easy Beer Lemonades

I remember the lemonade stand
Before I was aware of inflation
I thought five-cents was nervy
As I stood by my refreshment station

But now things have changed
Adding beer to the old mixture
It’s still coolest way
To establish a summer fixture

— David Bruce Patterson

1. Simple Beer Lemonade

Recipe yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed

12 fluid ounces water

12 fluid ounces Compass Vodka

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (Muskoka Brewery Craft Lager)

Want to add a little heat to your cold refreshing beverage? Try using PC Jalapeno Lemonade. If you do this, the easiest way is to use 6 fluid ounces of water (instead of 12) and 6 fluid ounces of the PC lemonade. Then taste and make adjustments according to taste. The drink will be a bit paler so you will lose some of that attractive deep pink shade. I have not tried adding hot sauce to this drink… if you try it… let me know how you did.

Instructions

Place lemonade concentrate in a gallon pitcher. Measure water and vodka in the 12 ounce lemonade can and add to the pitcher. Pour in the beer, mix well and serve over ice.

2. The Beer Margarita

Next up in our beer cocktails: the beer margarita! Also referred to in some sources as the beergarita or beerita. The hops in Creemore Boundless IPA goes so perfectly with the tart lime y Hops pair perfectly with the tart lime and orange perfume ambiance. This drink avoids the use of limeade.

Ingredients for 1 serving:

3 tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) tequila blanco or reposado* 1800 Tequila or Reposado

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Cointreau or Meaghers Triple Sec

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) fresh lime juice

½ cup (4 ounces) Creemore Springs Boundless IPA

Ice, to serve

Garnish: lime wheel

Instructions

Cut a notch in a lime wedge, then run the lime around the rim of a glass. Dip the edge of the rim into a plate of flaky sea salt (or for a festive look, use our Margarita Salt).

Add tequila, Cointreau and lime juice to the serving glass and stir to combine.

Add ice and pour beer over top. Garnish with a lime wheel.

to combine.

Add ice and pour beer over top. Garnish with a lime wheel.

3. Classic Chelada

Chelada is a famous Mexican cocktail prepared by mixing beer with spices, variety of sauces and is now popular with the addition of clamato. But this is the original classic.

Ingredients for 1 serving

12 ounce Mexican lager beer (Ace Hill Mexican Lager)

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lime juice

1 pinch salt

Ice, for serving (try clear ice)

For the rim: 1 tablespoon each fine sea salt and Old Bay (or tajin)

Instructions

Mix the Old Bay and salt and spread it into an even layer on a saucer. Notch a lime wedge, then run the lime around the rim of a glass. Dip the rim into a plate of salt.

Add lime juice and pinch of salt to beer glass. Fill glass with ice and pour in the beer. Stir and serve.

Option: Garnish with two thin slices of jalapeno afloat.

Recipes: acouplecooks.com

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The Melon Ball

Whether it’s cantaloupe or muskmelon,
it doesn’t really matter.
This cocktail is so elegant
it could be served on a silver platter!

— David Bruce Patterson

Ingredients

1.5 oz  Siempre Tequila Plata

3 oz Freshly Pressed Cantaloupe Melon Juice

0.5 oz Simple Syrup

0.25 oz Fresh Lime Juice

3-4 Sage Leaves

Pinch Salt

2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Mezcal Rinse (optional)

Instructions

Rinse a collins glass with Mezcal (optional, but recommended for the smoky ambiance)

Add all ingredients, except Angostura Bitters, in a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds

Fine strain the cocktail into the collins glass filled with ice

Top with a few dashes of Angostura Bitters and garnish with wheat grass or see suggestions below

Simple Syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

Mezcal vs Tequila:

Both tequila and mezcal are made from the harvested core of the agave plant.

Tequila is typically produced by steaming the agave inside industrial ovens before being distilled two or three times in copper pots. Mezcal, on the other hand, is cooked inside earthen pits that are lined with lava rocks and filled with wood and charcoal before being distilled in clay pots. This traditional system of making mescal is what gives it its unique smokiness. 

Making Melon Juice  

1 large Melon cantaloupe

1 cup white sugar

1.5 liter cold water

Cut the Melon in half. Then scrape of seeds and inner pulp.

In a deep bowl, place seeds and pulp with a cup of the water then mash with back of spoon to extract flavor.

Using a colander, strain juice from the discarded seeds.

Using a grater, scrape the Melon flesh.

In a pitcher, combine melon strands, extracted juice from seeds, sugar and water.

Stir well and serve with ice.

Note: You can adjust the sweetness by adding more sugar.

This cocktail can be improvised. Small additions of blackberry, raspberry, cucumber, mango and papaya will add a special twist. 

You can also add some zest with a splash of ginger, mint, lemongrass or vanilla. 

Sources:
The Spruce Eats (https://www.thespruceeats.com) / Flair Projects (flairprojectsb.com) / Allrecipes (https://www.allrecipes.com)

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About the Author: David Bruce Patterson is a Muskoka author, poet, and cocktail conoisseur. He finds it a stimulating challenge, rotating between novel writing, and poetry. “They meet somewhere in the middle,” he says. “The unknown genre.” David has completed his novel, Square Wheels, and is now working on Dorothy Parker and the Epigram Mysteries: Murder at Land’s End. David has also written more than 3000 poems and hopes to have an anthology out soon.