Making a Negroni Cocktail with Stanley Tucci

From loading up the shaker with ice to pouring in the gin, sweet vermouth and Campari, The Devil Wears Prada star walked followers through the entire process. He even told his fans which glass and garnish they should use for the drink.

While Tucci made the concoction for his wife Felicity Blunt, he didn’t hand it over to her right away.

“You want it, Felicity?” he teased his spouse, who handled the camerawork for the cocktail class. “That will never happen.”

It wasn’t long before the video went viral.  READ MORE

Tequila Vs Mezcal

MCCN writer Dave Miller sits down for an impromptu interview with Clayton Szczech of Experience Tequila at the micro distillery for Wahaka Mezcal in San Dionesio, Ocotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. They discuss the difference in taste.

Watch the Making of Mezcal

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Shirley Temple Drink Recipe

A Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic mixed drink traditionally made with ginger ale and a splash of grenadine, garnished with a maraschino cherry. Modern Shirley Temple recipes may substitute lemon-lime soda or lemonade and sometimes orange juice in part, or in whole. Shirley Temples are often served to children dining with adults in lieu of real cocktails, as are the similar Roy Rogers and Arnold Palmer.

Shirley Temple

The cocktail may have been invented by a bartender at Chasen’s, a restaurant in West Hollywood, California, to serve then-child actress Shirley Temple. However, other claims to its origin have been made. Temple herself was not a fan of the drink, as she told Scott Simon in an NPR interview in 1986: “The saccharine sweet, icky drink? Yes, well… those were created in the probably middle 1930s by the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood and I had nothing to do with it. But, all over the world, I am served that. People think it’s funny. I hate them. Too sweet!” In 1988 Temple brought a lawsuit to prevent a bottled soda version using her name from happening.

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About Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Vietnamese iced coffee, also known as cà phê đá or cafe da is a traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe. At its simplest, cà phê đá is made using medium to coarse ground dark roast Vietnamese-grown coffee with a small metal Vietnamese drip filter

When coffee was first introduced to the country, fresh milk was not easy to find; hence the use of sweetened condensed milk.

Caramel Apple Bottoms! Cocktail Recipe

This recipes not only turned my head but countless others when Demitri McDaniel posted his autumn concoction, he likes to call Caramel Apple Bottoms Up!. It screams of yesteryear, our childhood days of biting into a caramel covered apple yet this twist is clearly for the grown folks. September makes way for the cravings its signature flavors and colors of fall, the rustic reds and brown. This cocktail recipe is bound to be a scene stealer.

In McDaniel’s words:

This started from my love for the drink Washington Apple (Crown Royal Apple, cranberry juice and apple pucker)

As for this cocktail, I’m a little heavy handed because I like brown liquor (Whiskey/Bourbon).

-Crown Royal Caramel Apple a little sweet so only add 2 shots or 3 shots Crown Royal Caramel Apple.

– 1 shot simple syrup 3 parts Apple Juice/cider.

-Serve with crushed ice.

Salted glass Instructions

How do you Rim a glass with salt?

1. If you remember ahead of time, chill your glass. … 
2. Get yourself a quarter of a lime. … 
3. Run that notch all around the rim of the glass until the glass rim is really wet.
4. Put some salt in the dish. … 
5. Tip the glass over into the salt.

Dress top of the glass with a red delicious apple slice and drizzle with caramel on the side glass and over crushed ice You’ll love it!

Sangria Recipes: Red, White & Blush

Photo by Rebekah Lewis

When sangria comes to mind often our first envisioning is a deep bugandy red wine contrasted with the color of oranges wedges.   I remember my first sip of a white sangria experience came after perusing the choice on the menu while dining in Toronto one summer.  There’s nothing quite like a chilled glass of sangria.   How fun I thought, white sangria’s is a change and
how delicious was the experience.   In later years I’d earn the reputation of the family sangria concocter at family gatherings.   People always ask me how to make it.  It’s fairly simple and doesn’t have to cost a lot money to make and serves quite a few.  In a conversation with  Chef Jay Bonilla, he once told me,  “…the bottle of wine does not need to be expensive.”   While making a glass of sangria for me, he used the famous inexpensive wine from Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw red wine, affectionately called Two Buck Chuck, Triple Sec and orange juice.  There’s no one way to prepare a pitcher of sangria .  Each color of wine deserves it’s own special treatment.

Intro by Crystal A. Johnson, MCCN Editor

See the full article

Red Sangria – In red sangria, citrus juices such as freshly squeezed orange, lemon or lime juice complement the sweetness of the wine and liqueur. However, cranberry juice cocktail can add a welcome tartness for those with less-sweet tastes. If you want a bit of fizz, choose a lemon-lime soda to finish or a soda water with a splash of lime and garnish with citrus wedges.

Photo by Crystal A. Johnson

White Sangria – Lemon juice always works in white sangria, but consider adding sweeter juices such as white grape juice or apple juice as well. Finishing white sangria with a sparkling cider instead of soda gives it additional sweetness and makes it the perfect complement to spicy sauces and appetizers.

Rose Sangria – Well Blush was cooler for our title. Use juice blends such as mango-peach or pineapple-orange to complement the sweetness of rose sangria without overpowering the delicate blush wine. Chop strawberries and fresh mangoes to soak in the cocktail, and finish with plain soda water if carbonation is desired.

Watermelon Agua Fresca Drink Recipe

Puree the watermelon and water in a blender until smooth. Add sugar to taste. Cut the lime slices in half if you wish or squeeze a lime wedge into your individual drink.

Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Directions: Place strawberries in a blender; top with 2 tablespoons sugar. Pour 1 cup water over sugared strawberries. Blend until strawberry chunks transform into juice. Combine strawberry juice, 6 cups water, 1 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a large pitcher; stir until blended. Chill.

Serve and enjoy!

A Southern Classic, The Mint Julep Cocktail Recipe

The mint julep is a mixed alcoholic drink, or cocktail, consisting primarily of bourbon, sugar, water, crushed or shaved ice, and fresh mint. As a bourbon-based cocktail, it is associated with the American South and the cuisine of the Southern United States in general, and the Kentucky Derby in particular.

Main alcohol: Bourbon whiskey

Ingredients: 1 teaspoon Powdered sugar, 2 oz. Bourbon whiskey, 2 teaspoons Water, 4 Mint leaves

Preparation: In a highball glass gently muddle the mint, sugar and water. Fill the glass with cracked ice, add Bourbon and stir well until the glass is well frosted. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Served: On the rocks; poured over ice

Standard garnish: Mint sprig

Drinkware: Highball glass

A Taste of Wine, Hip Hop and A Side of Ribs ‘Uncorked”

Think wine, Hip Hop and ribs are an unlikely combination?  Think again.   And Netflix’s Uncorked gives a glimpse of American life in Tennessee through the eyes of young African American aspiring sommelier. His dilemma  is to continue in the tradition of the family owned Memphis BBQ joint serving the ribs, and soul food to the Memphis community.   His grandfather started the business, his father continued the business and primes him to take over the business.     Immediately the feature opens with hard hitting Hip Hop music while shot cuts back and forth between smoking meat, tasting wine and cutting ribs.   The movie centers around a highly unlikely aspiration.   Although Black sommeliers are very few, like many professions lack of exposure or insight stifles an interests in the field.  However, what’s not lacking are Black wine drinkers globally.

Along with the efforts of the movie Uncorked, Black sommelier, Andre Hueston Mack hope to gain more exposure to the Black wine drinking demographic.  According to Mack in aUSA Today article, he expressed that Hip-hop and wine are the perfect pairing.

He is one of only a few black sommeliers and winemakers, and Mack is seeking to revolutionize the wine industry with his background in music, skate culture and modern design. A sommelier or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine.

He founded Mouton Noir, now Maison Noir, in 2007, starting it from scratch with no money and no investors.

His wine is now sold across the U.S. and in 11 other countries, with Mack splitting his time between 13 leased vineyards in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and his home in Brooklyn, New York.

Black Sommeliers are few but the field of Black owned wineries is expanding. Here are a few:

• Brown Estate
• Abbey Creek Vineyard. …
• Indigené Cellars. …
• Charles Wine Company. …
• Theopolis Vineyards. …
• Taste By Chef Rhonda. …
• FLO Wine. …
• Maison Noir Wines.

If you want to watch the road to becoming a sommelier in a film filled with twists and turns. Catch Uncorked on Netflix featuring Mamou Athie, Niecy Nash and Courtney Vance.