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Summer is finally here… in true celebratory fashion Manayunk drink specials would like you give you an advantage in enjoying persephone’s return. Below is a short list of the best summer cocktails, how to make them, and a few words/ helpful hints to go with each one.

Margarita

This cocktail has been through a lot of changes through the years. Hard to get really wrong, but ever elusive in its perfect form, this could be argued to be the best-known cocktail of the post-modern era. Originally it was said to be made with damiana (an aphrodisiac) as a main ingredient. Damiana was soon replaced by cointreau leading to the golden era of the Margarita (when the cocktail was still standardized with fresh ingredients)… Alas, it was not to last. The margarita was killed by its own popularity in the 80’s and 90’s when turn-n-burn bartenders decided to start skipping the second most important ingredient (Fresh squeezed lime) with ultra sweet sour mix. Though sour mix, and frozen margaritas are still overly prevalent, the current “cocktail renaissance” is breathing new life into one of the greatest drinks ever. MDS is providing two recipes below- a proper cocktail for the enthusiast, and a lazy-day/higher-quality recipe for those that would like to use less energy but still be rewarded with a good drink.

A “Tequila makes women’s clothes fall off” Margarita

2-3oz White Tequila*

1oz Cointreau/ Grand Marnier/ Triple Sec

1 Fresh Squeezed lime

splash of simple syrup to taste

*Two notes here (first, Remember everyone has different tastes, use more or less Tequila according to how well a person’s palate has developed with tequila, Second, and Diageo won’t like this, Jose Cuervo gold not a good choice for your Margarita. ‘Cuervo is a great Tequila for many things (four horsemen) but a margarita isn’t it)

“A Long Day of Work” Margarita

3oz White Tequila

1 ½ oz Triple Sec

“Simply Limeade” to taste*

*Simply Limeade is a great little product. It is not from concentrate, uses only fresh ingredients, and has a pretty good sweetness-lime mix going. A Great substitute when you don’t feel like squeezing 10 limes for a pitcher of margaritas.

Daiquiri

No cocktail has ever gone through a sex-change like the Daiquiri. It was a drink that Hemmingway used to rock as he would shoot 300 lbs. man-eating tigers on safari (Hemmingway called the Daiquiri his favorite drink at one point)… however thanks to a bunch of women in the 70’s who had to have everything blended, the Daiquiri was sentenced to John Bobbitt treatment. So in 2010, unless I am hanging out at The Rum Bar (2005 Walnut Street), I can’t order a Daiquiri without putting on a skirt first. It is a shame too. The Daiquiri is an awesome summer cocktail (hence being on this list) and also one of the manliest drinks you can get.

3oz Light Rum

½ a lime squeezed

splash of simple syrup to taste

Mint Julep

Why is there 4 hours of coverage before the Kentucky Derby which lasts a whole 3 minutes? Answer: Mint Juleps. That is how good this drink is.

Muddle mint in the bottom of a glass (how much mint? A lot)

Then add:

crushed ice

3-4oz Bourbon

splash of simple syrup

San Clemente

Recipe created by Jon Paul Uritis.  This recipe will surprise you with the way that the ingredients come together. Ingredients combine the best of Philadelphia and California. Based on a Traditional Sidecar and a recipe by Sorrento Grille (CA).

3oz Bluecoat Gin (Philadelphia distilling company)

1/2 Fresh Squeezed Lemon

Blue Agave nectar to taste

Shake with crushed ice, and serve up

Irish Wake

Made famous by McGuire’s Irish pub (FL). Do yourself a favor and cut yourself off after one. Serve in a 32oz mason jar.

1 1/2 ounces of Bacardi Light Rum
1 1/2 ounces of Bacardi Gold Rum
1 1/2 ounces of Blue Curacao Liquor
Fresh squeezed Orange Juice to the top of mason jar
1 ounce of Bacardi 151

Caipirinha

Brazil’s national cocktail. Made with cachaça, a liquor that is distilled from sugar cane. No matter what you read on the internet, there is no substitution for cachaça, it has a taste all of its own. This drink is particularly hard to make because the ingredients are so simple. My recommendation is to buy a bottle of cachaça and practice all different ways of making a Caipirinha. Find a sense of balance between the ingredients. The ingredients in a Caipirinha are: cachaça, lime, and sugar.

Below is the best account of how I would make a Caipirinha… like I said every drink maker will have a unique experience with the cocktail and its ingredients

Take a glass (smaller than a pint glass) and fill it with ice. Add a dash granular sugar on top of the ice. The granular  will be for texture more than sweetness. Pour 3oz of cachaça over the ice/sugar. Squeeze half of a lime into the glass. Slice the other half of lime into 3 slices. Squeeze the slices then drop them into the glass. Add a splash of simple syrup (for sweetness). Shake all ingredients together and pour all contents into the original glass for consumption.

Mojito

The Grandaddy of summer cocktails.

Muddle 5-10 mint leaves in the bottom of a glass.

add splash of simple syrup

fill glass with ice

add 3oz White rum

squeeze 1/2 a lime into the glass, then slice, squeeze and add the other half into the glass.

Top with soda water.

Enjoy the summer.

I was in a drunken conversation the other day, and one of my friends decided to point out a safe argument made by one of his Saint Joe’s ethics professors. The argument he made was that perception affects our stance on judging a person’s morality, and more importantly decision making. He then told a story about two characters who went nameless and their deeds. One was a poor boy, self educated, that through hard work and a turbulent political system worked his way up to become leader of his country. This boy never did drugs or alcohol. Never committed adultery, and brought his country out of extreme poverty to become one of the prominent nations in the world. The other boy drank and smoked his entire life. He came from a wealthy family, but squandered his family fortune quickly after they died. He had a decent political career but was kicked out of office several time for his antics.

Of course I knew who he was talking about before he told me. The first boy was Adolf Hitler and the second boy was Sir Winston Churchill. The whole thing made me wonder what other high profile people either don’t presently drink, or didn’t. Thus I have created a my top 10 list of people who don’t or didn’t drink alcohol.

Adolf Hitler

Though I already touched upon Hitler, do you ever wonder what the world would be like if  he had drank? I really think if Hitler had taken a little time to sip a nice cocktail on occasion, he probably would have reconsidered the choices he was making. I mean come on, 5pm hits and we all ask ourselves: What should I do tonight- Genocide or go out for a drink? I think we all generally make the right decision.

Marie Antoinette

Interesting fact: Marie was sentenced to death because the French revolutionaries made her son get drunk and sign papers saying that she sexually abused him.

Tyra Banks

Tyra doesn’t drink but she definitely has modeled for Coors light. What really threw me for a spin is that when she goes out to eat she orders a glass of wine to hold. Apparently (and this whole thing is unconfirmed) holding the glass of wine “makes her feel sexy.”

Warren E. Buffett

The fact that Warren Buffett doesn’t drink is made ten times odder by the fact that he resides in Omaha. If you have ever been to Omaha you know exactly what I am talking about (I’m talking to you Nick Hexum). You practically need a drink just crossing the Nebraska state line.

George W. Bush

I could write something here but it is the equivalent of a layup. So instead make your own Bush/ Alcohol joke and send it to staff@manayunkdrinkspecials.com . I will do a follow up post and put the best jokes in the post.

Tom Cruise

If you are ever forced to choose between booze and Scientology please consider your options.

Crazy Horse

A brave and admirable human being. I have no doubt that his sacrifice to not drink was a reflection of his dedication to make the world a better place.

Jennifer Lopez,

Monster-in-Law (2005)… and there was no alcohol involved.

Friedrich Nietzsche,

I found it absolutely fascinating that Nietzche didn’t drink. I found a few quotes here that explain it.

Donald Trump,

I love this picture

As much as I like the concept of a rich person being rich by explaining to other people how to become rich, Donald Trump cracks me up. He almost bankrupts himself by trying to get into media (early 90’s), then makes up for it years later with The Apprentice? How can people idolize someone that cannot buy a good haircut with millions of dollars… oh and the Trump Taj Mahal is in chapter 11 again.

I guess the long story short is go read Brett Easton Ellis’ “American Psycho.”

So the holidays are here… and that means a variety of things to different people. To my family in Cali it meant a visit from the a guy that was so drunk he stumbled into a family party and pretended to be jewish thinking he could join the fun ( My family is Catholic, and my uncle told him we were jewish just to see what he would say). To my neighbor “Beefhaus” the holidays mean that he can get drunk and stumble into peoples parties and convince them they are jewish (”Beefhaus” is Catholic… Notice a trend here?).

But to most people it means shopping on African-american Friday, bad holiday sweaters, It’s a Wonderful life, dry turkey, and of course, drinking. Whatever your reasons may be, whether its uncle John and his bottle of 18 McCallan, Aunt Polly’s box wine that is “way better than that crap in a bottle,” or my dog that knows how to open the fridge and puncture a beer enough to drink while I watch KU kill Tennessee Tech, we all like to drink around the holidays.

90% of the year is dedicated to those drinks which have become standard in our society: beer, wine, margarita’s, mixed drinks, Jager, and shots of whatever you think your friends will like least. Certain drinks though, are reserved for festive times of the year when they make more sense. Apple cider is great for All Hallows Eve. Green Beer is reserved for Saint Patty’s, and sparkling wine is for New Year’s. However, Jesus’ Birthday means Eggnog… and I never knew it until I made it myself.

Eggnog has a bad rap. When you think of eggnog you probably think of either salmonella or the clumpy-goopy sour milk that occupies the acme back shelves until someone stumbles onto it looking for vanilla soy milk.

Eggnog itself is a beautiful beverage, when made from scratch. Back in the 1800’s it was a drink of the aristocracy. Milk, cream, and brandy, were luxuries that few peasants could afford. Eggnog, like so many other classic beverages had a hard transition to modern times. Eggnog’s flavor is something that is hard to attain with high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavoring. Because of this, and it’s seasonal association, a dedication to quality eggnog has not really happened yet. So what does one do since there is no good eggnog to be found?

Make it yourself! So welcome to the first Manayunk Drink Specials “Cocktail Recipe.” In the future I will probably come up with some clever name… but for now I just want to show you how to make eggnog.

Here is what you need: 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups Heavy whipping cream, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups whole milk, 300 mL Rum(1/3 of a normal bottle), 4 shots of Bourbon. [Manayunkdrinkspecials.com recomends Cruzan rum, and Maker's Mark]

To start you want to separate the egg whites, from the yoke. You can accomplish this by calling your mom and having her explain how to separate egg whites. Put them in different bowls, and then split the sugar between the two bowls. [If you think you are messing up, don't worry, it will taste okay even if you just put the ingredients in a blender]. Mix the mixtures separately. The egg white and sugar portion, needs to be beaten pretty well- It should be semi-thick. The next step is to pour the white-mix and the yoke-mix together.

Mix slowly in a mixer, and gradually add your milk and HALF of your Cream [the other half is for a whipped cream topping]. After the milk/cream is added slowly mix in your alcohol. It is going to seem like a lot of booze… guess what, it is. The coolest part of this cocktail is that the alcohol is covered up just right. One Eggnog would have Scrooge singing Christmas carols with the hobos on Market street. Make sure you top the liquid with whipped cream, and sprinkle a little nutmeg or something on top. Hocus-Pocus, that is all there is to it. Give it a try and tell me what you think. If anyone has any war stories or amendments to the recipe please leave it in the comments or send us an email. Enjoy!

This is hopefully to be the first of many chronicles detailing the history of alcohol.
At Manayunk drink specials we care both about what is going on right now, and how we got here.So here is an article is about 3 famous people and what they drank… We left Tara Reid out, sorry.

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill, was a nobel prize winning writer, a diplomat, a military genius, and one of the greatest speakers of all time. He was also one of the most compelling figures in alcohol that ever existed. He drank constantly, but never seemed to get drunk. It is thought in retrospect that Churchill’s drinking was self-medication for bipolar disorder. Sir Winston drank all day generally… Beer with lunch, Whisky with tea, and then some random assortment of beverages through dinner and during his socializing.

There are many notable alcohol related anecdotes that go along with his brilliant career. While fighting in South Africa the water was said to be undrinkable. Churchill apparently fixed the problem by adding whisky, eventually learning to tolerate it.
His most notorious drinking buddy was by far Joseph Stalin, Churchill and Stalin would drink attempting to convince each other to abandon their political beliefs.

Churchill while in attendance at a reception and found himself seated next to a conservative Methodist bishop. A waitress brought around a tray of sherry glasses. Churchill took one, and then she offered one to the Methodist bishop. The bishop was repulsed at the alcoholic offer, and said, “Young lady, I’d rather commit adultery than take an intoxicating beverage.”To which Churchill beckoned the girl. “Come back, lassie; I didn’t know we had a choice.”

Another famous incident: Sir Winston was called out for being drunk by Bessie Braddock. Winston replied “”And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober tomorrow.”

He is famously quoted for saying: “I have taken more from alcohol than it has taken from me.”

Winston Churchill’s Drink of choice:

He Had many. he was great friends with Alexander Walker ( owner of Johnny Walker distillery), and Johnny walker was said to be his favorite scotch- It is hard to make out which came first. He drank beer with lunch, and often Champagne with dinner. The Champagne was notable because even during the war he allowed his guests to have unlimited amounts of it. His favorite Champagne was Pol Roger, and his favorite brandy was Hine.
He also loved a good Martini (Gin), but had a peculiar way of drinking it. Whenever he ordered a Martini before it was poured he would insist that the bartender put the bottle of vermouth up on the bar so that he could verify that there was no vermouth in it. This is now called to as a “Churchill Martini.”

Andre the Giant

Like Napoleon, Andre the Giant was also a fabulous drinker for his size… except his size was 7 feet 4 inches, and 540 lbs. If you don’t know anything about Andre here are the quick details: Andre was French, He was hilarious in the movie “the Princess Bride,” and he could very well have been the greatest drinker in history.

Andre was also know for his drunken antics. He one time got into a scuffel with 4 guys at a bar, and ended up flipping their car over with all four inside.He didn’t get in any trouble either because apparently the police didn’t believe it was plausible for a car full of people to be flipped by a giant.

Andre’s drink of choice:

Beer and a lot of it.Here are some numbers to put your head around: Andre once drank 119 12oz beers in six hours (that is one beer every three minutes). The craziest part is that 119 beers isn’t even the most he drank in a single sitting. It has been confirmed that he once drank 157 12oz beers in a single sitting. The Best estimates figure that he drank 7,000 calories of booze everyday.To give you an idea of how much it costs to drink like a giant: During the one month shooting of “The Princess Bride,” Andre stayed in a hotel and his Bar tab at the end of the month was $40,000.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A fabulous drinker for his size. Like in war, he was known for surprising a bigger foe with what he could accomplish. His love for the drink began at an early age, as his family owned a vineyard, but blossomed in his adulthood. There are all sorts of interesting facts about his drinking: For instance one of Napoleon’s drinking cups was made from the skull of the famous Italian adventurer Cagliostro. Napoleon’s name is still on the label of many brandies… If you do see it, this means that it has been aged at least 4 years.

He is attributed to the famous quote:”In victory you deserve champagne, in defeat you need it.” It is also worthy of noting that Napoleon is assumed to have been slowly poisoned to death (arsenic), but a side effect of the poisoning was
an excessive thirst. He was said to be drinking high levels of orgeat syrup among other things in order to quench his thirst. (It is a shame he didn’t live to the invention of the Mai Tai, probably the only major cocktail that still uses orgeat syrup.
It would also be a great drink to have while stuck on an island slowly being poisoned to death.)

Napoleon’s drink of Choice:

He had many. Chambertin was supposedly his favorite wine, and in the specific category of alcohol he drank it almost exclusively. Napoleon insisted that it be available to him even during military campaigns. The Chambertin vineyard is located in the Cote de Nuits district of Burgundy. The wine was originally cultivated sometime around the mid 1200’s as a secular competition to the Abbey of Beze. The quality of the wine gained renown in the mid 1700’s and it’s value skyrocketed. In 1791 the wine peaked at 777 livres an ouvree ( with 1 livre being about a daily wage for a peasant). Tragedy struck Napoleon though when he was retreating from Russia. His entire cellar of Chambertin was stolen by Cossacks (supposedly), adding insult to injury.

Aside from Chambertin, Cognac was a favorite drink of Napoleon’s (at least during exile). In 1811 Napoleon visited the cognac warehouses of Emmanuel Courvoisier in Bercy. He was apparently greatly impressed with the quality and made it the official cognac of his court. Legend has it that Napoleon I later took several barrels of cognac with him to St Helena, a treat much appreciated by the English officers on the ship who named it “The Cognac of Napoleon.”

Kildare’s pub: $3000 grand prize for the best costume. starting at 9 DJ Crazy. Drink specials: $2 bud lights $6 Three olives mini pitchers.

Dawson Street Pub: EJ Simpson performs the music From Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the Dan Kaufman band. Drink specials are yet to be determined.

Bourbon Blue: Q102 Halloween Party. $500 prize for the best costume, and 52 Pickup will be performing. Drink specials: $3 miller light and $3 you call 10-12pm.

Castle Roxx: $25 three hour open bar… and the Phillies.

Manayunk Brewery: Ghosts and Goblins party. $1000 Grand Prize for the best costume. Buy tickets at the door or in advance for a discount.

The Bayou: Scary-okie all night and a best costume prize yet to be determined.

Sapphire: $300 cash prize for best costume. $25 open bar. The staff will be dressed as pimps and ho’s.

Yunkers: Sexy costume contest 9pm.

Cactus Cantina: Halloween Party $200 cash prize for best costume. Drink Specials $3 three olives drinks.

JD McGillicuddy’s: Halloween party on Friday.

Beer Dinner at Derek’s in Manayunk

Wednesday, October 21, 2009. 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM $50 per person

The chefs at Derek’s have have taken our beer and masterfully paired them with their own cuisine. The dinner will start at 7pm, please feel free to call Derek’s about seating.

Mango Moon Infusion Contest Judging.

October 22nd, 2009. $5 a person to sample various infusions.

The winner of the contest is getting $500, so you know that there will be some cool adult beverage.

Thursday October 22nd, 2009. Dawson Street Pub.

Gourmet Cheese and beer tasting- $15

If you think that beer isn’t given the culinary respect that it deserves, this event is for you. Craft beer pair masterfully paired with the highest quality cheese… yum.

Ever wanted to learn how to brew beer?

The Garage (443 Shurs Lane) will teach you. $10 gets you a hands-on tutorial from master brewers and 2 free craft beers. Learn a little more about the stuff that you have been putting in your body for years.

October 25th, 2009 @3:30pm

“We are the bar for everybody” owner Jeff Kurz said to me when asked to describe Pitchers. When I looked around the room, I realized he was 100% right. From suits to sweats, the most unifying aspect of the Thursday crowd was that they understood a good value and wanted to have a good time. I don’t blame them; after my experience at Pitchers I will be back… and I will be back a lot.

One of the main reasons that I plan on frequently returning is the renaissance that is happening in the tiny kitchen in the back of Pitchers. I want to be the first person to say:
remember the name Joshua George. If two years from now I see Josh on T.V. with his own cooking show, I won’t be surprised. If 4 years from now Josh is running the FDA, I won’t be surprised. The work that he is doing is at the highest level, and I am saying that with 6 years and 8 executive chefs worth of experience under my belt.

The atmosphere at Pitchers, a self proclaimed “dive-bar,” is more than misleading. Hidden carefully under the mask of a broken marquee sign and beer treated hardwood lies an unexpected quality. The staff is kind and fun-loving. They work hard, and have a blast doing it. The wood that lines the walls, bar, and floor is warm and inviting. The jerseys and sports mementos fit well next to the 3 huge 72-inch televisions that get any game a philly sports fan would care about. The best decoration by far, and Pitchers namesake, are the cheap pitchers of beer found everywhere. I knew when I walked in I wasn’t leaving sober.

Compared to the transient nature of Manayunk, Pitcher’s Pub celebrates some longevity. In the same location since before Manayunk’s gentrification in the 90’s, the bar has been on Main street since before Main street was “Main street.” Current owner Jeff Kurtz and his sister Melissa took over operations in 2005. What they took over was at the best of times trashy, and at the worst of times unmanageable. They believed in Pitchers, so Jeff sold his waste removal business that he had owned since he was 18 to go clean up a mess. Four years later the bar has been rejuvenated, and business continues to get better everyday.

Since Jeff and Melissa have been running the bar they have been known for two things: “cheap specials, and good prices.” But recently, there is something new going on in the so-called ‘dive-bar’. “We are trying better food… we want to give a better option than normal bar food.” To accomplish this, ringer Joshua George was brought in. In his 50 straight days of working (no days off thus far), Josh has accomplished the quickest change of a food-service establishment I have ever heard of… and the craziest part is that he is only 23.

Joshua George has been working on lines since he was 15, and a competitive chef since he was 17, but his culinary feats don’t stop there. He was Top in his class at Johnson and Wales, where he was on scholarship after being a finalist in a recipe contest. He has been a personal chef for aristocrats in cape cod, a contributor to a project geared toward fighting childhood obesity, and a cook in Italy for 4 months. In 315 more days he will be 1 of 69 people in America who are both Executive Chef’s and Registered dietitians. All of these experiences can be seen in his re-design of American bar-food.

Notable Creations on the Pitcher’s Pub Menu are things like the “Black and Blue Ribeye Sandwich” ($8, pictured above). The sandwich starts with a Sarconi and Sons artisan long roll upon which thinly sliced blackened Beef Ribeye is placed with caramelized yellow onions and blue cheese that is hand crumbled off a wheel.

Another classic example of Josh’s culture collaboration is the “Philly Cheese Steak Sub Pie.”($8, left half of pizza, the right half is ‘Sausage and Broccoli Rabe”) It is a traditional white pizza topped with the aforementioned thinly sliced beef rib-eye, sauted peppers & onions, crisp shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and American cheese. The menu says that it serves 1-3 people. If you are trying to be that single person to eat a whole pizza you had better be on a mission from god.

There is no way I could write about the food without mentioning the Wings (10 for $6 or 20 for $11). There are 9 different versions. The craziest/ most interesting of which would be: Honey-Jalapeno, Teriyaki with garlic-wasabi aioli, Suicide, and of course, the deaf wings. The menu claims the deaf wings are “so hot it’ll make you go deaf.” I have yet to see someone lose their hearing, but the deaf wings can certainly inflict some pain.

In addition to the regular menu is a daily amendment made that makes it difficult to not go everyday. Monday is Panzaritti ($6), Tacos on Tuesday ($1 for a large American-style taco), Steak and burgers on Wednesday, Thursdays and Sundays feature 25 cent wings (including the deaf wings), $6 brick oven pizzas on Friday, and Saturday is $5 Quesadilla day.

Pitcher’s is a great place to go for pretty much any reason. Good beer, good food, and good prices. It is a fun place to go no matter who you are, and the bonus is that you won’t blow your paycheck on the good time. Jeff, Melissa, Josh, and all the staff are doing some cool things that everyone would be better having experienced. So go check it out.

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Pitcher’s Pub is located at 4326 Main street, Philadelphia, PA. The phone number is (215) 487-1370‎.