Glamour In A Glass
At Deep Glamour's first birthday party, fabulous hats weren't the only glamorous accessories - the drinks served were pretty amazing, as well (if we do say so ourselves).
Thanks to decidedly unglamorous insurance and licensing issues, we weren't able to serve any alcohol at the event. That meant no delicate flutes of champagne, no swirling snifters of brandy, and no martinis - shaken or stirred.
Fortunately, there's no rule that says that drinks have to be boozy to be fabulous. Enter the "mocktail." I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the term - I think it's silly, at best. Plus, most mocktails I've come into contact with have been more appropriate for an eight-year old's birthday party than for an evening with adults.
But it doesn't have to be that way. When they're built on the right foundation, non-alcoholic drinks can be just as sophisticated as their 100 proof counterparts. Creating glamorous drinks is simply a matter of focusing on the basics: color, texture, movement, and balanced taste.
Much of champagne's allure is locked up in the bubbles - club soda can add the same effervescence. Certain juices (including pineapple and pomegranate, which we used, thanks to two of our sponsors, Dole and POM Wonderful) echo the rich colors of good wine or Scotch. A few dried blueberries or cranberries at the bottom of a glass are as elegant a garnish as any olive or onion twist.
And then there's the power of the name. In keeping with the theme, our drinks were named after hats - the "POM Pillbox" and the "Pineapple Panama." We borrowed the alliterative approach from the golden age of the cocktail, with its Singapore Slings and Moscow Mules.
Want to drink like the glamorous, with all of the elegance, none of the hangover? Here are our recipes:
POM Pillbox
1 part pomegranate juice
2 parts ginger ale
2-3 small pieces of candied ginger, chopped just a little
Put the ginger in the bottom of the glass and top with the POM juice, then the ginger ale. Stir and serve.
Pineapple Panama
2 parts pineapple juice
1 part cranberry juice
1 part sparkling water
Pour the pineapple juice in the glass first, then top with the cranberry juice and sparkling water. Give the whole thing a stir to swirl the juices, and the colors.
And, just for good measure, a couple additional drink recipes we weren't able to include at the evening's bar.
Blueberry Beret
2 parts lemonade
1 part blueberry juice
1 part sparkling water
5-10 dried blueberries
Place the blueberries in the bottom of the glass and top with the juices, then add the sparkling water. Stir and serve. The dried blueberries dress this drink up.
Citrus Cloche
2 part lemonade
3 parts sparkling water
1 mint sprig
Place the mint in the bottom of the glass and cover with the lemonade and water. Stir, muddling the mint leaves a bit, to release the leaves' natural oils, and serve. This recipe also works with iced tea - both versions smell great and look pretty and summery.
[Photo of the POM Pillbox by Kit Pollard. DG bartender mixing POM Pillbox by Karol Franks from DeepGlamour Flickr pool.]