Mojito (common)

This is a favorite summer drink.

in your shaker add 6-7 mint leaves.
juice 1 whole lime.
add 1 Tablespoon of sugar or 1 oz of simple syrup.
muddle everything together (vigorously)
add 2-3 oz of rum (light rum, use something tasty).
add ICE
cap and shake vigorously
pour into 16 oz old fashion glass
pour in plain soda water to fill the glass.
stir
garnish with mint leaf.

Best shaker set

I'm a big fan of the Malt shaker...as anyone who has come over to my house will tell you. Basically this is the shaker cup you see in most of the "real" bars around town. It's the same metal cup that was used for a malt blender (I used one in my baskin-robbins serving days...)

The malt cup looks like this.

$4 at restaurant supply company online: http://www.restockit.com/Malt-Cup--(MLT-30CR).html

This works in conjunction with a standard pint glass:

http://www.restockit.com/Glass-Pub-Tempered-16Ounce-(09-0365).html

The way it works is that you pour the ICE and the liquid in metal cup, then push the glass on top of it.

NOTE: there is a trick to this. You will notice notches down the sides of the malt cup. You need to force the glass in hard enough to bend those groves out a little, but not so hard as to break the glass (I've never broken a good bar glass like the above). This will allow the cup to make a seal and will hold it in the top a little.

If you do this right, you will have a pint glass stuck inside of the metal cup. Is should be straight up and down. It should also be well seated in the malt cup. This should make a complete seal.

now you should be able to shake the glass without having liquid pour out everywhere. It does take a little practice and you need to work in the malt cup slightly for best results.

The nice thing is that it will work with other smaller or shorter glasses, since the malt cup is tapered.

Best cocktail galsses

These are my absolute favorite cocktail glasses of all time. They are made by Spiegelau, but they might be discontinued by now.

Spiegelau Five O'Clock Cocktail Glasses,

Here is the link from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Spiegelau-Five-OClock-Cocktail-Glasses/dp/B0002343F8/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1253732597&sr=8-8

Sweetart (Lemon drop alternative)

This is one of my favorite cocktails. It's basically a lemon drop made with Raspberry Vodka. here is the basic recipe as a reminder:

In a shaker juice one whole fresh lemon.

Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar or 1oz simple syrup

add 1 Cup of ICEAdd 1oz of triplesec (Hiram Walker preferred)

Add 2oz of Vodka (HangerOne rapsberry only!). 3 oz if you are in the mood

Shake vigorously

strain into Martini "up" glass

garnish with lemon peel and/or raspberry

Notes: YOU MUST USE HANGERONE RASPBERRY VODKA. If this is too tart for you (will depend on the lemons) add more sugar or more triple sec. If it's too sweet add more vodka or more lemon. Shaking should break up the ice and freeze the drink. It's also a good idea to add some ice into the "up" glass before you start mixing. This will give the glass a chance to cool down. Lastly, if you are really good, you should strained your drink so that there are just small bits of ice floating on the top.

Simple Syrup

This is the basic mixer for most of the frilly cocktails that people like to drink. It's a simple sweetener and is really easy to make. I suggest, strongly, that you try to make this yourself rather than buying it. It's easy and is better for you than what you will buy in the store.

Here's the simple recipe for simple syrup:

1 part sugar to 1 part water.

use a dry measure for sugar and wet for water (obviously). I generally make batches in 1Cup water to 1Cup sugar.

Use pure cane sugar. If you use some exotic sugar, you will likely change the flavor, which you need to compensate for in the drink mix.

Once you have your ingredients mixed, just put them in a glass jar or bowl or whatever (microwave safe) and heat on high. stop and stir every minute or so. You should heat this just enough to melt the sugar. Keep heating and stirring until you can't see any sugar granuals in the water. Now take it out and let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes. Pour into an empty, clean bottle and put it in the fridge for your next cocktail mix.

Note: This will only keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks. I will eventually grow mold that you can see as floating white masses in the bottom of the bottle. I'm not sure the mold would kill you, but I wouldn't take the chance.

Lemon Drop (common)

Here is my Common Lemon Drop Recipe.

In a shaker juice one whole fresh lemon.

Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar or 1oz simple syrup

add 1 Cup of ICE

Add 1oz of triplesec (Hiram Walker preferred)

Add 2oz of Vodka (KettleOne preferred). 3 oz if you are in the mood

Shake vigorously

strain into Martini "up" glass

garnish with lemon peel and/or mint

Notes: If this is too tart for you (will depend on the lemons) add more sugar or more triple sec. If it's too sweet add more vodka or more lemon. Shaking should break up the ice and freeze the drink. It's also a good idea to add some ice into the "up" glass before you start mixing. This will give the glass a chance to cool down. Lastly, if you are really good, you should strained your drink so that there are just small bits of ice floating on the top.