Cheap vodka + Brita filter = top shelf ?

Genius! I laughed for about a minute straight when I heard the idea. It’s alchemy made lowbrow, pseudo logic at its finest. My friend, Kevin, provided this official review:

 

1. “So we thrice Brita’d the best vodka $8 could buy.”
2. “It definitely went down easier.”
3. “But man, the hangover feels like the cheap stuff.”

 

Kevin and Shane were visiting from SoCal. We hit up the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition at Fort Mason. It’s similar to a frat party for grown-ups.

 

san francisco wine competition

How to make a blood orange sidecar

I may die being better with a shaker than I am with an oven.

Ingredients for 1

Sugar (for the rim of the glass)
Orange slice (for garnish)
1.5 oz Cognac/brandy
.75 oz Cointreau (I made several, and we liked Cointreau over TripleSec)
.5 oz Fresh squeezed blood orange juice (this requires about one orange)

Agh. Inconsistent sig figs!

Directions

  1. Frost glass by first rubbing orange slice around the rim (it’s cute! it’ll be a dark pink color.)
  2. Dip rim into a plate of sugar
  3. Fill shaker with ice
  4. Add cognac/brandy, Cointreau, and orange juice to shaker
  5. Shake it like a Polaroid picture!
  6. Strain into glass
  7. Done and done.

    This recipe was adapted from InStyle magazine, December 2009.