576964 Wed Dec 03 08:15:54 -0800 2008 7 36 Spirits 0 4217137 So my friends and I are going away for a week for New Years, and I have come up with a fairly ambitious "traveling" menu -- each day is a different country/region. I have beer and wine to go with meals, but I wanted some fabulous cocktails for before/after (since we are all staying at the same house, that means no one has to drive home!) Ok, so here are my nights: Day 1: Italian (white lasagna and fettucini pesto, with homemade pasta, pizza bianca, burrata and tomato salad) Day 2: German (käsespatzle, bratwurst (fine ground german style, not johnsonville), and a green salad) Day 3 Mexican (beef chimichangas, chicken enchiladas, cheese crisps, queso fundido, beans, rice) Day 4: New Years Cocktail party -- a bunch of fingerfoods.. I think I will do two champagne cocktails for this -- ginger and pomegranate -- mmm or both together! Day 5: Indian (Tandoori Chicken, Lamb in some sort of curry, some sort of veggie, fresh naan, rice) I have most of the basics -- Rum, Gin, Tequila, Vodka and a good number of liqueurs. I can buy more if necessary. Its a girls weekend, and we all do fairly girly drinks, no one is very into bourbon, scotch, etc. Wed Dec 03 08:15:55 -0800 2008 109826 aletnes 1 4220795 I'd give the following a go: Italian: Negroni German: There is really nothing more German than a good beer in my opinion Mexican: Margarita New Years: French 75, Belini Indian: Uh, yeah, no idea there Thu Dec 04 13:06:52 -0800 2008 4217137 185532 ShadowedOne 2 4220834 a few extra thoughts: Italian: Bellinis, since you'll probably want an alternative that is sweeter than a Negroni German: ditto - all I can think of is beer Mexican: try Palomas as well - they are tequila w/ Grapefruit soda. yum! New Years - love the french 75 idea. Indian - try a Pegu club - not exactly Indian, but it's a good gin drink. We have an Indian resto in Boston that makes tasty Ginger Basil gimlets and they always seem perfect to start off an Indian meal. Somewhere during the week you could fit in Sidecars. I always think of them as an elegant winter ladies cocktail, and you can rim w/ sugar to be fancy. Thu Dec 04 13:19:23 -0800 2008 4220795 23840 Bluebell 2 4221554 Here's a drink I created to go with Indian food -- I think it works pretty well, but beer is probably best: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/489550#3785597 Thu Dec 04 18:09:02 -0800 2008 4220795 65478 davis_sq_pro 1 4221992 Italian: Fragoli Passion - 4 oz. champagne, 1 oz Fragoli strawberry liqueur (Italian) or another strawberry liqueur, (but only Fragoli has little strawberries floating in it). Mexican: Maragita. Indian: Blueberry Thrill (made at Eastern Standard in Boston) - Gin, blueberry juice, lemon juice, cardamom. Thu Dec 04 21:32:52 -0800 2008 4217137 105892 pollystyrene 1 4222016 German - cocktails are very tricky. Maybe a sidecar made with Asbach Uralt? There are a few straight liquors, though. Good schnapps is always a surprise to those who equate the name with the over-sweet artificially-flavored stuff that's most common in the US. And of course there's Jagermeister, which is actually a very good digestif despite the fact that it's been adopted as a beverage of choice by drunken obnoxious frat types. For Indian, there's one obvious choice: gin and tonic. It's the stuff the Raj was built on. Which probably explains a lot about the Raj's liver. Pith helmet and stiff upper lip optional. Thu Dec 04 22:03:25 -0800 2008 4217137 58743 alanbarnes 2 4223469 You beat me to it Alan, the G&T idea just popped in to my head! One of, if not THE, original reason tonic was created was to combat malaria. In order to make it more palatable people started mixing it with sugar (the tonic back then wasn't sweetened) and gin and thus the G&T was born. I think this would make the perfect Indian drink. If you want bonus points you could make your own tonic syrup, the ingredients are readily available on the web. I used Jeffrey's recipe when I made mine. Links below. http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2008/how-to-make-your-own-tonic-water/ http://cocktailhacker.com/?p=382 Fri Dec 05 12:02:20 -0800 2008 4222016 185532 ShadowedOne 3 4231264 Italian-- Averna or Nonino amaro w/ muddled Amarena Fabbri cherries (or for a fruitier version, equal parts Averna, Cointreau and Lairds Applejack w/ peychaud bitters, as by Kevin at Spur in Seattle) Indian-- Aviation made with Old Raj saffron gin Mon Dec 08 20:35:26 -0800 2008 4223469 13161 barleywino