FC BARCELONA

You don't have to wait until May to get crazy in a Mexican way. Tomorrow is Mexican Independence Day. Celebrate with a Spicy 'Rita, created By Henry Lopez, Head Bartender Nick and Toni's, East Hampton, NY and owner, Court and Spark, Brooklyn, NY

Spicy Margarita Recipe

Muddled Orange Slice and Jalepeno Pepper

2 parts Avion Reposado Tequila

3/4 part Cointreau

1/2 part Fresh Sour Mix

3/4 part Fresh Squeezed Lime

Shake and strain over fresh ice in a partially salted margarita and garnish with a lime or orange wedge.

Toast the end of summer with one of these sophisticated cocktails.

Black Cherry Mule
50ml Belvedere Vodka
6/7 fresh black cherries
Dash simple syrup
15ml lime juice
Dash Peychaud bitters

Muddle, shake and strain into a highball filled with cubed ice.
Top with ginger beer and garnish with a whole cherry.

Intense Liquorice Sour

1.5 oz Belvedere Intense
½ oz lemon juice
½ liquorice syrup
Dash liquorice bitters
Dash egg white

Dry shake all ingredients. Add ice and shake.
Strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass and garnish with a lemon wheel.

We've recently reignited our love affair with tequila, specifically spicy jalapeno tequila. Get your bachelorette party started with this Crazy for Love from the Paramount Hotel in New York City.

CRAZY FOR LOVE
· 2 oz Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila
· 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
· ¾ oz Agava Nectar

Combine Ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and pour into a rocks glass (salted rim optional. Garnish with a lime wheel. Cheers!

Dita Von Teese was at the Rosewood Mansion last week to launch her new cocktail with Cointreau: the MargaDita. You can make it yourself with the recipe below or order at The Mansion Bar at Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek for $15. Dita says the MargaDita is a "tantalizing haute-cocktail with a spicy twist."

Cointreau® MargaDita Recipe
1 oz Cointreau ®
1 oz Silver Tequila
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz Monin Rose Syrup
1 pinch Chipotle Spice

Mix all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a chilled coup glass. Garnish with Yellow Rose of Texas. For an added kick, add a chipotle and salt rim.

After the launch, Dita headed to the House of Blues Dallas to perform her show "Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray!"

Hitting Vegas this summer? Get your party on and stay bikini ready with these skinny cocktails. Poolside at MGM Grand, try a Drunken Palmer, featuring Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka mixed with light lemonade (above).

Cucumbers are good for more than saketinis and puffy eyelids. At Japonais at The Mirage try a Cucumber Passion with Hangar One Kafir Lime Vodka, passion fruit juice and house cucumber water mix, garnished with cool, sliced cucumbers.


Skinny Beach cocktails, TY KU liquor, lime juice or sour mix and club soda, have 100 calories and are so tasty, they're served at two locations in Sin City: Beach Bar & Grill at Mandalay Bay Beach and Boathouse Bar at New York-New York.

Drink up and give back with Clean Coast Wines. $4 from the sale of each bottle goes to Gulf Coast recovery efforts. Clean Coast offers Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. We love the labels which were designed by LA tattoo artist Richard Queke. Wouldn't this make an excellent summer hostess gift? Stock up so you have some on hand for your Memorial Day BBQ's. Each bottle is $14 and available in select wine stores and on line at www.cleancoastwines.com.

We keep learning about the joys of nuevo Bloody Marys—this week's twist is the Bloody Maria featuring tequila. We never would have thought to make the switch ourselves, but at a recent event for Sauza Tequila, party planner Cathy Riva (above) did just that and the results were delicious.


The Bloody Maria

2 parts Sauza Silver Tequila
2 tsp horseradish
3 dashes Tobasco
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
dash of lime juice
3 dashes celery salt
fill the rest of the glass with tomato juice
Garnish with celery stalk.

We hope you have a special way to celebrate your mother and your family this weekend. Here's hoping the weather is bright and sunny and serving up one of these cocktails would make things even better. Happy Mother's day!

When we were in Miami the weekend before last, we enjoyed a pre-flight brunch at Rosa Mexicana. Hope ordered a tomatillo and cucumber bloody Mary that was made table side and was deliciously reminiscent of a cup of gazpacho. The experience taught us that a Bloody Mary can mean more than tomato juice and celery (though there's nothing wrong with the original!).

Designer Zac Posen is ahead of that trend, of course, and created two new cocktails to make the most of Belvedere's Bloody Mary, a vodka with flavors of fresh tomato, black pepper, horseradish, bell peppers; chili peppers, lemon and a touch of vinegar. "Brunch can be fabulous when you have the right meal, cocktail and outfit. I’m an avid fan of any brunch occasion so I’m delighted to be working with Le Caprice to create an irresistible menu to complement the new Belvedere Bloody Mary," Posen said.  The cocktails are available at New York's Le Caprice through June 26 or make them at home with the recipes below:

Belvedere Bloody Mary (shown above)
• 60ml Belvedere Bloody Mary
• 60ml tomato juice
• Dash lemon juice
• Tabasco to taste (optional)

Combine ingredients in a highball glass over cubed ice.
Garnish with a lemon wedge and/or celery stick

Belvedere Pineapple Mary
• 1.5oz Belvedere Bloody Mary
• 3oz Fresh Pineapple juice
• 0.75oz Fresh Lime juice
• 2 bar spoon Simple syrup
• 2 dashes Orange bitters
• 1/8 bar spoon Smoked paprika (hot)
Shake and strain all ingredients into a rocks glass filled with cubed ice.

Sure, you could order a Guinness on St. Patrick's Day, but why not celebrate with a creative cocktail? Here are a few to inspire you:

CUCUMBER MINT COCKTAIL
3 slices of cucumber
2 large sprigs of fresh mint
1 ½ oz. Moon Mountain Vodka
¾ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. agave nectar

To Make:
1. Add 3 slices of cucumber and 2 large sprigs of mint to a cocktail shaker. Muddle to release the flavors. Add 1½ oz. Moon Mountain Vodka, ¾ oz. fresh lime juice and ½ oz. agave nectar and ice to fill. Shake and strain over fresh ice into an old fashioned glass. Garnish with a slice of cucumber and mint sprig.


THE GINGER



2 oz Irish Whiskey (Tullamore Dew)
¾ oz Spicy Ginger Beer
Freshly squeezed lime juice

To make:
Pour the whiskey and lime juice in an ice-filled highball glass, top with a spicy ginger beer and stir
gently to mix. Squeeze a fresh lime wedge and add a sprig of mint for garnish.


THE SPICY IRISHMAN

1 oz Russian Standard Vodka
1.5 oz Lucid Absinthe
¼ oz Siracha Hot Sauce
Killian’s Irish Red Beer

Mix the vodka, absinthe and hot sauce in a cocktail strainer. Pour into a beer glass. Top with beer.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (2 days early)!

Whether your single, dating, or part of a couple, one thing we can probably all agree on, is that Valentine's Day calls for a drink! Here are a few Valentine's Day cocktails to celebrate the day with:

No Oxidantal Buzz (above)

Ingredients

* 8 oz Ice
* 2 oz Vodka
* 1 oz Pomegranate Liquor
* 1/2 oz Blackberry Brandy (Optional)
* 8 oz Cheribundi Juice
* 1 Tablespoon Sugar (Add or Subtract to individual preference)


• 50ml/2oz Belvedere Vodka
• 15ml/1/4oz simple syrup
• 20ml /1/2 oz Lemon juice
• 6 fresh raspberries or 20ml/1/2oz raspberry puree
• Dash egg white
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass top with a splash of soda and garnish with a raspberry.


• 40ml/ 1.5 oz Belvedere Vodka
• 4 fresh strawberries
• 1 Shiso leaf or apple slice
• 15ml/ ½ oz Koshinokaghiroi Sake

Muddle strawberries with a dash of simple syrup. Add rest of ingredients and shake with cubed ice. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a strawberry slither and Shiso leaf or apple slice.

According to a new study, plain old aspirin and coffee is the best way to cure a hangover. The scientist at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia got rats drunk and then tested what cured their headaches and what didn't. (We're picturing rats lying in bed with tiny ice packs on their foreheads.)

We have our own new favorite hangover cure (for a doozy of a hangover we had after our annual girls' night out). This one comes courtesy of Joe, a waiter at P.J. Clarke's in Washington, D.C. He recommends combining hot chamomile tea with ginger ale--a somewhat odd combo that surpisingly worked!

See some of our other favorite hangover cures. 

When it comes time to reconnecting with friends and loved ones, more Americans prefer a night in, according to a recent survey sponsored by Kahlua. But if you're going to stay in, you have to have something good to talk about, along with good food and drinks. To help with the first part, Kahlua is sponsoring a Delicioso Night In sweepstakes where those who commit to staying in with friends one night a month are entered to win a one night trip to New York City prepared by chef Aaron Sanchez, immediately followed by a four day trip to Veracruz, Mexico, the birthplace of Kahlua.


When it comes to the menu for your night in, Sanchez suggests keeping it casual. He recommends inviting guests into the kitchen to help cook, serving a speciality cocktail with each course that features a liquor (that's a Kahlua espresso martini, above) and serving small bites of food that can be eaten with your fingers for a more playful meal.

Enter the Delicioso Night In on Kahlua.com.

JSG received a free sample. 

If you can't beat the cold with a beach getaway, you may as well enjoy it! Guests of New York's Dream Hotel are treated to a complimentary Snow Shot, a blend of Stoli Vanilla vodka & Godiva White Chocolate liqueur, in the hotel's 14th floor Ava Lounge. What better way to celebrate NYC's transformation into a winter wonderland.