The Meloncress

I’m not a huge fan of store bought flavored vodkas but I have to admit, Absolut manages to produce a few damn good ones. A while back I stumbled upon their Absolut New Orleans which touted a mango and black pepper infusion. To my surprise, it was delicious. Even on it’s own, where flavored vodkas often suffer from a cloying or artificial flavor profile, this blend was really drinkable. Now if they really had wanted to impress me they would have made their New Orleans inspired vodka infused with wood-fired oysters and muffalettas, but beggars can’t be choosers.

It was this sweet and peppery profile that had me buzzing last night to make up this new cocktail for you guys. Originally I picked up this fresh cantaloupe and a head of watercress for some good old fashioned eating, but when I realized I still had my hand’s on fellow Nobler, Mark’s juicer I got to work. Watercress has an unbelievably delicious peppery bite and compared to related greens like mustard, their flavor is a bit lighter making them perfect for cocktail pairing. The ripe sweetness of the cantaloupe blends perfectly with the watercress and with a little citrus to bring it all together, this new guy is a definite winner. I paired the juice with Cachaça, a Brazilian spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. You might be familiar with it as it is used in the very popular Caipirinha, or maybe from one of my original posts, the Clear and Sunny. Meloncress, I officially welcome you to the Juice Bar team.

The Meloncress

2 oz Cachaça

4 oz Melon and Watercress Juice

1 Splash Seltzer

Mix the first two ingredients together and pour over a highball glass with ice. Finish off with a splash of seltzer and a few watercress leaves for garnish.

Melon and Watercress Juice

1/2 Ripe Cantaloupe

2 Heads of Watercress (a few leaves reserved for garnish)

Juice of 1 Lime

Using a juicer, juice the peeled and chopped cantaloupe and reserve the juice. Juice the watercress into a second container. Squeeze the lime juice into the watercress liquid and then add the juice from the cantaloupe. Keep chilled and mix well before using.

Juice Bar Blends as “The Remedy”

Last night, we had the pleasure to bring the Juice Bar Blends to the AFA for Jason Mraz’s Instagram / CanvasPop fan contest gallery show. The winning imagery was showcased via CanvasPop’s amazing transformation and Jason was on site to chat, mingle, and overwhelm a few of his biggest fans. Our mission? Provide some ridiculously delicious social lubricant…

Our two fresh juices were huge hits. We pride ourselves in developing fantastic flavors from fruits and vegetables that will pair fantastically with alcohol. The carrot, ginger, and cardamom is one of my new favorites. The color is wild! And why not work on your eye sight while you get a little tipsy. Acting as it’s compliment (after all we were in an art gallery), the vibrant green “elixir” (as one of our biggest fans has dubbed it), our cucumber cilantro and lime cocktail, continues to be a huge success. I’m always a bit shocked as so many people seem to be turned off from cilantro, but I’m going to have to make some back up of this guy next time. It just flies off the bar!

But I think what I am most proud of, is the connection we are making with our drinkers. In a city where “interesting” or “fancy” too often equates to the number of male models on staff, or the amount of ingredients in your cocktails, or even worse the number of “miniature” food items in your repertoire, we are clearly not emerging from that mold. The dialogue and energy that has surrounded our events is as much a part of our brand, as the drinks we serve. For fuck’s sake, you can’t take yourself that seriously serving food and drink. And I think the reaction has spoken for itself. Thanks to all involved with last night’s event and for the opportunity to connect over some delicious Juice Bar Blends!

Christmas Was Good to the Nobler Experiment!

Our two homemade brews, Cow Thieves Ale and The Mustache Maker turned out great. The IPA has just enough bite and the Cow thieves is nice and light. I’m excited to let some of the Noblers give these a shot.

This blueberry, cardamom, and vanilla cocktail inspired by some friends was the perfect Christmas eve starter. I’ll post the recipe this week for sure.

The Nobler Christmas haul.

Digging in to some Monkey Shoulder with one perfect ice ball.

A little bubbly for Christmas dinner.

And dessert…

And lastly, a recovery day cocktail of tamarind juice and rum by the fire…

Absolut Success

I think I finally got over my hangover from the other night…

The Juice Bar’s first event with Absolut was an amazing time. The drinks went over great and went down even better. Cucumber, cilantro and lime and the cranberry and winter spice cocktails were by far the fan favorites but I’m a bit partial to the green tea, green apple and rosemary concoction. Thanks again to my fellow Noblers for all the help!

Looking forward to more nights like this one soon.

Introducing the Juice Bar

The Nobler Experiment began in large part due to my real passion for all things liquor. But in one particular instance I had grown frustrated with the lack of options both commercially available and in our local establishments when it comes to cocktails; so many pre-mixed, artificial “mixers” that end up overpowering their accompanying liquor and making any regular imbiber sick to their stomach. It’s rare to get a fresh margarita, and even rarer to find a “fruit” based cocktail that isn’t cloyingly sweet. And even worse, we often only consider “fresh” as a necessity only for the summer months. But at my new venture, the Juice Bar, I’ve been crafting fresh, local, and seasonal juice mixes combining fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices that pair with all sorts of liquor. Beets and whiskey? Cilantro and tequila? Trust me, the recipes keep on coming. And with our first ever bash sponsored by Absolute Vodka this coming Thursday night, it’s going to be a blast debuting some of my favorites! For now, to be clear, the Juice Bar is not a bar in establishment but rather an ideal. Delicious drinks done well coming to your events soon.

For more info on the Juice Bar, I’ll be posting a new site shortly. In the mean time, hope you’re as excited as I am for just one more excuse to get your buzz on!