The Cocktail Napkin – Let's Recreate!   

by Jo Petteruti, Mixologist and Owner, Jo's Stillwater Tea Room Summer may be winding down, but that doesn't mean the fun should stop...!  Recreation is meant to be a leisure activity, and our need to enjoy recreational activities is part of our human nature.  As humans, we love to have fun.  So, as requested, this Cocktail Napkin is dedicated to recreation and its relation to cocktails. Research shows us that any type of drinkable alcohol is considered a form of recreation.   Per Wikipedia's definition, “An alcoholic drink is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol produced by fermentation of grains, fruits or other sources...”.  So, if we think about recreational drinking, it can be seen as a social activity that dates back many years.  Think back to the Ancient Romans celebrating with jugs of wine,or to the Roaring Twenties, a time when people dressed beautifully and sipped cocktails while dancing to Big Band Jazz.  All of that history has brought rise to the social and recreational aspects of drinking cocktails. A more current definition of recreational drinking now extends to marijuana-based cocktails.  The Tea Room does not venture into that segment of the market, even with the lesser CBD-based concoctions that some places are serving.  But I bring this up because during a recent visit by a Naval officer, he noticed that on our menu's price list page, it says “ Pot Tea... Pot Coffee.. Pot Espresso”.  So he asked if we served regular coffee, tea and espresso as well.  I told him, of course – that's all we sell.  Then he pointed to the menu and pointed out what a difference the word “of” makes to military guys like him. Ingesting CBD-laced beverages could cause problems for them.  And all this time, I never thought those menu items meaning anything else but a pot of...! So, in the spirit of having recreational beverages that many can enjoy, today's Cocktail Napkin includes three recipes:  the high-octane Long Island Ice Tea, a half-strength version of the same, and a non-alcoholic version.  The Tea Room uses its speed rack spirits for this cocktail, because once it's mixed, you cannot tell what type of spirit was use, so why waste the good stuff, right...?  But, feel free to use your favorite brands. Long Island Ice Tea Ingredients – the High Octane Version:

• 1 oz. Skyy vodka
• 1 oz. Tanqueray Gin
• 1 oz. Sauza Gold Tequila
• 1 oz. Cruzan White Rum
• 1 oz. Triple Sec
• 3 oz. Lemonade
• 2 oz. Coke
• Fresh lemon for the garnish

Preparation:

• Fill a 20-oz glass with ice.
• Add all liquid ingredients, then toss back and forth slowly into another glass to mix.
• Garnish with a fresh lemon slice.

Long Island Ice Tea Ingredients – Half-strength Version:

• ½ oz. Skyy vodka
• ½ oz. Tanqueray Gin
• ½ oz. Sauza Gold Tequila
• ½ oz. Cruzan White Rum
• ½ oz. Triple Sec
• 3 oz. Lemonade
• 2 oz. Coke
• Fresh lemon for the garnish

Preparation:

• Fill a 12-oz glass with ice.
• Add all liquid ingredients, then toss back and forth slowly into another glass to mix.
• Garnish with a fresh lemon slice.

Long Island Ice Tea Ingredients – the N/A Version:

• 6 oz. Lemonade
• 4 oz. Coke
• Fresh lemon for the garnish

Preparation:

• Fill a 20-oz glass with ice.
• Add all liquid ingredients, then toss back and forth slowly into another glass to mix.
• Garnish with a fresh lemon slice.

Sip and enjoy them all responsibly... Ciao!     Never miss a meeting or community event – keep an eye on the community calendar at https://www.thefallonpost.org/events/ If you like what we’re doing, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and contribute to The Fallon Post, your online news source for all things Fallon.