So I’ve been drinking dirty martinis lately. I’m not much of a martini drinker, and truth be told I don’t really like olives, but the salty briny taste it imparts to a dirty martini has really been calling out to me lately. I’ve even been adding a shake or two of salt straight into the drink, because it’s just not quite satisfying the itch I’ve got. So I stumbled to the fridge, looking for something to plop in my gin to give it the taste I was looking for. And there it was.

Banana peppers. Sliced. Mild.

Could this be what I’d been looking for all along? Staring me back in the face, right in the middle of everything…was it the answer? I quickly grabbed everything else I needed and put the following together, which I now call the Dirty Pepper Martini.

Dirty Pepper Martini

2 1/2 oz. Gin*

1/4 oz Dry Vermouth

Banana Pepper brine to taste (start with a teaspoon, and add until you’re happy)

Banana Pepper slice for garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a lowball glass filled with ice, and stir. Garnish with banana pepper slice.

(I prefer mine on the rocks, but if you prefer yours shaken/chilled and in a proper martini glass, feel free to prepare it as such)

*Vodka also works fine, if you prefer it

I don’t know if this is the drink I’ve been searching for, but it’s damn close that’s for sure. The spice of the pepper is enough to give it a nice flavor kick, but without being hot so you’re not overwhelmed with the heat of the drink over the taste (as you might be if you used another type of pepper). The pepper juice maintains the salty taste I’d been enjoying in the traditional dirty martinis. I considered making it with Absolut Peppar, in fact it almost seemed like a natural step, but then I remembered being uhmm…unhappy with the taste of it when I took a shot of it once (read: it nearly made me puke), and I didn’t feel like ponying up the cash for something I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to enjoy.

So if this sounds like your kind of thing, give it a shot and let me know what you think. If you’ve never had a dirty martini before, I’d suggest starting there before giving this bad boy a test drive. If you have any suggestions/changes/additions/subtractions feel free to note them in the comments or hit me up on the ol’ electronic mail.

Whoa…so uhmm…those storms sucked pretty bad, didn’t they? Whoever thought that a tornado would rip right through the middle of downtown Atlanta? Crazy stuff.

Well you know me, the first thing I thought of was “Holy crap! I won’t be able to make it out to the bars!”* Luckily I remembered a little concoction I’d come across when some storms hit last year (though nowhere near as bad) that were the perfect remedy to tide me over until I could get back in the game. And as I hear we might get hit again soon, I figured I’d pass this along so you could stock up in case of emergency (if you need to make room throw out milk, bread, bottled water, canned goods and all other non-essentials). I give you Bermuda’s own Dark and Stormy:

Dark and Stormy

2oz Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

6-8oz Ginger Beer

Lime to garnish (optional)

Pour rum over ice in a highball glass, top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime if desired.

And no, ginger beer is NOT the same as ginger ale, any respectable liquor store will sell it. It’s a delicious beverage, the Gosling’s rum in particular giving it a complexity not often found in most rums. I highly recommend enjoying the beverage on a covered porch in the middle of a downpour, imagining yourself the captain of the USS Rummy trying to make it safely to the port of Boozelton, Jamaica. Knowing you’re the only one with the know-how (not to mention the balls) to pilot her through these treacherous waters to safety, and ultimately…inebriation.

Safe sailing, my friends.

*RIGHT after I thought “Oh I hope my friends and loved ones are okay!” I swear.

I don’t know how things are where you are, but every frigging person I know is sick right now. Myself included. I’m not that bad off, just a crummy cough and some perpetual congestion, but 80% of the people I know are suffering through some stage of the flu or other debilitating throat/mouth/nose/face-destroying garbage right now. As my cough got rough and raw today, I remembered something I only know as “My Grandpa’s Cough Syrup” that I’d been given (in small doses) since getting ill in middle school (and I do mean ill, yo). I can only assume it came from my actual Grandfather, though I’ve heard variations of it from other people. All I can tell you is…I’ve been sipping on it for the past few hours and I’ve had nary a clearing of the throat since. In a word, “soothing”. So here I share my Grandfather’s cough relief remedy.

Pop-Pop’s Cough Remedy

2oz. Bourbon or whiskey (save the scotch for something else)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 Tbsp Honey

Mix all ingredients in a lowball glass, serve over ice if desired

The honey takes a while to dissolve, but keep stirring and it will eventually break down. From what I can tell, the idea behind it is this: 1) The bourbon numbs the throat to the chronic hacking, 2) The lemon juice breaks down the (gross) mucus in the throat and works at solving the overall problem, and 3) The honey soothes and sweetens the otherwise harsh combination of the above ingredients. I like to add ice, because that’s how I drink my whiskey, and I feel like it serves to further numb my shredded and pain-ridden throat. I’m no doctor and you should under no circumstances take my words as fact, but what I can tell you is that for the past 3 hours I’ve been drinking this concoction, I haven’t coughed once AND I feel pretty damn good. So if you’re one of the many suffering from the end-of-winter sickness, I’d recommend sipping on this to keep you pain-free in every sense of the word.