Monday, June 5, 2017

Monday Mashups: Shark Week 2017

ICYMI: Shark Week has been announced, and with what has got to be one of their best commercials of all time. Check it out...


To prepare you for this epic event, we are sharing a cocktail with a bite as big as a shark! Try out this Shark Attack frozen drink while beach-side with friends or parked on the couch in front of the TV. Either way, this adult beverage is the only way to celebrate Shark Week!

Get the recipe for this shockingly good shark attack cocktail...:

Ingredients:
  • 1-ounce pineapple juice
  • 1-ounce orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ ounce mezcal
  • 2 ounces light rum
  • 1-ounce dark rum
  • 1-ounce lime juice
Instructions:
  • Blend all ingredients with ice except the Bacardi 151 proof rum.
  • Pour into a collins glass. Float the Bacardi 151 proof rum on top.
  • Garnish with a fruit slice, sprig of mint and a cherry.
Shark Attack cocktail recipe via Claire Thomas of The Kitchy Kitchen:

Stay away from the deep waters when sipping on this treat and devour the details of another epic Shark Week! Cheers!

Friday, June 2, 2017

It's the Weekend!

Since we missed you Monday, we're doing a Friday post this week. Happy weekend folks! Hope the 4-day work week hasn't been too tough on you. We also hope the sun stays out all weekend long for you! Especially since we have some great events to tell you about going on this weekend in and around Boston. Bring on the sunshine!

BeerAdvocate Microbrew Invitational
Before craft beer became a multibillion-dollar industry, there were microbrews: small-batch beers whipped up by curious hopheads in garages and basements around the world. Beer review site BeerAdvocate shines a light on the little guys with its annual Microbrew Invitational, which will take place at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center this weekend. We can't forget about how some of our favorite adult beverages got started! Around 70 microbreweries will pour more than 250 varieties of beer, cider, kombucha, mead, and sake during three different sessions, many of which will feature beverages never sold in stores before. Sip into summer this Friday, June 2 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 3 from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

BeerAdvocate Microbrew Invitational

Yoga and Pilates at Rose Kennedy Greenway
If you want to get zen before another long week in the office, this event is just what you need! On Saturday, North End Yoga will host its annual Summer in the City event at the portion of the Rose Kennedy Greenway bordering the intersection of Cross Street and Salem Street. The morning will start with a Pilates fusion workout and finish with a vinyasa flow class. While both classes are free, organizers recommend reserving a spot on their website. Don't miss out on this restoration!

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, crowd, outdoor and text

Free Admission to New England’s Historic Estates
New England is full of incredible historic properties, each with its own exquisite architecture and fascinating backstory that dates back hundreds of years. On Saturday, 33 of the 37 mansions owned by Historic New England will waive their admission fees, including 18 in Massachusetts. Highlights include the Otis House (1796), the last remaining mansion from Boston’s razed West End neighborhood, and the Codman Estate (c. 1740) in Lincoln, home to five generations of the influential Codman family. If you're an architecture buff, this tour was made for you! Enjoy getting on this weekend and learning more about your surroundings a these historic estates.

Roseland Cottage

National Trails Day at the Neponset River Greenway
Saturday is American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day, and the Appalachian Mountain Club will mark the occasion by hosting a 7.5-mile hike along the newly renovated Neponset River Greenway. You won't want to miss this stunning views! Drive to the Haslett Street entrance of Pope John Paul II Park in Dorchester before 9:30 a.m., when guides will head out along the trail toward Hutchinson Field in Milton. Keep an eye out for the Mattapan High Speed Rail, which runs alongside the river, as well.

Neponset Greenway

Enjoy the weekend and devour the details of the beginning of summer at these great events!

Thursday, June 1, 2017

A Seltzer Summer

For those of you who love Polar Seltzer, we've got some news for you. Not only has the Worcester-based beverage company produced limited edition flavors for the summer, they've also been making their way onto drink menus at local restaurants near you. Yes, you've guessed it! Mixologists and bartenders alike have picked up Polar to create one-of-a-kind spiked seltzer cocktails you'll want to sip all summer long. Our favorite concoctions thus far have come from an Italian-inspired restaurant in Central Square, Cambridge known as Viale.

Image result for polar seltzer summer 2017

The five limited edition flavors for this summer — pineapple grapefruit, raspberry rosé, strawberry sunrise, mango berry, and watermelon margarita — became available at the beginning of May. The latter two are repeats from last summer. Oldies but goodies! Viale’s Polar Seltzer cocktails ($11 each) will run as a seasonal series. The restaurant plans to showcase each one for two weeks a time, debuting a new drink every other Thursday. Let's check out the cocktails:

Green Hill Collins (Available June 1)
This cocktail is mainly made with strawberry sunrise Polar Seltzer and is a crowd favorite amongst Viale's employees. Its other ingredients are gin, strawberry syrup, and fresh lemon juice, served over crushed ice in a collins glass and garnished with half a strawberry; making the concoction not too sweet and not too tart.

Burncoat Mule (Available June 15)
The intention behind these drinks was to keep the influence of a particular traditional cocktail in each recipe. Your tastebuds get a little classic, a little local, and a little seasonal experience in every sip. For example, this cocktail is not your average mule; it’s made with pineapple grapefruit Polar Seltzer, vodka, ginger syrup, and fresh lime juice, served over crushed ice and garnished with a lime wedge.

Salisbury Spritz (Available June 29)
This mango berry Polar Seltzer cocktail tastes like summer. It incorporates aperol, blueberry-infused Cocchi Rosa, and Prosecco, and it’s served over ice in a wine glass and garnished with an orange twist. We think this would for sure be our favorite!

Hopeville Margarita (Available July 13)
Made in Cambridge, but reminiscent of somewhere far warmer, this watermelon margarita Polar Seltzer drink includes tequila, mint syrup, muddled cucumber, and fresh lime juice, and is served over ice in a salted double old-fashioned glass. It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?

Quinsigamond Sangria (Available July 27)
For this drink, Viale mixes raspberry rosé Polar Seltzer with literal dry rosé wine, plus cognac, apple brandy, and fresh grapefruit and lemon juices, then serves it all over ice in a wine glass and garnishes it with fresh berries. This might be a close second to the Salisbury Spritz for us. Can't wait to try them all!

Image result for viale central square polar seltzer cocktails

And if you're wondering about the food that will be accompanying these drinks, Viale has that covered! Their rotating menu showcases seasonal pasta dishes, appetizers, and entrees; simple grilled pizzas, and meats perfectly charred on a wood-fired grill. All major ingredients are locally sourced, meaning the shellfish, meat, and produce are procured by the chef from some of the finest farmers and fishermen of New England.

Image result for viale central square

Get ready to sip into summer with Polar Seltzer and Viale's one-of-a-kind cocktails and devour the details of two thirst-quenching months of adult beverages!