Doughty Hornet and "Cold Gin"

If You Can't Beat 'Em... Join 'Em
If you're in NYC, your March thus far has been wet, windy and wild, complete with trudging through the slushy driven snow.  So we thought we'd make a cocktail to fuel your fire.  Not something hot to warm your insides but something to get you in the ring.  This fight with cold is a punishing struggle.  To keep your will to strife it might be best to fight fire with fire, or in this case, cold with cold.  Imbibing something chilling is almost tantamount to transforming your humanoid blood to that of a reptile. Being able to take on the freeze with ease as if it were your natural habitat.  Additionally, the essence of this drink is in line with some of those home remedies like lemon and ginger that your mother might have prescribed in your adolescence.  As the chilled liquid served in ice bars around the globe seems to comfort the imbiber despite the below freezing temperature, this cocktail will give you winter boots to brave the cold.

Getting some fuel to build a fire

Doughty Hornet

You can pick any gin you'd like for this cocktail.  We chose New Amsterdam gin for a couple of reasons.  We enjoyed the smooth drinkability of this brand as well as the distinctive flavor, not to mention it won't burn a hole in your pocket (but Ace Frehley's guitar solo just might!).  This week we thought we'd introduce a new twist on a classic cocktail known as the "Bee's Knees".  Like KISS bringing rock 'n' roll to a new painted standard in the the late 1970's, we kicked it up a notch here by adding the zing of ginger, fuzziness of peach and caffeine of black tea into this "Rocktail"... MUAH!!  

  

Ingredients:
2 oz gin
1 oz ginger peach syrup*
1 oz lemon juice.

Method:
Put all ingredients in a shaker.  Add ice. Shake until the tin is frosted over. Strain into martini glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist

Ginger Peach Syrup:
3 tbsp ginger peach tea leaves
8 oz water
8 tbsp honey

Boil water.  Remove from heat, then add the loose leaf tea.  Steep for 6 min.  Strain.  Add honey.  Stir until honey is dissolved.

Tea Quality
When looking for the tea you're going to use, don't buy anything that comes in paper bags in a box.  Buy loose leaf tea from a legitimate tea store.  The tea will be much fresher.  When using fresh, quality loose leaf tea, all of the dried leaves are closer to a uniform size.  This will ensure a balanced, nicely flavored brew.  Fresh loose leaf tea also retains volumes of rich flavor where as most bag tea brands have a lot of dead particles that reside in the bag, putting off bad flavors into your tea.
Don't boil the leaves!  Boil the water, then wait for at least 15 seconds after taking the water off the heat to pour it over the leaves in a different container.  Just like coffee, tea has finicky temperatures that yield a better final product if followed correctly.
Black tea should be steeped for about 6 minutes.  Much more time than that and you'll start to get an excessive amount of bitterness.



"When you're down in the dumps and you need something to bring you up, there's only one thing that's going to do it the way you want it...  What's that?!  I can't hear you!!"

KISS is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. Before arriving at their current lineup, the band went through some lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the last two members of the original lineup of the band. Counting the 1978 solo albums, Kiss has been awarded 28 gold albums to date, the most of any American rock band. The band has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States, of which 24 million have been certified by the RIAA and their worldwide sales exceeds 100 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time. The original 1973–80 lineup consisted of Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals). With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley) and Catman (Criss). Stanley became the "Starchild" because of his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic". The "Demon" makeup reflected Simmons' cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and his supposedly being from another planet. Criss' "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that he had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn. Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley left the group in 1982. 

KISS is often cited as one of the most influential bands within the hard rock and heavy metal genre, influencing artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Megadeth, Anthrax, Poison, Alice in Chains, Slayer, Sepultura, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, White Zombie, Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Bon Jovi, W.A.S.P., Weezer, Melvins, Lenny Kravitz, Tool, as well as notable acts of other genres such as Garth Brooks and Lady Gaga citing the band and its various members as influences, both musically and visually.

New Amsterdam Gin was introduced in 2007 out of Modesto,CA. It is made with botanicals, citrus elements and juniper.



Tunes and Tonic Headquarters
New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw-Amsterdam) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland territory. It was renamed New York on September 8, 1664, in honor of the then Duke of York (later James II of England) after English forces seized control of Manhattan Island, along with the rest of the Dutch colony. The 1625 date of the founding of New Amsterdam is now commemorated in the official Seal of New York City. 




*above information from Wikipedia
*make-up provided by Maria Kepinski

Not only is KISS from New York City, but we also noticed the shape of the New Amsterdam bottle resembles the One World Trade Center building in Lower Manhattan. Paint those faces and enjoy this "Rocktail" before the next KISS concert or anytime you want to "Rock 'N Roll all nite and party every day"!!

We would love to see photos of you making and/or enjoying any of the Tunes or Tonics featured on T'n'T!! (make-up optional) Feel free to post them in the comment section below, and thank you for your continued support.

                  Stay warm, and remember to always Rock 'n Roll and drink responsibly. 

                                                                      Cheers!!

                                                                Henry & Jehiah

                                                                        T'n'T