Masculine : Orange Spiked Brandy

Today, I realized something today that should've been obvious. As I spent the afternoon in my kitchen cooking (or in this case pouring) up three recipes for the blog - I found myself grinning. Ear to ear grinning. There  I was hopping about the kitchen to the music pouring out of the speakers in the next room, smiling like a fool. Dancing, cooking, pouring, and photographing. I was truly happy. That's when it hit me. I love blogging. I love every aspect of it. I love creating food to share, I love setting it up, taking pictures of it, and ultimately writing about it. It brings a joy to my day to day life that cannot be compared. I need more of this feeling in my life, meaning I must blog more. So there you have it, my (perhaps slightly obvious) confession.

Okay, moving on.

As far as drinks go this is just about as simple as it gets.
I've never been a brown-liquor girl. I've always enjoyed the clean, often barely there, taste of clear liquors. Darker spirits aren't that. They're generally richer, mustier, and deeper. They're can't be ignored.

One day, for no good reason I decided that I wanted to teach myself to enjoy dark liquor. I got it in my head that there was something sophisticated, classic, masculine and a bit dangerous about a pour of dark liquid in a crystal clear glass. And I wanted a part of it. My understanding thus far is that whiskey, scotch, cognac and brandy are best enjoyed pure. Leave the the frilly mixers, and fancified rims to the vodka cocktails of the world. So that's (essentially) what I did here, my first at home attempt at a classic dark drink. A few ounces of high quality bourbon poured over crushed ice, add a touch of triple sec, a raw brown sugar cube, and a thick orange twist and you've got yourself one delicious at-home-happy-hour sip.

 What I'm learning to appreciate about these darker drinks is that they encourage languid enjoyment. You're not likely to guzzle this one down as you would, say, a pear martini. As the ice melts the drink gets even smoother and more enjoyable. A drink to be savored, who wouldn't love that?!

 It's safe to say, I'm on my way to becoming a true lover of the dark side. 

Cheers!