Sampson, Shiloh & Rusty in the Corgi pool.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Help us keep our Corgi!
My beloved Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Sampson has been our buddy since 2004, when my husband and I needed a companion for our Border Collie/ Brittany Spaniel mix named Delilah. Sampson was originally bought by an older couple who had 2 bull terrier mixes. The bull terriers would beat Sampson up and he was living his entire life in a crate so they decided to give him away. Sampson & our Delilah were boon companions from the start until she passed away a few years later from bladder cancer.
Around Thanksgiving 2008, Sampson came in from the yard looking like a large donut was in his behind. I said to my husband, "it looks like he blew an O ring." And unfortunately, I couldn't have been more right. Sampson had been having problems passing poo for over a month. We tried increasing his fiber intake but nothing seemed to help. When we took him to the vet, we were told he had a perineal hernia; one of the worst this particular vet had ever seen. Surgery needed to be done to repair his rectum, basically sewing the muscles back together so that he is able to push the poo through. We were told then that the surgery went well, but the hernia was so severe that it was likely to reoccur. The first surgery cost $2000, that thankfully, my parents were willing to charge to their credit card so that I could make payments to them. My husband and I work in the service industry making minimum wage, so we live paycheck to paycheck, and don't have a few thousand dollars socked away for an emergency fund. Three years after the surgery, we are still paying my parents back.
My husband recently became certified to be a PSP sanctioned painball referee, as a way to make some extra money a few times a year. We had to go away for a week in October for him to referee the PSP World Cup paintball tournament in Orlando, Florida. Sampson had been suffering from a back-up, as he tends to a few times a year since the surgery, and needed his bowels evacuated. We decided to board him at the vets for the week and get him flushed out. We were prepared for a vet bill around $400. When we came home, the vet bill was over $600; even after the vet knocked off nearly $200 in discounts. However, he also came home with a recommendation for more surgery. Luckily, my husband made enough at the paintball tournament to cover the $600 vet bill, but he doesn't have any more referee jobs for a while so coming up with over $2000 for more surgery will be nearly impossible. We're trying to figure out how to pay the rent, utilities, and put food on the table for the next month now that his referee check got ate up by the vet bill.
Aside from needing the hernia surgery, Sampson's in great health. At the age of 9, except for a little more white on his chin, he looks the same as he did when we got him at age 2. He's happy, healthy and active when not in pain from the hernia. Since he's in such good health otherwise, and Corgis tend to live until their mid to late teens, I cannot in good conscience put him to sleep. I have contacted charities that help with expensive vet bills, but their funds are tapped out due to the down economy. I have even contacted a Corgi rescue to surrender him in hopes of him going to a new family that can afford his special care. I know I'm not the only one in financial straights these days, but if lots of people donate just a little toward this surgery, our family could stay together. My husband and I cannot have children so our animals are like our kids. I couldn't imagine giving up my 9 year old child for adoption because of health issues, any more that I can imagine giving up my dog. I would break both our hearts to give him up, and if I can raise even half the money to get the medical care he needs it would be a tremendous help. This is kind of our last hope.
So please consider donating whatever amount you can, even if it's only $1; every little bit counts. My buddy Sampson thanks you, so do we, and so do his 2 Corgi buddies, Shiloh & Rusty.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Bartemptress' Triumphant Return
Holy cow Bartemptees! It's been a while! I can't believe it's been almost 2 years to the day since my last blog entry. It's been quite a whirlwind since September 2008, which somewhat explains, but does not completely excuse my absence.
I fell off the face of blogger earth when my best friend in Liverpool, England asked me to help plan her wedding. I threw all of my spare time and energy into designing and planning a barrel of money's themed wedding at one of the oldest zoo's in the U.K. By the end of 2008, I had been laid off twice in 3 months due to the crumbling economy. I finally got another job a few months before crossing the pond; just in time to gather up a little spending money for the trip. The wedding was a huge hit, and so were the 200 cupcakes my husband and I baked and dressed for the occasion. We spent a wonderful 2 weeks visiting with friends, seeing the northern sights, drinking lots of beer and a little gin & Pim's for good measure. Then we tried to fly home...
Upon arriving at Heathrow from Manchester, we were told our flight would be delayed due to a problem with one of the engines on the plane that was to fly us from London to Washington D.C. We waited, and waited, got a complimentary Caipirinha , and waited some more. Near 1 a.m. Greenwich time, we were shuffled out to the terminal and told they were replacing the part on the plane and they would be busing us out to the tarmac in order to take off as soon as the work was finished. Not with my happy ass on it! My husband and I have seen "Final Destination" enough times to know when not to get on a plane. This was one of those times. Luckily we were able to get our luggage before the ill-fated trans-Atlantic flight took off for it's untested voyage. We found a (ritzy) hotel that would offer us a discount since I was employed by the same hotel chain. We checked in, emailed my friend in London, took a hot shower and got some well deserved rest after a longer day than expected. When we went back to Heathrow the next morning, we were told we could use our tickets for a stand-by flight, but we should wait until after the weekend since it's not likely for people to miss the more expensive weekend flights. This meant that we had Wednesday through Sunday to run all over London, and run all over so we did.
We stayed with my best friends (who's wedding I'd just planned & attended) ex-boyfriend, who very coincidentally, had just gotten married the previous weekend. He and his new (and pregnant) wife were lovely hosts who helped us navigate confusing bus systems and met us for lunch and shopping at my favorite market in Camdentown. I have visited London twice before and have been studying googlemaps for years hoping to one day go back and show my husband everything we've ever wanted to see there. We didn't see everything, but my memory of those maps got us everywhere we wanted to go. I will admit to breaking out the handy A-Z when we got a little lost in Soho, but other than that, I knew London by heart. I can't wait to go back to find a new route through the old city.
By the time we returned from our excellent London adventure, we had both lost our jobs and would lose our apartment soon after. While in London, my father-in-law had another heart attack and was officially diagnosed with congestive heart failure. My mother-in-law, who is also not in the prime of health, called us asking us to move back to Florida to help them in their time of need, in return for free rent. So we packed up the place and U-hauled it to south Florida.
We have now been in FL over a year and have yet to find regular jobs. I picked up a job selling wine and liquor at Costco stores for local distributors. It's nice work and good money when I can get it, but it's only a few weekends a month from October thru February. The rest of the year, we've been getting by on food stamps and doing odd jobs. Unfortunately, fixing the occasional computer and mowing a few neighborhood lawns will not get us on "Forbes Magazine's" wealthiest people list anytime soon.
Working in the restaurant and liquor biz for many years has turned me into quite the successful experimental chef and mixologist. I've had a million and one ideas and written hundreds of business plans for my own restaurant, but who's got the money for that? Not me, and not anytime soon. So I decided since I can't find a regular job and my own restaurant is a pipe dream at best, I'd begin submitting recipes to contests. If I can't make money at a Joe-job, hopefully I can win some by doing what I love to do; cooking and drinking booze! This epiphany has prompted my return to my long neglected blog.
I discovered a recipe contest for kiwi fruit offering a grand prize trip to New Zealand. Being a big fan of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (and the Lord of the Rings films), I have always dreamed of visiting the North and South Islands, but the prohibitive price of airfare has ensured I remain dreaming. Coincidentally, the night before I found out about this contest, I was checking on ticket prices from Miami to Auckland, finding nothing less than 2G's per person. OUCH!
The kiwi contest requires entrants to write a blog entry (on an established blog) about New Zealand kiwi, including an original recipe using the fruit in a creative way. I immediately began contemplating the possibilities of the kiwi and how it relates to my established blog format. Eureka! Time to get the creative cocktail kiwi juices flowing.
So I am here to re-introduce myself before laying down a new blog entry for my first contest. I feel it's the respectful thing to do. But do keep an eye on the horizon for new and exciting blog entries, the first including kiwi, and hopefully a follow-up blog about all the wonderful British beer the hubby and tried and enjoyed over our English holiday.
I will join you again as soon as my kiwi liqueur has finished steeping for a week or so. Until then... Cheers mate!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Adventures in Vodka: Crop Organic Tomato Vodka
Yes, yes, I've been slacking and haven't written much for a while. Be it laziness, drunkenness, busyness or the three combined, writing just hasn't been in the cards lately. But I have come to the keyboard today to attempt to redeem myself by introducing the blog world to Crop Organic Tomato Vodka.
Harvest Earth has created a line of certified organic vodkas that are silky smooth and and brilliantly flavored. Vegetable flavored vodkas are on the cutting edge of cocktail culture and these guys are at the top of the curve.
Crop Vodkas are made with USDA certified organically grown corn, distilled and bottled in Minnesota. It is distilled many times to remove impurities and does not require charcoal filtering. The result is good ol' American made artisanal vodka with a vegetarian flair.
Tomato or Cucumber flavored vodka may not sound appealing to you, but to a skilled "bar chef" it sounds like a garden full of possibilities. I was brainstorming about Caprese and gazpacho cocktails soon after tasting these vegan libations.
The tomato flavored vodka smells like tomato soup and tastes like a fresh tomato just snapped off the vine. The cucumber vodka is irresistibly clean and cool and once again, tastes just like the Cucurbitaceae it's made from.
There are many drink recipes on the Crop Vodka website, but here are a few of my own:
Crop Tomato & Tonic (pictured above)
Fill a pint glass with ice
Add 1-1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Tomato Vodka
Fill with tonic, stir and garnish with grape tomatoes
Crop Gazpacho Martini
Peel, seed and freeze enough cucumber and tomato slices to fit in a sandwich size freezer bag.
In a blender add:
4 ice cubs
a bagful of frozen cucumbers and tomatoes
1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Tomato Vodka
1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 fresh basil leaves
a little fresh ground pepper
Blend until smooth
fill 2 martini glasses and garnish with a cucumber wheel
I have more recipes milling in the ol noggin but I need to do some more experimenting before I can confidently post more recipes. Do some experimenting of your own and leave your recipes for these veggie voddy's in my comments.
Za Vas!
Harvest Earth has created a line of certified organic vodkas that are silky smooth and and brilliantly flavored. Vegetable flavored vodkas are on the cutting edge of cocktail culture and these guys are at the top of the curve.
Crop Vodkas are made with USDA certified organically grown corn, distilled and bottled in Minnesota. It is distilled many times to remove impurities and does not require charcoal filtering. The result is good ol' American made artisanal vodka with a vegetarian flair.
Tomato or Cucumber flavored vodka may not sound appealing to you, but to a skilled "bar chef" it sounds like a garden full of possibilities. I was brainstorming about Caprese and gazpacho cocktails soon after tasting these vegan libations.
The tomato flavored vodka smells like tomato soup and tastes like a fresh tomato just snapped off the vine. The cucumber vodka is irresistibly clean and cool and once again, tastes just like the Cucurbitaceae it's made from.
There are many drink recipes on the Crop Vodka website, but here are a few of my own:
Crop Tomato & Tonic (pictured above)
Fill a pint glass with ice
Add 1-1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Tomato Vodka
Fill with tonic, stir and garnish with grape tomatoes
Crop Gazpacho Martini
Peel, seed and freeze enough cucumber and tomato slices to fit in a sandwich size freezer bag.
In a blender add:
4 ice cubs
a bagful of frozen cucumbers and tomatoes
1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Tomato Vodka
1 1/2 oz Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 fresh basil leaves
a little fresh ground pepper
Blend until smooth
fill 2 martini glasses and garnish with a cucumber wheel
I have more recipes milling in the ol noggin but I need to do some more experimenting before I can confidently post more recipes. Do some experimenting of your own and leave your recipes for these veggie voddy's in my comments.
Za Vas!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Belgian Drafts: Lindeman's Pomme Lambic
Every once in a while I have a flash of culinary inspiration. I tasted this apple lambic for the first time a few weeks ago and knew instantly that my husband would enjoy this sweet-tart Belgian beer. He loves anything with a sour apple flavor and this delicious lambic is like a Jolly Rancher for adults.
With it's fresh Granny Smith tartness, I knew it would also be ace for cooking with. My first thought went to salmon since we could use to work more fish into our diet. Then (**inspired!**) I thought this could make a gorgeously tangy broth to steam mussels and clams in. A nip of curry powder for some savory spice and voila! How's that for a slice of steamed gold?
This is what I did:
1 whole fresh salmon fillet equaling 1lb+
1lb fresh, cleaned mussels
1lb fresh, cleaned little neck clams
1 apple, sliced (I used one Granny Smith and one red delicious and had slices left over, but it was wonderfully colorful)
3-4oz apple juice
3-4oz Lindeman's Pomme (apple) Lambic
approx. 1-2 tsp curry powder to taste
pinch of kosher salt
heavy tin foil or 1 large foil baking bag (these work perfectly)
crusty bread for happy broth dipping
Preheat the oven to 450. Skin the salmon if necessary (you may be able to sweet talk the guy behind the fish counter to do it for you if you think you'd muck it up), and cut the fish cross ways into 3-4 oz pieces. You should be able to get 4 to 6 portions out of one side of salmon. Sprinkle a little curry powder on the fish and set aside. Thoroughly rinse the clams and mussels and discard any shellfish with cracked shells or don't close when tapped on. The rule with shellfish: closed shell when alive; open shell when cooked. Your tummy will thank you for obeying that little tip.
Create a large bag with heavy duty foil by folding a lagre sheet in half and folding the sides over at least 3 times leaving one side open. Or just open a foil baking bag for no fuss steaming. Place the baking bag on a baking sheet with a 1/4 inch lip to catch any drips that may occur while cooking. Dust the inside of the baking bag with a little pinch of four to keep things from sticking to the top or bottom of the bag. Sprinkle a little curry powder in the bottom of the bag. Slice the apple(s) and place one slice on top of each piece of fish, then arrange the rest on the bottom of the bag. Distribute the shellfish around the bottom as flat as possible so you have room for the salmon. Fold a lip at the bottom of the open end of the bag to catch the liquid you are about to pour in and add the apple juice and lambic (I used a shot glass to measure 1oz at a time until it looked like there was enough liquid covering the bottom). Then arrange the salmon on top of the shellfish. Fold to close up the open end of the bag and pop the whole shebang into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Don't be afraid to peek in the bag after 15 minutes to check the progress. The shellfish may not be completely ready when the fish is. If all the shells have not opened yet, set the fish aside and pour the contents of the bag into a large covered skillet or pot. Bring sauce to a boil and cover for a moment or two. Uncover and stir the shells around to coat everything in the broth and to check that all the shells are completely open. Discard the few shells that do not open. Turn off stove and sprinkle a pinch of salt in the broth if needed and pour the shellfish into a big serving bowl. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the fish and spoon a little broth over each piece. I cooked up a little rice pilaf to go on the plate with the fish but almost any starch can suffice. Scoop shellfish and sauce into bowls, grab a hunk of bread and dig in. Oh, and don't forget to pour yourself a glass of the Pomme Lambic to wash it all down with.
My husband gave me a little nose wrinkle when I told him I was making mussels. He doesn't like them much unless they're in certain sauces, and he couldn't quite wrap his head around how mussels would taste in an apple curry broth. However, he didn't seem to have much trouble wrapping his mouth around it once the food hit the plate.
I have a feeling I will write a little series on the many fruits of Lindeman's lambics. Now that I have tried the pomme, I'm anxious to try the rest, which include: Framboise (raspberry), Kriek (cherry), Pêche (peach), and Cassis (black currant).
But I have gone on far too long to talk more about lambic right now. If you discover a lambic in your local liquor outlet, try it out. If you like a fizzy, fruity alcoholic beverage that's not quite beer and not quite wine, lambics could become a new obsession.
Santé
With it's fresh Granny Smith tartness, I knew it would also be ace for cooking with. My first thought went to salmon since we could use to work more fish into our diet. Then (**inspired!**) I thought this could make a gorgeously tangy broth to steam mussels and clams in. A nip of curry powder for some savory spice and voila! How's that for a slice of steamed gold?
This is what I did:
1 whole fresh salmon fillet equaling 1lb+
1lb fresh, cleaned mussels
1lb fresh, cleaned little neck clams
1 apple, sliced (I used one Granny Smith and one red delicious and had slices left over, but it was wonderfully colorful)
3-4oz apple juice
3-4oz Lindeman's Pomme (apple) Lambic
approx. 1-2 tsp curry powder to taste
pinch of kosher salt
heavy tin foil or 1 large foil baking bag (these work perfectly)
crusty bread for happy broth dipping
Preheat the oven to 450. Skin the salmon if necessary (you may be able to sweet talk the guy behind the fish counter to do it for you if you think you'd muck it up), and cut the fish cross ways into 3-4 oz pieces. You should be able to get 4 to 6 portions out of one side of salmon. Sprinkle a little curry powder on the fish and set aside. Thoroughly rinse the clams and mussels and discard any shellfish with cracked shells or don't close when tapped on. The rule with shellfish: closed shell when alive; open shell when cooked. Your tummy will thank you for obeying that little tip.
Create a large bag with heavy duty foil by folding a lagre sheet in half and folding the sides over at least 3 times leaving one side open. Or just open a foil baking bag for no fuss steaming. Place the baking bag on a baking sheet with a 1/4 inch lip to catch any drips that may occur while cooking. Dust the inside of the baking bag with a little pinch of four to keep things from sticking to the top or bottom of the bag. Sprinkle a little curry powder in the bottom of the bag. Slice the apple(s) and place one slice on top of each piece of fish, then arrange the rest on the bottom of the bag. Distribute the shellfish around the bottom as flat as possible so you have room for the salmon. Fold a lip at the bottom of the open end of the bag to catch the liquid you are about to pour in and add the apple juice and lambic (I used a shot glass to measure 1oz at a time until it looked like there was enough liquid covering the bottom). Then arrange the salmon on top of the shellfish. Fold to close up the open end of the bag and pop the whole shebang into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Don't be afraid to peek in the bag after 15 minutes to check the progress. The shellfish may not be completely ready when the fish is. If all the shells have not opened yet, set the fish aside and pour the contents of the bag into a large covered skillet or pot. Bring sauce to a boil and cover for a moment or two. Uncover and stir the shells around to coat everything in the broth and to check that all the shells are completely open. Discard the few shells that do not open. Turn off stove and sprinkle a pinch of salt in the broth if needed and pour the shellfish into a big serving bowl. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the fish and spoon a little broth over each piece. I cooked up a little rice pilaf to go on the plate with the fish but almost any starch can suffice. Scoop shellfish and sauce into bowls, grab a hunk of bread and dig in. Oh, and don't forget to pour yourself a glass of the Pomme Lambic to wash it all down with.
My husband gave me a little nose wrinkle when I told him I was making mussels. He doesn't like them much unless they're in certain sauces, and he couldn't quite wrap his head around how mussels would taste in an apple curry broth. However, he didn't seem to have much trouble wrapping his mouth around it once the food hit the plate.
I have a feeling I will write a little series on the many fruits of Lindeman's lambics. Now that I have tried the pomme, I'm anxious to try the rest, which include: Framboise (raspberry), Kriek (cherry), Pêche (peach), and Cassis (black currant).
But I have gone on far too long to talk more about lambic right now. If you discover a lambic in your local liquor outlet, try it out. If you like a fizzy, fruity alcoholic beverage that's not quite beer and not quite wine, lambics could become a new obsession.
Santé
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Bubbly Bits: Cristalino Cava
I love bubby! French to American, brut to demi-sec, I love it all. Not that every bottle of bubbly out there is wonderful, but there are oh so many that are. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget that affords Champagne every night of the week so I'm always on the hunt for great sparklers under $10. This is one of them.
Cristalino is a Spanish Cava by Jaume Serra. Cava's can be pink or white and come from the Penedès region of Catalonia (Spain). The rocky Penedès lie about 40 km south of Barcelona where only certain grape varieties are grown to make Cava. The Denominación de Origen laws require Cava's to be made from a blend of the following grapes: Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel·lo, Trepat, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Subirat.
Cristalino Brut Rosé is made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Trepat, made traditionally with the secondary fermentation in the bottle. The classic Cristalino Brut is made from 50% Macabeo, 35% Parellada and 15% Xarel-lo. Both are crisp, clean, fruity and delicious; perfect for your wedding toast or for serving lots of guests on a little budget. They are true crowd pleaser's. And though lovely on their own, you don't feel bad about using the Brut for Mimosas or Champagne cocktails.
So the next time you need a little sparkle in your life, give this beauty a try. It's perfect for those everyday special occasions.
Cristalino Cava Brut: The fine foam supports aromas of fresh bread crust and apple skin which give way to crisp McIntosh apple and light toasty flavors on the palate. Crisp acidity and subtle minerality make this a refreshing summer sparkler.
Cristalino Brut Rosé: Juicy watermelon and fresh berry flavors burst through the bubbles on your palate. The deep pink color suggests it spent some time with the skins which adds a little tannin that allows this sparkler to stand up to many foods. Try it with salmon dishes or Old Bay laced Maryland crab cakes.
Salut!
Cristalino is a Spanish Cava by Jaume Serra. Cava's can be pink or white and come from the Penedès region of Catalonia (Spain). The rocky Penedès lie about 40 km south of Barcelona where only certain grape varieties are grown to make Cava. The Denominación de Origen laws require Cava's to be made from a blend of the following grapes: Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel·lo, Trepat, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Subirat.
Cristalino Brut Rosé is made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Trepat, made traditionally with the secondary fermentation in the bottle. The classic Cristalino Brut is made from 50% Macabeo, 35% Parellada and 15% Xarel-lo. Both are crisp, clean, fruity and delicious; perfect for your wedding toast or for serving lots of guests on a little budget. They are true crowd pleaser's. And though lovely on their own, you don't feel bad about using the Brut for Mimosas or Champagne cocktails.
So the next time you need a little sparkle in your life, give this beauty a try. It's perfect for those everyday special occasions.
Cristalino Cava Brut: The fine foam supports aromas of fresh bread crust and apple skin which give way to crisp McIntosh apple and light toasty flavors on the palate. Crisp acidity and subtle minerality make this a refreshing summer sparkler.
Cristalino Brut Rosé: Juicy watermelon and fresh berry flavors burst through the bubbles on your palate. The deep pink color suggests it spent some time with the skins which adds a little tannin that allows this sparkler to stand up to many foods. Try it with salmon dishes or Old Bay laced Maryland crab cakes.
Salut!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Inviting cordial of the week: Patron XO Cafe
I have a real problem with this stuff. The problem is, I can't get enough of it!
Patron XO Cafe is a premium coffee cordial made with Patron Silver tequila. I don't know what kind of coffee they use, but regardless, it kicks Kahlua's butt! XO Cafe is rich and sweet with the best coffee flavor I've ever tasted in a coffee liqueur. At 35%, this packs a little more punch than your average coffee cordial but the alcohol is completely in balance with the sweet coffee goodness.
I have come across a few die-hard Kahlua drinkers who think it's too strong, but most people I pour a sip for love it. For that matter, most buy a bottle immediately after they taste this little luxury.
Speaking of luxury, you probably assume that like most Patron products, it's not cheap. Happily, it's one of the least expensive items in their profile. With Patron's tequila's ranging from $50 to $60 per fifth (excluding the pricy Patron Platinum of course), XO Cafe weighs in at a paltry $23-25. And pint's are available for a measly $14.
Many bars and restaurants now serve XO and bartenders are discovering it's mixability. Though it's perfect straight or on the rocks, it's delicious mixed with Baileys (which I call an Irish Mexican) or with half and half. However, it's not so good in coffee. It just tastes like you just put tequila in your coffee. Not exciting. But pour it over chocolate, vanilla or coffee ice cream and prepare to melt. YUM! I have not gotten to play much with the mixology of this lovely liqueur but I'm sure there are a million other concoctions to come up with. If you discover a delicious drink made with XO, drop the recipe in my comments.
Till then...
Keep on Buzzin!
Patron XO Cafe is a premium coffee cordial made with Patron Silver tequila. I don't know what kind of coffee they use, but regardless, it kicks Kahlua's butt! XO Cafe is rich and sweet with the best coffee flavor I've ever tasted in a coffee liqueur. At 35%, this packs a little more punch than your average coffee cordial but the alcohol is completely in balance with the sweet coffee goodness.
I have come across a few die-hard Kahlua drinkers who think it's too strong, but most people I pour a sip for love it. For that matter, most buy a bottle immediately after they taste this little luxury.
Speaking of luxury, you probably assume that like most Patron products, it's not cheap. Happily, it's one of the least expensive items in their profile. With Patron's tequila's ranging from $50 to $60 per fifth (excluding the pricy Patron Platinum of course), XO Cafe weighs in at a paltry $23-25. And pint's are available for a measly $14.
Many bars and restaurants now serve XO and bartenders are discovering it's mixability. Though it's perfect straight or on the rocks, it's delicious mixed with Baileys (which I call an Irish Mexican) or with half and half. However, it's not so good in coffee. It just tastes like you just put tequila in your coffee. Not exciting. But pour it over chocolate, vanilla or coffee ice cream and prepare to melt. YUM! I have not gotten to play much with the mixology of this lovely liqueur but I'm sure there are a million other concoctions to come up with. If you discover a delicious drink made with XO, drop the recipe in my comments.
Till then...
Keep on Buzzin!
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