What's Hip to Sip

Don we now our gay apparel? Indeed we do! It is the holiday season and we are hitting the parties decked in our finest dapper threads, smelling like a million bucks, and impeccably groomed. You, in particular, are the star of the parties. Your look is fresh and there’s not a celesbian in the world that can top your swagger this season.

Ready. Set. Go. All eyes are on you as you enter a party and approach the bar. The bartender asks for your drink order. You respond “Bay Breeze, please.” Record scratches. Music abruptly ends. A hush falls over the crowd. Ok, ok. What about a margarita? Unless the bartender can shake up a gourmet version that would rival those served at chef Julian Medina’s Toloache, a salty margarita made with cheap sweet and sour mix comes off as being very Cancun spring break. A cosmo, you ask? Even the biggest homebody knows that cosmos are so SJP (Carrie Bradshaw) circa 1998.

What you drink makes just as much a statement about your style as do your clothes. Fashion savvy gents, such as James Bond and the crew of Mad Men, know the importance of possessing a refined drinking style and have mastered the art of debonair imbibing. Here are DapperQ’s holiday cocktail recommendations that will keep your glass filled with potions as polished as your outfit: 

Let’s start out with our sober DapperQ’s. Sober is sexy. Alcohol decreases sexual stamina, so an alcohol-free drink in your hand says “I can go all night!” But, you don’t have to get stuck drinking cranberry juice at holiday festivities simply because you are the designated driver or have made sobriety a way of life. Instead, try:

The Cran Dandy Shandy

Ingredients:

• 2 parts fresh lemonade
• 1 part white cranberry juice
• 1 part ginger beer (ginger beer does not contain alcohol)

Preparation:
Pour ingredients on top of the ice in a cocktail glass. Stir well.
And for those who want a little EtOH (recall your organic chemistry classes)…

Americano

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Campari
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• club soda
• lemon twist or orange slice for garnish

Preparation:
Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice cubes. Build with the Campari and vermouth. Top off with club soda. Garnish with the lemon twist or orange slice.

Vesper Martini (from Casino Royale)

Ingredients:

• 3 oz Gordon’s gin
• 1 oz vodka
• ½ oz of Lillet Blanc

Preparation:
Shake well with ice and pour into a martini glass. Add a thin slice of lemon peel.

French 75

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 2 oz Lemon Juice
• Champagne
• 2 tsp Superfine Sugar

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients, except champagne, in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a champagne flute (or Collins glass). Top with champagne.

Greyhound

Ingredients:

• 2 oz vodka
• 5 oz grapefruit juice

Preparation:
Pour vodka and grapefruit juice on top of the ice in a cocktail glass. Stir well.

Mint Julep

Ingredients:

• 2 oz bourbon
• 8 sprigs of mint
• 1 tsp of sugar

Preparation:
Put mint and sugar with a dash of water in mixing glass. Add shaved ice and bourbon. Shake until frosted and pour all into rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

• 2 dashes aromatic bitters
• ½ tsp sugar dissolved with water and bitters
• 1½ oz of bourbon
• 1 cherry
• 1 orange slice
• 1 lemon wedge

Preparation:
Fill glass with ice. Add cherry, orange slice, and lemon wedge. Pour in bourbon. Serve in a rocks glass over ice.

San Martin

Ingredients:

• 1½ oz gin
• 1½ oz sweet vermouth
• ½ oz yellow chartreuse

Preparation:
Put all ingredients with ice in mixing glass. Shake briskly. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon slice.

Tom Collins

Ingredients:

• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1½ oz of gin
• Lemon slices

Preparation:
Mix sugar, gin, and juice over ice in mixing glass. Stir, strain in cocktail glass with ice, and top off with soda water. Garnish with lemon slices.

Vodka Gimlet

Ingredients:

• 1½ oz vodka
• ¾ oz lime juice
• 3-4 lime slices

Preparation:
Pour vodka and lime juice into mixing glass. Shake and strain into martini glass. Add 3 to 4 slices of lime.