Captain Morgan White Rum

Captain Morgan White RumSpring is here (finally!!) and summer is around the corner, so it’s time to start thinking about refeshing cocktails you can enjoy outside. With that in mind you want to make sure you have some white rum stocked in your home bar as it’s a versatile spirit that most people love.

Captain Morgan White Rum is the newest member of the brand’s impressive roster of rum products, and it’s distilled five times for a very smooth taste. We received a bottle to try with some of our favorite mixers, and it naturally tasted great with cola and lemon-lime soda. You can mix 1.5 ounces of Captain Morgan White Rum with five ounces of most sodas on the rocks for a sweet, refreshing cocktail, so it’s a staple at most parties. It’s also great for Mojitos as well.

When you taste it straight or on the rocks you can appreciate the quality of this white rum that lives up to the Captain Morgan name. Pick up a bottle and add it to your bar, then plan your next party or cookout.

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Grand Marnier Signature Collection No. 2 – Raspberry Peach

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The good folks at Grand Marnier sent us their new Signature Collection, the smooth and delicious Raspberry Peach. The Signature Collection Series is a unique annual flavor offering from Grand Marnier featuring an all-natural fusion of fresh fruit ingredients and exotic orange essence, blended with premium Cognac. Here’s how they describe it: “The House of Marnier Lapostolle is proud to present our latest expression, Signature Collection No. 2 Raspberry peach. The natural flavors of succulent European raspberries and rare red peaches from Ardèche, in the South of France, are combined with world-renowned Grand Marnier, made from our exceptionally smooth Cognac and wild tropical Haitian oranges.”

It sounds incredible, and it totally lives up to the hype. Just pour it into a cocktail glass with some ice and you have a delicious drink with a nice kick. It’s not too sweet or syrupy like some liqueurs and it makes for a great sipping drink. If you’re a fan of Grand Marnier you have to try this, and we recommend it to anyone who enjoys spirits.

Here’s a punch recipe provided by Grand Marnier and created by mixologist George Carney that you can serve if you’re hosting a holiday party, though we like the Raspberry Peach so much we would serve it straight on the rocks:

GM Raspberry Peach Holiday Punch
2 quarts Grand Marnier Raspberry Peach
1 ½ cups cinnamon syrup
2 quarts water
1 quart lemon juice
1 quart overproof rum
4 oz apricot brandy
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and serve. Optional: freeze raspberries and pieces of peach in purified water and add to punch bowl.

For individual portions:
2 oz Grand Marnier Raspberry Peach
1/2 oz cinnamon syrup
2 oz spring water
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz overproof rum
1/8 oz apricot brandy
Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a punch glass.

With the holidays coming, Grand Marnier Signature Collection No. 2 – Raspberry Peach is a great choice to bring to a party. It can also be a great gift for both men and women as the flavor will have broad appeal. Buy an extra one for your home bar!

  

How to Get Your Pad to Seduce the Ladies for You

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Well, you’ve done it. You’ve gotten Rebecca, the cute girl from accounts payable, on a date. Things are going great. So great, in fact, that you two are on your way back to your place. Your roommate is out of town and you’re work phone is off. Now there’s nothing to interrupt your alone time. Just as you get open the door, you remember—even though you’ve been out of college for a few years, your apartment has hardly changed. Right when you walk in, the feeling of embarrassment rushes over you. There’s a dirty sock on the TV (how did that get there?), a few empty beer bottles on the coffee table, and…oh no, you still have that Halo poster above your bed? And her face says it all—yep, she hasn’t seen a man live like this since her high school boyfriend.

Suffice to say, she’s not staying long.

IF you have ever experienced this, or fear that this could be you, it’s time to grow up and create an environment that will reflect your cool, refined personality. Follow these steps, and you’ll be on your way.

Ditch the Posters

Farwell to the videogame and beer posters stuck to the wall with thumbtacks and tape. There is nothing wrong with liking beer or video games, in fact, playing Grand Theft Auto while guzzling down a Bud kicks ass. But just as the Dos Equis Guy doesn’t always drink beer, you don’t always play video games on the couch in sweat pants. Don’t make it seem that way.

Check out some cheap framed prints here. They have everything from sports, cityscapes, and yes…beer and videogames.

Keep it clean and organized

Since you have a closet and a dresser, you probably think you’re organized. But when your socks overflow out of drawers and somehow the dirty clothes are getting mixed in with the clean, it’s time for a change. Instead of waiting until you’re all out of clean clothes, do laundry in manageable amounts. While you’re at it, invest in a clothing rack (click here) and organizers so you don’t have to revert to grouping items into “clean” and “not-so-clean” piles. This will cut down on the amount of clutter (not to mention smell).

If you have the disposable income and can’t seem to get yourself disciplined, there’s never any shame in hiring a cleaning lady.

Get rid of the spotlight

You ever notice how most restaurants that brand themselves as ‘intimate’ or ‘romantic’ don’t have the same lighting as Waffle House? There’s a reason for that. Using varied lighting sources will give your space a more diverse, intimate feel. Multiple sources and dimmers are perfect. Remember, the key is not to make her feel like she’s escaping Alcatraz and has a spotlight on her, but it shouldn’t be so dark that she feels like she’s in solitary confinement.

Keep a full bar and your fridge stocked

While ‘come up for a cup of coffee’ hardly ever means drinking coffee, sometimes it actually does. But what if it’s too late for coffee? Your best bet is to have a variety of beverages stocked at all times. I know this sounds ridiculous, but if you think about it logically, it makes sense. The first thing you normally do when a guest arrives is ask them if they would like something to drink—we do this because we would like them to comfortable. And what do you know, thirst is at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (along with sex and basic human needs).
Make sure to keep a variety of choices—juice for the healthy type, tea for the earthy chick, hard liquors for getting a little loose, and bottled water for those that think they’re too good for tap water.

While some factors in the art of seduction may be out of reach, bettering your homestead should not be one of them. If you have a face for radio, engineering a comfortable and inviting environment can be a tremendous advantage the next time you’re having people over. Who knows, maybe you can entice Rebecca over for a steak dinner and let her see how you’ve changed. If the damage has already been done, you’ll at least be ready for the next time the opportunity presents itself.

  

KAPPA Pisco offers a unique option for your bar

KAPPA PiscoWhen you’re stocking your home bar, you always want to make sure you have the staples like vodka and bourbon, but you definitely want to offer your guests some unique spirits as well, particularly with the exploding popularity of unique cocktails.

One item to consider is KAPPA Pisco, produced by the Marnier Lapostolle family that is best known for its Grand Marnier Cognac. Pisco is like Cognac in that it’s a spirit made from the double distillation of wine. However, unlike Cognac which must be aged in oak, Chilean Pisco can be either aged or unaged in oak. KAPPA is the unaged variety that results in a delicious white spirit that offers an excellent option when mixing cocktails. It’s definitely unique and the beautiful bottle from renowned designer Ora-Ito will look great on any bar.

The grapes for KAPPA Pisco are sourced from the Elqui Valley in Chile which boasts 300 days of sunshine a year and fresh water from the Andes Mountains.

You can use KAPPA Pisco for all sorts of cocktails, and you can find tons of great drink recipes on their website. Cinco de Mayo is behind us, but margaritas are always popular. Here’s a recipe for what they call the “South American Margarita.”

Ingredients:

1.5 oz KAPPA Pisco
0.5 oz Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
0.5 oz agave nectar
1 oz fresh lime juice

Shaken, strained over fresh ice into rocks glass, garnish lime wheel.

Give KAPPA Pisco a try and you just might find a new staple for your home bar or something to order when you go out.

  

The Ultimate Bachelor Pad

Looking for a way to get the ultimate bachelor pad? Then you’ve come to the right place. If you’re serious about turning your dwellings into a full-on den of decadence then the first thing you’re going to need is some bar stools and a bar. It may sound like a lot of effort, but it will pay off big time when your flat becomes Party Central for you and your mates.

Imagine: it’s Saturday night and you want to go out. With your own home bar, it’ll quickly be a case of out with the entry fees and in with the beer-on-tap. Sour-faced bouncers and weak lager will haunt you no more, and instead of having to haul your sorry self home at 3am, you’ll be able to blend the simplicity of a cheap night in with the debauchery of a night on the lash – all before retiring to bed in the next room. Perfect.

So, how do you do it? Well, while getting a breakfast bar installed would get you off to a great start, truth be told, they tend to be pretty pricey. Instead of a full bar then, why not try some bar tables? They make for a far cheaper alternative and will really help to perk your place up, in addition to providing you with something for everyone to crowd around once the sun goes down and the booze comes out.

Naturally, you’ll need something to go with your tables and sadly this is one occasion where the sofa is just not going to cut it. Black bar stools, however, are brilliant and absolutely guaranteed to impress your mates. Cutting out all the fuss associated with other kinds of kitchen furniture, they not only look great but they’re practical and easy to use.

Clever gas lift bar stools are particularly likely to come in handy. Most of these are equipped with a lever underneath the seat, which allows you to control its height without even having to get off! 360 degree swivel is another wicked feature and is built to improve ease-of-use, making it easy for you all to mingle.

Far from being one of your typical kitchen accessories, they actually tend to look pretty great. Fancy leather bar stools are ridiculously comfy in addition to great-looking. The fun doesn’t stop in the morning either, and one of the key perks of the whole set-up owes to the fact that your tables and stools will still be with you the next day. After all, there’s nothing quite like a hungover breakfast…

The best thing is that all of this really doesn’t have to cost you a lot, and if you snoop around the internet for long enough, then you’re almost certain to find a great deal on combined purchases. Get to work on the ultimate bachelor pad by grabbing yourself a table and some bar stools now, and you’ll be a hero amongst your mates in no time!