Los Muertos

Day of celebration to honor loved one lost – Dia de los Muertos. This Mexican holiday represents vibrancy and love. November 1st and 2nd is a  time for family and friends to gather for festive food, drinks and dancing. Marigolds have long been used in ceremonies and rituals to pray respect to the deceased. We used handmade marigold flower crowns and marigold scented candles to pay homage to the Mexican tradition.

 

We invited our friends and family to join us at Apartment A to have a Sauza Tequila cocktail we created to celebrate the occasion. Our cocktail reminds us of the best parts of life: adventure, opportunity and love. We served the “Last Dance” from a Mikasa pitcher as everyone enjoyed tacos and danced to bachata.

Below are a few of the other cocktails we created using Sauza Tequila, Menage a Trois Berry Vodka, Cocktail Crate Syrups and Hooch limeade soda.

Megavirus

Sauza Blanco Tequila – Six & Twenty Cream Whiskey – b’Lure Blue Hibicus extract – Lemon Juice – Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee syrup

 

Rebirth

Sauza Reposado Tequila – Sage Liqueur – Rose Extract – Lime Juice – Tonic Water – Black Lava salt rim

The Ritual

Crown Royal Vanilla – Amaro Montenegro – Menage a Trois Berry Vodka – Hooch Limeade Soda – Wild Hibiscus Syrup

THANK YOU

www.sauzatequila.com
www.b-lure.com
www.cocktailcrate.com
www.oandohooch.com
www.amaromontenegro.com
www.crownroyal.com
www.sixandtwentydistillery.com
www.apartmentachs.com
www.creechsfloristinc.com

Euphoria Greenville 2016

 

Greenville, SC is quickly becoming a top tourist destination in South Carolina. With a growing food and beverage scene in addition to breweries like Thomas Creek Brewing, a food could have a field day. Euphoria Greenville is a four-day Fall festival that celebrates food, wine and music. Attendees have an assortment of curated seminars, music events and a lively culinary stage.

The tasting tents are full of local and regional chefs offering samples from their menus.

Taneka and I performed on the culinary stage on day 3 of Euphoria. We told the thirsty audience a bit about our business, the cocktail we created and gave a few tips for the home bartender.

 

We also co-hosted a craft cocktail class with the head bartender at American Grocery, Kirk Ingram. We prepared four custom cocktails as Kirk gave a brief history on mixology culture and the inspiration behind his craft cocktails. Our sold-out class had several questions and beaming feedback on the drinks.

 

My favorite event of Euphoria has to be the VIP party at Aloft. The open bar featured surprisingly yummy signature cocktails and there was wall-to-wall buffet including a build-your-own-taco bar!

The band was rocking and guest danced until the last song ended. Events like this give us the opportunity to meet others in the industry. We bumped into a Remy Martin representative, a regional sales manager for a major hotel chain and award-winning journalist.

Euphoria had a feel like no other festival we’ve attended. All the organizers were relaxed and professional. There easygoing attitude helped us enjoyed the festivities and Lexus Greenville made sure we arrived to all the events safely. Not to mention, our media bags were packed to the top with swag including a full-sized apron, a gourmet salt rack, and chocolate macaroons! Our calendars are already marked for Euphoria Greenville 2017.

 

BevCon 2016

The Cocktail Bandits, were so excited to attend the first ever BevCon!! It took place at the Hyatt Place on  August 21st through August 23 in Charleston, South Carolina. BevCon is a 3 day conference for beverage professionals by beverage professionals focusing on ALL THINGS DRINKABLE: coffee, soda, juice, beer, wine and spirits.  It’s more intimate than most food and wine festivals, and is only for people in the beverage industry. This meant that classes were more in depth and business focused. Each day we learned about something or someone new in the industry, which is what this conference was  all about.

Day 1.
The first day of BevCon, we took a morning Rum excursion around Charleston Harbor. It was incredible. Paul Yellin, from Cane’s Rhum bar curated some tasty bites to pair with our cocktails as Rum author, Robert Moss, gave us  rum knowledge. It was a perfect way to start off the conference.

The opening event happened at High Wire Distllery, is where Angel Postell, the founder of BevCon spoke about the mission of this event. After the greetings and salutations, we were able to sample different foods and drinks, all while listening to live music. It was a hot day, but everyone managed to have a good time.

Day 2
Day two was the beginning of the seminars.
The very first seminar was about the definition of “craft”. This was an interesting panel that was comprised of 5 different business owners, all talking about what craft meant to them. A few of them wanted to get rid of the word, but the others appreciated the term because they felt their product is indeed craft. It was an interesting discussion.

The next seminar was called “Getting Inked”, which was a panel of influential media people such as Kat Kinsmen, F&B writer for Extra Crispy and Hanna Raskin, the F&B writer for Post and Courier. They were educating us bar professionals about different ways to get published. Some of their tips were; ‘to NOT overload Media inboxes with random press releases and to make sure whatever you want published has some relevance to the author or editor writing topic.’  What we found most interesting about this panel, was that there were NO social media influencers involved. It will be interesting to hear from the SOCIAL MEDIA perspective next year. Since that such a huge outlet for the Food and Beverage industry now.

The final seminar we attended on day 2, was a class called, “How Far You Can Twist a Classic?” This class discussed how a classic cocktail, the French 75, can be modernized, but still remain a French 75. Kat Kinsmen led this session, she has been on the hunt for French 75’s for the last 5 years! She has tried numerous renditions of this classic beverage and wanted show us two very different ways that 1 cocktail can be created.

 

She invited two Atlanta bartenders, Tiffanie Barriere, and Jenique Keyatta Holder-Mincey to create their versions of the French 75. Tiffanie created her CLASSIC cocktail with Cognac, lemon juice, and simple syrup, then topped with champagne. Jenique’ created her French 75 with a twist.  She used gin, lemon juice, guava, and then topped it with champagne. Both were delicious and it proved that it is more than one way to create the same drink.

BAR TAKEOVERS

After the classes ended on Day 2 and 3, there were about 10 bar takeovers each night. We couldn’t make it to all of them, for obvious reasons, but we did go to Canes Rhum Bar, McCrady’s Tavern, Bar Mash, The Ordinary, The Grocery and Proof. Our favorite bar takeover was at The Rarebit with Tiffanie and Jenique. We had a great time with them, their cocktails were amazing, they played awesome music and the bar was packed! We danced there until they closed the spot!

Day 3

Day three was packed with seminars just like the other two days. What we enjoyed about the last day was the tasting room at the end of the day. This was not a conventional tasting session. There were over 30 different beverages to sample; and most of the special sips came from small companies. We were honored to sample some of the most exclusive brands.

FINALE
The final Bev Con event took place at the Windjammer on IOP. There was good food, cocktails and music ALL NIGHT! Angel Postell and her crew did an amazing job putting on the FIRST BevCon event in Charleston. We appreciated being around some of the best and brightest in the industry.

 

If you missed out on this fantastic event it will be back August 20-22, 2017. We will be back. We hope to see you there!

NABHOOD Conference 2016

NABHOOD first fell on our radar due to a tweet. @HeadHotelier suggested that the conference in Miami may be of interest to us. He was right! After visiting the website, we learned that entertainment mogul Shelia C. Johnson of Salamander Hospitality and other heavy hitters in the tourism industry were members of this organization, we decided to take the trip to Florida.

It was like walking into a Caribbean Festival. The NABHOOD luncheon was preceded by a fair where tourism agencies and hotel owners invited attendees to visit their location to enjoy all their unique amenities. Many of the vendors had accents and were very interested in the connections that social media provides. Small islands like Monsarrat don’t have the assistance or budget available in major cities and rely on these events to network and market their destination locations.

At lunch, we were served a delicious and healthy meal that included mango salsa, sliced avocado and jasmine rice; very eclectic for a conference. The keynote speaker, Mr. Andy Ingram, spoke of the lack of diversity in hotel and resort ownership and even offered tips to get more minorities involved in the industry. He also spoke of the advantages that social media provides for those looking to recruit minority talent.

NABHOOD host conferences and tourism diversity summits all over the country to educate the community on the opportunities within the hospitality industry. For more information, visit

www.nabhood.net

Shake with love!

It may surprise you to learn that neither Taneka nor Johnny have any formal bartender training. Taneka has work experience in several bars and restaurants in Charleston but no one bothered to “teach” either of us how to shake a cocktail. It wasn’t until we started the Cocktail Bandits’ blog that we bought a book of cocktail recipes and most importantly, a cocktail shaker.

This basic bartender’s kit contained a shaker and other bar tools, most of which broke shortly thereafter but our home bar would never be the same. We noticed the difference a proper shake and strain can have the enjoyment of a cocktail.

As of late, our SILVERgrade shaker has been the go-to for events and home cocktail creation. The slender body aids in its handling during the “shake” and the top can be removed without a fight (a stubborn top can ruin a live demonstration or kill your flow during mass cocktail production). Our stainless steel shaker arrived with a double jigger, 2 pourers, cleaning cloth and a red velvet pouch. All the pieces can be placed inside the shaker and carried in the red bag to a pop-up event or a friends’ home.

To purchase your own SILVERgrade shaker set, visit

www.SILVERGRADE.com

 

Photography by Dinwiddie Photography

Nails by Jada Sanders Nails

Good Business Summit 2016

A day of business talk that felt more like a community discussion – Good Business Summit 2016. Local business owners converged at the Sottile Theater to learn, network and share ideas. Topics discussed included: diversity in the workplace, creating a corporate culture and community change.

We shared a panel  with Brothers & Craft on storytelling through social media. The squad of fashionable and actual brothers, know a thing or two about marketing and brand building. They explained how their brand has collaborated with major agencies Ford Motors and hit reality show ‘Duck Dynasty’.  Taneka and I shared our top tips for engaging with followers and creating unique content.

As we and other guest speakers revealed, there is no ‘secret’ to success other than hard work and a willingness to learn.  The team at Lowcountry Local First should be proud of their 3rd annual conference that grows yearly and attracts keynote speakers like Matt Stinchcomb from Esty.com and Dave Dawson with The Urban Electric. Co. Next year is bound to be more informative and interactive.

 

 

Photography by Foxworthy Studios Photography

Tea Time with Cocktail Bandits

Take a tour from eastern China all the way to Wadmalaw, South Carolina in this afternoon session on tea and Charleston culture. Learn about the history of tea and how it ended up a staple in Charleston homes. Taste craft cocktails from the Cocktail Bandits and find out new ways to enjoy an old favorite. Plus local Tea Time treats will transport you to England and back! #CharlestonTea

 

Satisfy Your Thirst SC -Lowcountry

Our last region for that Satisfy Your Thirst tour was the Lowcountry. The Lowcountry consists of Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Ridgeland. The area is so beautiful, and historic; it really makes you appreciate this beautiful state as well as this amazing tour. We were able to find some really cool spots to check out on the app.

SOUTHERN BARRELL BREW CO.

Our first stop in the Lowcountry for the SYT SC tour was at Southern Barrel Brew Co. It is Bluffton’s first brewery, beer garden, and Tavern. Their menu is always seasonal and local, and most of it includes their fresh beer that’s brewed every day. They say that their “food is crafted with beer in mind”, and we have to agree. Their bar food was amazing and have a great selection of beer. We had a few flights and realized that most of their beers we IPAs: light, and hoppy.

Southern Barrel got its name from the region (Southern), and the process where beer is aged in wine, or whiskey (barrels) to get a unique flavor. All of their beers are brewed and canned in-house. They have only been open for a year so it will be exciting to see how they evolve. They conduct tours daily, so check out their cool new brewery and all they do at www.southernbarrelbrewingco.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISLAND WINERY

In Hilton head, we found this cute winery and had to include it on our tour. It is called Island Winery, and it’s been in the lowcountry for over 10 years. The owners have a vineyard in New York and decided to bring to concept to Hilton Head because there were no wineries there.

 

They use a variety of grapes for their wines. They get grapes from 12 different states, crush them, and then bottle the finished product here in South Carolina. We appreciate the fact that they are also experimenting with other fruit; making wines with blueberries, peaches, and, of course, muscadines. They even have a margarita wine, (don’t ask us how), but it is one of their best sellers, and it tasted great. Their tasting room was beautiful and the staff and owners were very hospitable and knowledgeable. Please visit this little gem at www.islandwinery.com, and let them Satisfy your thirst, SC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAUFAUSKI ISLAND RUM COMPANY

The The last, and most memorable location of our satisfy your thirst tour was Daufauski Island Rum Company, on Daufauski Island. This island is 20 minutes away from Hilton Head Island. We had to take a ferry to get there and it was so worth it.

The island was beautiful. We were greeted by Mrs. Chase, (wife of owner) and she walked us up to her golf cart. That’s right. They only drove golf carts on this island, there are no cars. We love how everyone greeted each other as they passed driving down the road, the Island is only 5 miles long , and 2 miles wide.

When we got to the distillery we saw that it was a massive space. We later found out that Tony Chase (owner), along with others on the Island, built the distillery themselves. We thought that was incredible! Tony told us about how all of the ladies on the island got together and would cook lunch for them everyday until they completed finished the project. We loved that teamwork. He proudly states that every piece of material he used to build his distillery is from USA. You can also say that about his rum. Tony was an army kid and wanted everything to come from the States, so he made sure EVERYTHING, the equipment, ingredients, and all of his products come from U.S.A. and we appreciate that.

Tony is a purist. His rum only uses natural products. He uses Demerara Sugar because it’s brown and produces a rich rum flavor. His spiced rum uses actual cinnamon and isn’t super sweet. The favorite of the day was a vanilla rum that was steeped with a real vanilla bean from Florida.

We were in awe of the history of Daufuskie Island. It was on of the first Islands that slaves inhabited, and they still have remnants of the old slave homes made out of oyster shells and paste. Because it’s so far away from the mainland, the Gullah culture is still very prominent there. It’s a beautiful place and we learned about much more than rum. It was the perfect way to end the Satisfy Your Thirst tour. We recommend everyone check out the island and the distillery at www.daufuskierum.com.

This tour was an amazing, eye opening experience. We learned so much in the 10 days we traveled around the state. We saw juiceries, wineries, breweries, and distilleries that are SC made. Now to get ready to apply what we learned to our own cocktails for ATL Food and Wine.

Satisfy Your Thirst SC Tour – Columbia

Columbia was the next stop of our SYT SC tour. Columbia has fewer places on the app but they have a growing beverage community that will be as big as Charleston or Greenville very soon! Their up and coming beer scene is something the we are excited about!

OLD MILL BREW PUB

The SYT SC app led us to Lexington, SC to a distillery that was washed away last year from the horrible flooding from Hurricane Joaquin. We were so lucky to go there because we found a great pub nearby called Old Mill Brew Pub. It is an awesome micro brewery that made a few beers in house, but also carried an enormous local and regional beer selection.

Their master brewer Matt Rodgers, who calls himself, the “Beerded Farmer”, has the largest hops farm in SC. He has had it for 10 years and told us that he gives his hops to local brewers in SC, most times, for free. Matt will be opening his own brewery later this year and we can’t wait to go back to Columbia and try out his beer. This location was not on the app, but they create and support SC made beer. It was a perfect alternative and was very close to the distillery that had washed away. They even had some Moonshine from the distillery. We appreciated all of their hospitality.

 

 

 

 

RIVER RAT BREWING

The next stop on the Satisfy Your Thirst app was River Rat Brewing. River Rat Brewing got its name from the three rivers that run through Columbia, and “river rats” were the blue collar workers that work in the canal, over 100 years ago. In 2013, with those workers in mind, River Rat wanted to create a brewery that made “craft beers that would satisfy anyone after a long day’s work.” That’s exactly what they did.

They have some very delicious beer and we loved their story. We were allowed to tour the brewery to see behind the scenes as well. River Rat has a great outside area, and it’s really close to the University of South Carolina. There were a few students out back with their dogs. We loved this place and think that it’s a great stop if you’re ever In the area. Tour the brewery at info@riverratbrewing.com.

 

 

 

CONQUEST BREWING

A few miles down the street, we stumbled in to another craft brewery that was on the SYT SC app, called Conquest Brewing. Conquest Brewing is focused on making really great craft beer. If Game of Thrones had its own brewery; it would be Conquest. The names of all of the beer are “mid evil-ish”, and all of their taps are swords. So cool.

The evening that we went there, Conquest was having their weekly trivia night. It was very communal setting, the “brew tender”, named Wilson, was a classmate of ours and the host of trivia. He ordered pizza for everyone, and we had a few flights to sample. After everyone was fed, Wilson gave us tour around the back and got the chance to see the area where all of the brewery magic happens. It’s a cool place, that is owned by locals, drank by locals, and loved by locals. For more info on Conquest Brewing: www.conquestbrewing.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOUTHERN SQUEEZED JUICERY

Before leaving Columbia, and after enjoying all the delicious beer, we had to find a juicery. We found one that was very close to our hotel called Southern Squeezed Juicery. Southern Squeezed is owned by a husband and wife team and located downtown. They were the first juicery in Columbia, and their mission is to “encourage a clean, healthy lifestyle by providing great tasting, nutrient-rich juices that nourish the body.” Their juice is amazing.

Katie, the owner, told us that they give all of their fruit and veggie pulp to farmers to feed their chickens; and the farmers give them fresh eggs to sell in the store. We love that type of community support. Check out more about Southern Squeezed Juicery at www.southernsqueezedjuicery.com

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Satisfy Your Thirst SC Tour – Charleston (cont)

FIREFLY DISTILLERY

Our next stop, on the Satisfy Your Thirst Tour, was our beloved Firefly! Firefly Distillery was founded on Wadmalaw Island, 30 minutes away from Charleston, South Carolina. The owners and founders, Jim Irvine and Scott Newitt came up with the insane idea to build a distillery in the country. They lobbied in Columbia, SC and got laws changed so that distilling and production was affordable and legal in the state. They decided to name their distillery Firefly because fireflies are magical and they’re a nostalgic staple in the south.

Firefly became the world’s first sweet tea vodka, and South Carolina’s first distillery giving the state the opportunity to distill and curate more spirits. They even get their tea from Charleston Tea Plantation; the oldest and ONLY tea plantation in SC.

Firefly produces several types of spirits. They have vodka, rum, whiskey, moonshine, an array of cordials and now a bourbon. We were blessed to be able to sample the bourbon that will be coming out February 2017. Yumm! We also had an amazing time “working” on the production line; but we’ll leave that hard labor to the professionals!

When you visit Firefly Distillery, you will be able to learn about the distillation process and to meet Scott and Jim. They also have a number of tours available if you want to check out their fabulous operation. You can check it out at www.fireflyspirits.com.

 

DEEP WATER VINEYARDS

The next location on the Satisfy Your Thirst tour is Deep Water Vineyards… which used to be Irving House Wines, owned by Firefly Distillery. The new owners Andrea and Jesse  told us that they always wanted to have a vineyard. When they moved to the south, a few friends saw that the property was for sale and dared them to purchase it from Irving House. So they decided to take that chance, moved their family to Wadmalaw Island, and actually have their own vineyard. They said that it’s an exciting, new, overwhelming experience…. And, sometimes, they feel like they’re in “Deep Water” with this new venture.

Deep Water also has a deeper meaning for the co owners/couple. They feel like the name embodies their view of life; jump in the deep waters and know that you have done something bigger than yourself.

 

Jesse and Andrea are currently in the process of re-branding all of their wine. We are excited to see what they do with the yummy muscadine wine that they produce. The muscadine grape is the only TRUE native grape in the U.S. and Deep Water is Charleston, South Carolina’s ONLY vineyard and winery.

The wines vary in color, flavor, and sweetness. We can’t wait to go back and see what else they have done with the space! They have daily tastings at the vineyard. Please check out their amazing story and schedule a take a look at their tour times at www.deepwatervinyard.com.

Now, on our way to Greenville…. Cheers and #satisfyyourthirstSC!