Bubbly enthusiast and food blogger @basilandbubbly photographed our experience filming #MoveableFeast for national PBS. Read her blog to learn more about our curator Charleston feast!

http://basilandbubbly.com/2016/05/moveable-feast-cocktail-bandits/

Road Trip Series: Satisfy Your Thirst SC

Those South Carolinians have always had a thirst for unique beverages. From moonshine and craft beer to sweet tea, hear about Southern drinks from the “curly ladies who talk cocktails daily!”

In this seminar, led by South Carolina’s Cocktail Bandits, guests will taste the history and tradition of the Palmetto State. Join the adventure and discover the craftsmanship and stories behind some of the state’s most iconic drinks.

Link to class below:

http://sched.co/6WhU

Graphic by Taylor Brown

Destination Delicious – Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2016

We’re building the ultimate road trip with delicious chef creations, fantastic libations, live music and our favorite Southern destinations. Presented by The Local Palate, Destination Delicious will showcase the flavors and traditions of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and more.

Join us during Destination Delicious during Atlanta Food & Wine Festival on June 2nd at 7:30. We are serving this summer cocktail featuring Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, @drinkbittermilk and hand made Palmetto Roses by @fletcherwilliamsiii

Cocktail Photography by Marianne Rogers @basilandbubbly

For the love of wine

Robin and Andrea McBride, of Truvee’ Wines, are truly inspirational ladies who are changing the look and taste of the wine world.

These sisters grew up separately, in different wine regions of the world (California and New Zealand) and  their father’s last wish was for them “to find” each other before he passed away. His dream was realized when the ladies met for the first time at the ages of 16 and 25.

Years later, after learning and combining each other’s wine background and experience, the McBride Sisters created Truvee’ Wines. The word “Truvee” means “to find”, that name reflects the McBrides’ amazing story, as well as their mission “to find” the best grapes to “craft authentic, yet affordable wine.” Truvee Wines has 3 expressions: Chardonnay, a Red Blend, and Rose’.

Grand Bohemian Social Media Dinner

We convened in the gallery for a reception of cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres. The eclectic art pieces served as conversation pieces as we mingled with other guest catching up and discussing upcoming plans.

The party moved to the rooftop terrace, to a beautiful just before sunset view, and our first course with its accompanying wine. Our palates cleansed, we were educated by the sommelier, Scott Newman as to the region of origin of our featured grapes and formally introduced to the head chef, the man responsible for our delectable meal.

We were seated next to Charleston Foodie Babe, longtime social media friend and Queen of the Foodage. Our playful discussion continued well past dessert which was cloyingly sweet and light.
The  Z team gifted us with Eleve custom dry spice rub in use in our own kitchen and complimentary brunch back at the rooftop bar. Grand Bohemian is beginning to feel a lot like home.

Gentry Bourbon Launch Party

Every trip out to Boone Hall Plantation sets the stage for a majestic evening. The scenic drive down the antebellum dirt road is a picture of Southern perfection.

We were greeted by JD Madison, the man of the night’s smiling face for  a quick photo session. After which we made a beeline to the bar for the signature cocktail. The newly released Gentry Bourbon is an homage to the JD’s grandfather who fostered his appreciation for the spirit.

JD prefers to drink Gentry Bourbon neat but suggest that new bourbon drinkers add soda or ice to better approach the aged spirit. Sermet’s, Mr. Madison’s King Street restaurant provided a bevy of bites including a bar complete with chocolate dipped pretzels, cookies and bacon!

We suggest sipping your Gentry Bourbon while nibbling on a piece of fine chocolate to pull all the sweet oaky note from the whiskey, in #GentleLadySips

#DrinkLocal Challenge in April for Lowcountry Local First

For the month of April, the Cocktail Bandits were asked by Lowcountry Local First, to do a drink local challenge. The goal of this challenge, was to show people how they can spend their money locally and keep it in the community. We drank local coffee, juice, beer, and cocktails. We are huge advocates for supporting your local food and Bev so this was a challenge we couldn’t refuse! Enjoy our four-part series to drinking local in Charleston!

1. #DrinkLocalCoffee

We don’t drink coffee often, but when we do, we want to do it locally. During this month, we drink coffee from our local coffee shops and enjoyed every sip. We love the ladies from the Orange Spot Coffee House located in Park Circle in North Charleston. They are doing really cool things there, like making delicious savory lattes with seasonal ingredients…. Yummy! We love to cure our coffee fixes at The Orange Spot!

2. #DrinkLocalJuice

Juicing is an important part of the Cocktail Bandit diet. We love juices for our morning boosts and we definitely like to keep them local like the juice spot called Huriyali. All of their juices are seasonal and AMAZING! They have a strawberry juice now that is seriously addictive. It’s such a cute spot right on Huger St.

When we are not purchasing our juices, we are making them ourselves. We love to go to the Farmers Market and get local produce and make our own juices and smoothies. One of our favorite vendors is Joseph Fields from Fields Farm. His produce is amazing. The farmers market is a great way to keep all of your seasonal veggies for juicing.

3. #DrinkLocalBeer

If you know the Bandits, you know that we love a good beer. We are so thankful that Charleston provides us with so many craft breweries so we can always drink a local cold one. We had the pleasure of visiting Holy City Brewery and it was a delicious experience. Their Pluff Mud porter is so amazing that they made a BBQ sauce out of it! (And it’s pretty good too!) Holy City carries over 20 beers in their tap and you can find them in almost every bar in Charleston. They also make this pineapple soda that’s light, and tastes as good as the beer! Holy City Brewery is a gem and people are always there drinking locally.

4. #DrinkLocalCocktails

Of course a drink local challenge would not be complete if we didn’t include cocktails!! We love that the bartenders here incorporate local ingredients in their cocktails. Most places even have seasonal cocktail menus now. We definitely had a great time ordering local and an even better time drinking local.

We went to Obstinate Daughter and they have 2 cocktails on tap and both were local spirits. The cocktail that we chose we called the King’s Honey; made with King Charles Vodka from Charleston Distilling, and Honey Basil soda from Cannon Bourough Beverage Company.

Spectator Hotel is doing some amazing things with local ingredients as well. They have a seasonal cocktail called the Bees Knees that is made with local honey and garnished with seasonal edible flowers. It’s was light, refreshing, and not to mention, beautiful!!

5. #DrinkLocalWine

Last week we had the pleasure of going out to Wadmalaw Island to Deep Water Vinyards; formally Irving House Vinyards, to taste their wine. They make it with muscadine grapes, and although some believe that it’s impossible to make good with these grapes, we were impressed. The Reds and the Whites were smooth but not too sweet. Their best seller, Magnolia, was a dry white that we found quite delicious. It was our first time trying this wine and it did not disappoint.

We are huge supporters of drinking/eating locally and we are so thankful to live in a city  that supports it as well. Charleston is such an incredible place where locals support each other. We had a great time doing this challenge!