I’ve always loved Halloween. I was born an hour and a half before October 31st, making 1985’s Halloween the first full day of my life. I dressed up as a newborn baby, and totally killed it.

Growing up, the majority of my birthday parties were Halloween parties, and wearing costumes brings me just as much joy now as it did when I was ten.

Now that I’m a “grown up” – a fact that I often like to ignore – I’m quicker to reach for a cocktail than a piece of candy. As a lover of skull decor, Crystal Head Vodka had caught me eye on multiple occasions in bars and liquor shops. Founded in 2008 by actor Dan Aykroyd, Crystal Head is made from Canadian corn and pristine water from Newfoundland. It goes through four distillation processes and is filtered seven times, the last three though Herkimer diamonds. Long story short – it’s a really smooth vodka.

As someone who is not a huge vodka drinker, I typically only use the spirit when making a Bloody Mary. Since that’s not a great option for Halloween evening, I did a little searching around for a boozy concoction that could sipped slowly while passing out candy. Look no further than James Bond’s shaken, not stirred, Martini – the Vesper. Though it’s gin forward, the vodka is key, and like any cocktail, the quality of each ingredient is incredibly important. Crystal Head does the job this classic twist perfectly.

My adapted version (made with Lillet Rosé instead of Lillet Blanc) is named after a fellow martini loving friend, Jess Graves. We sat together Friday evening at The Mercury drinking gin martinis and she mentioned that she’s always wanted a cocktail named after her. This one’s for you, Jess.

THE GRAVEYARD:

• 1.5 oz gin – I used Tanguray
• 1 oz vodka – Crystal Head*
• 1 oz Lillet Rosé

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass.
Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

*Thank you to Crystal Head Vodka for sending us a bottle to sample and enjoy this Halloween!

Before we left Georgia, we wanted to try as many local beers that we likely wouldn’t be able to get our hands on in Texas. Second Self, Georgia’s fastest growing brewery in Atlanta, was one of those. Hats off to these guys for not only making great beer but for winning the branding game. I was sold before I cracked them open!

Thanks to Co Founder Jason Santamaria for answering some questions about the brewery. Keep up the great work, guys. Georgia friends, if you haven’t yet, go grab some Second Self! 

Happy almost 2 year birthday! What’s been the most exciting thing about these first two years of Second Self:
Seeing my dream come true. My Co Founder Chris Doyle and I have been working on Second Self since 2010. There were many moments when I did not think it would happen, and now, here we are, planning our second year and looking at further expansion in our third year. It was not until this year that I was able to quit my day job at IBM and run Second Self full-time. That is both very exciting and terrifying, cutting the corporate lifeline and truly going out on my own.  

Favorite beer currently pouring:
This is always a hard question because I’m a very mood-dependent drinker. I get this question a lot, and I always have to give a similar answer: each one of these beers is like a child to me, with a lot of memories around tasting, inspiration, recipe development, and ingredient sourcing. So it is hard to pick. However, the oldest and youngest tend to get preferential treatment, so Red Hop Rye (our oldest beer) and Molé Porter (our latest seasonal release) are what I am finding myself drinking more than the others right now. The Red Hop is just so good fresh, and I’ve been waiting for Molé season since last year. 

Just have to say, you win BIG for coming up with the Maverick & Gose pun and branding. Would love to know when/how this came to whoever is responsible:
This story actually goes back a year. In 2015, we released three different gose beers in the tasting room. Because the name and beer type are unfamiliar to a lot of people, most were pronouncing it as “goose”. We decided to take that and run with it. We had a few alternative ideas, but it was when Chris said “Maverick and Gose” that I knew we’d found to the one. We are all pretty big film/pop culture nerds, so it was a natural progression when we were coming up with names. From there the art was going to be easy as well. We went to Tex Grubbs, our designer, and what is on the can was his first drawing. It was just right the first time. 

A few years ago we featured The AC Slater by Jamie Clayton on one of our takeovers. It’s still one of my favorite cocktails he’s thought up and I make it all the time. While researching ideas for this takeover, AC came to mind as something that could be delicious with the simple swap from gin to mezcal. This text conversation with Jamie followed…

Caroline: What do you think about AC Slater being revisited with mezcal instead of Gin?? AC Slater’s Mexican Vacay?
Jamie: AC slater with mezcal is amazing and should be called the AC Slayer.
Caroline: Ahhhh…have you done it?
Jamie: I made it a few weeks ago

So, here it is. Jamie approved, Jamie renamed.

The coolest thing about a spirit so complex as mezcal is that this now tastes like a completely new recipe when in fact, the only thing that’s changed is the base.

• 2 oz Mezcal – we used Fidencio
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• 1/3 oz St. Germain
• Lavender bitters
• 1/8 lemon
• 1 strawberry
• Mint

In a shaker, muddle lemon, strawberry and one sprig of mint (smack the mint before you muddle to release the oils).
Add gin, simple syrup, St-Germain and 2 dash lavender bitters.
Add ice, shake and strain into a chilled coupe.
Garnish with a mint leaf.

Thank you to Drizly for sponsoring our Mezcal Takeover by providing a portion of the ingredients! See the other two recipes here and here. Cheers! 

I knew I’d love this one when I came across it on Imbibe. I fell madly in love with Aperol in Italy a few years ago and simply do not use it enough. I bought Velvet Falernum for The Keelhauler and haven’t used it since, so I was eager to dust off those two bottles. Plus, I’m a sucker for an all equal-parts cocktail. Thanks to Grant Wheeler of The Garret in NYC for creating it!

• 3/4 oz Mezcal – we used Fidencio
• 3/4 oz Aperol
• 3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1 dash Scrappy’s Habenero Firewater bitters – this dash of heat and flavor can also be added by adding a thin slice of fresh habanero pepper to the shaker in lieu of the bitters.

Shake all ingredients together with ice.
Strain into a chilled coupe.
Garnish with a lime wheel if you so desire.

Thank you to Drizly for sponsoring this post by providing a portion of the ingredients! 

It’s our first Mini Takeover! Three days, three cocktails. This one is exciting. First, we’re focusing on mezcal, an ingredient we’ve yet to experiment with or feature. Second, we had the awesome chance to partner with Drizly to make it happen! Drizly is the leading on-demand alcohol delivery service in the U.S. and Canada. You simply place your order to have beer, wine, or liquor delivered to your doorstep within an hour. They combine the best selection and price, content-rich and personalized shopping experiences, and the speed and convenience of on-demand delivery to Drizly deliver “The Joy of Drinking™” to legal-age drinkers across the United States, including a handful of Southern cities!

You’ve likely heard mezcal described as the “cousin of tequila.” The at once sweet, savory and smoky cousin. In my opinion, it tastes like what would happen if tequila and scotch got together and drank a little too much tequila and scotch and, well, you know…

I’ve got to thank Imbibe for one of the more simple (and much more accurate than my own) explanations of the mezcal process I found: “Unlike tequila, where the hearts of the agave plants are oven-steamed, Mezcal production involves slow-roasting the hearts in covered, underground firepits. The pulp from the smoked agave is then fermented and distilled, resulting in a spirit redolant of the smoke that permeated it early on.” That’s enough learning for now, let’s move on to the drinking, shall we?

First up, Día de los Valientes! This is adapted from the Día Del Muerto cocktail from Atlanta’s Pura Vida, one of our favorite spots that is now closed. The main difference is the use of Mexican Fernet instead of Fernet-Branca. The former is smoother and doesn’t have the explosion of peppermint oil, though it’s just as bitter. You’ve gotta be brave (valiente) for this one. It is dark and it is boozy!

• 1.5 oz Mezcal – we used Fidencio
• 1/2 oz Fernet-Vallet
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth – we used Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
• 1/4 oz Amaro Montenegro
• 1/4 oz agave syrup – my taste test friend preferred hers a tad sweeter, so she got 1/2 oz and it was still very balanced. I don’t recommend going any sweeter than that.
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• 1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.
Strain into a rocks glass over a large cube – we use a Neat Ice Kit for clear ice.
No garnish.

Thank you to Drizly for sponsoring this post by providing a portion of the ingredients!