Rachel Halpren

Cullen Cocktails: Toast To Twilight!

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Midnight on November 18th marks the long-awaited premier of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I. For those of you who haven’t guessed, I have a bit of a vampire fetish. I will admit that I watch True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. I even loved that canceled series Moonlight. And, yes, I really love Twilight. I’ve read all the books multiple times (that isn’t saying much as they are an … Read more

Hiram Walker Butterscotch Schnapps Review

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Winter is almost upon us and, for some reason, I associate butterscotch schnapps with winter. I guess it’s because of those buttery, toffee, butterscotch flavors. And, it may also be because on my 21st birthday, which occurred in December, I celebrated with a number of butterscotch flavored drinks. It must have been the bartender’s specialty because I don’t remember specifically ordering butterscotch drinks that evening. Many years later, I still recall that evening fondly.

We … Read more

Effen Vodka Review

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There are certain words that are just fun to say and Effen happens to be one of them. Supposedly Effen means smooth in Dutch but its close proximity to another word probably doesn’t hurt its reputation either. But, all kidding aside, the folks at Effen take their Vodka very seriously and the Vodka, itself, shouldn’t be overshadowed by its name.

Effen Vodka is a Dutch wheat Vodka based on a 125 year old recipe and … Read more

Portland Cocktail Week RoundUp

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A few weeks back, we headed up to Portland, Oregon for Portland Cocktail Week an amazing three day festival of drink seminars, cocktail competitions and parties! The event was put on by our friends at Lush Life Productions.

Some of the best and brightest in the cocktail world gathered for Portland Cocktail Week and it went by in a blur. We met up with old friends and made many new ones as we boned up … Read more

Kahlua Cinnamon Spice Review

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Kahlua recently launched a new flavor – Kahlua Cinnamon Spice – just in time to keep you warm for winter. It will be the perfect addition to almost any hot drink this winter whether it be coffee, hot chocolate or tea (I can’t vouch for the hot apple cider as I haven’t tried it yet).

I really like Kahlua and was a bit concerned when they started making the Kahlua spices line (like Vanilla, Peppermint … Read more

Bloom London Dry Gin Review

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In August, Greenall’s, one of the oldest Gin producing firms in England, launched its newest libation – Bloom Gin. Bloom arrived in one of the most beautiful bottles we have seen in awhile – the slightest shade of green with crawling vines (both imprinted in the bottle and on the plastic enclosure at the top of the bottle). Luckily for us, Bloom was as tasty as the bottle was beautiful.

Greenall’s is one of the … Read more

Hob Nob 2010 Pinot Noir – Wine Wednesday

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We received a care package for Halloween from our friends at Hob Nob Wines with some vino and candy (two of our favorites). One of the wines was a 2010 Pinot Noir from the South of France (where after some research, it appears all the Hob Nob wines come from France). From reading this article, you may also remember how much I adore Pinot Noir wine and how difficult it is to find Pinot Noirs … Read more

Wine for Day of the Dead

On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, we came across a bottle of wine that we could not resist! As I have mentioned beore, I used to pick my wine based on the wine bottle. I will admit that I still indulge in this selection process when the wine is at a low enough price point. What can I say, I really like attractive and interesting wine bottles. I am not saying that all wine … Read more

Pama Pomegranate Liqueur Review

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November is National Pomegranate Month. To kick off the month, we are posting a review of Pama Pomegranate liqueur. Pama is a good as it sounds (unless you are a pomegranate hater). Buy yourself a bottle and whip up pomegranate drinks all month long. The plus is that they make great drinks to serve guests for Thanksgiving.

Pomegranates are sensuous – they are ripe, lush and bursting with deep red fruit – and they scream … Read more

Five Scary Wines for Halloween

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Until I really got into wine, I used to buy wine based on how much I liked the label. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didn’t. Please keep that caveat in my mind as my recommendations for scary Halloween wines are based solely on the label. I found many apt named wineries (among them the Black Cat, Ghost Pines and Slaughterhouse) but I elected not to highlight them because the labels didn’t live up to … Read more