While I was running around Amsterdam on Museumnacht (an annual event where museums across the city stay open into the wee hours), I found something for which I didn't know I was looking: the world's most expensive cocktail shaker.

The Boston Shaker, as it's called, is located in the gift shop of the House of Bols, a flavored liqueur company whose on-site museum/training facility is worth visiting -- they won the the Dutch Design Award for Best Exhibition & Experience in 2007 and you get to play "guess what flavor you're smelling." It's just across the street from the Van Gogh museum.

The Boston Shaker was created as a collaboration between The House of Bols and their neighbor, Coster Diamonds. It comes packaged as above, in a unique leather case designed and made by French family business Établissements Bernard RDB. The shaker itself is silver, 18 karat gold, and is encrusted with 480 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 19.05 carats.

The price tag on this one-of-a-kind blinged-up barware is €35,000.00 or approximately $52,164.00.

This trip was paid for by the Netherlands Board of Tourism, but the ideas and opinions expressed in the article above are 100% my own.

This Thursday, November 19, is the date of the annual sexiest night of the year: The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. It's taking place at the Lexington Avenue Armory in NYC, hosted by mama Heidi Klum (right), and do you know what cocktail they'll be serving at the after-party at M2? You're about to.

The Stoli Angel Elixir has been specially crafted for the event and will be available at M2's official Victoria's Secret Fashion Show After Party. This is a must-have for any viewing soiree (the show will be aired on CBS December 1), and we've got the recipe:

Stoli Angel Elixir
1 oz Stoli Gala Applik
3 strawberries
Sprinkles of vanilla sugar
Rosé Sparkling Dessert Wine

Muddle strawberries and vanilla sugar. Add Stoli Gala Applik, shake well and strain into a flute. Top with rose sparking dessert wine. Garnish with edible gold dust & pink aphrodisiac rose petal.

If you're baffled by the gold dust, don't worry, it's perfectly safe. You can grab a jar at PastryChef.com for $107.99.

Among the innovative new spirits we're finally finding time to catch up with is BULLDOG Gin, an ultra-premium gin handcrafted in London housed in a broad-shouldered charcoal gray bottle with deep purple hues and an iconic spiked collar.

BULLDOG is quadruple distilled, triple filtered, and infused with the taste and aromas of its twelve distinctive botanicals, including poppy, lavender, and dragon eye - a cousin of the lychee fruit often heralded as an ancient Chinese aphrodisiac.

Made from traditional copper pot stills and a painstaking distillation process, BULLDOG exudes a smooth and harmonious texture with a distinctive flavor, with notes of fruit and citrus lending a refreshingly crisp character and balanced finish.

BULLDOG has enlisted renowned mixologists Somer Perez, John Freeman, and Michael Waterhouse to create some signature cocktails using the bold spirit:

"Plumdog Millionaire" – created by John Freeman

2 oz. BULLDOG Gin
1 oz. Japanese Plum Wine
1 oz. Lavender Soda
Black Plum Half Wheel Garnish
Lavender Sugar Rim

Directions: Stir over ice, strain. Serve in a martini glass with lavender sugared rim and garnish. (Cont'd after the jump)

Plenty of hotels serve up unusual cocktails, but Raffles hotels have a unique claim on cocktail history: sometime in the 1900s, in its Singapore Hotel, bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created a gin-based cocktail named Singapore Sling, in a hue of proper pink designed to appeal to the hotel's female British clientele.

Or so the story goes, there's debate about whether it was originally called a "Singapore Sling" -- in browsing around today, I found reference to a "Straits Sling" and also a "Gin Sling", neither of which have the same ring. There's also question about whether the original recipe is the one in use today -- for more on this, check out "Dr. Cocktail" Ted Haigh's treatise on the subject in Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail, which goes into depth on the subject. Either way, the Singapore Sling served by thousands at Raffles Singapore today is worth trying at home, see the recipe below.

Also in the East, at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the signature drink is a "Femme Fatale". This drink is named after Jacqueline Kennedy, who apparently left a lipstick- stained cocktail glass at the Elephant Bar during her 1967 visit, which was only discovered during the hotel's restoration. (Questions arise: how did they know that it was her glass? And of all the descriptions of Jackie O, is "femme fatale" the first that leaps to mind?) Either way, this is another drink designed to appeal to the ladies.


Raffles "Femme Fatale"
7.5 ml Crème de Fraise
Dash of cognac
Top with Champagne

Serve in a champagne flute with a garnish of rose.



Raffles Singapore Sling

30 ml Gin
15 ml Heering Cherry Brandy
120 ml Pineapple Juice
15 ml Lime Juice
7.5 ml Cointreau
7.5 ml Dom Benedictine
10 ml Grenadine
A Dash of Angostura Bitters
Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry

Last week my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported on the Empire State Building's swanky new lobby, part of a $550 million building-wide renovation project. Now comes word that the New York architectural icon is also getting a great new cocktail lounge from nightlife entrepreneur Mark Grossich, known for elegant boîtes like the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station. He's turning a 3,500-sq.-ft. former post office on the skyscraper's ground floor into the Art Deco-style Empire Room, slated to open at the end of November. Design firm Goodman Charlton has cooked up an elegant scheme employing plush mohair, intricate cut velvets, macassar ebony, silver leaf, embossed leather, marble and polished stainless steel in tones of rich brandy, deep cognac, icy silver, and golden cream for the interior (rendering above), meant to evoke a more glamorous era of supper clubs and gentlemanly drinking establishments.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Anyone can be creative with less intense spirits but it takes a certain talent to win a competition involving more exotic potent potables. Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur recently announced the winner of the brand's first-ever New York bärtending competition. Six of New York's finest bartenders competed in the Bärenjäger Bärtending Competition. Five judges: mixologist and spirits aficionado Allen Katz of Southern Wine & Spirits; Spirits and Cocktails Geek Gary Regan of ArdentSpirits.com, Director of the Worldwide Bar Database, and author of The Joy of Mixology; Julie Reiner of Clover Club and Flatiron Lounge; one of the foremost spirits trade writers, Jack Robertiello and Aisha Sharpe of Contemporary Cocktails, Inc., chose Kevin Diedrich as the grand prize winner of an all-expense trip paid for two to Oktoberfest 2009 in Munich, Germany.

Bärenjäger is a honey liqueur which was first introduced during the 15th century and used by hunters to lure bears from their dwellings. Today's version a 70 proof vodka-based honey liqueur is made in Germany using honey from the Yucatan. Each 750ml bottle contains 225 grams of natural honey and a mixture of botanicals. The drink comes in a straw wrapped bottle that features a hive-shaped topic and an image of bear baiting. The overall flavor profile has honey's floral sweetness but with an herbal complexity.

The winning drink is called "The Bottom Line." Kevin Diedrich's previous bartending experience includes Bourbon and Branch, Michael Mina's Clock Bar, CASK, Beverage Academy, The Ritz Carleton and Bourbon Steak. The new drink is both classic and new. The recipe, plus the recipe for the audience favorite, the Bäre Fizz created by Gerry Corcoran, are after the jump.

Ketel One, the super-premium vodka produced by the Nolet family in Schiedam, Holland, who has been distilling fine spirits for 10 generations, has come out with some enticing new cocktail recipes with which to enjoy the spirit. Made from the finest quality wheat, Ketel One is crafted in small batches using traditional copper pot stills.

The vodka's crisp flavor makes it perfect for sipping on the rocks or in a Martini, but for those who want to be a bit more adventurous, Ketel has conceived the following concoctions using fresh ingredients:

Blueberry Smash

1 ½ ounces Ketel One Vodka
2 ounces Club Soda
1 tsp Sugar
15 Fresh Blueberries
1 Lime Wedge

Muddle 15 blueberries with a lime wedge and sugar. Add Ketel One and ice to cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain mixture into highball glass half-filled with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with blueberries. Continued....

Nothing says summer like an evening of margaritas (or to some, a night of tequila shots -- no "training wheels"). Tres Generaciones is ending the summer with a big, delicious bang with new bottles for their 100 percent blue agave tequilas, and some great cocktail recipes to boot.

A little background: super-premium Tres Generaciones is named for the three generations of the Sauza family who've been perfecting the art of creating tequila. The Plata tequila ($45.99) is a brilliant, clear, and triple distilled, and has a good kick of white pepper and a grassy finish -- an excellent shooting tequia.

The Reposado ($47.99), aged in American oak for at least four months, is also triple distilled and is my personal choice of the three for a margarita. The aging gives the pale gold tequila a smoothness and warm body, and the white pepper still pops through at the end.

Tres Generaciones Anejo ($49.99) is aged for at least 12 months, and is specially crafted for sipping all on its own. A great tequila for whiskey drinkers, the body of the anejo is smooth and complex with caramel and toasted oak notes. The clean agave flavor shines through.

The new bottles are crafted in the original, easily-recognizable shape, but feature medallions of the three founding Dons of Sauza and metal beaten collars, as well as weighty wood-and-cork stoppers. These have been rolling out since January, and you should be seeing them by October no matter where you live. Prices may vary of course -- and now onto the cocktails:

The Sweet Breeze -- a refreshing way to end the summer
1.5 oz Tres Generaciones Plata or Reposado
.5 oz Agave nectar
2 oz Fresh lemon sour and the juice from half a lime
1 Diced strawberry
1 Peeled Ruby red grapefruit segment
2 Basil leaves

Mddle the strawberry, grapefruit and basil. Add tequila, lemon sour and lime juice, and agave nectar. Shake and pour over ice -- garnish with an additional grapefruit wedge wrapped in a basil leaf.

Too complicated? Then go for ...

The Holy Mole -- a great way to ring in the fall
1.5 oz Tres Generaciones Anejo
.5 oz DeKuyper Hot Damn Cinnamon Schnapps
To Taste Hot chocolate

In a pre-heated coffee mug, add the tequila and schnapps. Fill with your favorite double-rich hot chocolate. Garnish with whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a cherry.

Tanqueray, the iconic London Dry Gin with a history that spanning 175 years and a Royal Warrant from the Queen of England, has come up with a number of new variations on the classic "T&T" - i.e. Tanuqeray and Tonic, which we hereby present so you can try them at your leisure:

T&T Refreshed

• 1.25 oz. Tanqueray London Dry Gin
• 1 Egg White
• .75 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 oz. Simple Syrup
• Tonic Water

• Shake all ingredients without ice to aerate.
• Add ice. Shake.
• Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass.
• Top with tonic water.

Muddled T&T

• 1.25 oz. Tanqueray London Dry Gin
• Tonic Water

• Muddle 3 lime wedges at the bottom of a Collins glass.
• Add Tanqueray London Dry Gin.
• Top with tonic water.

Continued after the jump.

Yamazaki Single Malt, from Japanese whisky giant Suntory (which you may remember from Lost In Translation), is by far the best of world's can't-call-it-Scotches. So it's no wonder they've come up with a better way to drink it as well: with perfect spheres of ice 2" in diameter.

They don't melt as fast as our inferior American ice cubes, so they keep the drink at an optimum temperature longer without watering it down as much. An important Banshaku ("evening drink") ritual in Japan, apprentice bartenders in the high-end joints there must learn to carve them flawlessly from big blocks of ice.

They don't do that here unfortunately, but the MoMA store has a stock of imported plastic molds that do the trick quite well (right). You need a bottle of Yamazaki to get the full Land of the Rising Sun effect, though; their 12-year-old is $40 and 18-year-old is $100.

An historic landmark has been reborn in New York, "marking the intersection between decades of nightlife expertise and over 100 years of luxury design." Located in a circa 1865 building in the heart of the city's most famous nightlife neighborhood, The Gates features an interior salvaged from the art nouveau masterpiece the New York Biltmore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Upon the hotel's demolition in 1984 the most impressive elements from the lobby and bar (including an original bronze and marble telephone booth) were rescued and re-established in the Chelsea space which has since become one of the most iconic rooms in the city.

After laying empty for several years and having fallen into a state of neglect, The Gates (formerly the Biltmore Room) was recently brought back to life by nightlife impresarios Danny Kane and Rod Surut. The lavish space, featuring floor-to-ceiling Carrera marble walls (valued at $2.5 million alone), is kept private from the street by a pair of stunning brass gates from the original hotel, which give the venue its name. A VIP room complete with a fireplace and crystal chandeliers, a full kitchen and bar catering to 285 people, a state of the art sound system, DJ booth and the refinement of the bar room to its previous glory are the key elements breathing new life into a storied space.

"We were working with a room that had such a strong personality, it was great to play that against all the innovations we were making to create one of the most unique spaces in the country," Kane notes. The project felt like the "re-emerging of a character who's played such an important part in the social history of New York City." The New York Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1913 with nearly 1,000 rooms, was a landmark luxury hotel designed by Warren and Wetmore, who also designed the adjoining Grand Central Terminal. Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald honeymooned there (and were asked to leave on account of rowdiness) and the Biltmore figured in several of his stories as well as in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

Grey Goose, the super-premium vodka blended and bottled in the celebrated Cognac region of Western France, has created some succulent summer cocktails starring its classic spirit (above left) and fresh, evocative flavors: Grey Goose La Poire (center left), L'Orange (center right) and Le Citron (right). While each is excellent served on the rocks with a slice of the fruit used to make it, these artful concoctions are designed to be enjoyed poolside or at summer gatherings. Read on for recipes:

Le Citron Caipiroska

1 1/4 parts Grey Goose Le Citron
1 lime cut into eighths
1 part simple syrup or 1 tsp sugar
club soda or water

In a glass shaker, combine the lime and simple syrup and muddle well. Add the vodka and fill with ice. Shake well. Pour ice and all ingredients into a rocks glass. Top off with more ice if necessary and a splash of club soda or water. Garnish with lime wedge.

Grey Goose Heather 81

2 parts Grey Goose Vodka
3/4 parts honey
1/2 part hot water
6 mint leaves, plus more mint leaves for garnish
1/2 part Drambuie

In a cocktail shaker combine honey, hot water and 6 mint leaves and muddle well. Add ice, vodka and Drambuie. Shake well and strain into rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint leaves and piece of honeycomb.

Hopefully you aren't at your desk right now but if you are and you are in New York City over the Fourth of July weekend Spice Market would like to suggest their outdoor patio in the Meatpacking district of NYC as a place to grab a bit of weekend enjoyment. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has added new dishes including Peeky Toe Crab Dumplings and Steamed Red Snapper with Shiitake Mushrooms exude the types of bold spices and flavors he is famous for. For dessert the Thai Jewels with Crushed Coconut Ice offer that a refreshing and sweet treat for a hot summer night. This weekend Spice Market NYC is debuting carafes of the signature Ginger Margarita or Sangria cocktails. They also serve non-alcoholic drinks including the new Ginger-Lime Soda, Jasmine Lemonade and Cherry Yuzu Soda. Spice Market's Tasting Menu is $48 per person and includes samplings of 10 flavors in five courses.

Modern Spirits, makers of the TRU Organic line of spirits we wrote about last fall, has introduced Fruit Lab, a collection of artisanal, 100% organic liqueurs designed to facilitate making all-organic cocktails at home and in bars. The collection - which includes Citry (orange), Crism (hibiscus) and Theia (jasmine) - complements the growing number of organic vodkas, rums, gins and tequilas on the market.

"With Fruit Lab, we set out to bring the garden to the glass with whole, organic ingredients and complete hand processing for uncompromising quality," says Melkon Khosrovian, co-founder of Modern Spirits. Named after the company's Los Angeles production facility, "The Fruit Lab," where all TRU organic spirits are crafted, Fruit Lab Liqueurs are now available for $29 per 750ml bottle.

Citry combines the familiar aromas and flavors of fresh Valencia and naval oranges with the scent of Bergamot and sour orange. Crism is a powerful balance of the sweet-sour nature of hibiscus flowers with floral aromas and tangy berry flavors. Theia is described as "like a night garden infused with flowering jasmine" and makes a great champagne cocktail.

Similar to how TRU Organic Spirits plants a tree for every bottle sold, Fruit Lab will donate a percentage of proceeds to The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit needy populations and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water.

New York's chic and sophisticated Soho House is offering something special on their roof (right) through July 5th -- a taste of Wimbledon.

The "Wimbledon Pitcher" is sure to be a favorite among guests sunning themselves -- what a great way to pretend you care about tennis while boozing by the pool! The pitchers are also available on the 6th floor where matches will be playing, but only a hard-core fan would turn down the roof of Soho House to watch people hit things with racquets in England -- no offense, tennis-lovers.

If you're not in New York, fear not; you too can make this traditional British concoction. Here's how, courtesy of Soho House:

Wimbledon Pitcher

Drop into the pitcher:

• 5 leaves of Mint
• 4 slices Cucumber
• 2 Strawberries
• 3 wedges of Lemon
• 3 wedges of Orange Ice
• 8 oz of Pimm's

Top it off with Sprite or make it sing with gin (Hendrick's is recommended), stir, and serve. You can even watch tennis while you're drinking it, for good measure.