Memorable Drink Ideas and Their Inspirations

Have You Ever Wondered?

Have you ever wondered how drinks get those crazy names? Or even who would think to mix ‘this’ together with ‘that’? How do people come up with those memorable drink ideas and what about the people who inspire them? Follow me for some answers.

Port Wine Stain

While talking to a fellow blogger Patrician McCarthy from the Mien Shiang Institute recently. She mentioned that Mikhail Gorbachev passed away. I was never a fan of his. However, one interesting thing about him to me was his birthmark.

For those of you who don’t know, he had a port wine stain birthmark on his scalp. Many people have a port wine stain from birth and it is usually present on the arm or face.

 Patrician asked me if I could create a drink for her blog with this in mind. Check out Patrician’s recent blog.

New Cocktail Ideas

Once alone, that conversation got my brain working on a new cocktail idea. What about a cocktail with essentially a port wine stain on top? Is this a crazy drink idea or what?

I pondered this drink idea a little further. Vodka would be the obvious choice for this drink, but I don’t like always to follow the rules. I thought about my choices and decided to start with Bourbon. 

Next, I needed a name. I didn’t want to just name it after him but I did want to have a tickle of his name in the title. Should I call it the Gorbi Sour, or the Wine Chev, or the Gorbi Stain?

No, none of those sounded at all right. I wanted to give people some idea of what they would be drinking. How about the Bourbachev? I decided to go with that one and started mixing up some drinks

Renee The Mixologist?

I thought I would practice being the mixologist and I decided to make my Bourbachev relatively straightforward because there is no use in watering down expensive bourbon with a lot of ingredients. 

I decided to start with Woodford Reserve Double-Oaked Bourbon. This spirit’s smooth taste and flavors would touch all the right buttons with our bourbon lovers out there.

Next, I would need a good wine to go with it (stay with me I have an idea for the port wine stain part of the drink). I would need it red of course, It took me a while but then I remembered a wine we tried some time ago.

The wine was called Cooper and Thief Red Wine Blend. It had some amazing flavors and smells which included a slight aroma of bourbon with some sort of fruity finish. As a bonus, it was aged in bourbon barrels. This was a perfect compliment to our spirit of choice.

Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover

I decided to try out my Bourbachev recipe recently while visiting friends. My husband as well as our friends were very apprehensive about my ingredients. When I drizzled the wine on top of the ice they all had strange looks on their faces.

However, when they tried the cocktail they were pleasantly surprised. I guess I am “The Mixologist”.  Check out the recipe at the bottom of the article.

Talk About Memorable Drink Ideas: Drinks Named After People

When you start looking around you can find that there are many drinks named after (famous or infamous) people in history. Let me share a few with you.

Shirley Temple

Who hasn’t had a Shirley Temple kiddie cocktail in their childhood? The story goes that the “Shirley Temple” drink was made for the child actress Shirley Temple at Chasen’s Restaurant in California in the 1930s. It was a hit and became a specialty for the young up-and-comers.

As a child, I used to go with my family to John’s Pizzaria. Delio, the owner would have the bartender make a Shirley Temple kiddie cocktail for my brother and me. We felt so grown up!

Once I had kids of my own, Delio would do the same for them. These were such precious memories since he passed away some years ago.

Today I take my grandchildren to the Fenton Moose Lodge. My granddaughter loves the Shirley Temple they make for her there and once my grandson is a little older we will introduce him to this special drink.

Shirley Temple Mocktail

Arnold Palmer or John Daly?

It was told that Arnold Palmer created this drink himself. He was once overheard ordering two ingredients at a bar, lemonade, and iced tea. Voila, that’s how memorable drink ideas happen. 

Of course, that drink has no alcohol in it but along comes the John Daly. John Daly is essentially an Arnold Palmer spiked with vodka. 

The Arnold Palmer Non-Alcoholic Cocktail

The John Daly Cocktail

The Bellini

I’m sure you have heard of the Mimosa. But, have you tried the Bellini? The Bellini switches out the orange juice and adds peach nectar. If you haven’t tried one, you need to!

The inspiration for the Bellini cocktail was said to be from the Italian painter Giovanni Bellini because of the pink hue in one of his paintings. 

The Bellini cocktail was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani from the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice Italy. It was put on their menu and became very popular. When they opened their second location in New York it was on the new menu.

Here’s the Bellini Recipe

6 oz Champagne Flute

Buy Now →

As Promised, My Recipe

The Bourbachev

11 oz Rocks Glass

Buy Now →

Is a Name Just a Name?

The more I investigated drinks and how they got their names, I realized I would need to dig deeper into my favorite drinks and how their names came to be. 

I’m sure some drinks are just named after the ingredients in them. But others have come from the people who drink them or have influenced them. It is true that some of these crazy drink ideas from the past have sustained the test of time.

I encourage you to look up some of your favorite drinks and if you find something interesting share it with me (the crazier the better).

Cocktail Recipe Journal

Mixology Moments Cocktail Recipe Journal

Buy Now →