The NC Double Shot: The E-lit Eight
Today’s write-ups by Keckler. Confused? Click here. Need an ingredients list? Try Google.
5 Cape Cod vs. 6 Bellini. I’m not excited by this matchup and I don’t order either of them on a regular basis. I mean, if I see Bellini on a brunch menu, I’m more likely to choose it over the other brunch-tails, but still…for me, the only thing that keeps Bellini from being completely “meh” is the Champagne factor. Champagne has effect of dressing up even the most prosaic ingredients and making them festive and exciting. (One day, Bunting and I should tell you about how we tried to mix maple syrup and Champagne to make a Maple-tini.) (It was very ill-advised.) (And gross. [“What a disappointment that was, too. We thought we were such geniuses with that idea.” — Bunting]) I’m going to flip a coin on this one. Wait, first I need to find a coin. Ever since we left the city and don’t use coin laundry, coins have become rare creatures. Aaaaaand…Cape Cod gets it! Cape Cod will stomp Bellini into the bog.
5 Cape Cod vs. 6 Bellini
- Cape Cod (55%, 352 Votes)
- Bellini (45%, 292 Votes)
Total Voters: 644
Loading ...9 Mimosa vs. 10 Margarita. Battle of the Ms! The Mims and the Margs! The -osas and the -ritas! The something and the something to fill in the word count since I have nothing left to say! …Mimosas are fine. As brunch-tails go, Bloodys and Bellinis are better, but Mimosas are fine. In fact, they’re so fine that it’s their fine-ness that will make them lose to the razzamatazzy Margarita who announces her presence in a thick, wide-mouthed glass encrusted with a sparkly ring of salt. Mimosas make you think of polite brunches where you quietly debate if you should have the fruit and yogurt plate or splurge on the Eggs Benedict with a side of Applewood-smoked bacon. Margaritas make you think of a loud ululating party in a restaurant that delivers bottomless baskets of hot chips and onion-rich salsa. And now I’m hungry. Margaritas deliver the defeat-as.
9 Mimosa vs. 10 Margarita
- Margarita (80%, 541 Votes)
- Mimosa (20%, 132 Votes)
Total Voters: 673
Loading ...1 Gin and Tonic vs. 3 Cuba Libre / Rum and Coke. Both are easy-to-make, classic standbys with plenty of fans. I throw my lot in with gin, but the voters might feel otherwise. In fact, this one might very well come down to a drink-off. By the by, gin and Coke is not a good idea. Trust me. [Urp.]
1 Gin and Tonic vs. 3 Cuba Libre / Rum and Coke
- Gin and Tonic (54%, 354 Votes)
- Cuba Libre / Rum and Coke (46%, 303 Votes)
Total Voters: 657
Loading ...8 Planter’s Punch vs. 2 Sangria. I never expected Planter’s Punch to get this far, but the E-Lit Eight is where this rum runner gets a shin splint. (Get it? Because of the running and how they hobble the runner unless proper stretching occurs? Okay, I’ll stop now.) I’m so confident that Sangria will take this that I’m handing out the special Sangria recipe I got directly from the chef at Dali, the awesomest tapas bar in Cambridge, MA.
Dali’s Sangria
1 gallon red wine
1/2 gallon orange juice
2 cups brandy
2 cups Triple Sec
1 cup sugar
ice and chopped fruit
Mix everything together.
8 Planter's Punch vs. 2 Sangria
- Sangria (88%, 571 Votes)
- Planter's Punch (12%, 81 Votes)
Total Voters: 652
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Tags: hew Keckler The NC Double Shot
Go Cape Codders! Hang in there!
I *love* Dali! Thanks for the recipe, Keck! Sangria forever.
I still don’t know how to vote properly, especially when I would happily drink any of the cocktails in the finals. Do I choose the one I would choose if both were presented on a drink menu? Or the one that’s fancy and hard to find? Or the one that’s easy to make at home so I drink it all the time? So tough!
If Gin & Tonic beats my beloved Cubra Libre, I will be very put out. Stupid icky gin.
I just moved from Cambridge to California and I miss Dali already! Especially since it’s fresones time again (seriously, if you live in the Boston/Cambridge area, do not miss their June dessert). Thanks for the recipe, I may drown my homesickness in it.
Has anyone predicted which one’s going to take the whole thing? I had a little Sophie’s choice between mimosa and margarita and went with margarita. I think that might be the final winner. Or G&T. I drink vodka tonics, but same difference. I’d be fine with either of those winning.
I’m looking at that Sangria recipe and am considering substituting white wine. Festive!
Wait, the Margarita was a 10-seed? No way! That drink is going all…The…WAY! [Pounds Margarita.] AND IT’S GOOD!
Yay for all the fellow Dali lovers!
@Natalie, I don’t know where you are in California, but if you’re in the Bay Area, there’s this tapas place in Menlo Park called Iberia. Looking at their menu, I have high hopes they might be a Dali replacement.
We’ve been out here for 7 years now and we haven’t even tried to replace Dali yet because we just don’t think it’s possible.
Next time, in the maple-tini–Maple liqueur. Don’t know the brand, can’t be arsed to look it up, but I have a bottle of it that is shaped like a maple syrup jug, and it makes just about everything better. Especially when combined with a rim full of maple sugar.
The time has come to quote the Ramones’ “Somebody put Something in my Drink.”
Tanqueray & tonic’s my favorite drink
I don’t like anything colored pink
That just stinks…it’s not for me
Go for the win Gin and Tonic!
Originally I thought that this would end up as a slugfest between the argarita and the martini (looking again at the bracket, I see that this couldn’t have happened anyway.) It definitely looks like it will come down to G&T versus the margarita. Sangria might pull out a miracle over the margarita, though … I’d have to vote for sangria in that matchup. And sangria vs. G&T seems like a much more even contest — I could see fans of one not being fans of the other. But really, this is probably Margaritaville all the way. I don’t love tequila — I had such a bad experience with it in college that for many years I couldn’t even stand to smell a margarita, much less straight tequila. But margaritas carry with them the whole happy-hour experience — salty/sweet margs, nachos, salsa, a late afternoon buzz — that G&T’s just don’t.