Today’s drink is actually a special request post, by way of my dear friend Spaz. This one’s called the Keenan n’ Kel. It’s named as such because it’s made with orange soda. And, if you grew up in the 90′s at all, you know damn well that Kel loves orange soda.

Yes he does. Yes, he does.

Keenan n’ Kel – Recipe:

• 1.5 oz. Hennessy
• Balance Orange Soda

Fill a highball glass with ice, and add the ingredients. Serve and enjoy. Spaz assures me that it tastes better than it sounds, and I trust him implicitly.

Rick James would declare: “It’s a celebration, bitches.” I say that because today’s my birthday; Rick was well known for saying that every day of his life, but then again, everyday is somebody’s birthday.

This one is a quick one, but it’s been insanely popular for many years, and it’s tons of fun at parties. Especially parties where you don’t have a lot of booze around. I’m going to flip the script for a second, and post the recipe first, before the explanation.

Tequila Popper – Recipe:

• 1 oz tequila
• balance Sprite (not quite to top)

Pour the tequila, then the soda, into a rocks glass. When served, the drinker must place his hand over the top of the glass, pick up, then slam the glass down on the bar, and down the shot ASAP as it foams up.

The reason why this drink is so popular is simple: when you slam that glass back down onto the bar, not only do the two ingredients mix, but the excitement of the soda causes the drink to fizz up. When you drink this shooter as the bubbles are popping, some of this drink is being taken in as a gas, rather than a liquid. This means that your body is absorbing the alcohol quicker, which means you’ll get tipsy a bit faster than normal. This is one loophole around the rule which states that alcohol is always absorbed into the bloodstream at the same rate, no matter how fast you drink, because that rule applies only to drinking liquids, and what you’re drinking is now part gas.

I’d have a few of these to celebrate my birthday, but I spent a bunch of time making skittles-infused vodka yesterday, so I’m going to reap the rewards of that process tonight. But do feel free to have a tequila popper in my honor for my birthday tonight; just don’t drive home afterwards.

This is, really, how all the contests work, but I figured since tomorrow’s the big day, I would describe the process here.

Basically, WordPress assigns every comment a number. I take the number of the first comment from the date I posted the contest article, and then I take the most recent comment, and I enter both in the random number generator over at random.org. This way, it’s a guaranteed, truly random number being generated, and it’s a completely independent, third party system generating it. That seems the most fair way to pick a winner, right?

So that’s the way it works. Good luck everybody; I’m picking the numbers at midnight.

In the meantime, I’ve got a ton of new recipes on the way; and a few new and crazy concoctions I’ve been trying out, to keep the site new and fresh. Let’s just say, I’ve been dabbling in a few other liquor infusion techniques that I think you’ll be pretty interested in. Stay tuned!

History Lesson: Rum Runners were actually the folks who smuggled liquor; most often just to avoid higher state taxes in one region versus the other, but most notably during prohibition. Pirates were the original Rum Runners during the 1500s, right after the British government began taxing alcoholic beverages. It was during the same period that the term “Bootlegging” came into the language, as Rum Runners on land would often carry liquor in flasks in the long leggings of their boots to avoid detection.

The actual drink was invented in the 1950s, long after the end of prohibition. However, the name sounds cool.

Rum Runner – Recipe:

• 7/8 oz Blackberry brandy
• 7/8 oz Banana liqueur
• 1/2 oz Black rum
• 1/2 oz 151 proof rum
• 5/8 oz Grenadine
• 1 oz Lime juice

Shake with ice and strain in to cocktail glass.

In one of the single most epic things I’ve ever borne witness to, a guy by the name of Jamie Price created his own bartending, beer-slinging robot, and named it Bar2D2. Evidently, it’s a radio-controlled mobile unit that has a motorized beer elevator, ice/mixer drawer, shot pourer, and neon lighting that responds, with flashing, to music and other sounds.

To take it a step further, he provided a detailed step-by-step on how to build your own Bar2D2 bot over on instructables. Jamie, I don’t like to use the word “hero” very often, you are the greatest hero in American history.

via Suicidebots.

I’m giving away another pack of ElectraPours. The same rules apply:

1. Subscribe to the Syndication Feeds or by Email. Don’t worry, it’s free.
2. Once you’re subscribed, leave a comment on this post saying you have.
3. If you’ve already subscribed, let me know, and I’ll enter you in to win.
4. When the contest is over (in this case, Wednesday), I’ll randomly pick a number, and that person will be the winner.

Pretty easy, y/y?

Last minute Valentine’s Day cocktail? We are ON IT.

You never really see Tequila mentioned in a mixed drink recipe, but trust me – this one is slammin’. And hopefully, you will be too when  you whip up a few of these Agave Kiss cocktails tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. See what I did there? I’m like cupid, but with liquor; you know, like a much better version of cupid.

This smooth, creamy cocktail is the perfect balance of complementary flavors that would otherwise compete with one another, if you were to leave out any one of these ingredients. Just like any good relationship.

Agave Kiss – Recipe:

• 2 oz silver tequila
• 1 oz white créme de cacao
• 1 oz double cream
• 1/2 oz Chambord
• Shaved white chocolate flakes
• Fresh raspberries for garnish

Since it’s Valentine’s day after all, I’d suggest going with some call liquors for this one: Patrón for the tequila, and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur for the créme de cacao. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add the tequila, créme de cacao, double cream and Chambord. Shake for 15 – 20 seconds, and strain into a cocktail/martini glass, rimmed with shaved white chocolate. Add a spear of fresh raspberries, and serve.

Skittles-Infused Vodka is a HUGE thing right now.  So huge, really, that I wasn’t even going to post about it, because I figure the topic was already handled. The problem, though, is that a lot of the other posts on the subject are really long and filled with vague or unnecessary details, and a couple of them didn’t work as well as the others, etc etc. So, I figured I’d condense the process of infusing vodka with Skittles down to the simple, easy-to-follow recipe format that you guys have come to love on this site.

That is, I hope you love it. Wait, you love it… right?

Skittles Vodka – Recipe:

• 1.75 Liter Bottle of Vodka (You don’t need Grey Goose, but nothing cheaper than Absolut or Smirnoff)
• 1 Pound Bag of Skittles

Phase One: Open the Skittles, and, using five bowls, separate the candies by color. You should have 60 Skittles of each flavor. Get five empty, 16oz water bottles, and pour 6oz of vodka into each bottle. (To scale upwards or downwards with this recipe, it’s 10 Skittles for every 1 ounce of vodka.) Next, pour the Skittles into the bottles; one color per bottle.

Phase Two: Once you have the different bottles set up, you’re going to shake each one vigorously. The more you shake, the better. Shaking won’t dissolve the Skittles completely, as they’re semi-hard candies, so you also have to leave them alone overnight (the more you’re making, the longer it’ll take to dissolve the Skittles, of course), so that the vodka will dissolve the candies as well. Feel free to shake them again from time to time while you’re waiting for them to dissolve; it helps speed along the process.

Phase Three: By now, the Skittles are dissolved, and the vodka has been infused. Problem is, there’s some excess white muck left behind from the candy. What we need to do now is strain out – and bottle up – each individual flavor. For a strainer, keep it simple and just use paper towel, unless you have coffee filters lying around. If you want to minimize the amount of mess you create, strain out the liquid into a jar, measuring cup, or any other wide-mouthed container, preferably through a funnel. If the vodka is too thick for your liking, you can either strain it again, or mix in more vodka. Funnel your infused vodka into some glass bottles; if you need help finding some, The Container Store and Specialty Bottle each have fairly inexpensive bottles.

Congrats, you’re done! Now, put the bottles into the freezer, let them get nice and frosty, and taste the rainbow. It’ll be really strong; almost all vodka, after all. They’re also really sweet, as one would expect. There are lots of different ways you can serve this up depending on your taste, so feel free to get creative. After all, you made it!

Since the breathalyzer contest deadline is still so far away, I figured I’d drop in and away something really quickly today, because at Underground Bartender, we’re all about the giving. Today’s prize is a pair of your very own ElectraPours; courtesy of New York Bar Store.

So, here’s how we’re going to do this. All you have to do is subscribe to the feed. If you subscribe up by feed reader, just drop in a comment to let me know; if you subscribe by email, you don’t have to comment, but it couldn’t hurt. Couldn’t be easier to try to win one, and, best of all, it’s free. And yes, if you’re wondering – this will also automatically give you an entry into the breathalyzer giveaway contest!

I’ll pick the winner, and notify them by email tomorrow. Good luck, everybody!

EDIT: I have been getting a few emails already, asking if they can still be eligible for the ElectraPour if they already subscribed. Of course you can! All you have to do, if you want it, is just leave a comment saying you’re already subscribed, and you want to enter to win the ElectraPour. I can verify whether you have or not, so it’s cool.