Urban Grape

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Brugal Rum Party

The Urban Grape strikes again! Every time I attend one of their in-store events, I feel like I am at a great party. Surely, a good sign. Last night was a much-needed, summery Caribbean-themed party featuring Brugal rum cocktails mixed by Bill Codman of Woodward at Ames and Brugal’s signature Kickass Cupcakes treats.

Brugal rum

I was actually supposed to attend Brugal’s media event on Wednesday night, but I was asked to attend the AIWF Board meeting and was glad that I did. Winking smile I was also glad I had a second chance to try Brugal rum on Thursday night, combining fun cocktails with the awesome Urban Grape owners/staff, and our friend Catherine who is doing Marketing for Brugal (and played a huge part in my appointment to the AIWF Board, thank you!)

My husband and I spent some time browsing the walls at the Urban Grape while Bill Codman mixed up Brugal cocktails. The entire room smelled of fresh mint and rum, and Caribbean music played on in the background.

The first drink we tried was an Old Cuban which combined sparkling wine, rum, mint, lime, bitters, and simple syrup. The Old Cuban did not taste like an alcoholic drink at all. . . it was like a delicious, slightly fizzy juice. Dangerous.

image Old Cuban

While I am not very familiar with rum, I learned last night how smooth Brugal tastes in cocktails, and I would be willing to bet it is pretty delicious all by itself.

Along with the cocktails, we sampled signature cupcakes from Kickass Cupcakes. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit that I have had Kickass Cupcakes only once before and found them really dry, but the Brugal Anejo Cupcake was absolutely fantastic. It was buttery and caramel-y with a hint of rum flavor, totally moist and tender cake. I didn’t try the Mojito, but my husband did, and he liked that one even better.

Kickass Cupcakes Kickass Cupcakes

Kickass Cupcakes

Kickass Cupcakes

Brugal definitely adds a special something to baked goods!

Brugal Rum

I didn’t catch the name of the second cocktail. On the plus side, it had bits of fresh ginger in it. To its detriment, it also had pineapple juice, and somewhere deep in my memory, I have had a bad pineapple juice and rum experience. Completely not the fault of the mixologist or the rum, just one of those things that you don’t quite forget.

We ended up leaving the Urban Grape with a bottle of the Brugal Anejo. Brugal is the best-selling rum in the Caribbean, and you can definitely see why. It’s exciting that they have come to Boston, and they have an abundance of free tasting events so you can see for yourself.

We also left the Urban Grape with a selection of beer. Their beer guy Noah had some awesome suggestions for us, based on things we have purchased in the past. While they do have a long wall of wine, they have an equally impressive wall of beer, sake, Bourbon, and other spirits. They are undoubtedly one of my favorite businesses in all of the Boston area.

Did you do anything fun yesterday to celebrate the warmer weather? I saw some people showing serious skin downtown. It wasn’t THAT warm!

Tags: beer, Brugal, cocktails, Cupcakes, rum, Urban Grape

Around Town

It has been a busy week! It started Sunday night with The Urban Grape Champagne and oysters event and just kept going with The Urban Grape’s Christmas party at Ted Baker on Newbury Street on Monday.

Ted Baker

Ted Baker Photos courtesy of my party dates, Daisy and Megan

Ted Baker was opened exclusively to Urban Grape party guests, and they even offered 30% off of their fabulous line of clothing and accessories for the occasion. We sipped wine, ate chocolate, and celebrated the season with new friends. What a year it has been!

Ted Baker

Tuesday night I had my Level 2 wine exam at the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center at BU, and I am happy to say that despite my worries, I passed the course. Everyone kind of laughed at a wine exam, but it was HARD. Geography, soil types, grape varietals, classification systems, this course covered a lot of material. It made me realize I have so much more to learn, but I am glad that I am at least off to a start.

Wednesday was a quiet day in for some catching up on freelance work and cooking up a recipe for the Olivia’s Organics recipe contest.

And that brings me to Thursday. It started with some more freelance work followed by a tough hour of spinning at Healthworks, and a walk around Boston.

Something inside of me decided to walk from Back Bay to a Red White Boston event in Kendall Square. . . in four inch heels. Ouch.

All of that aside, Boston is so pretty this time of year.

Boston at Christmas

Cold enough, but the light is just so different than summer, so serene and beautiful.

Boston Public Garden

Taking my time walking through the Public Garden, I took in all of the little details.

Boston Public Garden

Mrs. Mallard and her crew were decked out for the holidays.

Make Way for Ducklings

Make Way for Ducklings

While these ducks braved the cold for a dip in the pond

Boston Public Garden

And a bunch of scary squirrels swarmed around me as I tried to photograph their friend

Boston Public Garden

I made my way down Charles Street, decorated tastefully and looking more European than ever.

Charles Street

My walk took me across the Longfellow Bridge, providing great views of Boston and Cambridge.

Charles River

Longfellow Bridge

And finally to Kendall Square’s Venture Café where Red White Boston was holding a pre-party for the Mega Tweetup going on later that evening. Red White Boston was the host of the wine part of the event, and though I had to leave early for another event, it was very cool to check out the space at Venture Café.

Red White Boston

This open space can be used for free for various events and is used to foster collaboration on projects, networking, and just as a great meeting place for people from all sorts of places and experiences. A neat idea, no?

Venture Cafe

In addition to the wine, they also had some fresh, fantastic local beers. The space is brightly lit, open, clean, and full of great energy. I am definitely glad that I was able to stop by!

As you can see, it was an exciting week, and there are actually more recaps to come! I love this time of year, especially the multiple opportunities to spend time with lots of great people.

How was your week?

Tags: Boston, Food, holiday party, Public Garden, Red White Boston, Ted Baker, Urban Grape, Venture Cafe, wine

I may be a little obsessed with the sriracha and corn combo that I discovered at Myers + Chang and posted about yesterday. There is something about the sweetness of the corn, the spice of the sriracha, and the yummy, melty butter that scream summer in a hot, gourmet kinda way. Since I can’t eat just corn for dinner, I brainstormed with some of the fresh ingredients that we had in the house to come up with a healthy, filling, and easy to cook meal.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

I shucked and boiled the corn on the cob until it was about 3/4 the way cooked. In the meantime, I was cleaning a bunch of medium sized shrimp and getting them into a pan with a few drops of olive oil on low heat.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

Once the shrimp were pink on one side, I cut the corn off of the cob and tossed it into the pan of shrimp. Then the magic began. I added 3 small pats of butter and a bunch of sriracha and stirred the shrimp and corn until fully coated. Two minutes later, everything was cooked, and I added the shrimp and corn to a bed of fresh arugula and heirloom tomatoes.

shrimp, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, corn

Simple and delicious! This was another home run meal, if I do say so myself. I have been really enjoying the intense heat and the fresh, local food that summer has brought upon us. I really feel like I FINALLY feel thawed out after the winter! As everyone else is complaining about the heat, I reflect back on those Boston Marathon training days. . . and look ahead to this year, knowing that I will crave the summer heat then!

While cooking, I had a tiny glass of a great wine that I picked up at The Urban Grape last week. The 2007 Aramis is deep purple in color, as you can see in the photo on the right. I loved swirling it around in my glass and looking at it’s lovely color in the summer sunlight 🙂

Interestingly, the first night that I tried this wine, I got lots of dark berry flavors, but after I poured a glass from the day old bottle, I got an intense whiff of cocoa before the fruit came through. This wine feels round and luscious in the mouth and has a long, smooth finish. It is really an exceptional wine and was among many great choices that were open for the tasting.

Aramis Vineyards Shiraz Cabernet Aramis Shiraz Cabernet

This is not necessarily what most people would consider an ideal wine for a 100 degree evening, but for some reason I often want to drink red wine over white, even when it is hot out.

I can’t believe we are leaving for California so soon, after such a great long weekend! I am a little stressed. . . I always get stressed when we travel even though we do it pretty often. Often I just worry about my cats, but this time my cousin will be housesitting which is nice. I don’t know, I feel like leaving home takes away from of the control from this control freak 😉 Does that make sense? I am of course really excited and have some great restaurants, winery visits, and boating on Lake Sonoma planned.

Do you get stressed when traveling?

Tags: Aramis Vineyards, arugula, corn, healthy recipes, heirloom tomatoes, recipes, salad, Shiraz Cabernet, shrimp, sriracha, summer, Urban Grape, wine

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