Kids and mocktails

My older daughter will be 4 in October, but she's a really precocious kid, and big for her age.

So, as I've been experimenting with various drinks, she asked if she could have one in a mug at one point.

I mixed 1 oz lime juice, 1 oz simple syrup, shook it over ice, and topped it off with seltzer.. slapped it in a big ole tiki glass, added two umbrellas, a Kona Kai swizzle stick, a slice of lime, and a straw, and her "Lime Fizzy" as she calls it was born.

Last night, we had cocktails on the patio after dinner.. I made the wife a pina colada with dark rum, I had a mai tai, and my daughter had her "lime fizzy".

She asked how it was made, and I explained it to her.. I said "here is how you order it.. one oz lime, one oz syrup, shaken, not stirred, over ice, and topped with seltzer."

She looked up at me, and said "AND SWIZZLED!" and proceeded to furiously stir her drink.

That's my girl..

That is adorable. You should really take her to the bar of a decent restaurant and have her order the drink herself, what fun that would be.

I can definitely appreciate treating youngsters to interesting drinks. It was such treats that sparked my lifelong obsession with beverages. Keep it up!

and now for some candy cigarettes... wait! that's evil! arrghghgh....

My 5 year old crushes ice for me. Ahh...child labor

My kids love drinking juice out of tiki mugs.

My son's favorite is the "Forbidden tiki mug" that was featured on http://www.tikibartv.com

They also like Shirly Temples.

LOL....Candy cigarettes and a Shirley Temple....that's all swizzled up!!! :drink:

I will never forget the time my parents took me and my sister (I think we were 5 & 7) to the top of the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego. Up the glass elevator to the bar and then to a nice little table...great view of San Diego and Balboa Park. Me and my sister got Shirley Temples.....I was so impressed that I named one of my dolls Shirley!!! I still have that doll....she doesn't have a stitch of clothes...but everytime I see a pink drink I think of that El Cortez swaray. :lol:

FATIMA BLUSH: Oh, how reckless of me. I made you all wet.
JAMES BOND: Yes, but my martini is still dry.

[ Edited by: VampiressRN 2007-08-02 21:19 ]

My Grandma used to watch me when my Mom was at work, and for a week during the summer or whatever, and she was always the martini lunch type (still is.. just doesn't go out to do it anymore), so I spent my formative years being drug from swanky bar to swanky bar, in the afternoon. I could order a SHirley Temple or a Roy Rogers with the best of em, and had quite a swizzle stick/plastic sword/umbrella collection at one point.

Also learned bar etiquette at an early age.. something that seems quite lacking in this current crop of bar-hoppers that are in the 21-30 range right now.

I remember being in the Kona-Kai in Philly "That damned Gin Mill with the wierd heads" according to my Grandfather, in the mid to late 70's waiting for people to arrive at the airport.

ootwoods, as a person in the aforementioned aged group, I would like a crash course in such etiquette... any sources?

Hooo boy.

Don't yell at the bartender.. a nod and eye contact should be sufficient.

Personal space man.. keep your elbow (or knee, hooter, hair, etc) out of my drink, and out of my ashtray.

Keep the screaming and drunken carousing to a minimum.

Don't play more than three songs by any one artist on the jukebox.

Don't yell suggestions for songs on the jukebox to anyone you don't know.

Course, I tend to frequent the crack-in-the-wall joints, or the classier hotel bars, rather than "sports" or "free well drink" bars.. I just hate the meatmarket/crowd/rowdiness of a bunch of drunken sports fans (or worse, horndogs) that the modern bar scene seems to create.

Most importantly: If you knock over my drink, you had best be prepared to replace it. "sorry" is not sufficient enough.

And if I buy a round.. don't suddenly upgrade your "usual" choice from beast ice to a shot of walker blue, please?