Born Under A Star

$13, GoldBar, 389 Broome St., 212-274-1568

With the haute lounge’s recent reopening comes innovative cocktails, like this porky take on a negroni. Head bartender Tim Cooper hits the famous Di Paolo’s meat shop for the signature ingredient in his Born Under Star — guanciale — which he then infuses into campari. The result is a less bitter version of the Florentine aperitif.

1.25 oz. Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1 oz. guanciale-infused campari
1 oz. Carpano Antica vermouth
Combine ingredients, and garnish with a long orange peel.

Rum & Raisin

$14, Saxon & Parole, 316 Bowery, 212-254-0350

Greek yogurt in a cocktail? It works, according to S&P bartender Masa Urushido. “I wanted to create a drink with Greek yogurt, and after playing around found that the delicate acidity and silky texture of the yogurt work well with Jamaican rum’s caramel and toffee notes.

“The spiced honey syrup gives the cocktail a sweetness that’s balanced by the cinnamon and star anise garnish.”

1.5 oz. Appleton Reserve
1/2 oz. Licor 43
1/2 oz. spiced honey syrup
1 tbsp. Greek yogurt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Shake and strain on fresh ice in a highball. Top with soda. Garnish with grated cinnamon and star anise.

Bell Boy

$12, Refinery Hotel, 63 W. 38th St., 646-664-0310

Alex Ott, the man behind cocktails at Sushi Samba, shakes up a unique mix of gin, yellow bell pepper juice and date palm syrup to create this sunny stunner. Find it at the new Refinery Hotel, a former hat factory slated to open May 1.

1 1/2 oz. Plymouth gin
2 1/4 oz. yellow bell pepper juice (to prepare bell pepper juice, blend one whole pepper with one quart of water and strain through a fine-mesh strainer)
1/2 oz. agave nectar
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pink peppercorn
Combine and ingredients and shake. To garnish, use end of pepper as lid for cocktail glass or create yellow sunflower star with mini bell pepper and place on rim of cocktail glass.

Signature Bloody Mary

$12 plain; $15 with shrimp, Sarabeth’s Tribeca and Park Avenue South

You know the famous spot for desserts, but the restaurant also boasts lunch, dinner and (like all good NYC restaurants should) brunch. Pair your scrambled egg popover with the eatery’s signature bloody mary, which can include jumbo shrimp if you’re so inclined.

Sarabeth’s Signature Bloody Mary
2 oz. vodka
4 oz. tomato juice
1/2 tsp. freshly grated horseradish
2 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Bloody Mary Pickles
1 jicama, julienned
4 ribs celery, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned

Pickling liquid
2 cups sugar
2 cups white wine vinegar
2 cups water
1 tbsp. each: fennel seeds, coriander seeds, caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine sugar, vinegar, water, spices and salt in small saucepan. Heat to a boil.

Place jicama, celery, carrots and peppers in a clean, dry glass jar or bowl. Pour boiling liquid over the vegetables, cover completely. Seal jar or cover bowl, refrigerate at least one hour. Leave vegetables in brine longer for more flavor. Will keep in fridge for about 10 days.

G.I.

$15, The General, 199 Bowery, 212-271-7101

At new celeb fave The General, sriracha isn’t just for the spicy food that “Top Chef” Hung Huynh cooks up. It also makes its way into this drink, a saucy concoction that head mixologist Colin Maxwell says “has a lot of ingredients in small amounts [that] come together to make a very deep, rich, complex flavor.”

2 oz. Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. honey syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz. orgeat
1 scant bar spoon Sriracha (adjust to taste)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 fresh sage leaves
Shake and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with sage leaf.

The post Cocktail roundup: Drinks with oddball ingredients appeared first on Metro.us.

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Of 76 accidental deaths chronicled between January 2003 and May 2007, 42 percent of straphangers had been drinking — a lot, the medical examiner’s report found. The average blood alcohol content of accident victims was .20, which is more than double the legal limit to drive a car.

“You’re visibly impaired,” doctor James Gill, one of the two doctors who published the report, told the New York Daily News about the impact of a .20 BAC. “Your speech may be slurred, your gait erratic. You’re pretty intoxicated.”

A similar study that analyzed subway accidents between 1990 and 2003 showed that most of the victims were men, 90 percent to be exact.

The worst indicator of the unsavory relationship between alcohol and subway accidents is the hour they occur. The majority of accidental subway deaths happen just after 4 a.m., when New York City’s bars close and their inebriated patrons attempt to ride home.

Last year, the Department of Health ran a series of ads that targeted excessive drinking, pleading with New Yorkers to cut back on binge drinking.

The advertisements featured bloodied and slumped straphangers and warned “Two drinks ago you could still get yourself home.”

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro

The post Alcohol, accidents often linked in subway system appeared first on Metro.us.

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen  
Brewed in the heart of Bavaria, this clean amber lager is the quintessential Oktoberfest pour. Lightly roasted malts give caramel and toffee notes and an apple-like finish; soft spiciness is contributed by yeast.
Available at The Foodery, 837 N. Second St.

Southern Tier Pumking
At 8.6 percent ABV, this gourd-rattling pick is not to be trifled with. Plenty of spiced pie flavor – complete with graham cracker crust aroma – is jammed into this sticky tipple, the heaviest and most alluring of a crowded pumpkin ale field.
Available at The Bottle Shop, 1837 E. Passyunk Ave.

Cricket Hill Fall Festivus
A favorite of local publican Fergie Carey (Fergie’s, Monk’s Café, Nodding Head), this harvest ale balances earthy malts and floral, piney hops in an easy-drinking Oktoberfest style, brewed almost-locally in Fairfield, New Jersey.
Available at The Foodery and The Bottle Shop

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
Dark gold, with a nutty aroma, this fest beer is ideal for sessioning during Sunday football, and pleases a crowd with  a lightly sweet malt-driven profile and mellow hops.
Available at Hawthornes Café, 738 S. 11th St.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen  
Brewed specifically to accompany the smoked sausages of Bamberg, Germany, this assertive elixir is basically liquid bacon. Though available year-round, fall is the best time to pair this smoked-malt lager with late-season barbecue and other hearty fare.
Available at Hawthornes Café

Bruery Autumn Maple
Orange County, California may be short on fall foliage and sweater weather, but you’d never know it from the warming cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses, maple syrup — and 17 lbs. of yams per barrel — loaded into this stellar, boozy (10 percent ABV) new entry into the pumpkin beer category.
Available at The Bottle Shop

The post Six brews for the season appeared first on Metro.us.

Think of all the situations you could avoid: Over-sharing about your office crush with the rest of your coworkers at the company Christmas party, saying “I love you” about six months too early to the new person you are dating, or even completely embarrassing yourself in front of your grandparents by convincing the band at your cousin’s wedding to let you do karaoke.

Yes, it might be nice to avoid getting drunk for a change. Australian scientists, (we knew we could count on the Aussies) are apparently working to make this happen — on the dime of taxpayers down under.

According to the Herald Sun, the “stay-sober” pill would limit the effects alcohol has on the brain, using a bunch of super scientific recent research.

Mark Hutchinson, the lead researcher from Adelaide University, said the pill would do two things to prevent people from becoming intoxicated. It would minimize the effect of alcohol by taking the enjoyment out of drinking. It would also reduce the incentive to drink.

Sound good? Well, unless you’re a binge drinker or an alcoholic, the pill might not be available to you. Heck, it’s going to take about three years for it to become available even for binge drinkers and alcoholics.

The rest of us will just have to continue searching for reasons to justify our occasional (or not-so-occasional) drunken outbursts and escapades.

The post Would you take the anti-drunk pill? appeared first on Metro.us.

According to data published by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in 2007, half of all full-time college students engage in drug abuse or binge drinking every month. Additionally, one in four of those students met the medical criteria for substance abuse or dependence.

The 2011 National Drug Control Strategy supports Obama’s goals of reducing illegal drug use by 10 percent within five years and having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

In a letter to higher education institutions, DOE Director Kerlikowske and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote:

The detrimental consequences of substance use on academic performance are significant and demonstrate why we must invest in prevention efforts among youth. About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades.

The strategy calls for more educational campaigns on college campuses, as well as early intervention for at-risk students. The Department of Education also plans to partner with collegiate recovery programs and student organizations to increase peer communication. The letter also lets colleges know about federal agencies that can assist in creating prevention programs on campuses.

Do you think these plans will have an affect on drug and alcohol abuse among college students?

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We’ve
had a lot of research since 1993. Binge drinking rates have remained
stable; at the same time, we’ve had a massive increase in programming to
reduce it. The other significant trend is an increase in the number of
abstainers — those that don’t drink at all. But, interestingly, we’ve
also had an increase in frequent binge drinkers.

Sounds like behavior is moving to the extremes.

That’s a good way to put it.

Should campuses be alcohol-free?

I
don’t think it’s possible to eliminate drinking and keep enrollment
where it is. But I don’t think we should anyway. Students wouldn’t be
doing this if there weren’t positives to it. It’s not all negative
outcomes: getting sick, getting arrested and burning couches. There’s a
lot of bonding, mutual affection and social support that emerges from
the drinking scene.

What can colleges do to make drinking safer?
 
For starters, we can definitely do something about the heavy drinking that occurs on 21st birthdays. There’s a sort of cultural mandate to get the birthday boy or girl staggeringly drunk. This is often facilitated by local bars. Colleges should start communicating with these establishments immediately. We also need to institutionalize and strengthen some of the informal social support that’s already there. For instance, we need to teach bystander intervention techniques.

The post Keeping the party fun — and safe appeared first on Metro.us.