Seattle Happy Hour: Rachel's Ginger Beer

What: Rachel's Ginger Beer
Where:1610 12th Ave, Seattle, WA
When: 4pm-6pm Daily
Honeys Heart: $6 Moscow Mules (in pint glasses!)

Not to brag, but Kel and I have been really good about going to happy hours recently. I mean, that is kind of our thing so it's probably not that boast-worthy... but we're still pretty jazzed about it.

We have like 10 Portland happy hours to tell you about, but before we do that, I'm going to fill you in on a great Seattle happy hour that, fingers-crossed, will soon become a Portland happy hour too.

Rachel's Ginger Beer got its start selling artisanal ginger beers at Seattle farmers markets before opening up brick and mortars in Pike Place and Capitol Hill. They offer a ton of different flavored ginger beers like blood orange, caramelized pineapple, and pink guava in bottles and for growler fills, plus cocktails on tap.

Their cocktails are already very reasonably priced at $8, especially considering they come in pint glasses, but during happy hour, Moscow Mules and Montana Mules (whiskey and ginger beer) are only $6 a piece. That is a seriously good deal.

Also, they're seriously good.

That's a Porch Swing (gin, aperol, and ginger beer) above, which was okay, but really, just stick with those Moscow Mules and you'll be happy you did.

Here's to hoping that RGB will keep that same happy hour offering at their new location on Hawthorne!

HHH Review: Crabbie's Ginger Beer

For those uninitiated to the deliciousness of Moscow Mules, Dark and Stormys, and ginger beer in general, the fact that ginger beer contains no alcohol often comes as a surprise. But similar to root beer, ginger beer is beer in name alone. Well, usually anyway.

Enter Crabbie's Ginger Beer. Made with real ginger and boasting a 4.8% abv, Crabbie's Ginger Beer is the first alcoholic ginger beer to be distributed in the U.S. The brand built a successful following in the UK before beginning distribution on this side of the pond a few years ago.

I first tried Crabbie's Ginger Beer at last year's Monterey Brew Fest. I remember our group being impressed with how good it was, but you know how beer fests are- things can get a little hazy. I was happy to oblige then when Crabbie's reached out to see if Kel and I would like a sample to review, .

We decided to include a tasting of Crabbie's as part of our March SALEP meeting. The reaction was certainly a positive one. Everyone agreed that Crabbie's packed a pleasant spicy gingery punch and wasn't as sweet as we expected it to be (that's a good thing). We liked how refreshing it was on its own but also thought it would be equally good as a substitute for regular ginger beer in cocktails.

If you'd like to try Crabbie's for yourself, it's available locally at most Fred Meyers and New Seasons as well as some independent retailers like Belmont Station. It's also available at several local bars including East Burn and Quimby's at 19th.

And if you want to make a cocktail using ginger beer on your own, here's the recipe for our two favorites:

Moscow Mule
- 2 oz vodka
- 1 oz lime juice
- Ginger beer

Dark and Stormy
- 2oz rum
- Ginger beer
- Lime wedge

Cheers!

DIY Happy Hour: Easy Moscow Mules

On Tuesday, Lauren and I hosted a GINGERbread Holiday Party.

What is a GINGERbread Holiday Party?

Well, it's a holiday party where you eat Thai Ginger chicken and gingersnap cupcakes, and decorate gingerbread cookies, and play Guess the Ginger Celebrity, and drink gingery cocktails, and (ideally) listen to Reba McEntire's Christmas album. Obvs.

You can read all about the party on Lauren's blog here.

I was in charge of cocktails, so I decided to make one of my favorites: Moscow Mules. Usually you make them with lime juice and simple syrup, but I ended up using organic limeade instead and it worked just fine- and made these drinks that much more of breeze to make.

Easy Moscow Mules: 

Recipe: 
- 1 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Limeade
- Ginger Beer
- Lime Wedge
- Ice

Cheers!