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4th Annual Bar tending Competition with Devour Phoenix at Crescent Ballroom

arroyovodka — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:34:50 +0000

For the 3rd year in a row we are sponsoring the Devour Bar tending Competition on Sunday February 24th from 4-6pm.

The past 2 years we have held the competition at The Vig Uptown, but we have out grown the venue and will be able to increase the attendance by having the competition at The Crescent Ballroom in Downtown Phoenix at 2nd Avenue and Van Buren.

This year bartenders will be using Arroyo Vodka to make the tastiest and most mouth watering cocktail they can concoct to win the place as this years StarBartender. Bar tenders from these restaurants and bars will be competing:

Crescent Ballroom: Bruce Heimbuck
District American kitchen: Matt Tobey
Hula’s Modern Tiki: John Hopkins
Maizie’s cafe: Jane Davidson
Parlor Pizzeria: Joshua James
Shady’s Fine Ales and Cocktails: Kyle Landry
Sochu House: Francisco Orozco
St. Francis: Zachariah Gillespie
The Windsor: Matt Farrow

Mistress of Ceremonies: Megan Finnerty of EVB Live and AZ Republic

Judges of the craft:
Matty Helland of the Windsor (2012 Winner), Jason Aher of AZ Mixology and Jessica Hill of Phoenix New Times

Music Master: Sean Watson

Tickets can be purchased at: http://www.crescentphx.com/event/209807-4th-annual-devour-bartending-phoenix/

Tasting Panel at Rancho Pinot Grill Jan 21st

arroyovodka — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:32:20 +0000

Rancho Pinot Grill in Scottsdale, AZ is hosting Arroyo Vodka on January 21st at 5:30 p.m. to hold an exclusive tasting of our new products including flavored vodka’s, gins, plus more spirits that are currently being developed.

$25 will get you tastings of 5+ spirits and Rancho Pinot noshes, specially designed to pair with the spirits.

Only 15 spaces are available, call Rancho Pinot now and reserve your seat! 480-367-8030.

Spirited Warm Holiday Punch

arroyovodka — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:21:00 +0000

When entertaining over the holidays, you don’t want to be standing at the bar while everyones mingling around the food table. The best solution I’ve discovered to this, is to fill up a crockpot with your warm festive holiday punch, place it on the table and let everyone serve themselves!

Recipe

Serves 4

1 Cup of unsweetened Cranberry juice

1 Cup of Apple Juice

1/2 Cup of sugar

4 Cinnamon sticks

Zest of 1 orange

4 slices of orange

1 tsp of cinnamon powder

1 tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of allspice

1 tbs of whole and crushed cloves

2 Cups of Arroyo Vodka

Mix all ingredients in the crockpot until warm and serve, garnish with orange slice, do not over heat as this will burn off the alcohol.

When you get down to the bottom of the pot you’ll want to throw out the last inch as there will be remnants of the spices and zest.

This also makes a great gift, pour some into a mason jar, tie some ribbon around the top and you’re all set!

Enjoy

Arroyo Launches into Old Town Scottsdale at The Mint

arroyovodka — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:58:22 +0000

There was such a great energy this past Thursday Night the 15th of November at The Mint AZ in Old Town Scottsdale. We launched Arroyo Vodka into the nightlife scene with some entertainment from Fascinations and a huge ice luge. Since Arroyo is made in Arizona we like to incorporate some spice and southwestern flavors into our cocktails, The Mint’s head mixologist whipped up some great original drinks (pictured above). One was made with Prickly Pear juice and homemade sour mix, the other was made with Passion Fruit Puree and garnished with Jalapeno Slices.

We’ll have to do it again. Here are some pics from the night.

The Drunken’ Punkin’

arroyovodka — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:51:10 +0000

The fall is here and we couldn’t be happier to get our taste buds enticed with the autumn flavors to get in the spirit of Halloween and Thanksgiving! Once you get the ingredients together this is an easy and impressive one to make for your holiday parties.

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Arroyo Vodka
1 oz Baileys
2 oz Half & Half
2 oz Pumpkin Puree
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
a dash of Ground Cloves
Ice

In a Blender: add ice, vodka, pumpkin puree, half & half, and baileys. Blend until the right consistence, shouldn’t be too thick or too icey. Add more Vodka or Half and Half if it is too thick. Throw in spices and do a 2 second blend.

Garnish: dip the rim of the martini glass in syrup and put onto a plate of crushed graham crackers until it sticks. Top off with whip cream and cinnamon stick!

The Hot Mama – Habanero Cocktail

arroyovodka — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:09:18 +0000

We aim to design cocktails that will peek your interest and use the flavors of the southwest. This is how we came to create The Hot Mama made with Habanero bitters, pineapple, and Arroyo Vodka.

Ingredients for 1 drink
1/2 oz of Habanero infused bitters
2 oz of Arroyo Vodka
4 oz of Pineapple Juice

First you will need to make your habanero bitters. If anyone is selling such a product please let me know! Or else we are left to make them ourselves.
1. Put on Gloves! protect yourself from the fiery burn of the pepper
2. slice 2 habanero peppers, remove the seeds.
3. place 3 oz of bitters into a mason jar and add the peppers
4. place in a dark cupboard for 1 week, agitate once per day by shaking up the jar of bitters

* I used Angostura Bitters- if you have other bitters that you prefer to use go for it! I was tempted to use my blood orange bitters but didn’t do so this time.

Mix all the ingredients together and garnish with a pretty edible flower and voila! you have a spicey sweet vodka drink!

Mixology Mondays at the Hermosa Inn

arroyovodka — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:43:41 +0000

It is the best place to relax on a Monday night to ease back into the work week. From 4pm-7pm The Hermosa Inn on 36th street and Stanford has Mixology Mondays. On Monday evenings head bar-tender/ local celebrity Mixologist, Travis Nass puts together an original drink each week at the amazing price of only $6 for a drink!

This Monday I went in and enjoyed the latest creation. It was a punch mix made of strawberry juice, tequila, and a touch of absinthe. The sound of this drink sounds toxic, like it will create hallucinations followed by the most epic hangover for my Tuesday morning. But you have to trust Travis, he knows what he’s doing and I’ve never disliked any creation thats come from his mixology lab.
The punch is refreshing and fruity! I would never have guessed that this pairing would turn out so well. After sitting in doors on the overstuffed leather lounge chairs in the bar, I head outside where the weather has dropped to a wonderful 75 degrees. The dining tables are full with locals and travelers alike dining together underneath the trees in the dimly candle lit patio.

This is the good life. A brief vacation in itself, enjoying a Monday evening. Almost makes me forget that work starts again in the morning.

New El Dorado Hotel Scottsdale Launch Party

arroyovodka — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:35:48 +0000

Join Arroyo Vodka at The El Dorado Hotel as we along with Couple of Bartenders unveil the newly remodeled hotels Signature drink, The El Drink.
The El Dorado Hotel Scottsdale was originally an apartment building from the 1960′s. The developers saw something special in this property being so close to Old Town Scottsdale and having great intrinsic characteristics.
They have remodeled the facilities to a retro-chic 1960′s look. It is a hidden gem in the midst of Old Town. For only $99 night you can get an apartment with kitchen and patio included! A great stay-cation spot for the locals too.
Great local restaurants, musicians, and entertainers will be sure to make it a fun filled this Saturday the 29th of September from 6-10pm! Proceeds from the event will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of AZ.

Bitters making me bitter

arroyovodka — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 06:29:00 +0000

I found an inspiring drink with a vague recipe at best, but the recipe fit so well with everything Arroyo Vodka is about. Arroyo works great in cocktails especially Arizona/Southwest flavored cocktails.

This drink I would like to call the Sweet Hot Kiss, its contents are vodka, pineapple juice, and habanero bitters. So unique and interesting sounding I immediately went to acquire the contents. Turns out that habanero bitters are not for sale at your local liquor store. Nor are there recipes to construct such bitters.

This led me down a path to construct my own bitters from scratch. For those of you who might not know, bitters provide a back bone to a drink. It is so potent in flavor and complexity that just a few drops will change the cocktail and make it much more interesting to drink. There is also no recipe for your basic bitters, each brand of bitters has their own mixture of barks, herbs, and roots that soak in alcohol. After perusing the internet for some great insider tips I found, no one is giving away their secret recipes!

The Bitters Shopping list consists of:

Gentian

Quinine

Wormwood

Orange peel

Habanero

Cascarilla

My best lead is to source the ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs. Unfortunately the spicy bitters will take some time to source and then to soak.

In the meantime, I have taken the common Angosture bitters and put a couple ounces in a mason jar with a chopped up de-seeded habanero pepper. The jar has been placed in a dark pantry where I swirl it around once or twice a day and will sample it in a week to see how it is absorbing the spice and if it is ready for creating the Sweet Hot Kiss.

written by Morgan: amateur mixologist, vodka manufacturer

The Washington Cup 2012

arroyovodka — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:11:01 +0000

Arroyo Vodka has won the 2012 Washington Cup!

The Washington Cup is a competition of American Made Spirits that are blind tasted by a panel of judges.

Spirits to get past the first round of judging go through a total of 3 rounds to find the winner.

We are proud to announce this is Arroyo Vodka’s first competition and first win!