I figure both readers of this blog already know this, but I thought I might make an official announcement: I am officially in a homework coma. Graduation is 2.5 weeks away and I have 20+ pages of research paper to write, and more pages to read than I care to mention. The bad news, obviously, is that I haven't had any spare time to write about drinks. Fortunately, things are not so bad that I haven't had time to drink drinks. That would be a real tragedy.
Joe (Tipsy) was supposed to pick up the slack for me while I was on homework hiatus, but he has been suffering from Mixer's Block.
I even tried to finagle my way into writing a cocktail-themed paper for one of my classes, so that at least I could get some more mileage out of my academic writing, but my teacher would have none of it. So I have become one of those statistics, one of those blogs that never posts anything for months on end.
I would like to say that the two fall/winter brews from Real Ale are Real Sexy. The coffee porter, brewed with organic/Fair Trade Certified Katz Coffee and organic hops, is awesome. It is available on tap around town, but not yet in bottles. Sisyphus, their barleywine, is available in bottles for the first time this year. Stock up! On that, I'll see you in a few weeks when school is over.

1 1/2 ounce white rum
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce Steen's 100% Pure Cane Syrup
1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and cayenne (1:1:1/2). Finish with a dash of Peychaud's bitters.

Locally produced Treaty Oak Platinum Rum made its debut several months ago. I procured our first bottle of this little gem after having first heard about it from one of the producers at a dinner held by Paul and Paula of Paula's Texas Orange & Paula's Texas Lemon fame. Cruising home with my treasure in tow, I had already decided that the Hemingway Daiquiri would be the first cocktail we would make with the Treaty Oak. After arriving home and confirming I had the recipe correct in my head I discovered we had no plain agave syrup nor did we have any simple syrup made. Discouraged? No way. I remembered that we had grabbed some Steen's 100% Cane Syrup while in New Orleans and so decided that is what I'd use.

A direct substitution was a little much as Steen's has a molasses-like flavor, though not at all sulphery - not a word, but it's a living language. After several months of playing with the recipe, I offer the Abbeville Cocktail. It is quite balanced and shows off the Treaty Oak and Steen's. You can sub in Meyer lemon juice in the place of the lime juice for a little switch; it makes an equally delicious cocktail. Enjoy.