Chick Chat, Group Post

Chick Chat: Favorite Cocktail (or Mocktail!)

I’ll toast to that! We’re sharing our favorite cocktails and mocktails today! 🍸

Lisa Q. Mathews

I wish I had a nice, simple answer to this question, lol. My cocktail faves are all over the map, depending on the event, how hot/cold it is outside, and my general whim. I’m a beer and (white) wine girl. Sometimes I order Prosecco just for the bubbles or multiple Shirley Temples (hello, Red Dye #3 — as a kid, I drank straight out of the Maraschino cherry bottle my mom kept in the fridge). I like Baileys as a nightcap (zzzz), Cosmos in a fancy bar, and pina coladas at the beach. I just love love love sugar (can you tell?) so I have to be careful. I down sweet drinks in a few gulps and then have the dilemma of “This was so good, should I have another one? (Answer: No.) I loathe whiskey, scotch, rye, bourbon, and bitters. But I can tell you which cocktails I can never, ever have: anything with tequila. For me, it’s one tequila, floor! I’m better off sticking with my true fave: Arnie Palmers (iced tea/lemonade).

 Ellen Byron

I’m a wine girl and rarely order mixed drinks. But when you read this, I’ll be in the one city where I do enjoy a cocktail: New Orleans!

My favorite Big Easy cocktail is the Pimm’s Cup. It’s like a mojito, only better IMHO. I also recently discovered another NOLA drink I have a taste for: the whisky-infused Sazerac. Did you know it’s the official cocktail of New Orleans? Or that New Orleans even has an official cocktail? Add this to the infinite list of reasons I love this awesome city.

If you’re going to Bouchercon in the fall, I highly recommend paying the Sazerac a visit and learning the history of this honored drink. Until then, laissez les bons temps rouler!!

Marla Cooper

Although Gin and Tonic is my go-to (maybe with a splash of St. Germain if I’m feeling extra-fancy), I love all cocktails. Just the idea of them evokes a Nick and Nora Charles vibe and makes me want to change into my favorite peignoir and banter with my husband.  

Speaking of cocktails, one time our dear friend Tammy Barker made the Chicks recipe cards for cocktails inspired by each of our books. Mine was something wine-inspired to go with my second book, DYING ON THE VINE. So I’m going to say that’s my favorite, because who doesn’t love a bespoke cocktail?!

Cynthia Kuhn

Confession: I do not know much about cocktails. But if I am going to have a drink, like the main character of the Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries, I favor a wine slushie. The ingredients are simple: red wine + ice. Lots of ice. A slushie amount of ice. Before you laugh, I have (unintentionally) converted people who saw me drink one, tried it themselves, and from that point on, also filled up their glass with ice before pouring in a little wine! 

Leslie Karst

I’m generally a gin gal, but when I’m here in Hawai’i, I do like to imbibe the local tropical drinks on occasion. And one I love is a real Mai Tai. By “real,” I mean the original recipe, developed back in the 1940s, which employs quality rum and fresh-squeezed lime juice–as opposed to the cloyingly sweet versions you tend to get these days with cheap rum and canned orange and pineapple juice.

It just so happens that the sleuth in my Orchid Isle mysteries, Valerie Corbin, is a bartender, and you can check out her Mai Tai recipe here.

Becky Clark

I’m not really a cocktail kinda gal. I’d prefer a Guinness or a glass of red wine. That said, I have a summer cocktail: gin and tonic. And a new favorite winter cocktail: an old fashioned. My son made me this for the first time when we were sitting outside on a cool autumn night and it was perfect. I wasn’t current on my booze trivia, so I did a bit of research. An old fashioned is a whiskey cocktail with bitters, syrup, and fruit. They think it’s called that because it’s one of the first widely known cocktails. Everyone puts their own twist (no pun intended) on it, and my son is no different. He uses orange-flavored Jameson, orange bitters, a dash of Fireball, and, of course, the secret ingredient for his mommy … love.

Jennifer Chow

I’m more of a mocktail gal, but I can’t help but boost The Chocolate Marshmallow. This is a cocktail that dear Tammy Barker sent me when Mimi Lee Gets A Clue first released. It’s clearly in honor of the one-and-only Marshmallow, that lovable snarky cat! She entitled her recipe card, “Mimi Lee Fluffs Up A Clue” and here’s a pic of it!

Readers, pick your poison! What’s your favorite drink — alcoholic or otherwise?

27 thoughts on “Chick Chat: Favorite Cocktail (or Mocktail!)”

    2. Yesssss! I live in Austin, the land of margaritas. My current fave is the frozen mango margarita at Chuy’s. BTW, National Margarita Day is coming up soon!!

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  3. I tend to take a more straightforward approach. During the winter I like spiced rum on the rocks. During the summer, it’s Irish whiskey on the rocks. If I’m going the cocktail route, give me a mojito or an old fashioned. And like Ellen said, you can’t spend time in NOLA without having a Sazerac. Sláinte!

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  4. Way back in the day, I loved a whiskey sour. I couldn’t (and still can’t) stand straight whiskey, but a good whiskey sour hit the spot.

    These days, it’s sangria, white wine, or (in the winter) hot chocolate with a shot of butterscotch schnapps.

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  7. Long ago when I worked in a particularly male-dominated profession, I decided to learn about Scotch, just so I could make intelligent conversation at venue bars at conferences with the Guys. I learned 3 things: 1. How to actually like/appreciate decent Scotch (neat or with one rock), 2. liking Scotch is an expensive hobby, and 3. this simple knowledge base was a more effective technique for being taken seriously in that crowd than talent, skill, or track record, which is pretty sad.

    When I’m not trying to impress anyone (which is most of the time nowadays; who has time for that, amirite?), I’m happy with a Guinness or a nice dry cider. Though I’ve been known to pour from the bottle of “Writers Tears” Irish whiskey in the cabinet on days when I get query rejections or receive the latest edit letter. 😆

    —JKB

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      1. It’s pretty good! I find I can’t do most of the proper “cocktails” well; something about the combination of the alcohol and the sweet disagrees with me.

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  9. So, it seems like I’m the primary hard liquor fan here amongst my fellow Chicks–though Marla and I could have fun with our G&Ts….

    But I do love my wine, as well. I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir and Côte de Rhone, though not so much those big fruity reds aged in American oak that end up tasting like vanilla. And I’m with Lisa re tequila–not a fan. I drank toooooo much in my college years, and the memories of those mornings-after are burned in my psyche.

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  10. Oh, and Becky: Old Fashions are our family drink. My dad would make them for every holiday: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, birthdays…. Such fond memories of that. And they’re delicious! So I now carry on the family tradition, natch.

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  12. oMG. I am so flattered the chicks still remember what I did when we were all quarantined during the start of Covid. And yes, I still have the booklet of recipes, I go through it when I want a smile.

    i love a margarita on the rocks, or something with simple ingredients I recognize. Had one once that had so much stuff I ended up with hives. So it’s KISS for me.

    Still trying to perfect my pina colada bon bon.

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  13. Unlike Lisa, my favorite is tequila. With tequila, singing, dancing, and all things are possible. So, please pass the margaritas. I also love trying new cocktails, or the old classics. As for wine, I like sweet like moscato or Prosecco. Beer? Pass! That was all for my wife.

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