Kunitz Comes Back

Have you ever felt like maybe you were losing your touch at something you used to be okay at? And then you have a moment where you realize, "No, I'm still pretty good at this"? I had it when I made this particular drink earlier this week. I used Bigelow's Cinnamon Stick black tea as my base. When I tweeted about it, the person behind Bigelow Tea's account tweeted me back to say it sounded good!

Chris Kunitz might have felt that way, sort of, last night. Last season was a bummer for him--he spent much of it injured, and just wasn't right when he was on the ice. He was absolutely diesel against the Hurricanes last night, doing everything he needed to. He ended up scoring two goals, although the second needed to be cleared with the war room in Toronto.

I've named a drink after Kunitz. It's the first of these cocktails ever, the Cussing Penguin. It lightened up a loss when he hollered "Aw, fuck!" into a hot mic on live TV. But it's nice to have actual good hockey stuff to remember Chris Kunitz by, so I felt I should name this after him, too.

Kunitz Comes Back

1 bag Bigelow Cinnamon Stick or other cinnamon-flavored black tea
2 ounces bourbon
half a clementine orange (if you have a particularly big one, you may want less)
1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda
hot water

Steep the tea bag in a large mug filled 2/3 of the way with hot water. Give it 3-5 minutes while you peel your clementine and get the bourbon. When the tea's done, take the bag out. Pour the bourbon and sweetener in; stir. Gently squeeze the clementine half into the mug (don't let seeds or a lot of pulp get into it). Stir once more, and drink immediately.

Note on ingredients: If you can't find the cinnamon tea or don't want to buy a whole box, use a standard bag of black tea and add 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon to it while it brews. Chai tea will *not* work, trust me.

The Cussing Penguin

On November 12, I planned to make classic cognac-based French 75 cocktails in my penguin-shaped cocktail shaker if the boys underperformed against the New Jersey Devils. Unfortunately, I had the opportunity. However, I didn't feel right about wasting champagne, not even the cheap and cheerful kind, on a cocktail on a weeknight. Also, um, I had to work the next day. So I substituted Lorina sparkling lemonade. Chris Kunitz gave my tasty new cocktail its name by saying what everyone in Penguins Nation felt, really loud. It's bitter, like defeat, but with a slight edge of sweetness, like the knowledge that Martin Brodeur didn't get to set a record for shutouts with our guys.

Cussing Penguin

1 1/2 ounce cognac
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
6 ounces sparkling lemonade

Mix cognac, lemon juice, and sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add crushed ice; shake until liquid is chilled. Pour cognac mixture in champagne flute. Pour in sparkling lemonade up to the top.