The Van Helsing

Have those pesky vampires been bothering you again? Or are you just bored with the same old boring Bloody Mary? If so you’ve come to the right place. Vampires are everywhere now days it would seem – eager to sup on the hot syrupy blood pulsing through your veins…So in order to preserve your necks and your sweet virgin innocence (yeah right), I decided to create a new cocktail (a perfect Halloween cocktail). Enter The Van Helsing!

The Van Helsing cocktail takes the traditional Bloody Mary and turns it on its head, distilling it down to a pure and concentrated form with a bite that would put Béla Lugosi to shame.

To make a Van Helsing you will need the following: (a good) Vodka (that should be obvious) Tomato Paste Garlic Hot Sauce A teaspoon, a chopstick, a sharp knife (or garlic press) and tall straight shot glass. First off, peel the garlic - use half a medium clove per shot – and finely chop it. You can use a garlic press if you really must (i.e. if you’re worried about cutting your fingers); but trust me, the effect is nowhere near as good. Next, put one teaspoon of tomato paste (approximately 5 ml) along with the garlic into the bottom of the glass and add hot sauce to taste. Then fill the glass to the half way mark and grab the chopstick. Mix the contents of the glass by stirring with an up/down motion. This will ensure that the mixture blends properly from the bottom upwards (if not you’ll end up with a big dollop of unmixed tomato paste in the bottom of the glass). Do not fill the glass all the way up either, as this will cause the vodka and tomato paste to separate, making it almost impossible to blend properly. Once you’ve blended the first batch of vodka, top up the glass bit by bit, stopping to stir at each interval (using the same up/down motion) – this will again ensure that the drink is properly blended. With your glass now full to the brim, you’re ready to drink – be warned, this cocktail packs a punch and is not for the faint hearted, but if you’re afraid of vampires, or just love the taste of garlic - you will love The Van Helsing! For more cocktail tips check out Cocktail Times, or for those of you with iPhones, grab yourselves a copy of iBartender from the app store.

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Yannick Lord is a Los Angeles based Fashion, Glamour, Commercial and Lifestyle photographer with a passion for music, art, design, entertainment and technology. please feel free to explore these pages for more news, reviews and of course, my photography.