July 6, 2016. A day that will live in infamy for the remainder of our adult lives. No, we didn’t make contact with extra terrestrial life forms, definitively cure cancer, start paying women equally to men, or figure out how the hell Stonehenge was constructed. No. Instead we reverted back to our 12 years old selves and completely lost our collective minds over Pokémon Go.
People are being hit by cars, getting stabbed but continuing to play, seeking their soul mates, finding (multiple) dead bodies, and getting caught red handed cheating on their girlfriends all because of this game. The Pokémon Go Mania is here and the bizarre phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. In its first week of downloads, Pokémon Go added $7.5 Billion to Nintendo’s market value…yes, that’s BILLION with a B! It continues to make more money than any other ISO App on the market despite being free and the daily user numbers are staggering.
Haters will say that this is nothing more than a sly move by the Government to step up its massive surveillance efforts, and those who aren’t conspiracy theorists are annoyed they have to see endless social media posts of memes, tweets, and screenshots of Pokémon in places they maybe shouldn’t be….
Source: PC MAG
But to that we say a solid WHATEVER. Pokémon Go is freaking cute and fun and people are forced to go out into the world in order to play. To advance in the game you actually have to walk around, ride your bike, and visit places in your city like landmarks and museums and maybe converse with other humans along the way. If you’re still salty about our childlike enthusiasm for an augmented reality where we catch adorable monsters and collect candies to make them much less adorable battle monsters, you might as well get over it. Pokémon Go PLUS is slated to release in the next few months, the Mania will continue.
So if you happen to be one of those adults who is thoroughly amused by all this Poké nonsense, we encourage you to continue in your pursuit to catch ‘em all. One of the best parts about the game is the social component, so the next time you and your team are prepping for a hunt or trying to take over control of a gym in your area, we’ve got the perfect cocktails to make you super effective! So gang up, drop a lure or two, sip some of these Pokemon themed concoctions, and get to hunting!
1. Vodka Cherry Pokéballs
2. Squirtle Squad Shot
Combine and shoot:
1/3 shot spiced rum
1/3 shot coconut rum
1/3 shot blue curacao
Chase with pineapple juice (optional)
3. The Fire Breather
Combine in a glass:
2 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey
2 splashes of grenadine
1.5 ounces Bacardi 151
Fill with ginger beer
4. The Pika-Tini
3 oz. Mango Puree
3 oz. Absolut Mango or mango flavored vodka
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. Grenadine
Mango and Cherry for garnish
Begin by filling your martini glass with ice water to chill. Mix the mango puree with Absolut Mango and ice. Shake until cold. Empty out your martini glass and pour in your mixture with a strainer. Top it off with Campari, grenadine and garnish.
Source: Huffington Post
5. The Bulbasaur Fizz
2 oz. Gin
1 tsp GREEN Creme De Menthe
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 Egg white
1 tsp. Superfine Sugar
Lime Twist
Club Soda
Add gin, crème de menthe, lemon juice, sugar and egg white to your shaker with ice. Shake. Shake a little longer. Put it down, add ice into glass. Pour well-shaken ingredients into glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with lime twist.
Source: The Drinking Blog
6. The Jiggly-Pina
½ fresh pineapple, peeled, cut into 1½-inch pieces
6 ounces sweetened cream of coconut (preferably Coco López)
2 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
8 ounces white rum
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 packages of fresh strawberries
Orange Juice
Place pineapple pieces in a plastic freezer bag and lay them flat. Freeze until solid, at least 3 hours. This is the most important step! Shake cream of coconut and coconut milk in their cans before measuring. Purée pineapple, cream of coconut, coconut milk, white rum, lime juice, and 3 cups ice (about 15 oz.) in a blender until smooth. Transfer blender cup to freezer and freeze until mixture is thickened (it should be the consistency of a milkshake), 25–35 minutes. Blend again until mixture is the perfect slushy frozen drink consistency. Divide into glasses and rinse blender. Combine 2 cups chopped strawberries and a ½ cup orange juice in blender, blend until pureed adding more orange juice if necessary. Combine strawberry puree on top of the Pina Coladas, swirl together. Garnish with skewers of marshmallows and strawberries, if you’d like.
see more Pina Colada recipes here
7. The Purple Reign
1 oz Blue Curacao
1 oz Sweet and Sour mix
1 oz grenadine
1 oz cranberry juice (cran-grape juice is an option too)
Combing all ingredients into shaker with ice, shake until well blended, and strain over fresh ice in talk pint glass.
8. The Viva La Eevee!
1½ ounces vodka
1½ ounces Kahlua or coffee liqueur
3 ounces Horchata (recipe follows)
Ground cinnamon
Fill a glass with ice. Pour in vodka and Kahlua, then top with Horchata. Garnish with ground cinnamon.
Horchata:
½ cup long grain white rice, rinsed
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
¼ cup sugar
Add the rice and cinnamon stick to a blender. Add 2 cups of water and pulse to coarsely grind. Transfer to a large bowl and add another 2 cups water. Soak at room temperature for at least 3 hours. Puree the rice mixture in a blender in batches until smooth. Strain through cheesecloth into a container. Mix in the sugar; chill. Stir the horchata before serving.
Source: Le Petit Eats
As the game advises upon loading: always stay aware of your surroundings! Especially if you’re planning on getting a little loaded first. Don’t be one of those poor souls getting robbed while playing, travel in packs and be careful out there! And above all, don’t let the naysayers cramp your style. People should be allowed to enjoy the silly things that make us smile, even more so after a couple cocktails. See you at the gyms!
