Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktail Night Presented by Steven Shomler
Saturday evening March 25th from 8 PM – Midnight a very special event is happening at Solae’s Lounge — Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktail Night.
Solae’s Lounge is located at 1801 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211.
Below is the story of how this event came to be and how to be and the details on the three awesome Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktails that will be served that night — the Shark Fin, Pirate Booty, and the Sour Tortola.
Click Going
If you are going to Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktail Night at Solae’s Lounge you can let us know here via this Facebook event – www.facebook.com/events/1175170619248158. We want to make sure that Alan makes enough Kool-Aid Pickles! 😉
Reverend Nat’s Holy Water(melon) Cider Cocktail Night at Box Social
Last September I did my first cocktail event — Reverend Nat’s Holy Water(melon) Cider Cocktail Night at Box Social and doing that was so much fun!
Since then I have been on the lookout to do another one.
Food Carts, Radio, and Synchronicity
On Sunday Dec 11th I went to Hana’s PDX Food Cart for the first time ever. I got a great cup of chili because they were sold out of the jambalaya. I saw on the menu something called a Kool-Aid Pickle. I had never of heard this before and I ordered one from Alan Bell, the owner of Hana’s PDX.
Alan explained to me that he take a regular pickle and marinates it in Kool-Aid and that doing so gives it three progressive layers of flavor when you bite into it — pickle, Kool-Aid, and pickle. As Alan told me all about the Kool-Aid Pickle I looked at him like he had lost his damn mind.
I bit into my Kool-Aid pickle and he was completely right – I tasted pickle, Kool-Aid, and pickle. As soon and took my bite I said, out loud — “I want this in a cocktail.” Alan then looked at me like I had lost my damn mind.
As fate would have it I was headed to see a friend and I took half of my pickle to show them and to share it with them. Leaving out my cocktail ideas, I explained the glorious insanity that is a Kool-Aid pickle and they took a bite.
The first they said after taking that bite was – and I quote – “I want this in a cocktail.” BAM! Right then I knew that I would be a Kool-Aid Cocktail event! But where????
I host an FM radio show — Tasty Tuesday 99.1 FM Portland Radio Project. Every Tuesday at 9:00 AM I have a Food Cart guest live and in studio. On Saturday Dec 10th, the guest scheduled for Tuesday Dec 13th had canceled, and once I had tasted Alan’s food on Sunday the 11th, I asked him if he wanted to come on the air on Tuesday and he said “yes.”
Tuesday morning Dec 13th, Alan shows up for his radio appearance and he brings a friend with him. Once the on air interview was over I talked with Alan about a getting bunch of his Kool- Aid pickles for the Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktail event I was going to do.
Alan was all for it and he asked me where I am going to do this event. I said that I did not know yet. It was then that the friend that Alan had brought with him —Lalu Mouton, spoke up and said “I am the General Manager of Solae’s Lounge and we can host that event there.” BAM! That is how my life works.
Synchronicity is real my friends. You head out toward what you want and then, once you have walked a ways down that path with determination, things will begin to come together for you. As Henry David Thoreau put it –“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams…” www.IfOneAdvances.com
Three Awesome Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktails
Maharlika Erickson is a very good bartender and he has come up with three awesome cocktails, and each one has a Hana’s PDX Food Cart Kool-Aid pickle component.
The best way to enjoy a Kool-Aid Pickle is:
#1 Sip the cocktail and taste it
#2 Bite the Kool-Aid Pickle and taste it
#3 Take a second bite of the pickle and then immediately take a sip of the cocktail and notice how the Kool-Aid pickle enhances your drink.
Shark Fin
The Shark Fin cocktail is a riff on a Chauncey a cocktail that was first written about in 1935 in the The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book.
This cocktail features Gin, Rye, Brandy, and a Cherry Kool-Aid Pickle.
Pirate Booty
This cocktail is a riff on A Rum Daisy and it features Cannon Beach Distillery Dorymen’s Rum, and a Tropical Punch Kool-Aid pickle.
The Sour Tortola
This cocktail features Indio Spirits Vodka and a Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid pickle.
Music
Saturday evening March 25th, The Flat Nines will be on stage at Solae’s and I cannot wait to hear them.
Click Going
If you are going to Kool-Aid Pickle Cocktail Night at Solae’s Lounge you can let us know here via this Facebook event – www.facebook.com/events/1175170619248158. We want to make sure that Alan makes enough Kool-Aid Pickles! 😉
Solae’s Lounge is located at 1801 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211.
I hope to see you Saturday evening March 25th! this event is happening from 8 PM – Midnight. We are going to have a great time!
Below are a few more photos!
Cheers,
Steven Shomler
I am Steven Shomler I write about the great food and the great stories that I come across on my culinary adventures!
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