Captain Morgan Drink Recipes

This week, we’re running a special on Captain Morgan merchandise. In keeping with this theme, here ‘s some recipes for cocktails featuring Captain Morgan liquors.

Banana Daiquiri

.75 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum (25 oz. per bottle)

.5 oz. crème de banana liqueur

1.25 oz. sweet and sour mix

1 cup(s) crushed ice

1 slice(s) lemon

Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, crème de banana, sweet and sour mix, crushed ice, and ripe banana in a blender.

Blend until smooth and pour into glass.

Garnish with cherry and lemon.

Barbados Punch

1 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum (25 oz. per bottle)

.25 oz. triple sec

1 oz. lime juice

2 oz. pineapple juice

1 slice(s) lime(s)

1 slice(s) pineapple

Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, triple sec, lime juice, and pineapple juice in a blender with crushed ice.

Blend until smooth and pour into glass.

Garnish with lime slice and pineapple slice.

Beer and Bite

0.75 oz. Captain Morgan Lime Bite (25 oz. per bottle)

6 oz. beer

Combine ingredients into a pint glass.

Captain Morgan’s Planters Punch

1.25 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum (25 oz. per bottle)

2 oz. orange juice

2 oz. pineapple juice

.25 oz. lime juice

.25 oz. lemon juice

1 teaspoon(s) sugar

1 dash(es) grenadine

1 cherry flag

Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, and grenadine.

Shake with ice and strain into ice-filled glass.

Garnish with cherry flag.

Captain’s Orange Cafe

1.25 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum (25 oz. per bottle)

.25 oz. Grand Marnier (25 oz. per bottle)

1 cup(s) coffee

1 teaspoon(s) whipped cream

Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Grand Marnier, and coffee.

Top with whipped cream.

Cranberry Kiss

3/4 ounces Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum

2 ounces collins mix

2 ounces cranberry juice

1 wedge lemon

Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, collins mix, and cranberry juice to ice-filled highball glass and stir.

Garnish with lemon wedge.

Jamaican Sunset

1/4 oz Captain Morgan's Rum

1/2 oz Meyers Rum

1 1/2 oz Orange juice

1 1/2 oz Pineapple juice

1 oz Sweet and sour

Shake and strain this drink into an ice-filled Hurricane glass.
Float Meyers rum and Garnish with a Pineapple / Orange / Cherry pinwheel.

We hope you enjoy these tasty recipes. Be sure to let us know which ones are the best! And remember - a true Captain drinks responsibly.

Now its time for some shameless self promotion: Be sure to check out our web store so you can enjoy your tasty Captain Morgan cocktails in a one of our nice Captain Morgan glasses while lounging in a comfortable Captain Morgan chair and wearing one of our stylish Captain Morgan t-shirts. (Subtle, ain't we?)

Tales of a True Trendsetter – Lucille Ball

By Reid

Apparently affected by the “nostalgia” theme of Trendsetter’s current specials, I found myself browsing the web for stories about American entertainment icons. There was person one that stood out. Before Tina Fey, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, even Joan Rivers and Mary Tyler Moore, Lucille Ball blazed the trail for women to succeed in comedy. She was the very definition of a true original.

I find her determination and willingness to do things different to be the most fascinating aspects of her story.

Lucille Ball’s path to success was unlikely. Ball was born August 6, 1911 (Btw, Happy Belated Birthday, Lucy!) and was mostly raised in a modest setting by her grandparents in a small town in New York State. She dropped out of high school at age 15 and enrolled at the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts in New York City. Outshined by peers such as Bette Davis, Ball was sent home on the premise that she had no talent and, believe it or not, was deemed far too shy to succeed as a performer.

She soon returned to the City and began a long period of paying her dues. She found her first work as a model and later on Broadway (but was quickly fired). Still undeterred, Ball moved to Hollywood in 1933 and began a prolific yet under-appreciated career acting. Though her penchant was for comedy, Hollywood was more interested in beautiful starlets than comediennes, and Ball took almost any role she could find. She would become known in many Hollywood circles as, “Queen of the B’s”.

She achieved moderate success in 1940 with the musical “Too Many Girls” (where she met future husband and co-star Desi Arnaz) and in 1942 starring across from Henry Fonda in the film “The Big Street”. Ball married the younger Arnaz in 1940. The two would lie about their true ages for years because it was considered less acceptable for a woman to marry a younger man.

It wasn’t until the late 40s that Ball would begin to demonstrate her comedic talents to larger audiences in “My Favorite Husband”, a radio show for CBS in which Ball played a wacky wife (sound familiar?). CBS was interested in a television adaptation, but Ball insisted on working with Arnaz. The couple formed their own production company, Desilu Productions, in 1950 and produced a pilot. However, CBS was not impressed enough to be convinced that the masses would be won over by an American/Cuban couple. The couple responded by deciding to take the show on the road as a vaudeville act, and the tour proved to be a hit. CBS was finally convinced and the “I love Lucy”show first aired in 1951.

The rest is history.

Some accomplishments of Lucille Ball and trivia:

· “I Love Lucy” was the first show to use multiple cameras in front of a live studio audience.

· “I Love Lucy” is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, being the most watched show in America 4 of its 6 seasons. There were 3 seasons in which over half of the nations’ TV sets were tuned in to the show.

· When Lucille Ball became president of Desilu Productions in 1962, she became the first woman to run a major production company.

· Desilu Productions was home to many hit shows, including Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission Impossible, and the Dick Van Dyke show.

· In 1968, Lucy was reported to be the richest woman in television.

· TV Guide picked Ball as the Greatest TV Star of All Time.

· Lucy appeared on the cover of the first issue of TV Guide in 1952.

· Ball registered to vote in 1936 and 1938 as a Communist. In 1953, she was subpoenaed by McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American Activities. Arnaz famously quipped to a studio audience that year, “the only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that's not legitimate.”

· Also in 1953, Lucy broke ground by insisting on writing her pregnancy into the script of “I love Lucy.” CBS relented and allowed the episode to happen, but only if the word “pregnant” was not used on-air.

· Ball’s numerous accolades include 4 Emmy wins and 13 nominations.

I’ll conclude this article with my favorite two Lucille Ball quotes:

· “I’m not funny. What I am is brave.”

· “I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not.”

Happy 80th Birthday Betty Boop!

80 years and still going strong! Read on to learn more about this iconic, and controversial, animated figure. And in case you’re wondering … Yes, we’re commemorating this occasion the best way we know how – with a sale! (Selected merchandise only; ends at midnight.)

Betty Boop was conceived by Max Fleischer for and made her first big screen debut on August 9, 1930 in the 6^th installment of the Talkartoon series, “Dizzy Dishes”. Initially, she started out as an unnamed cabaret-performing female dog of all things, and as a mere supporting character that caught the fancy of the studio star, a dog named Bimbo. You can view that video here.

Later that year, Betty found a permanent voice – Mae Questel, who would also be known as the voice of Olive Oyl in the Popeye cartoons and the singer of the platinum hit “Good Ship Lollipop”. Fleischer would realize that he had a potential star in the young Ms. Boop, and gave Betty her current name, a fully human form, and first starring role in 1932. Meanwhile, Fleischer’s brother, Dave added more sex appeal and a more distinctively feminine personality to the character. A dog she certainly was not! Betty Boop’s career immediately took off, and she went on to star in over 100 cartoons in the 30s, earning the distinction of becoming the world’s biggest female animated star.

Her saucy image and flapper ways brought their share of controversy, however. From 1932 to 1934, Betty fought a successful legal battle against real-life sexy singing star, Helen Kaye, who claimed Betty had stolen her likeness. Several Betty Boop cartoons would be deemed too risqué and would be banned. In 1934, a set of censorship guidelines, the Motion Picture Production Code, also known as the Hays Code, began requiring all films to obtain a certificate of approval. This forced Betty to tone down her image, both in appearance and in themes of the cartoons, and Betty began resembling a traditional housewife more than a tantalizing flapper. Her new more wholesome character proved to be less appealing to audiences, and the tamer Betty Boop series steadily declined in popularity until its finale in 1939.

The Betty Boop cartoons saw a modest revival in interest in the 1950s, when the series was sold for syndication. Further interest was generated in 1974 with the release of the Betty Boop Scandals, which hit home with the post-60s counterculture movement. Betty Boop’s true renaissance began in the 80s when marketers began merchandising her likeness. Indeed, Betty Boop has now gained more exposure as an image on various products than she did in her films and shorts.

In her 80 years of existence, the character known as Betty Boop has entertained and scintillated, and continues to retain significant influence. So we want to say “Happy Birthday Betty!!”

And to steal a line from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, Betty – you still got it.

Let's Celebrate International Beer Day!

What better holiday to lift up your spirits, err… beer mugs? As many of you Trendsetters patrons probably already know, we at Trendsetters believe beer is beautiful. So when we discovered this made-up holiday whose tradition dates all the way back to 2007, we said to ourselves, “Count US in!” Heck, we like it so much we’ve decided to milk this thing for a whole week. So, to do our part in commemorating what is at the very least the best holiday in August, this week’s special - running till Tuesday - will be discounts on selected beer-brand merchandise such as Stroh’s, Lone Star, Guinness, Red Stripe, Brooklyn Brewery, Labatt and more. Check it out at www.trendsettersthestore.com.

International Beer Day dates back to 2007, when a few great men from San Francisco were, as legend has it, engaging in some “beerstorming” and decided it was time to stop beating around the bush with holiday’s like St. Patty’s Day, Cinco De Mayo, and New Year’s Day and get straight to the heart of the matter – why doesn’t the world just come together to celebrate the thing that makes other holidays fun to begin with?

Or, as the official IBD website more eloquently puts it: “Because we all need an excuse to drink another beer.” Their creed:

“The purpose of IBD is threefold:
1) To gather with friends and enjoy the deliciousness that is beer.
2) To celebrate the dedicated men and women who brew and serve our beer.
3) To bring the world together under the united banner of beer by celebrating the beers of all nations and cultures together on this one remarkable day.”

Now that brought a tear to this author’s eye. We highly recommend you check out that website at http://internationalbeerday.com. We also propose that if, this holiday spirit touches your heart in the way it has touched ours, feel free to join us today by raising your frosty mugs.

So, by all means, drink responsibly, and Happy International Beer Day everyone!!