It’s probably clear that we really like a good wine. Who doesn’t like a good wine? But what if there was a way to drink a wine that’s not only good quality and tastes good, but also is doing good and making positive change in our world?
Well, we found a wine company that is doing just that: Proud Pour. Their wines are made from organic grapes that are sustainably grown, and each wine is dedicated to a specific cause to help make our world a better place for everyone.
Their sustainable wine lineup features a Pinot Noir for bees, a Rosé for reefs, a Syrah for soil, a cider for sea turtles, and a Sauvignon Blanc that supports the restoration of wild oysters.
We love all of Proud Pour’s wines, and are thrilled to support all of these causes, but if you’re not sure where to start, we wanted to share a couple of our faves.
Lauren really loves the Rosé for Reefs, not just because it looks pretty and tastes delicious, but because every three cases sold grows and plants a new baby coral to restore damaged reefs! Coral reefs help support 25% of all marine life, and provide a livelihood for millions of people through fishing and tourism.
Julia’s favorite is the Pinot Noir dedicated to helping save bees. Every bottle of this lovely red wine plants 35 sq ft of bee habitat on farms across North America, with over 90 acres of wildflowers planted to date! Bees are obviously important pollinators for our flowers and crops, and they actually pollinate one-third of the food we eat, from blueberries, to pumpkins, to watermelons, to tomatoes.
No matter what varietals you enjoy or what environmental causes are close to your heart, Proud Pour has something for everyone. No matter your choice(s), you can pour these wines knowing that you’re making a difference!
After a year and a half of being separated by 2000 miles and a global pandemic, Lauren & The Foreign were finally reunited last month in Chicago! The week was full of sightseeing, cocktail tasting, and relaxing by our hotel’s gorgeous rooftop pool.
For anyone else who is thinking of Chicago for their next little getaway, we wanted to share some of the highlights from our trip so you can experience them too.
We stayed at the Viceroy, which was absolutely lovely and a perfect location for walking to most of our destinations. Next door was a cute little taco shop, Velvet Taco, which was our go-to for multiple meals, margaritas, and late-night snacks throughout the trip. Our top three tacos were the Rotisserie Chicken, Fried Paneer, and Mexi-Cali Shrimp.
After dinner at Velvet Taco, we spent the rest of our first evening exploring the neighborhood and eventually ended up down by Lake Michigan where we watched the sunset over the skyline.
The next morning, we treated ourselves to a delicious brunch of Phatty burritos and tater tots at Wake ‘n Bacon. The food and coffee were delicious, but the floral decor was maybe even more impressive. Good vibes all around.
After brunch we headed back to our hotel to spend some time at the rooftop pool, soaking up the sun and drinking wine and frosé from Devereaux. The weather was perfect and you really can’t beat those views.
After a day of relaxing, we were ready to go out on the town! We walked to Aster Hall for dinner, and then headed to Neon Summer for an evening of fun drinks, photo ops, and extreme neon mini golf! We opted out of the go-kart racing and the axe-throwing that were also available, and spent the rest of the evening at an incredible cocktail bar near our hotel called Sparrow.
Sparrow is a hidden gem serving 1930s-era cocktails and vibes. The moment you walk in, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to a speakeasy. The art deco building and complex cocktails create a very sophisticated experience, and we can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed it!
The next day, we slept in and then went to The Hampton Social for lunch. This place has been on our list for quite a while so it was very exciting to finally get to experience it, frosé, neon sign walls, and all!
The food was delicious and filling, so after lunch we took a walk over to Navy Pier, where we immediately forgot how full we were and tried some delicious Malbec con Frutos Rojos gelato from FRÍO Gelato!
Then we walked over to The Art Institute of Chicago (admittedly a rather long walk), where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
Before we headed back to the Viceroy after our afternoon of art, we had to make a quick pit stop at the Bean in Millennium Park.
Then it was time to get dressed up and head to dinner at Carmine’s! We had made reservations for most of the other meals throughout the trip, but didn’t have reservations for Carmine’s. Thankfully, even on a Saturday night, they were able to get us a table (indoors) right away. After filling up on some delicious pasta, we spent the rest of the night relaxing and resting up in the hotel.
The next morning was Sunday and we had a full day of relaxation planned. When we woke up, we went downstairs to start our day at Somerset with a breakfast of French toast and omelets.
Then we went back upstairs to lay by the pool, read a book, and just enjoy the beautiful weather for a couple of hours. Mid-afternoon, we drove over to Bottle & Bottega for a wine and paint session!
For dinner we went to Lou Malnati’s for some classic Chicago deep dish pizza. We ordered The Lou, their signature pizza topped with spinach mix (enhanced with garlic, basil, and onion), mushrooms, and sliced Roma tomatoes covered with three cheeses, on a garlic butter crust!
Since it was our last night, we decided to walk down to the lake one more time to enjoy the view after dinner. And once we realized how close we were to a Jeni’s scoop shop, we had to take a little detour for some delicious Wildberry Lavender ice cream.
The next morning, it was sadly time to pack up and head home, but not before a quick stop at IKEA in Schaumburg!
It was absolutely a whirlwind week, but so much fun finally reuniting and getting to explore Chicago together for the first time in 12 years! We can’t wait for our next adventure!
Wisconsin was recently hit with several weeks of subzero temperatures, so we were in desperate need of something to remind us of spring. We called on Waterloo Gin (made with juniper, coriander and anise, with flavors and aromas of pecans, lavender and grapefruit zest) to make a wonderful cocktail to lift our spirits, so to speak.
We combined the gin with a flavorful honey rosemary syrup, lemon juice, and ez ginger soda, an organic soda made with just five simple ingredients: water, Stevia, ginger, agave, and citrus.
While Lauren’s husband says this cocktail “tastes like plants,” we find it to be much more complex, with an elegant balance of citrus flavor, botanicals, and just the right amount of sweetness. We appreciate his honesty though, and we’ll let him stick to his beer. 😉
If you’re a cocktail lover and especially a gin drinker, we think you’ll love this one as much as we do. Cheers!
To start, you’ll want to make your Honey Rosemary syrup. Heat water over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add honey and rosemary, stirring until honey is dissolved and mixture is fragrant. Remove the sprig of rosemary and set syrup aside to cool.
Once the syrup has cooled, it’s time to make the cocktail! First, fill a highball glass with ice. Then add the gin, syrup, and lemon juice. Top with ginger soda and stir. Garnish with a lemon wheel and sprig of rosemary. Enjoy!
Strawberry and rhubarb is probably one of the best early-summer duos we can imagine. In honor of World Gin Day (June 13), we created this delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Gin Fizz that will have you tasting summer no matter what time of year it is.
Unless you already have some rhubarb gin in your bar collection, this will take some time (potentially several weeks for the infusion), but if you stock up on rhubarb while it’s in season and infuse a big batch, you’ll be able to enjoy this tasty and refreshing beverage all year round.
Cut rhubarb stalks into small (about 1 cm) pieces.
Place into large jar and add sugar.
Seal the jar and shake to combine. Leave overnight to allow time for the sugar to pull the juice out of the rhubarb.
After 24 hours, add the gin and shake again.
We infused our gin for about 3 weeks, but depending on your preference you may want to let it infuse for a longer or shorter duration. Give the jar an occasional shake throughout the process and taste often! When it has reached your desired level of flavor, it’s done! We’ve heard of infusing as long as 4 weeks, and as short as 12 hours.
Our gin after about 2 weeks.
When you decide your gin is ready, it’s time mix up a delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Gin Fizz!
Muddle 2-3 strawberries with lemon juice in the bottom of a mason jar. If using frozen strawberries you may need to wait a few minutes for thawing. The lemon juice should help speed up the process.
Add in rhubarb gin and stir.
Fill the rest of the jar with ice and top with Strawberry Guava sparkling water.
Garnish with fruit and enjoy!
We’d love to know if you try our infusion or cocktail recipe! Let us know how it goes in the comments! Cheers!
Somewhere in between an Old Fashioned and a Whiskey Smash, our Orange is the New Blackberry cocktail is the perfect drink to enjoy on International Whisk(e)y Day!
You’ll need everything pictured above, plus some honey! Our favorite is Gentle Breeze!
St. Patrick’s Day is going to be a little different this year, thanks to COVID-19 and social distancing. There may be less festivities this year, but that doesn’t mean there has be to be less St. Patrick’s Day drinks!
Our favorite part about this cocktail is the honey garnish which not only adds a unique visual effect, but also adds a pleasant sweetness to compliment every sip!
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz Stolen Whiskey
1.5 oz Doundrin’s Distilling Honey Liqueur
1 packet Salada Asian Pear Matcha Green Tea
Splash of apple juice
1 Granny Smith apple (for garnish)
Drizzle of Gentle Breeze honey
INSTRUCTIONS:
First, you will want to steep a cup of green tea. Set aside.
Place used tea bag in cocktail shaker and fill with ice.
Add whiskey, honey liqueur, a splash of green tea, and a splash of apple juice – tea and apple ratios can be made according to your own preferences, we just guessed!
Shake and strain into glass filled with ice.
Garnish with apple slice and a drizzle of honey around the rim of the glass. Enjoy!
We hope everyone has a safe and healthy St. Patty’s Day! Cheers!
Brunch. One of the best parts of the weekend. We recently visited Vintage Brewing Company at their Capitol East location (previously Tangent) to try out their new brunch menu. Needless to say, we were quite impressed.
We started off with a round of brunch cocktails. We enjoyed a variety of unique signature cocktails such as the Woo Girl 2.0 and Friends of Dorothy. We also tried their award winning Bloody Mary which did not disappoint.
The Woo Girl 2.0 is Hendricks Gin, St. Germaine, Cava, lime juice, and Bitter Truth cucumber bitters. Friends of Dorothy is Plantation Pineapple rum, house-made grenadine, lime juice, ginger beer, mint, and Bittercube Jamaica #2 bitters. These cocktails differed quite a bit from the classic brunch cocktails we’re used to, but we loved the creativity here! We also shared an order of cheese curds.
For our main meal, we couldn’t decide between savory and sweet so we chose both! Our sweet selection was the French toast which came with fresh strawberries and blueberries and was topped with local maple syrup and powdered sugar. To die for! On the savory side of things, we went with the Breakfast Flatbread which was topped with roasted bell peppers, onions, carrots, scrambled eggs, goat cheese, cheddar jack, garlic aioli, and scallions.
After our meal, the general manager gave a quick tour of the new, updated space since the name change. They added a lounge with the classic Vintage fish tank and repainted the space in a lighter color to help it feel more bright and open.
We love the new atmosphere and of course, the new menu! We definitely recommend checking out the new Capitol East location for brunch as soon as you can!
We are so excited to share that we were recently featured on WKOW’s Midday Madison. Lauren got to talk about who we are and shared a delicious recipe for a fall cocktail: spiced pear mules!
Here’s what you need to make your own:
2 oz Spring44 Distilling’s Honey Vodka or 2 oz State Line Distillery’s Vodka and a spoonful of honey
1 oz pear liqueur
1 oz lime juice
dash of cinnamon
ginger beer
sliced pear
cinnamon stick
Shake vodka, honey, pear liqueur, lime juice, and cinnamon with ice. Pour into Moscow Mule mug rimmed with lime juice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with pear slices and a cinnamon stick.
While you enjoy your delicious mule, be sure to check out our feature on Midday Madison below!
We just created a new cocktail that is delicious and refreshing, no matter the season. With fresh fruit to remind you of summer, and champagne and liqueurs that add a touch of class, you’ll be serving this drink all year round, from holiday gatherings to pool parties!
Exploren with Lauren 