“I must recommend my favorite that I serve at my own table year after year,” says Bearbower. “The beauty of this drink is that it can be served cold, or you can even serve it warm in a punch bowl, ladling it into cups.”

Single Barrel Cider

1 ½ parts Cruzan Single Barrel
1 part simple syrup
¾ parts fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 part fresh cider (the cloudy kind, the one you buy in the refrigerator section)
Fresh-grated cinnamon (or you could use nutmeg, even pumpkin spices)

Let's pretend we are spending our Thanksgiving with a Crucian, laying in a hammock on a remote, ridiculously gorgeous tropical island. What then?

“I must recommend the classic, good ol’ fashioned Daiquiri,” says Bearbower. “Especially when vacationing on the islands, people perceive a daiquiri to be every color of the rainbow, blue, green, red, frozen and insanely sweet - but the real key to a classic daquiri is freshness. Just shake all ingredients with ice, and pour into a cocktail glass.”

Daiquiri

1 ½ parts Cruzan Light
1 part simple syrup
¾ part fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Final question. You're lounging around after Thanksgiving, watching scary horror movies...like loved ones do. The Shining, originator of one of the most famous rum lines of all ("RED RUM"), comes on. What should we all drink to calm our terrified nerves?

“Here is one of my favorites,” says Bearbower. “It’s Cruzan’s take on a Dark and Stormy. It’s one of those drinks that is so interesting to taste and highlights the rum so well.”

1 ½ parts Cruzan Single Barrel
Top with fresh ginger beer
Squeeze of lime
Float on top Cruzan Black Strap

“There’s an interesting trick to this drink,” says Bearbower. “First, use a tall glass and fill with ice. Add the rum, top with ginger beer and squeeze of lime. Then the trick is to take a flat spoon and rest it just on top of the drink. Pour the Black Strap slowly on the spoon so it overfills on top of the drink. The Cruzan Black Strap rum will actually float on top!"

We aren't the only ones in town to serve cake balls, but I think we're the only ones who put them on a stick and have fun with the fact that we're serving balls. A cake ball is made by breaking up a freshly baked cake into crumbs, mixing in frosting, rolling the mixture into a golf ball-sized ball, and dipping it in chocolate. The cake ball is a delicious and practical dessert; instead of making a flavor commitment like you would with one slice of cake, you can have a variety of 3 or 4 cake balls and still not feel painfully stuffed. In one trip to our trailer you can have Brass Balls (peanut butter), Velvet Balls (red velvet), and Rabbit Balls (carrot).

From hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate to cake balls and cake shakes and even old-fashioned soda floats, I feel confident in our ability to satisfy any sweet tooth. My latest obsession is our roast your own s'mores feature. Our marshmallows are a pain to make, but you haven't had s'mores until you have melted these freshly made, fluffy marshmallows over a campfire. Every night at dusk we light the campfire at the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery so our customers can have this experience.

What are the backgrounds of the shop owners? What did you guys do before launching this trailer idea?

As my mother likes to point out to customers at our trailer, I have an Ivy League masters degree and I was a real estate developer in New York before making my trailer debut. I was looking to move back to Austin last fall when developers were shutting doors and downsizing. I decided this was a good time to pursue the dream I had always had to start my own business.

While mom may still be at a loss, my boyfriend and business partner, John Spillyards (who thankfully has a day job) jumped wholeheartedly into the endeavor and helped me craft my vision. Through late night brainstorm sessions we came up with what we think is a clever name: Holy Cacao, cacao being the name of the tree that chocolate comes from. Our mascot, Holly the Holy Cacao Cow plays to the fact that cacao rhymes with cow. Holly is a blue, six-armed Ganesh-style cow who presides over Holy Cacao (brilliantly designed and hand painted by local artist Claire Hees) holding a cacao pod in one hand, a cake ball in another, a cup of hot chocolate in a third, and a cake shake in a fourth.

What's your advice for Austinites hoping to launch their own small business venture?

It is LOTS OF WORK and requires constant re-invention. We had a honeymoon phase with lots of business that we expected to last forever. Over the past months we have realized that we need to constantly find new ways to reach people. For example, we are starting the 12 DAYS OF CHOCOLATE the day after Thanksgiving to offer our interpretation of seasonal flavors and let the public know that Holy Cacao will consistently find new ways to delight their sweet tooth!

Having a sweeter palate herself, The Informed Drinker did enjoy the 21 Year Port best when she was served at Peche two weeks ago, along with all the Balvenie scotches. These included a 12 Year Double Wood Aged (peppery and watery eyes-inducing), a 15 Year American Oak Aged (slightly less burning), and a 17 Year Madeira Wood Aged (caramel-y and smoky flavored). She learned that it's traditional to add a few droplets of water to your scotch to “open up the flavor,” as Weir put it, so do not feel sheepish if your next glass of scotch needs a splash. You are not a wimp for adding water—you are a connoisseur.

Since scotch is a spirit best enjoyed by itself, we thought we'd do something a little different than we normally do at this stage of The Informed Drinker column (name three drink suggestions for three scenarios). Instead, we asked Weir—a Scotsman himself—to offer three “fun facts” about scotch, a spirit that, as we've seen above, commands its own governing body.

How many people make scotch?

“There are 98 distilleries in Scotland,” says Weir. “And, all of those scotches have extremely different characters - not just from distillery to distillery based on region, but bottle to bottle from the same distillery! Scotch drinkers are more about flavor discovery, and less about flavor consistency. There are so many factors that can affect a scotch during its aging process, that it's best to know what general flavor range you tend to enjoy - less aged, or more aged - and stick to that, rather than cling to just one bottle, 100% of the time.”

Who are Balvenie's top-selling markets?

“The US, France, and...Thailand. In that order,” says Weir. “The Thai do love to entertain.”

Say someone is just dying to have a scotch-based mixed drink. What then?

“I wouldn't mix any scotch over a 12-year,” says Weir, “but if I had to choose: A Blood & Sand. It's approachable, and multi-seasonal.” Made with Balvenie 12, Cherry Red Herring, orange juice and Vya Sweet Vermouth, the Blood & Sand is approachable indeed - sweet, but with an assertive enough alcohol base to make you want to approach it again and again. You can find it at Peche on their regular cocktail menu.

Because vodka can be prepared from anything with simple sugars—grains, fruit, potatoes, etc.—and isn't aged in wooden casks like many spirits, the room for experimentation is great. Beveridge himself starts with corn, supplied largely from farmers in Texas. American vodkas are, by law, neutral spirits, meaning they aren't treated so as to detract from their inherent aroma, taste, or color, but Beveridge's own palate dictates the subtle attributes of his final vodka product.

“I make vodka that I like to drink,” says Beveridge. “I like it smooth, not face-quenching. A little burn. A little tartness after the sweetness passes. I want it to be vodka that you can sip, not vodka you have to shoot.”

Since Beveridge founded his own vodka career through mixed infusions, The Informed Drinker asked him to recommend three Tito's mixed drinks for three different scenarios.

Let's face it: many people drink vodka to party. What's a good Tito's drink for a celebratory occassion?

“Keep it simple,” says Beveridge. “Almost anywhere you go in this town that carries Tito's, you can ask for that, [San] Pellegrino, and squeeze of lime. It's refreshing and goes down easy.”

How about when you're on a date, and want to savor your vodka experience?

“Well, a Mexican Martini of course,” says Beveridge. “It's fantastic with Tito's. All you need is that, triple sec, and fresh lime juice if you're making it at home. At a restaurant, order one Mexican Martini and two glasses, so you have to share it. That's more of a romantic way to drink.”

When you need to put on a more professional front—entertaining clients, for example—what then?

“You can't beat a classic shaken martini,” says Beveridge. With three ingredients—vodka, dry vermouth and an olive—it's easily the MVP of Brat Pack beverages.

“Wife says I drop too many F-bombs when I drink martinis though, so I'm not allowed to order them,” says Beveridge. “At least in polite company.”