Channel Ascension

Episode 34: Venus vs. Mars (part I)

Since you guys enjoyed the 1st panel so much, we decided to do another one! Venus vs. Mars is a 2 part series with panelists Amina, Anna, Doug, and Tony. We discuss gender roles, and get the thoughts and views of our panelists on life, love, dating and marriage.

Drink of the Week

Venus

1 oz cognac

2/3 oz of orange juice

1/3 oz grenadine

chilled champagne

Pour cognac, orange juice, and grenadine into a champagne flute, and then fill the rest of the glass with chilled champagne.

Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

Chat with us

@CatnapsnCognac, @arielcherie, @LuckieStarZ

Episode 33: #ThatsFine and Transformations

In this episode we talk about how Didi started two movements on social media. We also talk about how B. Scott is clowning for his lawsuit against BET. Ariel tries to quiet her mind while Didi tries kickboxing.

Drink of the week!

The Transformation

1oz of dark rum

1.5 oz of pineapple juice

1 splash of lemon line soda

Mix it in a glass and serve over ice.

Talk with us!

@CatnapsnCognac, @LuckieStarZ, @arielcherie!

Episode 32: First Comes Love, then Cohabitation?

On this week's episode we are joined by four panelists: A. V., Donte, Jason, and Vanessa to discuss cohabitation before marriage. Tune in to listen to our panelists views on the subject!

Drink of the Week

Shared Expenses

Combine one 1/4-inch slice peeled ginger, 3 cilantro sprigs, 2 lime wedges, and 2 teaspoons raw sugar in a cocktail shaker and muddle until ingredients are crushed. Add 1 1/2 ounces carrot juice and 1 1/2 ounces dark rum and fill shaker with ice. Cover and shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into a highball glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

As always, chat with us!

@CatnapsnCognac, @arielcherie, @LuckieStarZ

Epispde 31: #NewRules and New Fools

So much beef on this show (#twss)! We talk about Teresa and Joe Guidice's beef with the Feds (from Real Housewives of New Jersey), Harry Belafonte's beef with Jay Z, and fast food employees' beef with their employers. 

Drink of the week!

The Glow Worm

1/4 cup water 

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

8 cups diced seedless watermelon (1 pound) 

1/4 cup fresh lime juice 

3/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, plus garnish 

1 1/4 cups silver tequila 

Ice

1. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a simmer with the sugar and stir over moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute; let the sugar syrup cool. 

2. In a blender, puree the watermelon until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the watermelon juice, pressing gently on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp. 

3. In a large pitcher, combine the sugar syrup with the lime juice and basil. Using a wooden spoon, lightly muddle the mint. Add the watermelon juice and tequila. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. 

4. Pour the cocktail into tall ice-filled glasses. Garnish with the basil and serve.

Hit us up:

@CatnapsandCognac

@arielcherie

@LuckieStarZ

Episode 30: No Invite?

On this week's episode, Ari and Deeds discuss and explain FOMO - the Fear of Missing Out; learn how you you can become an associate producer on Spike Lee's lastest film project - and discuss doing chores as an adult!

Drink of the Week

The Clean Up

Ingredients 2 oz green tea moonshine (see below) 2 oz green tea syrup (see below) 2 oz cucumber Thai basil juice (see below) 1.5 oz fresh lime juice shaved ice Directions: Build all components in a pint glass full of ice. Give it a good shake and set aside. Fill a clean pint glass with shaved ice. Clear a channel in the ice with a big bubble straw and strain the drink into the cavern in the shaved ice. Garnish it with a big slice of fresh cucumber. Green Tea Moonshine Ingredients 1 jar Georgia Moon Raw Corn Whiskey (moonshine) 4 green tea bags Directions: Add the tea bags to the jar of moonshine and let the bags steep for 2 weeks. Green Tea Simple Syrup Ingredients 1 cup water 1 cup white sugar 4 green tea bags Midori Melon Liqueur Directions: Mix the water and sugar together in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the green tea bags to the pot. Take the pot off the heat and let the tea bags steep for about an hour, letting the syrup get back to room temperature. Once the green tea simple syrup has cooled, add a splash of Midori melon liquor. Cucumber Thai Basil Juice Ingredients 4 cucumbers cubed 10 Thai basil leaves ¼ cup lime juice Directions: Fill a blender with cubed cucumber, Thai basil and lime juice and blend together until mixture is super smooth and fully blended. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for a 2-3 hours to let all the favors come together. Use a cheese cloth to separate the pulp and juice. Discard the pulp and retain the juice.

Chat with us:

@CatnapsNCognac, @arielcherie, @LuckieStarZ

Episode 29: All About Me

In this episode, Deeds and Ariel are joined by returning guest, A.V. Perkins and we talk about our new favorite show, Orange is the New Black as well as the not guilty verdict from the Zimmerman trial and its aftermath. Not to mention being a narcissist and Type A and B personalities. 

Drink of the week!

You're So Vain 1 1/2 oz. gin 

1 oz. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

Pale ale 


Ice cubes

Dip half of the Pilsner rim in wildflower honey and then lightly in kosher salt. Shake all ingredients in shaker except for beer. Strain over fresh ice into the prepared Pilsner glass. Top with beer and garnish with a lemon twist. 

Enjoy!

Episode 28: What's a Cronut?

Crazy cronuts, stinky catfish and oxymoronic atheist churches are just some of the topics Ari and Deeds discuss in this week's episode!

Drink of the week:

Come to Glory

1 1/2 cups light rum 4 limes, more for garnish 20 mint leaves 1 cup brewed green tea 1 cucumber sliced and more for garnish 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup water Club soda 1. Combine the 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small sauce pan along with the one cucumber. Warm it over a medium-high heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. This makes 1 cup total simple syrup. Once the simple syrup has cooled to room temperature, strain out the cucumber and transfer it to the refrigerator to chill. 2. Make your green tea but make sure to chill it before using it in this cocktail. Add five of the mint leaves to a cocktail mixer and the juice from half of a lime, then muddle the mint. Now, don't beat the mint up. Muddling is about releasing the essential oils of the herb into the drink. 3. Now add the remaining juice from that lime, a heaping 1/3 cup of rum, 1/4 cup of green tea and 1/4 cup of the cucumber simple syrup. This is going to be a very smooth mojito, by the way, and very refreshing. Play with the green tea and cucumber measurements to take it in different directions. 4. Mix and serve over ice with a splash of club soda, cucumber slices, more mint and a lime wedge.

Follow us!

@CatnapsnCognac

@LuckieStarZ

@arielcherie

Episode 27: White Boy Wasted

We're back! In this episode, we recap our favorite moments from the BET Awards, including the adlib king, Unlce Charlie Wilson. We also reveal our favorite white boy actor crushes (we heart James Franco!), and play Name That Fictional Character with @WittyKitty5.

Drink of the week:

Good Clean Fun

For the ginger syrup:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2-inch long piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices

For the drink:

1 1/2 cups ripe fresh mango, cut in 1-inch cubes (about 2 small mangoes)

1/3 cup ginger syrup

1/8 cup fresh mint, tightly packed

1 lime, cut in eight wedges

1 cup sparkling water, plain or lime-flavored

ice to serve

1. For the ginger syrup: Add water, sugar and ginger slices to the pot. Heat over medium-high until sugar has dissolved. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes.

2. After 10 minutes, remove ginger slices from syrup and transfer syrup to another container. Chill.

3. Place mango and ginger syrup in blender and puree until smooth.

4. In your serving glasses, gently muddle limes and mint together with either a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. Add ice and 1/2 cup mango mixture to each glass. Top up with sparkling water (about 1/2 cup per glass), stir gently, and serve immediately.

Follow us!

@CatnapnCognac

@LuckieStarZ

@arielcherie

Episode 26: Race to Progression

Is Paula Deen a racist? Will there be justice for Trayvon Martin? Are dark skin girls dumb and ugly? Listen as Ari and Didi discuss the answers to these questions on this week's episode. We also discuss another problem plaguing the black community; why is there a divide between black people from America, the West Indies and Africa? Special guest @DJSkinniBee calls into the CatHouse to weigh her opinions on the issue.

Drink of the Week

Equality

5 cups ice 

3/4 cup Cream of Coconut

4-6 Tbsp frozen Limeade concentrate (more or less depending on desired level of tartness) 

3 Tbsp water 

Put in a blender and serve!

Lastly, we want to thank all of our listeners for their constant support! We checked our stats this week, and we have had over 13,000 hits to the 25 previous episodes of Catnaps and Cognac! To top it off, as we were looking at the Podbean.com website, we saw our logo/link in the promoted podcasts section! Woot!! Needless to say we are on cloud 9, and just hope that you guys will continue to listen and enjoy the show!

Chat with us!

@CatnapsNCognac

@arielcherie

@LuckieStarZ

Episode 25: Let's Get Naked

In this episode, we talk about Jay-Z's "Holy Grail," and Yeezy's Pieces. We also get into the horrors of Naked juice, Facebooks are into hashtags, and all the summer movies we want to see. 

Drink of the week:

The Leaky Bastard

1 oz. Bacardi rum

1 oz. orange juice

1/2 oz.pineapple juice

7-up

Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass and fill with 7-up.

Talk with us!

@catnapsncognac, @LuckieStarZ, @arielcherie