Guaro leads the list of traditional alcoholic drinks in Costa Rica. But because it was once the province of the poor drinker, it has a reputation of being the "rot gut" of this country. Though that is changing, it still remains so in some ways and honestly the quality can be a bit spotty if not chosen well. Which explains why so many consider it a crude spirit and most tourists pass the stuff right by. But that's why they are tourists and we are travelers...

When I came here I knew I was going to seek out guaro. I have met people who have come home from Costa Rica raving about the stuff. But before you run out to the liqueur store you should know that guaro is also generic term for rum, so there is some confusion between actual guaro and rum. Like rum guaro is distilled from pressed sugar cane. The taste and quality varies in different parts of Latin America, but in Costa Rica the Cacique label is making a very refined guaro, distilled and filtered using only quality ingredients.

To avoid having a bad experience with 70-proof guaro, it's important to know something about it. It is potent enough, sure. It is also clear liquid with a very mild flavor, it most reminds me of vodka. Still, despite its mild flavor you do not drink it straight like tequila.

In Costa Rica guaro-based mixed drinks usually consist of pouring a shot or two into a glass with ice and pouring Fresca over it. Which has its appeal I have to admit. It also mixes nicely with other tangy citrusy soft drinks and fruit juices. This is the Tico way to enjoy this drink.

But I decided to make my first experience of it as a substitute for vodka in a slightly tropical version of a Bloody Mary.

Fred Waring wherever you are I’d like to kiss you right in the pucker. Because you my wise friend brought us a summertime lifesaver: The Bar Blender!

It’s capable of pulverizing an ordinary “on the rocks” cocktail into a frosty, smooth summertime thirst quencher. If it weren’t for you the famed Tiki drinks of the 1930s wouldn’t exist. Daiquiris would remain shaken or stirred. Margarita would just be an island in the Caribbean.

Thanks to you, plain ole schmucks like me can transform ice, alcohol and fruit into a pleasurably slushy treat. We can kick back 3 or 4 potent fruity concoctions and never know what hit us.

Now I know you did not exactly invent this machine. That honor goes to another Fred named Osius (you know as in Osterizer). But it’s you Mr. Waring who saw its potential. It’s you who put your wallet where your pucker was and fronted early production and design of this whirling little beauty.

Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world to fire that other Fred and have your team put his machine through some redesigns. But it was those redesigns that finally made this baby sing.

Okay, I was at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. The blackberries are starting to make a big splash so that’s what I chose for my Market Matters post today.

But today is special. Not only do you get a recipe using blackberries– you also get to hear about this great idea I had for a TV Show.

It’s set in London during the 1980s and focuses on a glamorous gay man named Corey Bradshaw and his three best friends, Randy Hobbes, Charles York and Samuel Jones. Through a series of voiceovers and thematically intertwined story lines, the men discuss their sexual desires and fantasies as they travel through life and love in the Big City.

Naturally these guys will need a signature cocktail. I have chosen The Bramble for them. It’s perfect! It was created in the mid-1980s by Dick Bradsell at Fred’s Club in Soho, London. It’s exactly the sort of glamorous tippler my four heroes might enjoy as they romp their way through London’s Heaven-ly gay nightlife.