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I’m writing this from the pool and I’m one of these in already so forgive any of the typos. This is a three ingredient, super easy vodka cooler. It tastes great, a little sweet and a little spicy. ** life hack: save your bottles with stoppers (this one is from sim Trader Joe’s sangria) and use them to transport your batches cocktails.  3-ingredient Watermelon Chili Vodka Cooler
700 ml watermelon 350ml St. George’s green chili vodka 50 ml lime juice Approx. 10 dashes of Scrapppy's lime bitters Juice watermelon. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher or bottle. Mix, serve ice cold. Garnish with watermelon or lime slice. Cheers!
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 It’s #NationalDaquiriDay apparently, and that’s good enough for me! I’m killing two birds with one stone with this drink recipe, the second drink in the Aviary Cocktail book and getting to use my new Perlini cocktail Carbonation system! Normally, I wouldn't make any variations to a recipe from the Aviary book, but this is a basic Daquiri recipe so I felt okay putting my own spin on it. The first change that I made to this recipe was to substitute the white rum with some Rhum Agricole, because I didn't have any white rum… and I like the added funk and color it lends this familiar cocktail. The second change was to the texture of the drink by carbonating it in my new Perlini cocktail shaker. I love bubbles and I love that I can now add them to any cocktail I want (mostly).  The Same But Different Daquiri 2 oz. Rhum Agricole (Clément V.S.O.P. Rhum Agricole Vieux) 3/4 oz. lime juice 3/4 oz. simple syrup Brûlée lime slice for garnish Add ingredients to Perlini shaker with ice. Carbonate cocktail according to Perlini instructions, shake with ice and pour into glass after waiting 15-30 seconds for pressure to subside. Garnish with a lime slice that has been sprinkled with sugar and placed under a broiler (or use a kitchen torch) until golden brown.  It’s the freakin’ weekend,
Cheers!  My sister-in-law asked me to come up with some virgin drink options since she’s pregnant with her second baby (Congrats T!). I’ve been planning on adding some alcohol-free cocktail recipes to the blog for a while now, how could I say no? I remember struggling to find interesting non-alcoholic drinks that still made me feel like an adult, so I thought an actual cocktail variation was a good place to start. This a beautiful and versatile cocktail recipe made with fresh seasonal ingredients. I love that it can be made as a full strength cocktail, a spritz or a virgin drink. I think the smash is one of those drinks that people think is difficult to make, but its actually so easy (and way better fresh then those canned ones). This recipe is not too sweet with a bit of spiciness and grassy flavor from the peppers to remind you that that this is an adult beverage with or without the alcohol.
Cherry Jalapeño Smash 1 oz. simple syrup 4 cherries pitted 1/2 lime 2-3 jalapeño rounds seeds removed 7 mint leaves For virgin: soda water For full-strength: 2 oz. whiskey (Henry McKenna) for spritz: add whiskey and top with soda water Place cherries, lime, jalapeño, mint leaves and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker and muddle (about 7 times, too much muddling can make the mint leaves bitter). To make a virgin cocktail I like to pour a bit of soda water into the shaker and dry shake, pour into a glass filled with ice, lime rounds and jalapeño slices and top with remaining soda water. If you’re making a full-strength cocktail add the whiskey to the shaker and dry shake. Fill glass half way with crushed ice, lime rounds and jalapeño slices. Strain cocktail into the glass and top with more crushed ice. If you’re making a spritz, make the full-strength cocktail, strain into a glass filled with ice, lime rounds, and jalapeño slices and top with soda water. Garnish with fresh cherries and mint leaves. I’d love to know if more people are interested in virgin or low-alcohol cocktail recipes, should I start adding those on a regular basis? Tell me in the comments.
Cheers!  A few months ago my husband gave me The Aviary Cocktail book. The Aviary, from Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas of Alinea, is a bar set up like a restaurant and serves complex and imaginative original cocktails. Most of these drinks require complicated ingredients, a plethora of specialty tools and sometimes custom glassware. This is not how I usually make my cocktails, but I kept looking at these recipes, intrigued by the flavors and the techniques. So I started at the beginning, the first recipe in the book, The Aviary’s spin on a Gin and Tonic. I’m not going to reprint the entire recipe, it is long and somewhat complicated. The lead time to actually serve this drink is at least a day or two because you need to freeze the cucumber spheres and set the Sodium Alginate bath in order to create what is essentially popping boba. I attempted this twice and never did figure out how to get those spheres the right size to fit through the 10mm glass straw (the biggest sized straw I could find on the internet). Other than the time requirements and the actual spherification process this was a pretty easy drink to make and the ingredients and tools were pretty straight forward and easy to get. If you plan to use a Frizzini to carbonate this cocktail I recommend making a batch because the single serving will be too small to properly carbonate in the device.  Gin & Tonic
Junipero Gin Green Chartreuse simple syrup citric acid fever tree tonic water cucumber spheres Ultimately, this was a very interesting take on a G&T, I really liked the addition of the Green Chartreuse. The cucumber spheres were fun to learn how to make, and they add an element of texture and color. I didn't think that they were worth the work though, and I would prefer my cocktail without them. Cheers! |
