 This year the rum is black and the cuts are deep. If you can figure out the references for the name of this cocktail leave me a comment for full credit. The entire concept of this cocktail was designed to work with the very raspberry gummi eyeball candy that I really wanted to use as a garnish. I also wanted it to be warming and cozy without being cloying or too fall flavor inspired, you know apples, cloves, cinnamon… I started with the creme de cassis as a compliment to the candy raspberry in the gummi, I added the Mr. Black for a little sophistication and the Kraken for just the subtle hint of spice in addition to the strong black rum. Adding the lemon and egg whites to create a sour helps to balance the sweetness and give the drink a nice texture. This cocktail pairs perfectly with halloween candy, perhaps a post trick’or’treat night cap?  Full Romero Sour
1 1/2 oz. Kraken Black Spiced Rum 1/2 oz. Gabriel Boudier Creme de Cassis 1/2 oz. Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur 1/2 oz. lemon juice 1 egg white Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker, dry shake for approximately 30 seconds, add ice and shake until just chilled. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass and garnish with a candy eyeball. Cheers!
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 I’ve been trying to make some changes to my diet and lifestyle in an effort to get a little healthier. Drink more water, regular exercise, stretch, eat more veggies, get more sleep. I try, but I’ve never really gotten a kick out of any of those superior behaviors that seemingly bestow moral rightness on people. I like to be bad, and it’s probably for the best that I’ve never gotten into hard drugs or a life of crime. So you’ll understand why sometimes I’m just eating a salad and the thought that it would taste really good with some gin just pops into my mind. The idea was to bring the salty, slightly sweet freshness of a tomato with a little olive oil to martini form. I originally planned to use a tomato infused vodka, but it was so awful that I had to throw it out and even the thought of it brings a bad taste (and smell) into my mouth. So I had to adapt, and instead of using vermouth I used some fino sherry to add a sweet grassiness, reminiscent of tomato, to the martini. Just a touch of salt and topped with a good quality extra virgin olive oil and this is the most satisfying salad I’ve had in a while.  Salad Martini
3 oz. Sipsmith Dry Gin 1/4 oz. Tio Pepe Fino Sherry Pinch of kosher salt 2-3 drops of extra virgin olive oil Cherry tomato Shake the gin, sherry and salt in a shaker with ice until chilled and strain into a coupe. Garnish with a fresh cherry tomato and a few drops of olive oil.  It’s finally here! Negroni week is an opportunity to show some love for a great cocktail and make some money for charity. I had the opportunity to work with one of my favorite gin’s from Highclere Castle on a Negroni recipe. While I love a classic Negroni it’s also such a fun drink to experiment with. The real trick is the maintain the integrity of the drink while adding some new flavors and textures. This Negroni spec is based on a London Fog, which is an Earl Grey tea latte. I infused the Campari with the earl grey tea and the vermouth with vanilla bean. Despite my better judgment I added a drop of whole milk, which when filtered, adds a slight creaminess to the drink.  Fog City Negroni
1 oz. Highclere Castle Gin (gifted) 1 oz. earl grey tea infused Campari 1 oz. vanilla infused Cinzano sweet vermouth rosso 1/8 oz. whole milk Combine all ingredients and filter through a chemex. Once strained add to a mixing glass with ice, stir until chilled. Strain into a low ball glass over a large ice cube. Cheers!  Some of my favorite memories growing up took place during the last few hot days of summer, made all the more precious because you know that winter is coming. Since I haven’t been able to travel home to Canada for quite a while I was so happy to receive a bottle of Swear Jar’s Canadian whisky to help remind me of home. Swear Jar’s craft distilled Canadian whisky is so good, I knew that I wanted a simple cocktail that would really make it shine. I wanted the tastes of that Canadian summer that I’ve been missing, and what’s more summery then a strawberry and rhubarb combo? It had to be a cobbler, what could be more perfect for sitting and sipping while enjoying the last of the summer heat?  Shrub Your Cobbler
3 oz. Swear Jar Canadian Whisky 1/2 oz. strawberry shrub 1/2 oz. rhubarb shrub Seasonal fruits and berry’s Fill a cobbler goblet with cracked ice, pour both shrubs over the ice and top with whisky. Add a bar straw and Garnish with plenty of seasonal fruit. Cheers!  This amazing re-shake was created by @sippingwithstella. It’s just one of their many amazing looking cocktails, and the beautiful photos don’t hurt either. I can’t resist a dill pickle so I knew this cocktail was going to be right up my ally. Honestly, I’m so glad that I finally got around to making it because it was better then I had imagined. Shockingly, I have not made a single amendment or substitution to this spec, and after tasting it there isn’t anything that I would change. This cocktail is salty-sweet with just the right amount of tartness from the pickle juice, and a hint of smoky heat from the mezcal and Serrano pepper. This is pretty much every thing I love in a chilled highball glass, and I couldn’t be happier.  A Jarring Experience (@sippingwithstella)
1.5 oz. Yola Mezcal 3/4 oz. Kosher dill pickle juice 3/4 oz. lime juice 3/4 oz. Cointreau 1/3 oz. simple syrup 1 slice Serrano pepper Rim a highball glass with pink salt and fill with ice. Combine the pepper and lime juice in a shaker and muddle, add the rest of ingredients and ice and shake until chilled. Strain into prepared glass and garnish with a pickle and pepper. Cheers!  Tequila, Mezcal, Creme de Violet… oh, my! This cocktail was created by Erin Holtman an amazing award winning bartender from Columbus, OH. The Amethyst is a sophisticated update on an Aviation, and pretty much the cocktail of my dreams. Soooo… I just changed one little, tinsy thing. Between the lemon juice, creme de violet and the simple syrup, it just sounded like it was going to be too sweet for me, so I cut the original amount of 1/2 oz. of simple syrup in half. I regret nothing. This is a well balanced, slightly smoky cocktail. It's a little tart and a little sweet with strong floral notes, which I love but may not be for everyone.  Amethyst (@erin_holtman)
1 oz. Fortaleza Añejo tequila Esposito 1 oz. lemon juice 1/2 oz. Yola Mezcal 1/2 oz. Creme de Violet 1/4 oz. lavender simple syrup Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into an old fashioned glass over a large floral ice cube. Cheers!  Another re-shake coming at you! This one is from Zach at the instagram account AllEqualParts. If you’re looking for some really beautiful and tasty looking cocktails you should check out this account. Zach is a cocktail pro, and I have a long list of drinks that I’m dying to try, but I had to start with his version of a champagne cocktail called the Golden Bell Royale which features peach vodka and rhubarb. I of course made a few substitutions to the original specs. I just had to break out my Amass Impeachment peach vodka for this one. I also couldn’t resist using the rhubarb shrub that I have on hand, especially since its not rhubarb season any more. With the addition of the shrub, and the original amount of lime juice this is a much more tart cocktail than was originally intended. I think I would recommend a little less of the shrub to cut back on the tartness and excess sweetness. This was a really great cocktail though, and I’m positive that the original was even better!  Re-shaken Golden Bell Royale
2 oz. Amass Impeachment vodka 3/4 oz. lime juice 3/4 oz. Girl Meets Dirt Rhubarb shrub (originally rhubarb syrup) 1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur 1 oz. Prosecco Shake all the ingredients, minus the Prosecco, in a shaker with ice until chilled. Strain into a champagne coupe, and top with Prosecco. Garnish with a lime twist. Cheers!  Welcome to my first re-shake post, where I make one of the many awesome looking cocktail specs that I’ve been saving on instagram, but never seem to get around to actually trying. Today, I’m talking about @limoncellokitchen and her Watermelon + Fernet cocktail. As soon as I saw this spec, and honestly I’m jumping on the band wagon because I’ve seen it reposted at least twice, I knew I needed to make it myself. I have a whole bottle of Fernet siting in my bar, but… I really struggle with making it work in cocktails. So, when I saw this drink I was very intrigued and I just happened to have half a watermelon sitting on my counter. I have to admit that I have a hard time following - instructions, trends, trains of thought, large groups, societal norms… you get the picture. So I definitely did my own thing here, just a bit. Partially because I didn’t have any apricot liqueur, and could really justify buying some, and partially because I really wanted to know what this would be like with Amaretto. As with any spec that is largely based on a fruit juice, the sweetness of your melon is going to be a factor but aside from that I thought this was a very interesting and easy cocktail. This was very refreshing, only slightly sweet and had a bitter herbaceous-ness that I really enjoyed. Its not your usual watermelon cocktail, and I’m all for it  Re-shaken Watermelon + Fernet (@limoncellokitchen)
1.5 oz. fresh watermelon juice 1.5 oz. white rum ( 0.5 oz. Fernet Branca 0.25 oz. Amaretto (the original recipe calls for apricot liqueur) Combine all ingredient in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe and garnish with watermelon (and @limoncellokitchen suggests mint). Cheers!  It’s officially hot girl summer! And I’ve been doing some intense research to find the perfect cocktail. So, when I recently had a cocktail that combined whiskey and amaretto I was inspired. Together they play off each other creating light and bright flavors that are the perfect match in a summery cooler or highball. While I think that a smokier whiskey would also be very good combined with amaretto, I couldn’t resist using some of the Baller whiskey from St. George Spirits. Its the perfect combination to balance each other out and the nutty flavor of the amaretto works so well with the distinctive floral notes of the Baller. Since I have this great bottle of Rhubarb shrub burning a hole in my fridge I took a chance and it was amazing. This ended up being a really refreshing and balance cocktail, and besides, what could possibly be more hot girl summer than a whiskey highball?  Hot Girl Summer Highball
1.5 oz St. Georges Spirits Baller whiskey 1/5 oz. Girl Meets Dirt Rhubarb Shrub 3/4 oz. Amaretto 3/4 oz. lime juice Top with soda water Add all of the ingredients, except the soda water, to a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Cheers!  Yay! Summer is here… The kids are out of school, which means instead of yelling at them to pay attention to Zoom all day I’m yelling at them that they can’t watch more TV. While I love my kids they do make me feel like a need a cocktail fairly often. Since I’m told being drunk all of the time is irresponsible and bad for my liver…bitters and soda is one of my favorite ways to feel like I’m having a cocktail when I should really be drinking more water.
This could not be easier, just seltzer and bitters. I highly recommend getting a seltzer maker, we have an Aarke and I love it. Once you have unlimited seltzer at your disposal start investing in some bitters, try out new and weird flavors. Use them so season your seltzer to taste, and voila you have the grown up version of putting fruit in your water. This can really be as simple as a few dashes of angostura, more or less depending on your taste. Or you can get really creative, and mix and match to create interesting combinations. Some of my favorite are a couple of dashes Scrappy bitters lime with a dash of lavender, or Fee Brothers orange with a dash of cardamon. Staying hydrated has never been so fun. Cheers! |