Does this count as monochromatic? Whatever it is, I’m in love. I’m not sure when I first laid eyes on this amazing plaid (technically it’s a check, but work with me here) two-piece from Victoria Beckham, but I’ve been obsessed with it for while. It’s beautifully made with a thick and stretchy knitted material, and it was incredibly comfortable to wear. While this particular pattern might not be for everyone, I won’t lie the plaid is a bit intimidating, I think the idea of a patterned co-ord is something anyone can pull off. And at a time when I want to feel pulled together, but have also sworn off real pants, this is a real game changer. What pairs better with plaid-on-plaid than a belated Bobby Burns? I’ll just apologize to all the Scots now, I’m sorry I didn’t name the drink. While I was inspired by the recent passing of Burns Night, it turns out the Bobby Burns was most likely not named after the famed Scot. This is a very enjoyable scotch cocktail, slightly sweet and warming, perfect for sipping on a chilly evening or, as the Difford’s Guide suggests, while enjoying some haggis. Bobby Burns
1 oz. blended scotch (12yr is recommended) 1 oz. sweet vermouth 1/2 oz. Benedictine Lemon twist Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, stir until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon. Cheers!
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Sorry, I couldn't resist the Austin Powers quote, for the record there isn't anything weird about the Dutch. This is my second, and last, submission to the Home Bar Awards finals, and I wanted to do something different. The concept was to make a drink that didn't look like a traditional amaro cocktail. While researching different types of bitters my ever helpful husband suggested Cloosterbitter, a herbal bitter from Holland. It has a beautiful green color, and is similar to Green Chartreuse. Since Cloosterbitter is so drinkable I thought I would stay true the classic Americano specs and pair it with a vermouth. With its mild licorice flavor, it has more of a mint and ginger kick, I wanted to pair it with something fresh, and since citrus juice is out I substituted with lime bitters and dry vermouth for a little acidity. The final result is a bright and herbal cocktail that is totally refreshing. Lekker-icano
1 1/2 oz. Cloosterbitter 1 1/2 oz. Dolin Dry Vermouth 2 dashes Scrappy’s lime bitters 2 oz. Topo Chico / club soda Crack several pieces of ice for your mixing glass. Combine all ingredients, except the club soda, in the mixing glass and store until chilled. Strain into a high ball glass filled with ice. Placing a bar spoon into the glass, pour the club soda down the shaft of the spoon dispersing it throughout the drink, give it a gentle stir. Garnish with a round of lime peel. Cheers! I’m still rolling with a monochromatic theme, this week its sea foam green! Weirdly, I don’t own anything in this color, but you can bet I’m going to change that. Monochromatic dressing hasn’t really been part of my repertoire, but for some reason it has really been speaking to me lately. Maybe because its actually so easy to pull an outfit together, focus on fit and texture, and you can end up with something so visually interesting. And these pants! I can’t even; the cut, the material, they are just so dreamy. Honestly, the whole outfit is amazing. Clearly my cocktail needed to match my outfit, and when I think of green cocktails one of my favorites always come to mind. The last word is such a fantastic classic, tart and herbal with just enough sweetness and a little bite from the gin. If you’re not a fan, or you’ve never tried Green Chartreuse, this might not be the cocktail for you. But, if you’re looking for an introduction to this bitter, herbal and expensive liqueur then this is the perfect place to start. The Last Word
3/4 oz. Green Chartreuse 3/4 oz. HIghclere Castle Gin 3/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 3/4 oz. lime juice Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe. Cheers! I don’t really do dry January… but I am currently dealing with a gallbladder thing, and deprivation of all the things that make me happy (aka cocktails, greasy foods, joy… you get it) seems to be the only thing that helps. I know, I know, I should just have the thing removed, everyone says so, but the last thing I want right now is to be in a hospital. So, I will continue to act as I was brought up to, and ignore it until I’m in crisis and end up in the emergency room, problem solved. Enough about me though, let’s talk about this zero proof cocktail for a minute. While this one doesn’t have any alcohol in it, it does have some CBD infused mixer. It’s a super refreshing combination of Seedlip Spice 94, a zero proof distilled spirit, which brings some nice herbal notes, and Rosemary Grapefruit CBD infused beverage with a little lemon juice for balance. This is still an adult beverage in the way that it is not overly sweetened, and its much more sophisticated in its flavors. It in no way tastes like it was made with dirty bong water either, which is always a plus. CBDB (For Uplifting Gormandizers)
2oz. Seedlip Spice 94 4 oz. Aurora Infused beverage Rosemary Grapefruit 15mg. CBD 1/4 oz. lemon juice Combine all ingredients in a chilled cocktail glass. Cheers! For the last four years Matthias from Served By Soberon has hosted a global instagram event called Secret Santé. Names are drawn, and those participating create an original cocktail for their recipient, like a boozy virtual secret Santa. While I’ve seen this event over the last few years, this is my first year actually joining in on the fun. Honestly, I was a little nervous about making a cocktail for someone I don’t know. Luckily I drew Shay from @choccoffeewine, and even though her account was new to me it didn’t take long for inspiration to strike. Shay is a chocolate connoisseur, beer enthusiast and lover of whiskey and wine, so luckily I had a few options. I wanted something a little festive so I based this cocktail on a wintery red wine hot chocolate. I made a syrup out of Cow Cow Chocolate Milk Stout which is chocolatey, malty and adds a lovely creaminess to the drink. It maintains the flavor profile of creamy hot chocolate but in an unexpected way. After all of the work to make the syrup (it’s actually very easy) I’ve kept the ratios simple 1:1:1. A super easy, lower ABV cocktail that you can drink all night Underneath The Tree
1 oz. chocolate milk stout syrup 1 oz. Elijah Craig bourbon 1 oz. fruit red wine or any leftover mulled wine Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until very chilled and diluted. Strain into a coupe glass garnished with chocolate shavings and glitter sprinkles. Chocolate Stout Syrup 16 oz. can of chocolate stout (Cow Cow Chocolate Milk Stout) 4 oz. sugar In a pot over medium heat reduce stout by half. Once reduced stir in sugar. I recommend using a scale to make sure ratios are correct. Pour into a sealed container and refrigerate. Cheers! When life gives you gross beer, make lemon meringue pie cocktails with it? Here’s the thing about me, I love to try anything weird or unusually flavored. I like to think that it usually works out half of the time, but the other half of the time you end up with something that’s usually pretty gross. So, when I ordered a lemon meringue pie cream ale I had high hopes. I bet big and I lost, it was un-drinkable. That being said it’s my own opinion, clearly the people who made this beer like it, so I don’t even want to tell you what it was called. I didn't want to waste it though, so I thought I would make a cocktail with it. I drank it, so it was taster then the beer… but it is one hundred percent a work in progress. I’m not sure what this is exactly, maybe a beer punch or a sangria-style shandy? The beer is the base, with a fortifying shot of graham cracker infused bourbon and oleo for sweetness. The graham cracker infused bourbon really needs a centrifuge, and lacking that, the multiple strainings still didn’t really help with the texture. Assuming I could get my hands on a centrifuge, I would definitely try making a syrup out the beer, probably cut out the oleo, and increase the bourbon. It’s topped with a slightly caramelized Italian meringue so it really doesn’t need a lot of additional sweetness. I would love for someone to give this a go and see if they can make it work. Let me know in the comments if you give it a try, or have any ideas. Lemon Meringue Pie In The Sky
1/2 oz. lemon juice 1/2 oz. lemon oleo saccahrum 1 oz. graham cracker infused bourbon 6 oz. lemon meringue pie beer Italian meringue Add the lemon juice, lemon oleo and graham cracker infused bourbon to a shaker with ice and shake until combined. Pour into a large glass and add the beer on top. Garnish with an Italian meringue swirl and use a culinary torch to brown the meringue. Lemon Oleo Saccarhum 4 lemons peeled 1/4 cup sugar Pour the sugar over the lemon peels, and let sit for up to one day. Pour off the oil and store in the fridge. Graham cracker infused bourbon 5 oz. heaven hill bourbon 80 g. Graham cracker Using a blender combine bourbon and graham crackers, strain through a coffee filter. Again this really needs a centrifuge to truly remove all of the solids. Cheers! When hiking in a desert you should definitely stay well hydrated, and if you’re going to bring a cocktail make sure its Emily Farris’ Baby spritz. This was my first trip to the high desert and Joshua Tree National Park here in California. I'm generally more of an Ocean person, but I was totally blown away with the vastness of the desert landscape. Even with a totally functional outfit, no make-up, and a crazy easy cocktail, I still couldn’t have pulled this off without my lovely assistants, Steve and Colleen, who helped my wrangle stuff and made sure I didn’t fall off that wall. Having a really easy cocktail was key to being able to pull this off, it was pretty hot out, and on top of that there were thirsty bee’s everywhere so we wanted to be very careful with any liquids. This is a really great spritz, no measuring needed and you can make it super low-ABV. It was the perfect thing for our weekend in Joshua tree. I’m going to need a little more practice (and a new camera, wink wink) before I start doing this on the regular, but I was pretty impressed with our mischief managed, we even had some ice. I try to keep these posts on the shorter side, and they are usually focused on the clothes and cocktails, though I'll be the first to admit that they are a work in progress. I would love to know if anyone would be interested in a more detailed Joshua Tree travel post, where to stay, eat, hike and the cocktails to bring? Let me know in the comments. Emily Farris’ Baby Spritz
Aperol Lemon Le Croix Mix to your preferred potency on ice. Cheers! We finally moved into our new house, and while I am still unpacking the millions of boxes of our crap (why do we own this much stuff???) I had to take a break to post an entry to this months Home bar Awards contest. Novembers theme is Go Bitters, or go home and there was no way I was going to miss it. I was lucky enough to have recently been gifted some of Scrappy’s Bitters product so I had a lot of inspiration to work with. It was their chocolate and orange bitters that made me think of one of my all-time favorite Christmas candies, Terry’s Chocolate Orange. I don’t want to brag, but my husband and I have already polished off at least one chocolate orange in a single sitting. The challenge was to use a whole ounce of bitters in a cocktail. Traditionally bitters are used in a small amount to season a cocktail, but the trend of using bitters as a fully fledged ingredient has become more popular recently. I modified the specs of a sidecar and with an ounce of bitters this is not a cocktail for the faint of heart, or anyone who likes their drinks on the sweeter side. The result is a cocktail with an initial bitterness followed by a sweet citrusy after taste and a chocolate orange scent. Bitter Christmas
1 oz. Hardy XO Cognac 1 oz. Cointreau 1/2 oz. Scrappy’s Bitters Chocolate bitters 1/2 oz. Scrappy’s Bitters Orange bitters 1/2 oz. lemon juice Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled and slightly diluted. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with an orange twist and a slice of Terry’s chocolate orange. Cheers! “Black As Night, Erase Death From Our Sight” : A Dark and Unnatural cocktail for Halloween10/30/2020 I did it guys! In between distance learning and attempting to keep my house spotless for prospective buyers, even though all of my glassware is boxed up and long gone (along with most of my other possessions) I made a little magic of my own happen. One final Halloween cocktail, the last of my Practical Magic series. This one is inspired by the resurrection spell, and we all know that never ends well. Hopefully, this cocktail is a little more successful, and less like to possess you… Despite this post being inspired by something dark and unnatural I decided to included one of my favorite quotes from the movie. “But there are somethings I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can. Since this cocktail was inspired by the resurrection spell used in the movie, I literally interpreted “Black as night” as the darkest of liquors I could find, Mr. Black coffee liqueur and Kraken Black spiced rum. I added some cardamom bitters to help bring out the spices, and it goes very well with the sparkling grapefruit. If you’ve seen the movie then you know that the canned whipped cream is an internal part of this scene, and I had to incorporate it. It gives a slight creaminess and some fun foam to the drink, but feel free to leave it out. Dark and Unnatural
1 1/2 oz. Mr. Black coffee liqueur 1 1/2 oz. Kraken Black spiced rum 1 dropper Scrappy’s Bitters Cardamom bitters (gifted) top with Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit Dollop of whipped topping Combine the Mr. Black, rum and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and still until chilled. Pour into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Add a dollop of whipped topping (in the shape of a star if you must) and then top with sparkling grapefruit. Cheers! Ok, so it’s the Wednesday before Halloween, but what even is time any more? It’s the season of the witch here at True Love + Coffee. The perfect end to my Practical Magic series, and an echo of the film, I had to do it. There was a time when I wasn't sure that anything was going to happen for Halloween this year, but I'm so glad that I didn't just let it pass by. I intended to find a spooky classic cocktail to work with the Halloween theme, but then I came across the Amaretto Sour. It was perfect, and I had all of the ingredients, lol. This is one of the more frightening cocktails as far as I’m concerned. Syrupy and super sweet, this cocktail can be a real nightmare. I like to increase the Bourbon, decrease the amaretto, and do away with any additional simple syrups at all. I”m a good witch, you’ll see… Happy Halloween! Amaretto Sour
1 1/4 oz. Amaretto liqueur 1 oz. Barrel-strength Bourbon 1 oz. lemon juice 1 egg white 2 Bourbon cherries Combine all ingredients, minus the cherries, in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, and then strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with cherries. Cheers! |
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