Category Archives: Cocktails

Kumquat Gin & Tonic/Kumquat Tonic

Posted on by Laurie

KumquatG&T

Something I enjoy is creating cocktails and recently I made what I thought was a perfect Gin & Tonic … with kumquats! I won’t say that it is “the” perfect Gin & Tonic, because that all depends on what one is in the mood for and on one’s personal taste. (I, also happen to be a fan of Day Lily Gin Tonics for after working in the garden on a sticky hot early summer afternoon.)

Kumquats are very tart, as are limes, so they are a substitute for a squeeze of lime. But they are also sweet enough to eat, so one can consume them after finishing the drink.

Anyhow, here is what you need:

  • a good gin, one that you really like – I used Caorunn
  • chilled tonic water, one that actually has both fizz and flavor, e.g. Canada Dry in small glass bottles (a tart “soda”, e.g. San Pellegrino Limonata, can be substituted for those who like a slightly stronger sweet-tart cocktail)
  • several kumquats, sliced not too thin and not too thick
  • ice

Place the ice and the kumquat slice in a glass. Stir. Pour in gin to your desired strength (approximately a 1:3 gin to tonic ratio is my preference). Top with tonic. Enjoy! Share with friends over the upcoming holiday weekend! Cheers!

A quick note on tonics: if your tonic is flat or flavorless, it will ruin the drink, as will it if your tonic isn’t chilled because the ice cubes will melt too quickly.

When entertaining and serving cocktails, it is important to have fun alcohol-free beverages as well. For a pleasant mocktail, let’s call it a Kumquat Tonic, skip the gin, use the San Pellegrino Limonata (or something similar); don’t skimp on the kumquats … and use a lime slice for garnish. Very colorful and pleasant for hot weather! Again, cheers!

Either way … a delightful way to kick off summer! Best to you …

 

Happy New Year’s Eve (with a Mocktail & a Cocktail)

Posted on by Laurie

Cork&RibbonNewYears

Wishing all of my followers a healthy, happy, and inspiring 2015!

Here is a mocktail recipe and a cocktail recipe as we get ready to celebrate, with thanks, all of the good things in the year that has passed – and to toast, with joy and hopefulness, the year to come.

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Berry Happy New Year (Mocktail)

Place a scoop of raspberry sorbet in the bottom of a Champagne glass. Add 3 fresh black berries. Top with flavored sparkling water.

Enjoy!

SgroppinoPourWithFlowers

Sgroppino

Place a scoop of lemon sorbet and of limoncello sorbet in the bottom of a Champagne Glass.* Add a splash of vodka and top off with Prosecco. Enjoy!

• Sgroppini are traditionally made with lemon sorbet, vodka and Processco, but since I always make limoncello sorbet around the holidays – when I make homemade limoncello – I like to add a little limoncello sorbet to my Sgroppini. Sgroppini can also be blended for a slushy drink.

Happy New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year to Everyone!

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If you entertain for New Year’s Eve, please make sure that no one who drinks will be driving.

Raspberry Peach Grand Margaritas

Posted on by Laurie

Raspberry Peach Grand Margaritas

4 parts reposado tequila

2 parts Grand Marnier Signature Collection No. 2 Raspberry Peach

1 part fresh-squeezed juice from ripe Meyer Lemons*

agave syrup to taste, optional

Meyer Lemon slices

fresh raspberries

fresh (or semi-thawed) peach slices

Combine tequila, Grand Marnier, and lemon juice. Stir and then taste. If desired, add agave syrup until desired sweetness is reached. Stir together with ice and chill until serving or shake in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, and serve right away. Garnish with fruit. Serve in margarita glasses or in colorful Mexican glassware. Enjoy! Have a great weekend!

* Note: ripe Meyer Lemons, which are a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges, sometimes look like small oranges when they are ripe.

MargaritaGrandRasPeach

Homemade Grenadine

Posted on by Laurie

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Grenadine is a thick, fruity syrup used in cocktails and punches for its sweet flavor and bright red color. There are a number of recipes for Grenadine floating around; but usually the base is pomegranate juice since the name Grenadine come from the French word for pomegranate – grenade. I have seen ones, though, that use cherry juice for a base. One can start with fresh pomegranate juice or bottled. (I use POM.) Some recipes use less sugar. Some use orange flower water instead of citrus juices or zest. Some just have orange, some just lemon. Most – no cinnamon. You get the idea: you can play around with the recipe a bit. Enjoy!

Grenadine

3 1/2 c. pomegranate juice

juice of 2 – 3 lg. lemons

zest of 2 lg. lemons*

juice of 1 orange or blood orange

zest of 1 orange or blood orange*

3 1/2 c. granulated sugar

cinnamon stick, optional

3/4 oz. 151-proof rum**

Add all of the ingredients, except the rum, to a 3- or 4-quart pot. Stir. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook for about 25 minutes or until thick and syrupy and the liquid is reduced by about one third.

Allow to cool. Strain the syrup and discard the peels and cinnamon stick. If desired, stir in the rum – but then remember that you can’t use this in children’s drinks or in mocktails. (I usually divide syrup into two equal portions, add half the rum to one batch but not to the other, and then make sure that I label which is which when I bottle them.) Pour into clean glass bottles and store Grenadine in the refrigerator.

• Using a sharp paring knife, cut strips of zest from the citrus fruits being sure to leave behind the white pith.

** Grenadine can be made up to 2 weeks ahead if one doesn’t add the rum, or up to about 2 months ahead if one does add the rum.

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Old-Fashioned Cocktail and Brandied Cherries

Posted on by Laurie

Recently, several people have asked me to post another cocktail recipe. So, friends, if anyone is planning to host a cocktail party, here is a classic …

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Old-Fashioned Cocktail

• 1 cube of sugar

• 3 – 4 drops Angostura bitters (traditional in this cocktail) or Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters (also very good)

• 1 – 2 brandied cherries

• 1 orange slice or lemon slice

• ice

• 2 oz. good bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)

• 1 oz. cold water, optional

Place sugar cube in the bottom of an old-fashioned glass and then splash with bitters. Add 1 cherry and orange or lemon slice. Muddle ingredients together in bottom of glass.  Fill glass halfway with ice.  Add bourbon and, if a  lighter drink is desired, water.  Stir before serving to mix and chill drink and to make sure that sugar is dissolved. If desired, plop another cherry in the cocktail. Cheers!

Brandied Cherries

• 1 1/4 c. fresh cherries that have been washed and pitted (or frozen dark sweet cherries if fresh aren’t available)

• 1/4 c. granulated white sugar

• 1/4 c. water

• 1/2 t. fresh lemon or lime zest

• dash of ground cinnamon

• pinch of ground nutmeg

• pinch of ground cardamom

1/4 c. good brandy

Place all of the ingredients, except the brandy,  in a medium-sized saucepan. Gently stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 7 minutes or until liquid is thick and syrupy. Remove from heat. Stir in brandy. Transfer to a clean glass jar. Refrigerate uncovered until cool, then tightly seal jar. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Raspberry Mint Julep

Posted on by Laurie

Mint Julep is the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby, and yet, despite its renown, is not widely popular apart from Derby celebrations.  Though it is refreshingly cold and steeped with tradition, the flavors of this classic cocktail (Bourbon, mint, and sugar) are just – to some palates – not very well rounded. Having read that some bars are experimenting with variations on the Mint Julep, I decided to try my own creation – a Raspberry Mint Julep. The addition of raspberry mutes the mint slightly and blends well with the rich flavor of Bourbon. I think this pleasant cocktail could be served for almost any warm weather occasion. Let me know what you think!

2 oz. Woodford Reserve or other good Bourbon

1 oz. Raspicello or other good raspberry liqueur

5 mint leaves, plus leaves for garnish

5 raspberries, plus one for garnish

1 t. sugar

shaved ice

In a chilled Mint Julep cup or highball glass, muddle together mint leaves, raspberries and sugar. Add Bourbon and raspberry liqueur. Fill cup/glass with shaved ice, top with a Boston shaker, and shake well. Garnish with raspberry and mint leaves. Enjoy!

Note: Mint Juleps are traditionally served in a chilled, beaded silver cup and held with a napkin around the base.

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Happy Reindeer Daiquiri

Posted on by Laurie

In my previous post, as part of the Two Little Chefettes’ Cooking Challenge, I published a recipe for Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup. One way to use this syrup is in cocktails and mocktails in place of plain simple syrup. Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup imparts rich cinnamon and caramel flavors to drinks.  The Happy Reindeer Daiquiri is an excellent example. Cheers! Happy Holidays!

Happy Reindeer Daiquiri

2 oz. rum (or apple juice, for an alcohol-free drink)

1 oz fresh lime juice

1/2 – 1 oz. brown sugar cinnamon syrup, or to taste (recipe)

Maraschino cherry

Cinnamon stick

Pour rum, lime juice, and brown sugar cinnamon syrup into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a coupe or martini style cocktail glass. Garnish with Maraschino cherry and cinnamon stick. Serve immediately.

HappyReindeerDaiquiriCheers!

Black Tea “Sangria”

Posted on by Laurie

We served wine and cocktails on Thanksgiving, but I wanted to be sure that we had a special non-alcoholic drink as well. Inspired by a “mocktail” that I came across recently, I created this Black Tea “Sangria” which uses chilled black tea in place of wine. It turned out quite well. Even though Thanksgiving is over, I thought that I would share this easy recipe because it could be served at any holiday party. It is very festive. Enjoy!

Black Tea Sangria

(approximate measurements)

6 c. cold water

4 black tea bags*

1/2 c. sugar

4 1/2  c. pomegranate juice**

2 1/2  c. orange juice

Orange, lemon, and/or apple slices

1. In a medium-size pot, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags, and cover with a lid. Allow tea to steep for about 15 minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in sugar until completely dissolved. Allow to cool.

2. Pour cooled tea into a pitcher. Stir in fruit juices. Refrigerate for several hours to overnight. Add fruit slices an hour before serving and continue to chill. If desired, garnish with additional fruit when serving.

* I used black tea with cinnamon. If using plain black tea, one could add a cinnamon stick while it is steeping.

** If pure pomegranate juice is not available, a pomegranate juice blend, or even a cranberry juice blend, would also work well in this recipe.

96 and Going to Havana

Posted on by Laurie

Officially, the high in Manhattan (Kansas) yesterday was 96 degrees F; but the official temperature is taken at the airport outside of town, and is always lower than what you’ll find recorded on any thermometer in town. According to ours, it was 101. Downtown, we experience heat reflected off streets and buildings and generated by equipment. In fact, different neighborhoods, even different properties can seem to have their own miniature climate zones. The back yard of the house on the corner near us, for example, is always a few degrees warmer than ours because it receives more reflected heat from the brick of Seven Dolors Church.

With the hot summer temperatures – though not as hot as they are likely to get later in the summer – one of our return guests surprised us yesterday with a bottle of Cuban Havana Club rum. When someone shows up at your door with such a gift, and it is so very hot, what can you do but make Havanas, sit on the front porch, and relax?

Havana

recipe from The Art of The Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics, by Jeff Hollinger & Rob Schwartz

1 1/2 oz. Gosling’s rum

3/4 oz. Cointreau

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Splash fresh orange juice

Dash of Orange bitters

Edible Flower for garnish

Line the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar. Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake, and then strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with flower.

(As you can tell from my photos, I was too tired yesterday to strain the cocktails, but I enjoy the pulp from the fresh fruit anyway … and it was so hot, we really wanted ice. And obviously, we substituted rums.)

I’ve Been Inspired By … Blueberry Gin

Posted on by Laurie

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered it, Boozed + Infused is a wonderful and creative blog by two sisters – Alicia and Eileen. Its theme is preserving seasonal flavors by infusing them in alcohol and, of course, tasty ways to then enjoy those infusions. Alicia’s Blueberry Gin inspired me to give it a try  and to try it out in some original cocktails.  Thank you, Alicia, for letting me share! (Alicia, by the way, says that she got some of her inspiration from Post Prohibition. Isn’t it great how inspiration works?) I tried several recipes made with the Blueberry Gin. I loved Alicia’s Blueberry Pieball cocktail. Of the cocktails that I created, my favorite was Blueberry Gin & Tonic which, by the way, would make an excellent cocktail for the 4th of July. Have you any 4th of July favorites?

Blueberry Gin: Two Methods. 

Boozed + Infused’s Method

2 c. frozen blueberries

2 c. gin

granulated white sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1/2-inch cinnamon stick

2 whole cloves

Cook blueberries in a saucepan for 5 minutes, lightly crushing them as they cook. Pour into a 1-qt. jar, add the other ingredients, screw on the lid to the jar, and shake well. Let sit for 1 month, shaking occasionally. (I got impatient and tried the gin in cocktails after a week and a half. It was already very tasty.) Strain and filter. (Alicia says to use a colander, cheesecloth, jellybag and coffee filter. I just used a fine mesh tea filter, but maybe after the gin sits for a whole month more aggressive filtering is needed.)

A Shortcut Which  Will Do in a Pinch to Make Cocktails.

1 c. 100% Blueberry Juice Concentrate (I used Dynamic Health Laboratories brand, which I had bought to make the ice cubes called for by Alicia’s Blueberry Pieball recipe – because I couldn’t find plain blueberry juice.)

5 c. gin

2 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a glass jar. Shake well. Chill until serving.

Blueberry Gin & Tonic

4 oz. blueberry gin

3 oz. tonic water

1/2 oz. lime juice

slice of lime

Fill a tall glass with ice. Add gin, tonic water, and lime juice. Stir. Garnish with slice of lime. Enjoy!