Tag 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

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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!

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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.

Old Fashioned Christmas (Cocktail)

Posted on by Laurie

Inspired by classic bourbon cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, this cocktail has been spruced up for Christmas but still retains a pleasing balance between bitter, sweet, fruity and bourbon flavors. Cheers!

Old Fashioned Christmas

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Ingredients

2 oz. Woodford Reserve or other good bourbon whiskey

1 oz. Pallini Raspicello Liqueur

1 oz. Travis Hasse’s Apple Pie Liqueur

4 dashes Angostura Bitters

ice, for shaking

lemon peel, for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add bourbon, liqueurs and bitters. Cover and shake well –  to mix ingredients, to chill the drink and to allow a little of the ice to melt. Strain into a decorative martini glass. Garnish with lemon peel and serve.

Happy Holidays!

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.

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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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Beautiful Blood Orange Margarita

Posted on by Laurie

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Happy National Margarita Day (February 22nd)! To commemorate the occasion, here is the recipe for a beautiful and delicious Blood Orange Margarita.  Salud!

Blood Orange Margarita

2 oz. anejo tequila

1 oz. orange liqueur

juice from 1 blood orange

juice from 1 lime

lime slice for garnish

edible flower for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add tequila, orange liqueur, blood orange juice and lime juice. Shake well to chill and to mix ingredients.

2. Strain into a margarita glass. Garnish with lime and flower.

Enjoy, but please don’t drink and drive!

Valentines’ Mocha

Posted on by Laurie

A special after-dinner coffee made with dark chocolate and chocolate vodka. Don’t forget to dip your strawberry in the whipped cream before drinking! Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Valentines’ Mocha (serves 2)

1 c. fresh-brewed, good decaf coffee

1 oz. dark chocolate

1 oz. chocolate vodka

1 T. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. heavy cream

2 large, ripe strawberries (cleaned and stemmed)

cinnamon sugar

1. Place coffee, chocolate, vodka and dark brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until chocolate and brown sugar are melted and blended into the coffee.

2. Meanwhile, whip cream until it holds soft peaks.

3. Pour coffee into two glass coffee mugs. Garnish mugs with strawberries. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

The Four-Citrus Limoncello Experiment, Part II

Posted on by Laurie

A few days ago, I posted Part I of the Four-Citrus Limoncello Experiment. As I had hoped, the method that I used – using both finely zested peels and fresh squeezed juices – allowed me create a delicious liqueur in less time than the traditional method of making Limoncello. The addition of other flavors other than lemon – grapefruit, orange, and lime – was just for fun. The recipe, posted at the bottom, makes a liqueur which is both sweet and tart, like a traditional Limoncello; and like a traditional Limoncello is slightly viscous. The flavor, however, is a bit mellower, making it very easy to sip. I was in a hurry to produce this batch because I want to use it to make a Limoncello Sorbet to serve between courses at Christmas dinner. Oh, yum, I can hardly wait!

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Since I used finely grated zests, rather than large pieces of peels, and also included juices from the citrus fruits, I wasn’t sure for how long I was going to have to let the liqueur infuse. When I tasted it this morning, which was 3.5 days after starting the batch, I was very happy with the results. I tried to strain it through a coffee filter, but was barely able to get enough liqueur to fill the glass that I wanted to use for photos; so I resorted to straining it several times through a very fine mesh strainer which seemed to work well.

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Four-Citrus Limoncello

(Makes about 1.75 quarts)

(1) Wash and dry: 

• 6 lg. lemons,

• 2 lg. oranges,

• 2 lg. limes, and

• 1/2 lg. grapefruit.

(2) Zest the fruits, removing just the colored portion of the skin, leaving the white pith behind. (Use a microplane grater to zest lemons, oranges and limes. Use a sharp paring knife to cut the zest from the grapefruit, then chop the grapefruit zest.) Combine and measure the zest from the fruits. You should have about 3/4 c. of zest, packed down.

(3) Juice the fruits and strain out the pulp out before measuring. You should have about 2 1/2 c. of juice remaining.

(4) Combine the zest and juice with:

• 2 c. granulated white sugar.

(5) Divide juice mixture evenly between two 1-quart mason jars. Top off jars with:

• 3 3/4 c. 80-proof vodka ( 1 3/4 c. + 2 T. per jar).

(6) Shake well. Place jars in a freezer. Shake jars every day and taste a spoonful of the liqueur to determine when you have achieved the desired flavor. This should be about 3 – 4 days. Strain Limoncello through a very fine strainer into clean glass container(s). Store in the freezer until serving. Salute!

Several people  kindly sent Limoncello links to me after the first post.

• Giadia di Laurentiis’ recipe, which also requires just a few days.

• Nostrana’s recipe, which involves suspending whole lemons above the alcohol to be infused.

Happy Holidays!

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The Four-Citrus Limoncello Experiment, Part I

Posted on by Laurie

I’ve been wanting to make Limoncello for a few weeks now, and finally made a point of doing it today. I decided to make a four citrus variation, which I have never made before. Here is the backstory. One year I decided to make a mixed-citrus marmalade for my maternal grandmother for Christmas. I purchased all of the fruits, sliced them oh so thinly and then cooked the marmalade, only to have the sugar burn just before the marmalade gelled. So, I tried it again the next day, with the same results. This was so disappointing because I had used all of that fruit and it smelled so incredibly good on the stove. So, I went to the library and did some research. I looked up every marmalade recipe I could find and it turned out that the recipe I was using – one that I had gotten out of a magazine – called for way too much water. By that point, I totally lost my interest in making marmalade for that year. But ever since, I have loved this combination of fruits and think about my grandmother whenever I use it. Hence, I decided to experiment with this combination for a limoncello variation.

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Most limoncello recipes direct one to add zest to alcohol, allow to macerate, strain, mix with simple syrup and then continue to age the product. I have recently come across several, however, which call for adding sugar and fruit juice at the beginning, and omitting the simple syrup at the end. Out of curiosity, I am giving this a try and am hopeful that it shall work fine.  However, I decided to hold off on sharing the recipe until I know the timing and the results for certain. I wouldn’t want you to have the experience with this limoncello that I had with the marmalade. I have read that adding juice to the recipe can make the limoncello sour – that one just wants the essential oils from the lemon peel; but so far my concotion tastes wonderful and it hasn’t even been infusing for any length of time yet. Maybe the trick will be to serve it sooner. Be patient and keep your fingers crossed for me. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

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Have you made limoncello? Do you have a favorite recipe, variation, method or story to share?

 

Little Apple Manhattan Cocktails

Posted on by Laurie

We had fun entertaining over Thanksgiving. One of the cocktails that we served was a Little Apple Manhattan. Since several people asked for the recipe*, I decided to share it. Happy Holidays!

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Little Apple Manhattan*

2 oz. Four Roses Bourbon

3/4 oz Travis Hasse’s Apple Pie Liqueur

1/2 oz. Vya Sweet Vermouth

dash Angostura Bitters

apple slices

maraschino cherry

Place a few cubes of ice in an old-fashioned glass. Add bourbon, liqueurs and bitters. Stir well. Garnish with apple slices and a cherry. Cheers!

* This is based on Travis Hasse’s The Big Apple; but since Manhattan, Kansas is known as The Little Apple, I couldn’t resist changing the name.