Summer of Spritz | Bianco Spritz (White Spritz)

    Summer is here! Ish! And there is nothing more refreshing and low ABV than a spritz. This recipe comes from a new cocktail book I recently purchased called 'Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Apertivo Cocktail, with Recipes'. 

Cynar | Sparkling Cynar Cocktail

I bought a new liqueur! I have been on a big Italian kick lately, so I picked up some Cynar. It’s not what you would call a “summer” taste like Aperol and Campari. Cynar is very herbal and earthy. I think this drink does a good job of balancing out the dark intense Cynar with some lighter summer-forward tastes.

Frozen Daiquiri

After I made frosé a few times I started to wonder if the same process could be used to make other types of frozen cocktails. If you have ever tried to make a frozen drink by adding ice to liquid and blending, you’ll know what a pain in the ass that is. It takes a ton of ice and ends up more like a normal drink filled with ice pebbles.

Paper Plane

I said this was my favorite Aperol drink. That was then, before I had a Paper Plane. This is so good! They are both great, and the spritz is far more affordable. Anything with Aperol is good in my book.

Pimm's Cup

Happy Labor Day! Never had a Pimm’s cup? It’s a delicious refreshing drink that tastes a little like a cola with some sour and bitterness. Perfect send off to pool season. I like to add a little gin to my Pimm’s cup for the added herbal flavor, but if you want to make this a single liquor drink, you could skip it! This does take a lot of fresh juices, get yourself a citrus juicer if you are interested in fresh juices and juice cocktails.

Chapala

Eons back, we made some real grenadine. Not the red colored sugar, but with actual pomegranate juice. 90% of the time, my grenadine is used to make a Chapala. This is hands down my favorite Tequila drink.

Frosé

Long time no see! I’m back with a delicious summer recipe for you. Summer is far from over, did you know the middle day of summer is August 6th this year? So plenty of time to drink frosty drinks and enjoy warm days.

The Hunter Cocktail

December! It’s here. Where did 2017 go? Lost in the frenzy of house projects and daily life I suppose. Even though December is not winter yet, not until the 21st, it doesn’t really feel like fall anymore. This isn’t a winter cocktail per say, but the name and the rich flavors seem more suited to chilly dark nights.

Yellow Rose of Texas

Lemon is a very underrated pairing for tequila. All the focus is on lime, but if you haven’t had a lemon tequila cocktail you are missing out! Tequila also pairs well with florals. I never cared much for tequila when I thought the Margarita was the only option (or shots…) If you have the same “blah” attitude towards tequila I highly recommend trying it a different way by trying this cocktail!

Aperol Spritz

My favorite Aperol drink is the Aperol Spritz. I think this drink is becoming more popular, I see it on more and more brunch menus. If you see it you should definitely try it. It is very light and refreshing without being too sweet. A little bitter, a little citrus and quite bubbly.

Cara Cara, Honey and Mint Soda

Almost summer! When it is really hot out, sometimes a cocktail or a beer sounds gross (just me?). I like to make quick soda drinks from what I have around the house to quench my summer thirst. These can be as simple or complex as you want! I have been really into honey syrup since making this Goldrush cocktail, so I used that in this mint cara cara soda. Regular simple syrup would work too! I always keep seltzer water stocked because I love it. Remember, club soda is different than seltzer. Club has a small amount of salt in it. I like seltzer for everything as it’s just carbonated water, no salt.

Blackberry & Lime Shrub

Shrubs. What to say about shrubs… A shrub is a Colonial way of preserving summer fruit. The fruit is mixed with sugar to macerate, creating a syrup. The syrup is diluted with vinegar which preserves it. Herbs, spices and a blend of fruits can be used to create a complex tart and sweet beverage base. More here. I made a cherry balsamic shrub once before and found it very heavy on the vinegar and difficult to enjoy. I do like vinegar, but it isn’t immediately appealing to drink it. I saw this Blackberry Lime shrub on Beehive Bitters Instagram account and it looked great. SO I gave shrubs another shot! This one does not disappoint!

DIY Cocktail Bitters

Hands down, bitters are my favorite way to add super concentrated flavor to a cocktail. All you need are a few shakes to transform a regular drink into something more polished. More recently bitters have gone way outside the classic Angostura or Peychaud's*. There are so many interesting and awesome flavors/flavor blends available. They can be a little hard to get your hands on though, often necessitating buying online. That can also make them expensive. Today let’s try something that should be a little easier and cheaper. Though it does involve some waiting!

Watermelon Jalapeno Margarita

Recently I was out with a friend at the restaurant Comida. Described to us as a fusion of southern food and Mexican food, it’s delicious. The real wow for me was the watermelon jalapeno margarita. I wasn’t so sure before I tasted it, but it was a great blend of sweet, spicy and sour. Add a little salt on the rim and it practically hits every flavor.

Butter Rum

Over the holidays I was reading the NPR food section called “The Salt”, and they described a Christmas Cookie cocktail. It sounded sweeter than my taste, but they discuss “Fat Washing” of alcohol which peaked my interest. I know, sounds gross right? The cool thing about fat washing is even though you add fat to alcohol, when you strain it you remove all the fat but are left with the taste of it. We don’t want pools of grease in our drinks, yuck. This isn’t that at all!

Blood Orange & Chocolate Old Fashioned

Happy V Day! Whether or not you enjoy Valentine’s Day, hopefully you will enjoy this drink. Today I have a twist on an Old Fashioned using chocolate Aztec bitters and a blood orange. An old fashioned is a very booze forward drink that isn’t for everyone. Though boozy, it is sweet with added sugar and fruit. If you’d like to make this but can’t do (essentially) straight alcohol, you can top with a splash of water or seltzer water… but only if you must.

Sage Goldrush Cocktail

While looking for something new to serve at Christmas Eve, I came upon this article: The 8 Drinks That Made My Career: Jim Meehan. I picked the Goldrush to try out first (#6,7 and 8 are on my to-try list) as I was recently gifted a few bottles of honey. As holiday present a vendor sent four different honeys to my work. No one was keen on the sage honey besides me. Challenge accepted.

Hot Toddy

There seem to be a lot of ways to make a Hot Toddy. I think the older a drink is, the more amorphous it becomes. I’ve had somewhat similar experiences with the Old Fashioned. There are a few rules for the Hot Toddy that can’t be broken. Hot (obvs) and whiskey. Those are the only things we all seem to agree on! I like this version with hot water, honey, spices and lemon.

Michelada Pop

One of the most memorable red beers I ever had was sitting on a rock in my bathing suit, next to a lake in the afternoon. Pouring V8 into a bottle of Labatt Blue. Even the inevitable overflow of beer and tomato juice couldn’t ruin in. Every beer and tomato juice cocktail since reminds me of that sunny afternoon. All the more reason to drink them on a snowy day and think of summer.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Spicy dark chocolate is a bridge between the sweets loving people and the savory loving people. It has everything! Sweets, little hint of heat from the chili pepper, warm spiciness from the cinnamon, and of course chocolate. I went through a couple online hot cocoa mix recipies before using this one from Smitten Kitchen. I like that it doesn't have powdered milk. That isn't something I keep on hand, and found it strangly expensive to purchase.