Category Archives: Drink Recipe

Sangria!

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sangriaI love sangria. But when I see ready-made sangria in the supermarket or liquor store, I get a little confused. Isn’t the point of sangria to use up mediocre wine and leftover fruit? I guess I have a very pragmatic way of approaching such a delicious beverage. Besides, part of the fun is picking out which fruits go into it and then eating the fruit as you sip the drink.

Below is the basic recipe for sangria, but it’s an ideal DIY cocktail because you can improvise so easily. The best sangria I made featured peaches, meyer lemon slices, and strawberries along with a strawberry liqueur instead of triple sec. While you don’t have to use bad wine (though I sometimes do!), it’s a waste of money to use expensive wine since you are adding so many other flavors.

You can do this with white wine or a rosé, for an even more summery drink. It’s perfect for barbecues and big parties. No bartender needed!

Sangria

1 750 milliliter bottle of red wine
2 cups chopped fruit
2 ounces Cognac (or brandy or dark rum)
2 ounces triple sec (or other fruit liqueur)
2 ounces simple syrup

Combine all ingredients and let them set in the refrigerator overnight.

Photo by Jackson Stakeman

Rhubarb-Fennel Cocktail

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rhubarbcocktailRhubarb is here! But what exactly do you do with a bunch of rhubarb? I actually think it makes a much better cocktail ingredient than baking ingredient, because of its tart grassy flavor. This cocktail goes all out with the rhubarb and a fennel-infused vodka. You can use the syrup and juice you make for this recipe in other rhubarb cocktails or get even fancier by making your own homemade rhubarb bitters.

Rhubarb-Fennel Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces fennel-infused vodka*
1 1/2 ounces rhubarb syrup**
1/3 ounce rhubarb juice
3/4 ounce lime juice

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for about 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Note: If you don’t have a juicer, you juice rhubarb (stalks only!) in a blender and then press through a fine-mesh strainer.

*Fennel-Infused Vodka

1 cup vodka
1 sprig fresh fennel (the greenery, not the bulb)

Let fennel steep in vodka for 24 hours. Taste to see if you’re satisfied with the flavor. If you’d like it more intense, steep for longer.

**Rhubarb Syrup

1 1/2 cups water
5 stalks rhubarb, chopped into half-inch pieces
3/4 cup cane sugar

Bring all ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. The rhubarb will separate and turn into mush. Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for 10 more minutes. Strain out the solids through a fine-mesh sieve or cheese cloth. You can use the mush in baking. Keep the syrup in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Photo by Jackson Stakeman

Pink Collins

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strawberry-grapefruit-elderflowerSpring cocktail time! This one that I made with Savvy Housekeeping tastes like a delicate and refreshing grapefruit-elderflower soda with strawberries. (But don’t let that fool ya’ … there’s vodka in there!) Use juicy Ruby Red grapefruits, which are still hanging around, and fresh strawberries, which have just started their season. You can even leave out the vodka, for a lower-alcohol version.

Pink Collins

1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 ounce St. Germain (elderflower liqueur)
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 strawberries, cut up
Club soda (about 4 ounces)

Muddle the juice, liqueur, simple syrup, and strawberries in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker and then stir in the vodka. Pour into a glass and add ice, then top off with club soda.

Good Morning Milan from PDT

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It’s complicated, fancy-pants cocktail time! You’ll notice there are a lot of asterisks in this recipe. Tincture, syrup, cheese-and-milk mixtures, egg white … this is one involved drink. It was created by a bartender at PDT in New York, which is consistently named one of the best bars whenever there’s any kind of poll or contest. (There’s even a PDT cocktail book.) But the last time I was in New York, the place was so packed that I couldn’t get in. I get a lot of recipes emailed to me, but I had to try this one so I could get at least part of the PDT experience at home.

Good Morning Milan
Created by Michael Klein, PDT

2 ounces blended scotch*
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce sage honey syrup**
1/2 ounce mascarpone milk ***
2 dashes of lavender tincture****
1 egg white
1 ounce club soda

Pour all ingredients except the soda into a shaker without ice and shake for 15 seconds. Add ice to the shaker, and then shake for an additional 30 seconds. Pour the club soda into a chilled Collins glass, and then strain the drink on top. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.

*This recipe was created with The Black Grouse blended scotch, but you can substitute another blended scotch if needed—just make it a smoky one.

**Make the syrup by mixing equal parts warm water and sage honey.Sage honey is particularly mild, but you can substitute another honey.

*** Blend equal parts mascarpone and whole milk until smooth.

**** You can make your own lavender tincture or buy it. Lavender bitters would also do the trick, if you can find them.Good Morning Milan (PDT)Photo and recipe courtesy of The Black Grouse

French 75 Float (or Champagne Lemon Float)

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lemonsorbetchampageI got together with Savvy Housekeeping to celebrate spring! We got a bottle of sparkling wine and scooped a little of her homemade meyer lemon sorbet into our Champagne flutes. Delicious! It got us thinking that since we were already drinking lemon, sugar, and sparkling wine, why not add a little gin for a sorbet-float version of a French 75? The melting sorbet added a lovely texture to the drink and the flavor was out of this world.

If you’re not a gin person, just leave the gin out of this recipe for a Champagne Lemon Float. You can make the sorbet or use your favorite store-bought variety.

French 75 Float
Lemon sorbet
Champagne
1 1/2 ounces gin

Scoop desired amount of sorbet into a glass. Add gin. Top off with Champagne.

Grapefruit Margarita

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grapefruit-margarita

Grapefruit is an ideal cocktail ingredient, so I don’t know why everyone (including me!) doesn’t pour it into the shaker more often. Savvy Housekeeping and I rectified that problem right away by mixing up this fantastic Grapefruit Margarita. Seasonal and delicious!

The drink is a nice bridge between a tart and strong traditional Margarita and the sweet and fruity Margarita variations, like a Strawberry Margarita. It’s lightly sweet with just the right amount of citrus kapow. Be sure to use silver tequila—an aged tequila will overpower the grapefruit and doesn’t have the same grassy flavor of the clear stuff. We couldn’t stop ourselves at just one.

Grapefruit Margarita

1 1/2 ounces silver tequila
1 ounce Cointreau or triple sec
2 1/2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 ounce lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake thoroughly, then strain the drink into a glass. Optional: garnish with a grapefruit slice.

Photo by Savvy Housekeeping

Hibiscus Flash

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hibiscusflashI love the hibiscus flowers that come in syrup. Dropping them into a glass of sparkling wine makes for a beautiful and simple Champagne cocktail. However, I knew there had to be something more I could do with those delightful edible flowers and the delicious syrup they came in. Enter the Hibiscus Flash.

It uses rhum agricole, which is like rum only made with cane sugar instead of molasses. It has a stronger flavor and fuller mouthfeel than rum, so it’s a good match for the floral sweetness of the hibiscus syrup.

Hibiscus Flash

1 ounce white rhum agricole
1 ounce light rum
1/2 ounce hibiscus syrup
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce lime juice

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for about 15 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. If you got the syrup with the hibiscus flower in it, drop it into your glass as an edible garnish.

Photo by Jackson Stakeman

The Heartbeet Cocktail

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It can be a challenge to find the right Valentine’s Day cocktail, so Savvy Housekeeping and I got together to make a drink that wasn’t your usual chocolatey sugar affair. Because of their gorgeous deep red color, beet juice was the main ingredient of choice. Not only was it pretty, but it gave the drink a lightly sweet, bright flavor with an earthiness that matched well with the agave notes of tequila. To romance! Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Heartbeet Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces tequila
2 ounces beet juice
1/4 ounce pomegranate liqueur
1/4 ounce lemon juice
Lemon twist to garnish

Juice a beet, either with a juicer or a blender, or buy beet juice from the store. If you’re using the blender method, chop the beet, run on the finest setting, and push through a sieve. Be careful with the juice—it stains.

In a cocktail shaker, combine all liquids over ice and shake thoroughly. Strain into a glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Photo by Savvy Housekeeping

Negroni

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An aperitif is a before-dinner drink that stimulates the appetite—usually it’s something light with a bitter or herbal flavor. But that doesn’t mean you have to drink them before a meal. One of the most well known (and loved) aperitif cocktails is the Negroni, and they’re as popular before dinner as they are late in the evening. This is a drink that had to grow on me, but once it did, I couldn’t get enough of it’s bold flavor. One Negroni leads to more. Also, there are a lot of fun twists on the Negroni … I’ll have to share a few soon!

Negroni
1 ounce London dry gin
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Italian sweet vermouth

Fill and old fashioned glass with ice and then pour in each ingredient and stir. Garnish with an orange slice or twist.

Negroni photo by Kenn Wilson

In a seminar about the history of the Negroni a few years ago at Tales of the Cocktail, I liked this old Campari ad they showed that acknowledged just how much of an acquired tasted Campari is:

Brugal 1888 Rum Review (plus a Rum Hot Toddy!)

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Brugal 1888 is one of my favorite spirits hands down. When I first tried it, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do because, when it comes to sipping spirits, rum isn’t usually my choice. But Brugal 1888 is a rum that drinks like a whiskey. (Rum lovers, don’t be scared! It’s still very much a rum.) Continue reading →