The Cuba Libre Cocktail

Now before you start correcting me on my use of 'Cocktail' let me EXPLAIN!  Every once in a while, a stroke of GENIUS hits you.  And instead of giving you a long winded explanation, I am going to let this recipe speak for itself.  And I apologize in advance for no pictures, hopefully I will rectify that in the near future.  Until then, ENJOY this cocktail!

2 ounces Demerara Rum (I used Lemon Hart 80)
1/2 ounce Coca-Cola Reduction Syrup*
2 dashes Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters

Stir with ice for 60 seconds.  Strain into cocktail coup.  Cut a long lime peel and express the oils on top of the drink.  You may then slip the lime peel into the cocktail and serve.

RIGHT!?  RIGHT!??!?  I knew I had those Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters hanging around for some reason.  So, here's the reduction...

FIRSTLY, Mexican Coke is essential for this.  You don't want to end up with flavored corn syrup.  Real sugar is the only way to go.  But basically, a bottle of Mexican Coke poured into a pot and simmered on medium heat for about an hour, and you're left with a nice thick syrup.  In my case, i did it a tad too long, so ended up adding a bit of water to make a better consistency for cocktails.  I still would like to make my own cola syrup from scratch, but for now, this is a great and easy way to get that cola flavor into a cocktail without copious amount of herbs and spices and know how.

Cheers!

BRUNCH PUNCH!

There was a brunch.  I tasked myself with making a punch for this brunch.  I had a handle of Sailor Jerry's spiced rum that I did not want in my possession anymore. It was summer time.  Peaches were ripe.  Mango's were in full bloom.  Bloom?  Yes, Bloom.  What did this all amount to?  Brunch Punch.

Single Serving of Brunch Punch =

2.5 ounces Spiced Rum
1 ounce Mango Puree Syrup*
1 ounce Peach Puree*
1 ounce Lemon Juice
1/2 ounce Hum Liqueur
1 ounce Champagne or Sparkling Wine

Combine all ingredients sans the Champagne and shake with ice for 10 seconds.  Strain into punch glass filled with ice.  Top with one ounce of Champagne.

*Mango Puree Syrup
I liked to use over riped mangos.  That way they're real sweet and delicious.  Remove the peel and the pit, and put all the mango meat in your blender.  Puree.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer (this can be laborious).  Add equal parts sugar and mix over low heat until all sugar is dissolved.

*Peach Puree
Ripe peaches for this are also a MUST.  Put peaches in a blender.  You may leave the skin on, but you must remove the pit!  Puree.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer (again this is laborious).  If the end product is not sweet enough, due to not ripe enough peaches or whatever, you may add a bit of simple syrup to taste.

Liliuokalani's Retort

So I threw a big Tiki party at the beginning of the summer.  There was a pig roast, and me working the bar all night making a menu of my favorite tiki drinks.  It was months of planning, and days of preparation, and after that I was tiki'd out!  For a while at least...

But it occurred to me tonight.  It's summer!  And while crustas and old fashions are great, perhaps they're better suited for cooler weather.  So I decided to impromptu a quick tiki drink, and it turned out great!  So great, I wanted to share it with the world.  Whenever I so happen to combine the exact perfect ratios of ingredients together, that a drink deems itself worthy of sharing with others, I always turn to my girlfriend for naming help.  After a quick back and forth she came up with "Liliuokalani's Retort."  She asserted that after someone got sassy or biting with Queen Liliuokalani, the queen quickly retorted with this delicious drink.  That's the story I'm sticking with at least.  Alright, enough talk, here's the drink...

1 1/2 ounces Smith and Cross rum (or any good traditional style rum.  I'm sure Wray and Nephews would be a wonderful sub.)
1 ounce Ron Matusalem Rum 15 year (or any other great aged rum you like)
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce orange juice
3/4 ounces Pineapple Gomme Syrup*
1/2 ounce Allspice Dram

Pour in blender and fill with ice.  Blend quickly for no more than 5 seconds.  Pour all into the tiki mug of your choosing!  ENJOY!



*To make Pineapple Gomme Syrup.  Mix one cup pineapple juice (freshly squeezed is preferable) to one cup of sugar (I prefer raw or demerara sugar) and 1tsp of gum arabic.  Whisk over low heat until all sugar and gum arabic is dissolved.  Skim off the top.  Then strain and bottle.  Feel free to add a bit of rum to help preserve longer.  Store in fridge.  The gum arabic is optional though it gives it a nice thick consistency which makes for a nice mouth-feel in drinks.  Cheers!

The Wainscot

Here we go...

1 ounce Jamaican Rum
1 ounce Japanese Whiskey
3/4 ounce Lemon Juice
3/8 ounce Orange Curacao (Pierre Ferrand or another high quality Curacao is preferred)
3/8 ounce Macadamia Nut Liqueur (A hazelnut liqueur like Frangelico would be acceptable replacement or maybe even amaretto in a real pinch)

Shake and strain into pre-chilled cocktail coupe.  CHEERS!

Cobblers

So many cobblers!  It's a wonderful summer drink FO SHO.  Drawing from Mr. Jerry Thomas I have worked out my basic cobbler recipe, which can be applied to ANY SPIRIT YOU'D LIKE!  √ it dawgs....

2 ounces Spirit (rum, tequila, whiskey, gin, vodka, brandy, eau de vies, etc...)
1 tsp sugar (or 1/4 ounce 1:1 simple syrup) (any flavor of your choosing!  Have some fun with this)
A couple slices of orange (this is a to taste sort of thing.  I usually take two fairly thin wheels)
1/8 tsp of Maraschino Liqueur

Now take all of this, and shake real good with ice.  You can muddle the orange first, but I feel the hard shake with ice does this just fine.  As we will be garnishing with A TON of fruit and berries in season, it IS optional to also shake with these fruits first if you want a more berriful flavor!

Now some people will tell you to not strain and just pour straight into your glass, ice, fruit and all.  I find this a bit ugly for my taste, especially if you're shaking with your berries.  I double strain into a glass with ice.  However you like it, usually a small punch glass, or brandy snifter, or wine glass or something of that nature.  Even a double old-fashioned will do.  You can do crushed ice, or one big cube, or whatever you like.  Then it's time to garnish with seriously, all of the fruit and fresh berries you can find.  Get good in-season stuff from your local farmers market.  Tuck in an orange wheel on the side.  Cover with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, everything!  Maybe you'll make a fall cobbler with cranberry and apples!  YUM!  Rum or brandy as your spirit, 1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup.  Maybe swap out the maraschino for a good apricot brandy (liqueur not the eau-de-vie).

Your options with the cobbler are really limitless, which is why this recipe really should be a general outline, not the gospel.  Now go on, and preach the word!

Crustas

Since we're on the subject of crustas...  A wonderful and simple drink.  Make it with any spirit.  Brandy crustas and Rum crustas are my other goto's.  I prefer Jamaican rum the best when making the latter.  Like appleton 12 year.  Always make sure to use a high quality spirit, whatever you choose, as this is a drink where your spirit is playing the feature role.

2 ounces Any Spirit (Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Mezcal, Tequila, Eau-De-Vie, etc)
1 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp orange curaçao (lately I like pierre ferrand dry curaçao, though there are lots of good orange liqueurs on the market that could sub)
2 dashes bitters (I like to play around with this, but angostura is always a good bet)

shake and strain into a sugar rimmed wine glass.  Take the peel of the entire circumference of a lemon for garnish.   Cheers!

This is a great one btw for experimentation and improvisation.  As you see below, It's easy to take many cocktails and render them in a crusta format!  Let's take the last word.  Equal parts gin, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse.  Watch this...

2 ounces Gin
1 tsp green chartreuse
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
2 dashes bitters

Blammo, done!  A good way to think about the Crusta is that it's an evolution of an Old-Fashioned.  Instead of just bitters and a sweetener, we're augmenting that with also a bit of liqueur, and just a bit of citrus.  Not enough to make it a sour, just enough to brighten the drink up.  If you're an Old-Fashioned fan, then I suggest you try a Crusta, stat!  Though watch out for those bars that pour in the maraschino, make sure they're making it correctly first!

Philadelphia Fish-House Punch - FOR ONE!

I took a little liberty with this one.  This is a great famous punch from the famous (?) fish-house club in Philadelphia.  I think it was a fishing club!  Anyway, they had their own punch and it is awesome.  The great David Wonderich (cocktail writer) had a recipe for this in his book PUNCH.  I turned it into a single serving.  It's pretty darn great!  Check it out....

1 ounce jamaican rum

1/2 ounce cognac

1/2 ounce peach brandy (Kuchan makes a barrel aged, peach eau de vie which is the closest you can find to what original peach brandy would have been like.  At least that is my understanding.)

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

shake vigorously to give it a nice and good dilution.  I poured ice and all into a glass, because a little more dilution was fine with me, as it is a strong drink.  

BTW....this recipe is based off a printed punch recipe from 1795.  Which means this drink was probably floating around a while before that.  Chances are, this drink is older than the usa itself!

Gingerbread Cocktail #1

As the Holiday season is quickly approaching, it is time to start making some serious christmas cocktails. This will all be in preparation for my annual Christmas party, where I'll be making several delicious punches to amaze and delight all. So, my first attempt at a gingerbread cocktail turned out pretty great! I have some ideas, but this recipe is good enough to post as is. Basic, but gets the jobs done. I plan on elaborating in a few ways, but you'll see that recipe in a future post. Till then, enjoy this great one!

1 1/2 ounce Dark Jamaican Rum
1/2 ounce Art in the Age Snap Liqueur
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/2 ounce ginger syrup
1 whole egg

Dry shake first (no ice) to emulsify the egg. Then add ice and shake and strain as normal. Fresh grated nutmeg on top is a must. Enjoy!

Autumn Tiki

So this idea came to me when I wanted to make a Tiki style drink, but all with fall flavors. So here we go....

1 ounce Zaya Rum (or another delicious dark rum you like)
1 ounce apple brandy
1/2 ounce pumpkin syrup
1/4 ounce cranberry juice (NOT SWEETENED!)
3/4 ounce apple cider
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1 dash of angostura bitters

Shake with ice, then pour ice and all into glass and serve. Cheers!

For pumpkin syrup recipe check the syrups section!

Smoky Apple

Welcome to flavor country. A nice drink that really brings out the greatness of Smith & Cross rum. Ideally, I want to get a smoking gun, so i can then smoke this drink for smokey leaves burning fall flavor :-) But until then, here's the drink...

1 1/2 ounces Smith & Cross Rum
2 1/2 ounces apple cider (or a good unfiltered apple juice)
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup

Build over rocks in old fashioned glass. ENJOY!

Grapefruit Nui Nui

This is a twist on a classic Tiki drink that I enjoy.

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh WHITE grapefruit juice (for original nui nui replace this with orange juice)
1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/8 ounce vanilla syrup
1/8 ounce allspice dram
2 ounces amber virgin islands rum (i like cruzan)
1 dash of Angostura bitters
1/2 cup crushed ice.

Flash blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour ice and all into glass. Or you can just shake it and pour the drink and all into the glass if the blender seems like too much trouble :-)

Check the posts on cinnamon and vanilla syrup for those recipes. If you click the tags below it will show you those posts (along with other delicious recipes containing those syrups!)

Zombie (1950)

This is usually the version of the Zombie I go for. There is an earlier version of it as well that I'll post at some point that is also delicious.

1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce passion fruit syrup
1 ounce light puerto rican rum (use cruzan)
1 ounce gold puerto rican rum (again, use cruzan)
1 ounce Lemon Hart 151
1 tsp brown sugar syrup
1 dash angostura bitters

Shake well and pour ice and all into glass.

151 Swizzle

One of my very favorites.

1 1/2 ounce Lemon Hart 151 Rum
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters
6 dashes absinthe (1/8 tsp)

Build over ice and....SWIZZLE!

See my post on cinnamon syrup for that recipe. If you click the cinnamon syrup tag, you'll find that post (along with other delicious recipes that contain cinnamon syrup!)

Dark and Stormy (Rum Mule)

Note this isn't a "Dark N' Stormy" it's a Dark AND Stormy, because i don't use goslings, or ginger beer for that matter! I will say that this drink is far superior. In my opinion, the perfect Rum Mule.

1 1/2 ounce Ron Zacapa 23 year
3/4 ounce smith and cross
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce ginger syrup (sometimes i add a little extra dash because it's the best)
3 ounces sodea

Fill with ice, top with soda.

See my post on Ginger Syrup to see how to make THAT. If you click the ginger syrup tag, it should show up (along with other great recipes that include ginger syrup)

Pumpkin Daiquiri

Here's a simple drink I created for my fall 2011 cocktail party. Easy (once you have the pumpkin syrup) but very delicious.

2 ounces Zaya Rum (or any other delicious dark rum that you love)
3/4 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce pumpkin syrup

shake and strain.

See my post on Pumpkin Syrup for the recipe. If you click on the pumpkin syrup tag it should come up (along with other great recipes that include pumpkin syrup.)