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Greek Frappe

Credit: Ken's Greek Table

Ingredients

1 tsp (rounded) Nescafe instant coffee
2 tsp (rounded) sugar
2 3/4 oz water
1 oz milk
6-7 ice cubes


Directions

Mix coffee, sugar, and 3/4 oz water in the bottom of a glass, and froth with a milk frother for 30 seconds. (You can also shake this in a mason jar.) Add ice cubes, remaining water, and milk.


Notes

This is quick, refreshing, and well-balanced. Fantastic! I can’t decide if I want to sip it from a straw or the glass. There’s a thick foam on top, and I stirred it up so it was mostly mixed into the drink with a thin layer on top. And it’s so fun to use instant coffee :-) I have no idea how I came upon this recipe but so glad I did!

 
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Espresso Martini

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

1 oz cold brew coffee concentrate
3/4 oz 100 proof vodka
3/4 oz Kahlua
lemon peel


Directions

Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Express a lemon peel over the glass.


Notes

This. Is. It. Ugh, single-word sentences, that’s the 100-proof vodka kicking in. Now I get why you need the stronger vodka—it cuts through the sweetness of the Kahlua. The lemon peel is a reminder of how well citrus and coffee pair. I made two of these at once, but next time I’d make them individually to ensure adequate foam levels. Stellar.

Here’s a video of the cocktail’s creator, Dick Bradsell, making the drink—originally called a Vodka Espresso. He shares the origin story as well. :-)

 
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Irish Coffee

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

2 tsp brown sugar syrup
1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey
3 oz coffee
1 1/2 oz heavy cream, lightly whipped (technique below)
Serve in a traditional Irish coffee glass


Directions

Fill glass with hot water until it heats up, then dump out the hot water. Heat up brown sugar syrup, whiskey, and coffee, then add to glass. For the whipped cream, pour heavy cream into a mason jar and shake for 15 seconds, then gently spoon it on top of the drink.


Notes

This is just perfect, and the easiest Irish coffee I’ve made. Apparently sweetening the cream is a faux pas, and it turns out you don’t need to! The whipped cream technique is from Mr. Morgenthaler’s The Bar Book.

 
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La Bomba

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Joaquín Simó

Ingredients

2 oz rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
5 raspberries
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
raspberry garnish


Directions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Muddle the raspberries. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with raspberries.


Notes

Ok, these are just dangerous. I struggle with daiquiris sometimes, and here the added pomegranate molasses and raspberries add just enough to bring this drink right to the sweet-tart line.

 
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Egg Cream

Credit: Serious Eats

Ingredients

1 oz Fox's U-bet Chocolate Syrup
1 1/2 oz whole milk
5 oz Canada Dry Club Soda


Directions

Pour the chocolate syrup in a tall glass, followed by the milk. Slowly pour in the club soda water and stir vigorously.


Notes

I had such high hopes for this—and they were justified!! It’s rich chocolate milk with some fizz. The recipes for this drink vary widely—and many have way more milk—but this one totally works. The Serious Eats recipe called for 6 oz club soda, but I used a bit less because I was worried my rocks glass wasn’t big enough.

 
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Enzoni

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Vincenzo Errico

Ingredients

1 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
7 grapes
grape garnish


Directions

Muddle the grapes with the other ingredients in a shaker tin. Shake and strain over a large ice cube. Garnish with grapes.


Notes

This is a favorite. It’s similar to a Negroni, but you’re swapping out vermouth for lemon juice, simple syrup, and grape. It’s so light and refreshing—perfect for summer! The color is gorgeous too, a deep, bright, pink. The green grapes I used were ok and this drink was still spectacular, so I can only imagine what it might taste like with ripe red or purple grapes.

 
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Passion Fruit Spritz

★ Original Cocktail ★

Ingredients

4 oz Pineapple Bubbly
1 oz passion fruit syrup


Directions

Build in a glass with a rock of ice.


Notes

Nailed it! So refreshing—it has the feel of a virgin mimosa but the passion fruit makes it more interesting. My husband was making breakfast tacos for us on a late Saturday morning, and I thought it warranted a festive drink. I was building on the momentum of a fresh bottle of passion fruit syrup and just guessed on the ratio. And in the latest news: pineapple Bubly is officially my favorite fizzy water.

 
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Fistful of Pears

Credit: St. George Spirits

Ingredients

1 oz St. George Pear Brandy
1 oz St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
1 oz Amaro Nonino
Meyer lemon peel


Directions

Build over ice. Squeeze Meyer lemon peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.


Notes

Fantastic enough to get me out of a blogging dry spell after 2 sips! I opened up the bottle of St. George Pear Brandy to enjoy on its own, and went to the website to check spelling, and happened to see this drink listed, so made it for my husband. It called for Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro and grapefruit zest, but worked with what I had and thought the Nonino and Meyer lemon would sub in well. An ode to pear. It’s late so I’m sticking with brandy, but there’s tomorrow and New Year’s Eve…

 
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Piña Colada (Puerto Rican Style)

Ingredients

2 oz Siesta Key Spiced Rum
1 oz heavy cream
1 oz Coco López
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
4 ice cubes
Luxardo cherry garnish


Directions

Blend everything in a blender. Garnish with a cherry.


Notes

The first time I made a piña colada, it was way to watery. Then I got the great idea from Serious Eats to freeze the ingredients! Frozen pineapple to the rescue! I’ve since also frozen heavy cream in 1/2 oz cubes. Use Coco López without question. Also, I switched from coconut to spiced rum as it’s more balanced and interesting. I didn’t have much of my homemade spiced rum left, so I bought Siesta Key—a worthy choice.

 
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Spiced Rum Old Fashioned

Ingredients

2 oz spiced rum
1/4 oz cinnamon syrup
2-3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
orange peel


Directions

Build in a glass and add an ice sphere. Squeeze orange peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.


Notes

This might be my drink. It’s so smooth for being on the boozy side, and the cinnamon, orange, and spices from the rum play so well together. Perfect.

 
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Chartreuse Swizzle

Credit: Marcovaldo Dionysos

Ingredients

1 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
mint and nutmeg garnish


Directions

Add ingredients to a collins glass and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle with a lélé or bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts. Add more crushed ice, so there’s a layer of ice topping the drink. Serve with a straw. Garnish with a mint sprig and fresh nutmeg.


Notes

Oops, I forgot the garnish! Even so, wow, good ice work just makes this drink so awesome. I crushed the heck out of smaller ice cubes with a wooden mallet and my Lewis bag, and while I’m waiting for my lélê from Cocktail Kingdom, the bar spoon worked fine for swizzling, and it’s so fun seeing the glass frost up. The key is adding that top layer of crushed ice—it looks beautiful with so much ice packing the glass.

Moving on to the taste—herbal and tart—this would be a great drink for summer, but is perfectly fantastic before dinner in November.

…and didn’t note until after drinking this that Green Chartreuse is 55% ABV. So, be careful with this one!

 
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