Credit: Leandro DiMonriva, The Educated Barfly
1 oz St. George Botanivore gin
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
1/4 oz St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
lemon peel garnish
Mix over ice. Add thick strip of lemon peel.
In an odd decision, I dumped the ice sphere in after I mixed the drink, so it splashed a bunch. Assuming the 1/4 oz elderflower liqueur still stayed in the glass…quite tasty! The lemon peel is so fragrant.
Credit: Dan Souza
1 cup whole milk
2 cups brewed black tea
2/3 cup Batavia Arrack
2/3 cup ruby port
1/3 cup plus 4 teaspoons (3 ounces) sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1. Place milk in a large glass bowl; set aside. In a separate container, whisk tea, Batavia Arrack, port, sugar, and lemon juice until sugar dissolves.
2. Pour tea mixture into milk. Gently stir curds with small spoon. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
3. Filter twice through a nut milk bag, then a coffee filter.
So…I’m not sure I like this one…it’s got a dominant wine flavor to me. I’d like to try making it with different ingredients. On the bright side, Cocktail Chemistry’s techniques worked great to get it clear!
Patron XO Cafe
Vanilla gelato
Pour Patron XO Cafe over gelato. That’s that.
A nice idea, but a bit too boozy. I think Kahlua would work better here, if you’re just pouring booze over ice cream.
Credit: The Aviary Cocktail Book, Cocktail Chemistry
gin
Green Chartreuse
simple syrup
citric acid
tonic water
cucumber spheres
See Cocktail Chemistry for directions.
I tried this, but alas, didn’t have a carbonator, and my drink wasn’t chilled enough. And I didn’t have enough cucumber spheres. But the ones that came out were so fantastic. The Green Chartreuse adds something interesting, and contrasts well with the cucumber. I’m also going to brush up on my frozen reverse spherification.
12 mint leaves
2 tsp sugar (or 2 sugar cubes)
1/2 lime
1 oz rum
ice
5 oz club soda
Muddle the mint leaves, sugar, and lime. Add rum and stir. Fill glass with ice; top with soda.
I like my drinks weaker. For my husband, I upped the rum to 1 1/2 oz and cut the soda to 3 oz. For the soda, I used what I had on hand—orange La Croix. There are so many mojito methods—I found this video by AskMen and found it useful (and entertaining).
1 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
2-3 drops saline solution
orange peel garnish
Build/stir over ice. Garnish with thick orange peel strip.
So smooth and drinkable for being 100% alcoholic ingredients. I think the particular gin and vermouth brands are key.
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Campari
1 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
2-3 drops saline solution
orange peel garnish
Build/stir over ice. Garnish with thick orange peel strip.
So smooth and drinkable for being 100% alcoholic ingredients. I think the particular gin and vermouth brands are key.
Credit: Leandro DiMonriva, The Educated Barfly
3/4 oz white rum (white or flavored)
3/4 oz vodka or gin (flavored)
1/2 oz Drillaud Blue Curaçao
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz lime cordial
1 tsp 2:1 demerara syrup
5 drops saline solution
Luxardo cherry garnish, or pineapple wedge
Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.
Definitely one of those “I can’t believe I’m drinking this at home” drinks…so good! Good spirit flavors here are coconut and pineapple. Not to be confused with a Blue Hawaiian, which has coconut cream.
Credit: Cocktail Chemistry
20 g salt
80 g water
Combine in a jar and shake until clear. Transfer to a dropper dispenser.
3 oz BarSol Pisco
1 oz lime juice
3/4 oz 2:1 demerara syrup
1 egg white
Angustora Bitters
Dry shake all ingredients except the bitters, to froth the egg white. Then shake with ice. Pour in a chilled glass. Dot foam with dashes of Angustora bitters, then make a pretty design with a toothpick.
Wow, the egg white really tones down the pisco (in a good way!). I’d like to try other proportions I’ve seen on The Educated Barfly and Cocktail Chemistry, where it’s 2 oz pisco and 3/4 oz lime.
Orange La Croix
Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
orange peel strip
Put many many dashes of the bitters in the La Croix over ice. Add a wide peel of orange.
So fun for times you want a cocktail but not booze. Angostura bitters are also great for this.
☝️ Heads-up: although I’m tagging this zero proof, bitters do add a negligible amount of alcohol to the drink.
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz 2:1 honey syrup
Shake and serve in a chilled glass.
So fresh and clean! The 2:1 honey syrup wasn’t overpowering at all.
2 parts raw honey
1 part water
Heat water to a simmer, then add the hone and stir until it dissolves. Let cool.
I like the flavor of good raw honey—however, you want to be careful of using a honey that’s too strongly flavored as it could overpower the drink. The higher sugar ratio extends the shelf life in the fridge.
Credit: Dan Snyder
1 oz Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum
1 oz Jägermeister
1 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz orgeat
1/2 oz lime juice
Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.
The pineapple really comes through!
2 oz BarSol Pisco
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz Small Hand Foods Pineapple Gum Syrup
Shake and pour over ice.
Pineapple gum syrup is quite pricy if you’re making this for a crowd, even a small one (which I did). It made me crave pineapple juice instead, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the PIsco. That changed, however, once I made a Pisco sour!
Credit: Martin Cate, Smuggler’s Cove
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz passion fruit syrup
1/4 oz orgeat
1/4 oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
lemon and Luxardo cherry garnish
Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice. Form lemon peel into a circle and place a cherry in the center on a toothpick, to represent the ringed planet.
Wow. This might have been my first cocktail that made me appreciate the magic of many ingredients working together to create something awesome. Homemade passion fruit syrup makes a difference, I think.
1 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
4 oz Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic Water
lime wedge
Build in a glass. Squeeze lime wedge in drink.
This drink made me like gin. A lot. This is my preferred way to enjoy this cocktail. For those that like it boozier, you can add more gin and/or decrease the tonic water.
Credit: The Spruce Eats
3/4 oz Buttershots Butterscotch Schnapps
3/4 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
1 tsp Jägermeister
1 tsp Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps
raisin garnish
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker and pour over ice. Garnish with raisins skewered on a cocktail pick.
Wow, this nails it.
★ Original Cocktail ★
3 oz POG (2 parts passion fruit juice, 1 part orange juice, 2 parts guava juice)
1 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz lime cordial
1 oz coconut rum
Mix it all up and serve over ice.
I came up with this as a variation on the Leilani volcano cocktail. Easy to make a pitcher of this!
Credit: The Spruce Eats
1 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 oz Buttershots Butterscotch Schnapps
4 oz coffee
Mix and serve over ice.
The Spruce Eats version also includes Irish whiskey and is served hot. This would be great with whipped cream floated on top.
