Real Food Made Easy » thursday drink night

file under cocktails: Kentucky Summer Blues

janice — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:26:48 +0000

Last night was the last Thursday Drink Night before Tales of the Cocktail and the theme turned to crushed ice. Its been a few weeks since I’ve had a chance to catch up with the Mixoloseum crew, so even though time was tight last night, I pulled together a cocktail and popped my head in before things wound down.

I’ve had a bottle of Chambord sitting in my liquor cabinet (hidden at the back) that hasn’t gotten much use. Truth be told, its one of those sweeter liqueurs that I find hard to pair with much, so it gets passed over in favour of the Cointreau and Maraschino. I was bound and determined to use it, and as I was musing, I figured Bourbon might be just the ticket. Originally, I was aiming to use raspberries, but as it turned out, blueberries were the only seasonal berries in the kitchen!

Kentucky Summer Blues:

Muddle together:

1 dozen blueberries

1/2 oz. Chambord (up to 3/4 oz. if you prefer sweeter)

Add:

1 1/2 oz. Makers Mark

3/4 oz. lemon juice (fresh)

Shake with ice. Double strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice.

Float 1 tsp. Crema de Mezcal on top. Garnish with fresh blueberries. Serve with a straw.

Afternoon with the Padre ( A delicious summer cocktail! )

janice — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:40:30 +0000

As promised, this next cocktail post is, in fact a cocktail post (albeit a little later than originally planned!).

This cocktail was originally developed for a Thursday Drink night, but I’ve been enjoying it over the past few weeks and thought I would share the recipe with y’all.

Summer is finally upon is, and what says summer better than tequila and lime — with a bit of a twist! This cocktail makes use of falernum (a tasty gingery, spicy, limey syrup that you can either buy or make — homemade is definitely worth it!). The falernum shakes things up just a little bit, marrying well with the fresh, earthy notes of the reposado tequila. I guess you could make this with Blanco tequila, but trust me here and use the Reposado!

You can make the basic recipe, which is delicious as-is, but there’s also a couple of mods along the way which will completely kick things up a notch — it’s all up to you!!!

Afternoon with the Padre

1.5 oz. Reposado Tequila (I used Herradura, but El Jimador is also good at a lower price)

0.5 oz. Yellow Chartreuse

0.5 oz. Falernum

1.0 oz. fresh lime

Shake with ice, strain over cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass

Mods: If you really enjoy the spicy-clovey notes in the falernum you can add a couple of dashes of Jerry Thomas Decanter bitters. To really bump up the smokiness, try floating 0.25 oz. Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal on top

The Velvet Underground

janice — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:16:33 +0000

Another Thursday Drink night, this time Dark Rums!

This cocktail is rum heavy (three of them!), each bringing something to the party. The addition of Green Chartreuse balances out the molasses notes of the Cruzan Blackstrap, and results in a nice smooth yet complex cocktail. A small amount of elderflower syrup adds a slight bright/tart note, and the gomme syrup adds a nice silky texture (if you dont have it, try the cocktail without it). If you don’t have the Cruzan Blackstrap you can play around with other rums, but it really does have a unique flavour.

The Velvet Underground

3/4 oz. Cruzan Blackstrap rum

3/4 oz. El Dorado 15 year old (or other good quality Demerera)

3/4 oz. Goslings Black Seal

3/4 oz. Green Chartreuse

1 tsp Elderflower cordial

1 tsp Gomme syrup

3-4 dashes Jerry Thomas bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist

Windy Wednesday Cocktail

janice — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:46:15 +0000

Well its been a few weeks running that I’ve had to skip out on Thursday Drink Night over at the Mixoloseum, but here we are on Thursday night, with lamb roasting in the oven, my drink hand empty, and a TDN theme of Gin, just waiting for something to be mixed up!

We’ve had some wild weather here, with the odd power outage, high winds, and lots of fir branches down for the count!. Walking the dogs through the streets, there’s a gorgeous resin-y aroma of douglas fir branches wafting in the air, making me think of rosemary. So this week, rosemary ended up being the starting point, and a recently acquired jar of gooseberry preserves with its sweet/tart flavour looked like it would pair well with the rosemary and some citrus. Not to forget the gin — I ended up going with Beefeater 24: a little more citrus and less juniper forward to let the rosemary shine through. The addition of Green Chartreuse and Jerry Thomas bitters round out the herbal notes. The whole thing was very roughly strained so it would look a little blowsy and got topped off with seltzer.

So here you go, even though its Thursday: the Windy Wednesday

The Windy Wednesday

Muddle together:

Leaves from 1/2 sprig of rosemary

1 heaping barspoon gooseberry preserves

Add:

2 oz. Beefeater 24 Gin

1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice (scant)

1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse

3 dashes Jerry Thomas bitters

Shake with ice, strain roughly into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with soda water. Garnish with a rosemary sprig

Cupid’s Day Off

janice — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:33:03 +0000

For all you Valentine revelers, here’s a Valentine’s cocktail that Cupid himself might like to kick back with. If you have a date for Valentine’s, enjoy, knowing that Cupid is getting his vacay time in. If you are flying solo for Valentine’s, take comfort in the fact that Cupid is on the beach in Bermuda somewhere!

This cocktail originated during Thursday Drink Night: Trader Tiki’s Syrups.

Trader Tiki is making a range of small-batch, hand-crafted syrups perfect for tiki drinks: Orgeat, Don’s Mix, Cinnamon syrup and Vanilla Syrup. He’s currently working on Canadian distribution, so check back with them often!

I knew when I started, that I wanted the drink to be pink, but I didn’t want something overly flowery or fruity — I wanted it to taste like a proper cocktail with a balance of sweet and bitter, but be refreshing enough to enjoy in the warmer months to come!

Cupid’s Day Off

2 oz. Anejo Tequila

0.75 oz. Campari

0.5 0z. kirschwasser

0.25 oz. vanilla syrup

0.5 oz. hibiscus grenadine

0.5 oz. pink grapefruit juice

Shake with ice, strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Float crema de mezcal, Garnish with a vanilla pod and a hibiscus flower.