herb and spice liqueur

Piña Colada Clarified Milk Punch

Credit: Cocktail Chemistry

Ingredients

8 oz aged rum
4 1/2 oz Harmless Coconut Water
2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
3 oz pineapple juice
2 oz lime juice, strained
5 oz whole milk


Directions

1. Add milk to a large container and set aside.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients into another container.

3. Slowly pour the mixture into the milk, and gently stir until it curdles.

4. Run a few ounces of the curdled mixture through through a coffee filter, then pour those first few ounces back into the filter.

5. Filter the remaining curdled mixture…it will take a few hours!

6. Bottle and store in the fridge. To serve, pour about 4 oz over a large ice cube in a rocks glass.


Notes

Finally! Success with clarified milk punch. This stuff is sooo easy to drink…be careful! I recommend Harmless Coconut Water as it tastes so much more like coconut than other brands.

 
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Blended Grasshopper

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Menthe Glaciale
1 1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Cacao
1 tsp Fernet Branca
1/2 oz heavy cream
1/2 oz whole milk
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup ice
4 drops saline solution


Directions

Blend until smooth, then serve in a chilled collins glass.


Notes

That 1 teaspoon of Fernet makes all the difference. Jeffrey Morgenthaler is brilliant. This is an amazing, happy drink. That is all.

 
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Ice-berg

Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro, citing Garret Richard

Ingredients

1 oz Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila
20 ml bottle Underberg herbal liqueur
1 oz orgeat
3/4 oz lemon juice
1 cup ice


Directions

Blend all ingredients and garnish with the empty Underberg bottle upside-down.


Notes

This is like a Christmas margarita. Clove-forward. Also note to self, have orgeat at the ready before cocktail hour, since I was out and had to make it from scratch and woke up my 7-year-old running the blender for 45 seconds making almond milk!

 
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The Main Course

Credit: Napa Rose Lounge, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Resort Area

Ingredients

Bulleit Rye Whiskey
Campari
Fernet Branca
John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
orange peel garnish


Directions

Shake and strain over ice. Garnish with orange peel after expressing the oils.


Notes

I made this at the request of a guest at our New Year’s Eve party. I thought it would be bitter and strong as heck with the Campari and Fernet, but it was magical!

 
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Piña Verde

Credit: Erick Castro, Polite Provisions

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz cream of coconut
1/2 oz lime juice
3 chunks frozen pineapple
1/2 cup ice
mint garnish


Directions

Blend everything and garnish with mint.


Notes

Once again, Green Chartreuse in a tiki drink is bright and refreshing! The only catch—it was tough getting any coconut. I’m not sure if it’s the coconut cream itself, or lack of coconut rum, but I’d like to find a way to make the coconut shine through a bit.

Through generosity and lucky circumstances, I came into possession of a KitchenAid blender with a motor that means business. We still love our workhorse NutriBullet, but the KitchenAid nails the perfect texture for a frozen blended drink! There’s a blended drink setting with a cute tiki glass icon—it both crushes ice and aerates the drink.

Lesson learned: for blended drinks, use frozen pineapple instead of pineapple juice for a less diluted drink.

 
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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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Hot Toddy

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon
1 oz ginger syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
1 tsp allspice or pimento dram
3 oz boiling water
orange peel garnish

Directions

Heat a mug with hot water, then empty it. Add all ingredients in the mug, stir, and give it a final zap in the microwave if needed. Garnish with the orange peel.


Notes

Despite forgetting the garnish, this was great. Quite spiced—an upgrade from bourbon, honey, lemon, and water. I made this after trying 3 different cocktail recipes that I didn’t care for (Batida de Milho Verde, Arbitrary Nature of Time, and Leilani Volcano 2.0), getting tired, and just wanting to collapse on the couch with something warm. This was comforting and easy to drink. I’m curious to try this with spiced rum, or short-cut this with American Honey.

 
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Pimm's Cup

Ingredients

Version 1

1 oz Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
4 oz San Pellegrino Limonata
orange slice

Version 2

1 oz Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
4 oz Fever Tree Ginger Ale
4-5 cucumber slices
lemon slice
several mint leaves


Directions

Build in a collins glass and add ice.


Notes

Verdict: version 2!

I made version 1 of the Pimm’s Cup in travel mugs, as we were walking out the door to go trick-or-treating for Halloween. Refreshing and easy to drink—I make this a bit less strong than the official Pimm’s 1:3 ratio. Limonata is pleasantly bitter.

I made version 2 tonight, and just loved it. The cucumber is essential I realize, as is the mint. I’d like to play around with orange, lemon, and even strawberry as is the official recipe. It’s like a slightly alcoholic iced tea. And when you finish your drink, you can fill the glass with water, and that tastes fantastic too.

 
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Junior Mint (Grasshopper)

Credit: Difford’s Guide

Ingredients

1 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Cacao
1 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Menthe Glaciale
1 1/2 oz whole milk
1/2 oz heavy cream


Directions

Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass.


Notes

I used Simon Difford’s recipe for lightening up this drink from the traditional equal parts creme de menthe, creme de cacao, and heavy cream—above is the equivalent of 1 oz each half and half and whole milk. However, when you upgrade to Tempus Fugit spirits, the old-school grasshopper becomes something much more refined. First you taste pure, fresh mint, creaminess, then sweet chocolate. It’s the cocktail version of a Junior Mint.

 
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Beton

Ingredients

1 oz Becherovka liqueur
3 oz Fever Tree Indian Tonic Water
lemon wedge


Directions

Fill collins glass with ice. Add Becherovka and tonic water, then stir. Squeeze lemon into glass and use spent wedge as a garnish.


Notes

Lighter and refreshing! The lemon adds a nice balance.

 
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Southbound Suarez

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz reposado tequila
1/2 oz. agave syrup
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 tsp Becherovka
1 1/2 oz horchata


Directions

Shake and strain over ice.


Notes

Confession—I used the tequila I had, which was Patron Silver, not reposado. I also used 2 oz horchata. It was refreshing, but the tequila was challenging. I also didn’t get much of the Becherovka. I think I’d want to try this with more Becherovka and less tequila, as I tend to like lighter drinks.

 
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The Aviary's Gin and Tonic

Credit: The Aviary Cocktail Book, Cocktail Chemistry

Ingredients

gin
Green Chartreuse
simple syrup
citric acid
tonic water
cucumber spheres


Directions

See Cocktail Chemistry for directions.


Notes

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.

 
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Saturn

Credit: Martin Cate, Smuggler’s Cove

Ingredients

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


Directions

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.


Notes

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.

 
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