Credit: Serious Eats
1 oz lemon juice
2 oz orgeat
3 oz water
Shake and strain over ice.
Ok, this is somewhere between awesome and amazing. The almond and lemon pair so well together! Tart and refreshing, but with enough sweetness, too. And the measurements are so easy. I would have been drinking this all summer had I known about this recipe, but hey, does it ever get too cold for lemonade in California?
Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler
1 1/2 oz reposado tequila
1/2 oz. agave syrup
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 tsp Becherovka
1 1/2 oz horchata
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.
Credit: Dave Arnold, Liquid Intelligence; Cocktail Chemistry
1 fat ounce butter syrup (1 oz + 1 tsp)
1/4 oz lime juice
2 oz Brown Butter-Washed Banana Rum
Shake and strain into a chilled rocks glass.
Ok, this took some trial and error! The first time I mixed this, I accidentally doubled the amount of lime when I doubled the recipe, as I was making it for me and my husband. Then I followed Dave Arnold’s recipe and used 1/2 oz lime, and it was still too acidic. Both times I had also used Sailor Jerry’s spiced rum, which is slightly higher proof at 92. So I scrapped everything and decided to try infused rum and less lime.
WOW. This stuff is sweet, buttery, and totally different than anything else I’ve tried. Next time I’d serve it over a large ice sphere because: 1) the cocktail could afford some dilution; and 2 to keep it cold—the richness of the butter at room temperature can make the mouthfeel a bit off. Now that I have a preferred amount of lime, I’d be curious to try this cocktail with other rums.
Credit: Dave Arnold, Liquid Intelligence; Cocktail Chemistry
200 g water
150 g melted unsalted butter
200 g granulated sugar
3 grams Ticaloid 210 S (9:1 ratio gum arabic to xanthan gum)
10 allspice berries, crushed
Heat the water and crushed allspice berries to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain out the allspice. Add the Ticaloid 210 S to the infused water and mix with a stick blender. Add the butter and blend. Add the sugar and blend. You can store this at room temperature.
Wow, this is delicious! The allspice adds something nice. There has to be an application here for pancakes or French toast.
3 oz POG (2 parts passion fruit juice, 1 part orange juice, 2 parts guava juice)
1 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz lime cordial
1/16 tsp Popjoy blue spirulina powder
baby Swedish fish garnish
Stir ingredients and pour over ice. Garnish with a baby Swedish fish on a toothpick.
The Popjoy brand of blue spirulina adds no flavor—just color!
Credit: Imbibe
1 1/2 oz brown butter-washed banana rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil
1/4 oz 2:1 simple syrup
Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass.
This drink captures the essence of banana in all its glory. I think the next step is to make some kind of caramelized banana brown sugar rim.
Credit: Gabriella Mlynarczyk, Clean + Dirty Drinking
750 ml George Ocean White Rum
8 oz unsalted butter
3 ripe bananas
Brown the butter. Add the bananas and mash them into the hot butter, off the heat. Pour the mixture into a glass bowl, and add the rum. Stir, and let sit for 2 days covered. Then strain the rum and refrigerate. When the butter solidifies at the top, scoop it out and strain it again through a coffee filter to remove any remaining particles.
What not to do—put the rum that’s draining through a coffee filter in front of paper towels, so when you reach for a paper towel, you knock over 1/3 of your rum. Aside from that…WOW. This rum can practically be sipped neat, it’s that good. It goes from clear to clear dark golden yellow.
Credit: Martin Cate, Smuggler’s Cove
1 oz lemon juice
1 1/2 oz cream of coconut
1 oz Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1 oz Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
1 oz Appleton Estate Signature Blend Rum
lemon wedge with a cocktail umbrella, gently turned up
Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.
Wow, I could have had half of this. I did, and gave the other half to my husband after he had his, and somehow he’s able to do the dishes right now. The apricot and coconut are lovely together. This drinks sends you to worry-free shores!
Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
3 cups hot water
1/2 cup white sugar
3-inch stick of ceylon cinnamon, broken into small pieces
Put all ingredients into a heat-proof bowl and let sit for several hours or overnight, up to 24 hours. Blend everything and strain through a nut milk bag.
Good chilled over ice, which helps dilute the sweetness. However, there was some grittiness that came through. Even so, looking forward to trying this in a cocktail.
Drillaud Crème de Pêche (15% ABV)
Giffard Crème de Pêche de Vigne (16% ABV)
Drillaud Crème de Pêche: smells exactly like a peach gummy candy. Quite sweet. I’d use this in a pinch where banana liqueur is a small fraction of the cocktail.
Giffard Crème de Pêche de Vigne: Much more complex and interesting. I’m looking forward to using this in The Educated Barfly’s Peach Cobbler.
Giffard Crème de Pêche de Vigne.
Credit: Leandro DiMonriva, The Educated Barfly
1 1/2 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz white rum
3/4 oz Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 demerara syrup
Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.
OMG. Sooooo good. Doesn’t taste strong at all! I used Patron XO Cafe for the coffee liqueur, but want to try it with Mr. Black’s. I also did a Luxardo cherry garnish since I don’t own a traditional Mr. Bali Hai mug, which has a skull cap. :-)
The first time I made this drink I used Patron XO Cafe. This time I used Mr Black and it makes a difference. You can taste the coffee note much better, which somehow works perfectly with the rum and pineapple.
1 oz Wild Turkey American Honey Liqueur
3 1/2 oz coffee
float whipped cream on top (see: Irish Coffee for how)
Serve in a traditional Irish coffee glass
Fill glass with hot water until it heats up, then dump out the hot water. Add liqueur and coffee to glass and gently stir. Float whipped cream on top.
I first tried the Kentucky Coffee recipe from Spruce Eats and found it way too bitter and boozy. When I made this with just the American Honey liqueur, it was marvelous. The orange notes from the liqueur come through beautifully, and it was sweet enough without any sugar syrup. (This liqueur would also make a super-easy hot toddy I imagine.)
Credit: Punch
1 oz club soda
3/4 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
3/4 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 simple syrup
1 egg white
Angostura Bitters
Pour club soda into a coupe glass. Dry shake the remaining ingredients, then add a large ice cube and shake again until it’s chilled. Strain and pour into the coupe glass, and dot with Angostura bitters.
This is fabulous. It feels like a spring or summer drink, but would also work well for brunch with the berry flavor from the sloe gin. I use 2:1 simple syrup (2 parts white sugar, 1 part water) since it lasts longer. I also added bitters—I keep some Angostura bitters in a small dropper bottle, to allow for more precise placement and design. A beautiful drink.
I’ve seen recipes for the egg white version with only sloe gin, and I’m hesitant to try it. I think the equal parts gin and sloe gin make more a much more balanced drink. I also tried the Educated Barfly’s version, which doesn’t use egg white and is served over ice in a collins glass. It was far too tart for me!
Kahlua (20% ABV)
Mr Black Cold Brew (25% ABV)
Patron XO Cafe (35% ABV)
Kahlua: sweet, less syrupy than expected. Would be great on ice cream or in dessert drinks.
Mr Black Cold Brew: WOW. Tastes like true coffee. Want to use this for White Russians and tiki drinks.
Patron XO Cafe: boozy. More complex than Kahlua. Could see sipping this over ice, or just adding to coffee.
If I had to choose 2, I’d choose Kahlua and Mr Black Cold Brew.
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.
