Cocktails

MOCHA BLIZZARD

You guys know that we love to create low-calorie cocktails, but sometimes we just can’t resist the temptation (it’s the holidays, after all) and make a very decadent recipe for our friends and family to enjoy. This weekend we came up with the Mocha Blizzard, a sweet, creamy, and minty cocktail that reminds us of everything that is great about the season. Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 6 oz of Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
• 4 oz of Brewed espresso (cold)
• 2 oz of Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps
• 2 oz of Chocolate syrup
• Whipped Cream
• Peppermint hard candies for garnish (crushed)
  

Combine the Godiva, espresso, schnapps, and chocolate syrup in small bowl and stir until the syrup is dissolved. (You must do this before putting the mix into the shaker, otherwise the chocolate will not mix well in the cold temperature.) Add the mixture into a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Serve in small glasses (it’s very rich, so a little goes a long way!) and top with the whipped cream and peppermint candies. Happy Holidays!

THE EGGNOG COCKTAIL

Like everyone else we love Eggnog, but we never have it because it’s so caloric and fattening. That is until we discovered that we didn’t need to make it with all the heavy cream and sugars that traditional recipes feature. The first time we made this cocktail, it was actually a mistake. We received a bottle of Caramel Cream liqueur, and it sat in our cabinet for a very long time until we decided to mix it with Maker’s Mark. The result wasn’t great. To salvage the drink we decided to add a little Frangelico and the result was absolutely amazing…we had recreated Eggnog without the calories! OK, so this drink is not actually low on calories, but it’s far better than the typical recipe. Just yesterday we decided to add more flavor by mulling the bourbon and the recipe just got better. Now we enjoy Eggnog without the guilt…here’s how you can do that too:

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz of Merry’s Caramel Cream
• 2 oz of Maker’s Mark
• 2 oz of Frangelico
• Mulling spices
• 1 tbsp pumpkin spice
• 3 tbsp sanding sugar
• Gingersnap cookies for garnish

You start by adding the mulling spices to the bourbon. This recipe is best if you have time to mull the bourbon a day ahead. If you don’t at least four hours. If you really don’t, nuke the bourbon for 1 minute with the spices (don’t worry, the alcohol will not evaporate). Once you’re ready to mix the drink (make sure the bourbon is cool if you have nuked it!) pour the Caramel Cream, bourbon, and Frangelico into a shaker filled with ice and shake well. To prepare the rimmed glass, combine the pumpkin spice and sugar and dip the glass rim into the mixture. Pour the drink into the glass and garnish with the gingersnap cookie. You will absolutely love this drink and feel good about having another one!

GODIVA PEPPERMINT BLAST

Today we’re spending the day making Christmas wreaths! One of our inspirations (though not completely) were candy canes. We love their color, pattern, and taste…which also ended up inspiring us for our cocktail break! I broke out the Godiva White Chocolate, added a few other key ingredients and the result is truly a blast! Here’s the recipe:

Makes two cocktails

• 6 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
• 3 oz 360 Vodka, Double Chocolate Flavor
• 3 oz Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps

Add the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Serve in cocktail glasses and garnish with a peppermint cookie (or a candy cane!). This cocktail is basically a white chocolate peppermint martini, but we’re having such a BLAST drinking it while making the wreaths that we decided to call it just that….back to the wreaths!

LOOPY TURKEY

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away and we’re putting the final touches to the menu for the day. Alberto’s job is to come up with a signature cocktail and what’s better than using the eponymous brand of bourbon Wild Turkey. The Loopy Turkey is basically a Cosmo made with bourbon. It’s very delicate, but  it also offers subtle depth and warmth in every sip. We made it with diet cranberry juice, so we’re sure to save calories for the real food! Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 8 oz of Wild Turkey
• 4 oz of Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry
• 2 oz of Triple Sec
• Splash of lemon juice
• Rosemary sprigs and fresh cranberries for garnish

Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Serve in a cocktail glass and garnish with the rosemary and fresh cranberries. The drink is not only delicious but it’s also the perfect way to start the holiday. Cheers!

SPICED PINEAPPLE PUNCH

I think this happens to everyone…after a party we always have several leftover liquor bottles that have just enough liquid to keep around but not enough to make a single drink. They usually sit in our cabinet until they get so old that we just throw them out (what a waste!) Cleaning out this afternoon we found bottles of dark, light and pineapple rum…what to do with them? Drawing inspiration from our days on Fire Island, we came up with this very dangerous punch…here’s the recipe:

Makes two drinks:

• 4 oz of Myer’s Dark Rum
• 4 oz of Cruzan Pineapple Rum
• 4 oz of Bacardi Rum
• 4 oz of pineapple juice
• 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger (best to use a microplane grater)
• 1 tsp of lime juice

Fill a shaker with ice, add all the ingredients and shake very well. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a slice of lime. The ginger adds just the perfect amount of spice to this very hardy fall punch — now, back to cleaning out that cabinet and maybe coming up with another cocktail!

PINK GHOST

After rain, sleet, snow, and barely escaping falling trees, I think we deserve a big strong cocktail!!! That can only be provided by Pisco, a brandy-type liquor made in Peru but recently available here as well. It’s smoother than tequila, sharper than rum, and it’s flavors go really well with strong flavored citrus fruits. This also gives us the chance to test out our new soda maker and the delicious diet pink grapefruit flavor! Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails:

• 8 oz. Peruvian Pisco (or substitute with tequila)
• 6 oz. diet grapefruit soda
• Juice from 1/2 a lime

Fill a tumbler with ice, pour the Pisco, grapefruit soda and lime juice and shake (carefully). Pour into a martini glass and garnish with lime slices. Salud!

DRUNKEN PUMKIN

We’re having people over for Halloween next weekend, so we’re trying out new cocktail recipes. The Drunken Pumkin cocktail is more of a dessert…it has frozen yogurt, pumpkin and our our favorite liquor, bourbon. Add a little pumpkin spice and you’ve got yourself a sweet lil’ creamy taste of the season. Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails:

• 6 oz of Maker’s Mark
• 4 0z of vanilla frozen yogurt
• 4 oz of canned pumpkin
• 4 oz of skim milk
• Pumpkin spice

Add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Serve and garnish with another dash of pumpkin spice. So good and it’s probably good for you too. Enjoy!

THAI CYCLONE

Southeast Asia has been on our travel wish list for some time now. Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are just a few of the places that we’d like to visit in the near future. So when our friend Marla at Travel Curious Often gave us the chance to “experience” Thai culture through one of its most famous exports, Mekong Whiskey, we jumped at the opportunity.

The term whiskey is applied to many different types of liquors in Southeast Asia. Mekong is made mostly from molasses, technically qualifying it as dark rum. In Thailand it’s often mixed with Coke, but we wanted to make a cocktail that would reflect the richness and complexity of the land. We came up with the Thai Cyclone, a deliciously sweet and spicy drink that is based on the traditional Dark ‘N Stormy recipe. Here’s how we made it:

Makes two cocktails:

• 6 oz Mekong Whiskey (or dark rum)
• 8 oz Ginger Beer
• ½ tsp of fresh ginger (finely minced)
• Splash of lime juice
• Lime for garnish

Fill two highball glasses with ice and add the whiskey, the ginger beer and finish it off with a bit of the fresh ginger (to add spice). Top it off with a splash of lime juice and garnish with the slice. For such a simple drink, the flavors are very exotic but also comforting…like sitting on a remote island beach. Enjoy!

SPICED APPLE MANHATTAN

As many of you know, the Manhattan is one our favorite cocktails. This weekend we decided to try a new twist…use some of the apple cider we recently bought instead of sweet Vermouth. The result is an amazing new apple cocktail that is spicy, refreshing and full of seasonal flavor! Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 6 oz of Marker’s Mark
• 4 oz apple cider
• Cinnamon sticks
• Star anisette
• Orange peel and wedges
• Pumpkin Spice

Put the cider, cinnamon, orange peel and anisette into a pot, bring them to a quick boil and turn off the heat. Once the cider has completely cooled off add to a shaker filled with ice, pour in the bourbon, and a dash of pumpkin spice. Shake well and serve. Garnish with a orange wedge and cinnamon stick. Be warned…this drink is delicious but it also packs a punch. Handle with care!

VODKA SOUR

The final weekend of the summer season has finally arrived, and we’re not very happy about it…kind of sour, actually. Why not channel those feelings into our cocktail break, right? So, here’s a delicious and simple recipe for a vodka sour that is sweet and sour, with a powerful punch..kind of what this past summer was, enjoy!

Makes two cocktails

• 4 oz of Stoli vodka
• 8 oz of lemon juice
• 2 tsp of super fine sugar
• lemon slices for garnish

Fill a tumbler with ice, pour the the vodka, lemon juice and sugar and stir until all the sugar has been dissolved. Pour into a glass filled with ice and garnish with lemon slices. Cheers!

CHOCOLATE MARTINI

We are starting to turn around on our opinion of flavored vodka. We recently discovered 360 Double Chocolate Vodka and we love it! And it has also given us the perfect excuse to try a chocolate martini. Our version uses hazelnut liqueur and Skim Plus chocolate milk…delicious and creamy, but also easy on the calories. Try it, here’s there recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 6 oz of 360 Double Chocolate Vodka
• 4 oz of Skim Plus Chocolate Milk
• 4 oz of Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur
• White chocolate shavings

Pour the vodka, milk and Frangelico into a shaker filled with ice, shake well and serve. Garnish the drinks with the white chocolate shavings and enjoy!

RASPBERRY PUNCH

The end of summer is, sadly, finally here. But we’re not letting it go just yet. We’re having friends over this weekend for BBQ (Craig’s BBQ from DeValls Bluff, Arkansas!). Since we had some of the Cruzan pineapple rum still around, we decided to make a very fruity cocktail with some fresh raspberries and diet ginger ale. The result is a deliciously simple rum punch that is perfect for the long weekend. Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 8 oz of Cruzan Pineapple-flavored rum
• 4 oz of fresh raspberries
• 4 oz of diet ginger ale
• 1 tsp of grenadine
• Mint for garnish

Start by soaking the raspberries in the rum for about ten minutes. After ten minutes muddle the berries in the rum and pour all into a shaker filled with ice. Next, add the diet ginger ale and grenadine. Shake well and serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with the mint. This drink is really amazing and the perfect way to end the summer!

FROZEN HURRICANE

There are tons of trees down and our basement is flooded, but all in all, we’re happy that the storm wasn’t as bad as they predicted. No project this weekend, but we needed to have a cocktail break anyway, so a Hurricane is perfectly appropriate. We didn’t have all the ingredients, but improvising is our strength (no pun intended). Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 4 oz of Bacardi rum
• 4 oz of Cruzan Pineapple rum
• 2 oz Rose’s Lime juice
• 2 oz of Tropicana orange juice
• 2 oz of Sprite Zero
• 2 tbsp of grenadine
• 2 cups of ice
• Orange slices and cherries for garnish

Except for the orange slice and cherries, put all of the ingredients into a blender and crush all until very smooth. Garnish and serve. This drink will rock you…trust us and please stay safe today!

BLOODY MARY

We are huge fans of the Bloody Mary…it’s our all-time favorite brunch drink! However, every time we ordered it or buy a cocktail mix, we felt totally bloated and full after the drink. We figured out that it was all the sodium in the mixes. Well…why not make the mix ourselves, right? Our homemade version is spicy, low-calorie and totally satisfying. Here’s the recipe…

Makes two cocktails

• 8 oz of low sodium V8
• 6 oz of Kanon Organic Vodka
• Juice of a lemon, and a couple of wedges for garnish
• 1 tbsp of horseradish (hot)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce (not too much!)
  
• Celery stalks for garnish
• Salt and pepper

Easiest thing to do to get the seasoning right is to mix all of the ingredients together, except the vodka. Taste the mix and make sure it has the right amount of heat and tartness. The V8 is low sodium, so it may need a few dashes of salt. But add salt  at the very end since the Worcestershire is very salty and may not need it at all. Pour the vodka over ice, top off the drink with the V8 mix, and stir well. Garnish with the celery and lemon wedges. Trust us, you’ll love this version…and there won’t be any need for Tums!

POLISH KISS

Except for the occasional fruity cocktail, we generally think that vodka should be left unflavored. That was until our friend Marla at Travel Curious Often suggested Zubrowka, a Polish vodka infused with Bison Grass. Yes, sounds a bit odd, but it’s truly a spectacular drinking experience. The subtle chamomile and herb flavors jump right at you when drinking it straight up, or on ice. Another popular way of drinking Zubrowka is with apple juice, which gave us the inspiration for our cocktail this week. Here’s the recipe…

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz of Zubrowka Bison Grass vodka
• 6 oz of apple juice (filtered)
• 2 oz of fresh lime juice
• Maraschino cherries and apple and lime wedges for garnish

Pour the Zubrowka and apple juice into a shaker filled with ice, shake well and serve in martini glasses. Garnish with the fruit. Calling this drink an Appletini is tempting, but wouldn’t be fair. It’s rich, smooth, fragrant, and delicious…kind of like the perfect kiss.

Na zdraví!

MIDSUMMER COCKTAIL

Earlier this summer our friends at Kanon Organic Vodka had us over for a party in New York to celebrate the Swedish holiday of Midsummer. We had a great time and really enjoyed their feature drink…The Midsummer Cocktail. It was unlike any vodka martini….fruity, complex, and refreshing. St. Germain, a liquor made from Elderflower,  adds a really special quality to the drink. We have been wanting to share the recipe with all of you, so they were kind enough to send it to us, along with a complementary bottle of Kanon. Here’s the recipe…

Makes 4 cocktails

• 8 oz of Kanon Organic Vodka
• 3 oz of St. Germain
• 3 oz of lemon juice

Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice, shake well and serve. Garnish with a lemon twist. The Midsummer holiday is typically celebrated on the Friday after June 21st, but we think that this is a great drink for any summer day…enjoy!

BLUEBERRY FIZZ

It’s really hot out there and this is the perfect drink to cool you down. And even with a bit of sugar, this cocktail is very low in calories…which we’re saving for tonight’s cookout! Here’s the recipe:

Makes 2 cocktails

• 12 oz bottle of Steaz Zero Calorie Blueberry Pomegranate Sparkling Tea
• 8 oz of Stoli Blueberi vodka
  
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• blueberries

Place a few blueberries in each glass and add a teaspoon of sugar. Muddle well and fill the glass with ice. Add a few more berries and pour 4 oz of vodka in each glass. Top each glass with the sparkling tea and stir before serving. This is amazingly delicious…try it!

CRAFTY TIME LEMONADE

There’s nothing better to do during a lazy Summer afternoon than to sit on the porch with a big glass of lemonade. After posting our pictures on Facebook, y’all inspired us to come up with this delicious lemonade made with cava, limoncello, and San Pellegrino limonata. Here’s the recipe:

Makes one pitcher

• 1 bottle of cava (Spanish sparkling wine)
• 1 cup of Caravella limoncello (lemon liquor)
• 4 eight ounce cans of San Pellegrino Limonata (or your favorite lemonade)
• lots of lemon slices and peel

Easiest recipe ever…combine all the ingredients in a pitcher (don’t add any ice!) and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve over ice and make sure you get several of the lemon slices in each glass — they add a lot of flavor to the drink. Now, we’re ready to relax on our front porch!

COCONUT STORM

We call this rum punch a storm because it does not only resemble one, but it also packs a thunderous kick. It’s perfect for this rainy day…try it!

Makes one cocktail

• 1 oz of Bacardi light rum
• 1 oz of Malibu coconut rum
• 1 oz of Cruzan pineapple rum
• 1 oz of Myer’s dark rum
• 4 oz of coconut juice
• splash of pineapple soda

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the light, coconut and pineapple rums. Next, add the coconut juice and a splash of the soda. Top off with the dark rum.

If you only want to make it with one type of rum, try it with just the Malibu for a very sweet version. However, we’d suggest that you, at least, top it off with the Myer’s dark rum…it really makes the drink!

This is the type of punch that you’ll want to have another one as soon as you’re done with the first one. Do it at your own risk. Happy July 4th!

PINEAPPLE GINGER MARGARITA

Today is one of those days that calls for a margarita…sunny, warm, and just the right amount of sticky humidity — the perfect summer day! Here’s a recipe that’s going to help you cool off while enjoying the sun!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz of Corzo tequila
• 6 oz can of pineapple juice
• 4 oz of diet ginger ale
• 1 tbs of fresh ginger pulp
• 1 lime

Mix all of the ingredients together, with the juice of half of the lime and stir well Serve over a tall glass of ice and garnish with the rest of the lime. Delicioso!

GIN MARTINI

There’s no better drink than a gin martini on Father’s Day. Our version is neither shaken, nor stirred, but chopped. It’s also very dry, cool and crisp. Here’s the recipe…

Makes 2 cocktails

• 8 oz of Hendrick’s gin
• a tiny splash of dry vermouth
  
• cucumber peel for garnish

Pour the gin and vermouth into shaker filled with ice and chop it down using a long cocktail spoon, until half of the ice has melted into the gin (it helps to use crushed ice). Serve in a cocktail glass and garnish with the cucumber peel. Happy Father’s Day!

STRAWBERRY PIÑA COLADA

Our lovely neighbors went strawberry picking this past weekend and brought us a big tub of the sweetest berries we’ve ever tasted. He suggested that we make a cocktail with them (he knows us well…most people would have suggested a pie or maybe a smoothie.) We listened and went old school this weekend and made Strawberry Piña Coladas!

The actual recipe calls for a lot of fruit juice which contains a lot of empty calories. To make it lighter, we used real fruit (strawberries, pineapples) and substituted the coconut milk with the beverage-kind, which we found in the dairy section of the market. We couldn’t find a substitute for the coconut cream, so we kept it in the recipe. It’s really a key ingredient and we couldn’t mess around with it…we just used half of what the recipe calls for, which was enough sweetness for us. Here’s the recipe:

Makes 4 cocktails

• 1 cup of Malibu Rum (coconut flavored)
• 1 cup of fresh strawberries
• 1 cup of pineapple
• 1/4 cup of Coconut Cream (Coco Lopez)
• 1 cup of ice
• Pineapple slices and tipsy cherries for garnish

Put the rum, fruit, cream and ice in a large blender and blend until smooth (I guess, this is an alcoholic smoothie after all!) Serve and garnish with the pineapple and cherries.

MANHATTAN

We’ve been in love with the Manhattan for years (oh, the stories this drink could tell…) For extra sweetness, our version uses orange bitters and a splash of the tipsy cherries juice (the ones marinated in whiskey!) Here’s the recipe:

Makes 2 cocktails

• 12 oz of Maker’s Mark
• 4 oz of Sweet Vermouth (Rosso)
• A few drops of Orange Bitters
• Tipsy Cherries and lemon twists for garnish

Add the wet ingredients (and a splash of the cherry juice) to a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Serve in cocktail glasses and garnish with a cherry and lemon twist. Except for maybe the vodka martini, this is the best drink in the world. Here’s to Manhattan!

SPICY POMEGRANATE BLUEBERRY MARGARITAS

The second day of a long weekend usually means another cookout. We’re making another delicious drink, this time with a kick of jalapenos! Here’s the recipe:

Makes one pitcher

• One bottle (.750 ml) of Jose Cuervo Silver tequila
• One bottle (1.75 liters) of Tropicana Trop50 Pomegranate Blueberry juice (yes, it’s low-cal too!!!)
• One cup of Triple Sec
• One medium size jalapeno
• Lime slices for garnish

Pour the entire bottle of tequila into a large pitcher. Next, using rubber gloves, slice the jalapeno in half and add to the tequila. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes (or longer, if you’d like it hotter). Take the jalapeno out and add the rest of the ingredients and let it rest for about 1 hour. Serve over ice and garnish with the lime. Happy Sunday!

BLOOD ORANGE SANGRIA

Yes, we’re obsessed with sangria! It’s the perfect summer party drink and there are endless variations that you can do by combining any type of fruit juice or soda with sparkling wine.  This blood orange version is dry, not too sweet, but certainly refreshing. Here’s the recipe:

Makes one pitcher:

• Two bottles of Spanish Cava (or your favorite sparkling wine)
• One bottle (1 liter) of Blood Orange-flavored French soda
  
• One cup of Triple Sec
• Orange and lime slices for garnish
  

Pour all the ingredients into a pitcher (be careful of the wine and soda foaming up the vessel!) and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Serve over ice and garnish with the orange and lime slices. Salud!

BELLINI

Summer is almost here and the Bellini is one of our favorite warm-weather drinks. The problem is that it’s usually made with peach juice, which contains a lot of sugar. We have been unable to find a suitable replacement (there is no light peach juice, or diet peach soda around here) so we stopped making it for a while. That all changed this weekend when we spotted a can of peaches in light syrup…why, not?! One serving of these peaches has a third of the calories of a glass of peach juice and all we need is 1 can (2 servings) for eight Bellinis — the perfect drink for a light Sunday brunch!

Makes 8 cocktails

• 1 can of peaches in light syrup
• 4 oz of peach schnapps
• 1 bottle of sparkling white wine (Cava for us!)
• peach slices for garnish

Using a blender, puree the canned peaches (including the syrup). Next all of you have to do is combine the rest of the ingredients in a pitcher and serve! Garnish with a small peach slice and enjoy a fruity and light cocktail this afternoon!

SPARKLING WATERMELON SANGRIA

It’s a gloomy spring Sunday in the Northeast, and we need something fun and fruity to cheer us up. Since we’re still in our Spanish kick, we decided to do this very tasty low-cal sangria drink. Salud!

Makes 1 pitcher

• 1 bottle of Spanish cava (or your favorite sparkling wine, Prosecco or Champagne)
• 2- 12 oz bottles of IZZE low-calorie watermelon soda
• 8 oz of Triple Sec
• 1 small seedless watermelon

Split the watermelon in half and using a melon baller, scoop out one half of the fruit into a pitcher. Carve out the pulp from the rest of the fruit, saving a couple of slices for garnish, and strain out as much water as possible (we used a very fine strainer). Add the water from the fruit to the pitcher with the rest of the ingredients. Let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour before serving to let the flavors come together.

FROZEN MINT JULEP

You can also call this a semi-homemade julep. We realized that we didn’t have enough spearmint for the drinks, so we substituted the herb for a couple of drops of mint concentrate. (Make sure you’re extremely careful when pouring the concentrate…it’s really strong.) We added a good amount of one of our favorite bourbons, Woodford Reserve, for a very delicious drink!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 8 oz of Woodford Reserve
• 2 cups of crushed ice
• 2 tbsp of granulated sugar
• A few drops of mint concentrate
• spearmint for garnish

Put all of the ingredients into a blender (or smoothie maker) and blend at high speed for a couple of minutes or until all the sugar has dissolved. Pour over a highball and garnish with spearmint. Enjoy the races today!

GIMLET

A sunny Sunday afternoon calls for a good drink. It’s so warm today that the weather actually reminds us of Fire Island, where our friend Terry introduced us to the Gimlet…the perfect vodka drink (after the martini, of course!) And despite being mostly vodka this recipe is very light and tasty. Enjoy!

Makes two cocktails

• 8 oz of Kettle One vodka
• 4 tbsp of lime juice
• 4 tbsp of Rose’s Lime juice

Pour all the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Garnish with a couple of very long lime twists. This drink is so good, that you’ll want another one!

THE KITL (KENTUCKY ICED TEA LEMONADE)

Our obsession with Kentucky Bourbon continues this week. Today we’re making a low cal iced tea/lemonade that packs a punch, the KITL (like Skittles). The drink reminds us of the great time we had in Louisville last summer… or at least, what we managed to remember of it!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 4 oz of Marker’s Mark
• 2 oz of Grand Marnier
• 1 cup of Turkey Hill diet iced tea
• 1 cup of Tropicana Light Lemonade
• Lemons slices for garnish

Fill a large glass with ice and pour all the liquid ingredients and stir. Garnish with a slice of lemon and enjoy!

LIME MOJITO

It’s mid-April and we’re still wearing sweaters…not fair! But since it’s Sunday (and  a three-day weekend for us), we have decided to hurry the season and start drinking our favorite Summer drinks. Today we’re doing a Mojito with Rose’s Lime Juice, which is not the real way of doing it, but it tastes delicious!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 8 oz of Bacardi Rum
• 2 tsp of Rose’s Lime Juice
• Mint-infused seltzer soda
• 1 tsp of rock sugar
• Fresh mint
• Lime wedges

Start by muddling the mint and rock sugar in an old-fashioned glass. Fill the glass with ice and add 1 tsp of the Rose’s lime juice in each. Finish the drink with the rum and a splash of the mint seltzer. Garnish with the lime. It’s almost dinner time; the sun is finally poking through; and it’s warming up a bit…maybe we’ll have another one!

GINGER GRANT

This one is our diet version of the Dark ‘N Stormy…we call it the Ginger Grant because it’s low cal, delicious and perfect for a model/movie star! Our version uses Regatta Diet Ginger Beer, which is an amazing alternative to diet ginger ale.

Makes 2 cocktails

• 4 oz of 10 Cane rum
• 1 bottle of Regatta Diet Ginger Beer
• lime for garnish

Fill a couple of highball glasses with ice and pour the rum. Top them off with the ginger beer and garnish with the lime wedges. This is a great Spring drink. Cheers!

MAPLE SAZERAC

Purists will scoff at our Sazerac recipe, but we really like it. Instead of Herbsaint, we use Sambuca and instead of simple syrup, we pour in a generous amount of maple syrup. The result is a simple but robust drink that will knock you out. Enjoy!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon
• 2 oz of Grade B maple syrup
• Splash of Sambuca
• Peychaud’s Bitters
• Lemon twists

Pour the bourbon, maple syrup and the Peychaud’s Bitter into a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Before serving, add a splash of Sambuca to each cocktail glass, swirl it around and discard. Pour the shaker into the glasses and garnish with a lemon twist.

SKINNY OLD FASHIONED

Some days, I just need to have a real cocktail…especially when it’s been raining all day like it has been doing in Maplewood.  It was just the type of weather to make one crave an Old Fashioned. We’re calling our version “skinny” since instead of sugar, we’re using Sprite Zero!

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz Maker’s Mark
• 6 oz Sprite Zero
• orange bitters
• lemon wedges
• Maraschino cherries

Muddle the cherries, lemon and a couple of dashes of orange bitters in lowball glasses. Add ice to each glass, then the bourbon and Sprite, and enjoy one very low-cal cocktail!

HIBISCUS MARGARITA

We’re celebrating tonight’s Oscars ceremony with this very festive (and extremely tasty) straight up margarita (or tequila martini, for some.) We found the hibiscus syrup at our favorite liquor store, The Wine Library.

Makes 2 cocktails

• 8 oz of Don Julio Blanco tequila
• 4 oz of Triple Sec
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 2 tablespoons of hibiscus syrup
• 2 hibiscus flowers (from syrup container)
• lime wedges for garnish

Place the first four ingredients into a shaker filled with ice, and shake well. Before pouring, place a hibiscus flower from the syrup jar at the bottom of each glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy!

SOL BLANCO (Pisco Sangria)

This is a simple and quick holiday Sangria using Pisco, white grape juice and Spanish Cava (or any sparkling white wine). The perfect for any New Year’s Eve party!

Makes a large pitcher

• 8 oz of Pisco (you MUST use a Peruvian Pisco)
• 16 oz of white grape juice
• 1 bottle of Spanish Cava (or any sparkling wine)
• green grapes (sliced in halves)
• 1/2 Granny Smith apple (chopped)

In a pitcher, place the Pisco with the grapes and apple and let it sit for about 1 hour. Then pour in the grape juice and the bottle of wine. Stir and enjoy!

BLUEBERRY MARTINI

Our love affair with sweet drinks continues, but this one is not too sweet! We had some leftover blueberries and I came up with this recipe while Brent was finishing up the glass tile ornaments.

Makes 2 cocktails

• 8 oz of Stoli Blueberi
• 4 oz of Wild Blue beer
• 1 tablespoon of blueberry simple syrup

Start by making the simple syrup: 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar, and just a few blueberries. Bring all the ingredients to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Strain the blueberries out and let it cool.

Now, in a shaker filled with ice, combine all the ingredients (use more syrup if you want a sweeter drink, but not too much!) Shake slowly (the beer will foam up, so be ready to release some of the pressure from the shaker) and serve.

This is the perfect fruit martini for a cold winter afternoon!

RUM CARAMEL

We rarely have sweet drinks. But this weekend, while making the linens for Thanksgiving, Brent mentioned that he wanted a holiday-type drink. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant until I spotted the Godiva Caramel Liquor someone gave us a while back. We had not even opened it yet, so this was a great chance to try it in a cocktail (it’s way too sweet to drink alone, even on the rocks). I added some aged rum, a bit of pumpkin spice and here’s the result…

Makes 2 cocktails

• 6 oz of Bacardi aged rum
• 2 oz of Godiva Caramel Liquor
• ½ tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and serve straight up.

The result is a very smooth “cold” toddy capable of warming up anyone. Enjoy!