Tag: recipe

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Original Recipe: Blood Moon Cocktail

The end of January brought us an unusual astronomical event:  a super blue blood moon.  It was a combination of three phenomena:  a super moon, where the moon is closer to Earth and therefore brighter; a blue moon, meaning the second full moon in a month; and a blood moon, which denotes the reddish hue caused by a lunar eclipse.  But Washington, D.C. was not optimally situated to view the “blood” portion of the event.  To make up for that fact and to celebrate the occasion, I prepared a Blood Moon cocktail:

Blood Moon cocktail

Like my last recipe for the Desert Orange, this recipe features blood orange, which is in peak season from January to March.  But here it functions only as a garnish – a red citrus wheel that serves as my “blood moon” proxy.  The drink itself relies on a sibling citrus – grapefruit juice.  The spirits are Campari, which complements the citrus nicely, and Ancho Reyes Verde, which adds a little kick.

The result is a light and refreshing drink that would do well on any night, super blue blood moon or not.  And by “light” I don’t mean just easy to drink.  Although the Campari and Ancho Reyes Verde flavors are definitely detectable here, they together comprise only 1 1/2 ounces of the recipe.  Grapefruit juice is the primary ingredient, and there is no high-proof spirit.  That means the drink is lower proof and lower-calorie than your typical cocktail – call it about half strength on both scores.  So make yourself a couple rounds!

Here is the recipe:

Blood Moon recipe
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Blood Moon

Try my Blood Moon cocktail, a light and refreshing drink made in anticipation of the super blue blood moon, but fit for sipping on any occasion.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 124kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Campari
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 2 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  • blood orange wheel

Instructions

  • Combine Campari, Ancho Reyes Verde, and juice in a shaking tin with ice and shake vigorously.
  • Strain into a rocks glass.  Add a large ice cube.
  • Garnish with blood orange wheel.

Enjoy!

Missing some ingredients?  You might be able to have them delivered.  Check out our comparative review of liquor delivery services.

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Original Recipe: Desert Orange

I’ve been inspired by the cocktail recipes I’ve been seeing this season making use of blood orange, which is in peak form from January through March.  (One example:  the brûléed blood orange spiced winter gin and tonic at Craft & Cocktails.)  So in addition to experimenting with “dressed can” cocktails this month, I’ve put together a couple of recipes of my own that feature blood orange.  I now present the first of these, the Desert Orange:

Desert Orange

This cocktail combines flavors of smoke, spice, and citrus.  It begins with mezcal as the base spirit, which provides the smoky flavor.  Spice and savory flavors are provided by Ancho Reyes Verde liqueur and a tomatillo, tamarind and hibiscus shrub by Calvit’s.  And the citrus of course comes from freshly squeezed blood orange juice.  To round off the drink, I added a bit of burnt sugar syrup from Tippleman’s and Aztec Chocolate Bitters by Fee Brothers.  I also salted the rim of the glass with pink Himalayan salt.

This is a great cocktail for February.  The smoke and spice keep you warm, while the citrus foreshadows sunny summer days ahead – a margarita for winter, if you will.  Here is the recipe:

Desert Orange recipe
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Desert Orange

Enjoy the Desert Orange cocktail, which combines smoke, spice and citrus that takes advantage of blood orange season.
Prep Time6 minutes
Total Time6 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 240kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. mezcal I used Mezcal Vago Espadín
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 1/2 oz. Calvit's Tomatillo-Tamarind-Hibiscus Drinking Shrub
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed blood orange juice
  • 1/4 oz. burnt sugar syrup I used Tippleman's
  • 1 dash Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
  • blood orange wheel
  • pink Himalayan salt

Instructions

  • Salt the rim of a rocks glass with the salt.  Add a large ice cube.
  • Combine the mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde, shrub, juice, syrup and bitters in a shaking tin with ice and shake vigorously.
  • Strain into the glass and add an orange wheel as garnish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients that are available on Amazon are linked in the post (the blog may earn a commission if a purchase is made). Missing any other ingredients?  You might be able to have them delivered.  Check out our comparative review of liquor delivery services.

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“Dressed Can” Cocktails for the Super Bowl

Ed.: Remember when I said in the February cocktail events round-up that no one in D.C. was hosting a cocktail-themed event?  Well now you can do it yourself, thanks to this idea for “dressed can” cocktails from Julia (who previously posted about how to make your own Slivovitz).

When you’re hosting guests for a game day, cocktails made in a can are a great way to upgrade the drinks offerings without a lot of legwork (or clean up). These “dressed cans” don’t have to be a can of beer either – soda, juice, or canned wine can all form the base of a delicious drink.

Whether you’re tuning in for the Puppy Bowl or the Super Bowl, game day drinking is also a marathon. I started off easy with a Stiegl Radler, a 2% ABV grapefruit shandy (game day drinking is a marathon after all).

Inspired by a Greyhound cocktail, I doctored the Stiegl up with 1.5oz Tanqueray, ‘Rizzo’ rosemary and grapefruit bitters from Crude Small Batch Bitters, lemon juice (Stiegl is on the sweeter side), and some fresh grapefruit. If you’re a Salty Dog lover, you could rim the can in grapefruit juice and salt, or swap out the gin for tequila to make a Paloma. Bon Appetit published a great list of beer cocktails – next time there’s a Budweiser in the cooler, I might just sneak in a shot of Amaro.

Enjoy, and have a great game day!

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Original Recipe: Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye

As past posts reveal, I’m a fan of shrubs.  I’ve used them in cocktails like the Autumn Breeze.  And because they are nonalcoholic they also work in mocktails like the Mexican Candy Soda.  In part because of their versatility, I’ve also recommended shrubs as great cocktail-themed gifts.  In that vein, I was recently given a gift of a rhubarb shrub from Tulip Tree Hill.  I immediately set out to find a good use for it in a cocktail.  And lo, the Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye was born:

Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye

The inspiration for this drink was the strawberry-rhubarb preserves my grandmother always had on hand when I was a kid.  I figured raspberries would do just as well as strawberries and are a bit easier to use in cocktails.

That proved true, but these ingredients needed a little support to stand up against the base spirit – rye, in this case.  I thought it would help to add some sugar and citrus.  For these I used burnt sugar syrup from Tippleman’s and lemon juice.  I also added a dash of walnut bitters.

These additions rounded out the drink nicely, giving it a smooth, tangy and slightly sweet taste.  Although I put this together in January, the spring-summery flavors of rhubarb and raspberry hinted at the warmer days ahead.  This would be a perfect pre-dinner cocktail on a night of an outdoor meal.  Here’s the recipe:

Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye recipe
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Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye

This Raspberry, Rhubarb & Rye cocktail combines raspberry and rhubarb flavors to provide a smooth, tangy and slightly slightly sweet cocktail that is perfect for your next happy hour.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 195kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. rye I used Whistle Pig
  • 3/4 oz. Tulip Tree Hill rhubarb shrub
  • 3/4 oz. burnt sugar syrup I used Tippleman's
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 dash walnut bitters I used Fee Brothers
  • 5 raspberries

Instructions

  • Combine the rye, shrub, syrup, lemon juice, bitters, and three of the raspberries with ice in a shaking tin and shake vigorously.
  • Strain into a rocks glass.
  • Add a large ice cube.
  • Garnish with two fresh raspberries.

Enjoy!

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Dry Recipe: Mexican Candy Soda

I recently posted my first recipe for dry January – the Actually Dry Martini.  With its botanical and vegetable flavors, the Actually Dry Martini might serve as a reasonable mocktail alternative for martini drinkers.  But what about everyone else?  Before January ends I wanted to get one more non-alcoholic recipe up so we have a broader spectrum of tastes covered.  In this post, I present to you the Mexican Candy Soda:

Mexican Candy Soda

For this drink we will once again be making use of the Garden 108 non-alcoholic spirit by Seedlip.  As noted in the Actually Dry Martini post, Garden 108 features flavors of “leaf,” “herb,” and “pod.”  In that post, I used Garden 108 as a reasonable non-alcoholic proxy for gin.  (To temper expectations, I also cautioned that Garden 108 is not really gin.  But that fact is less significant here, where other flavors make the drink less dependent on Garden 108.)

We will also be using a shrub.  In the past, I’ve recommended shrubs from D.C.’s own Shrub District.  (See my gift guide and recipe for the Autumn Breeze.)  For this recipe I tried out one of Calvit’s Shrubs, the Tomatillo-Tamarind-Hibiscus drinking shrub.

The final flavor comes from freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.  I used ruby red grapefruits for the color of the juice and peel.  But the particular variety is not as important as the fact that you use fresh ingredients.  (You’ll note I always include “freshly squeezed” to describe fruit juice used in my recipes.  Fresh juice is always important in cocktails, but all the more so in mocktails, where there is no alcohol to hide behind.)  You’ll also need soda water to top off the drink.

These flavors combine beautifully for a light and refreshing drink that makes for a perfect pre-dinner mocktail before a spicy meal.  In fact, that’s partly how I decided on the name here.  I enjoyed one of these mocktails prior to a spicy chorizo stew dinner.  And in researching for inspiration for the name, I found that tamarind is popular flavor in Mexican candy.  That description seemed to fit, and I liked the name, so the Mexican Candy Soda was christened.

Here’s how to make it at home:

Mexican Candy Soda recipe
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Mexican Candy Soda

If you're in the mood for something light and refreshing and alcohol-free, try the Mexican Candy Soda, made with Seedlip's Garden 108, a tomatillo-tamarind-hibiscus drinking shrub from Calvit's Shrubs, fresh grapefruit juice and soda water.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 35kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. Seedlip Garden 108
  • 3/4 oz. Calvit's Tomatillo-Tamarind-Hibiscus Drinking Shrub
  • 3/4 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  • grapefruit peel

Instructions

  • Fill a highball glass with ice.
  • Combine the Garden 108, shrub, and juice in a shaking tin with ice and shake vigorously.  
  • Strain mixed ingredients into the glass and top off with soda water.
  • Garnish with grapefruit peel and add a metal or paper straw.

Note that if you are not observing dry January, I tried a version of this with gin instead of Seedlip, which was quite good.  Tequila or mezcal should also substitute nicely.   However you decide to make it, I hope you enjoy!

This article’s links to Amazon are affiliate links, meaning the blog may earn a commission from resulting sales.

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Dry Recipe: The Actually Dry Martini

I am back with one more martini recipe!  This post will wrap up a string of martini posts that began with my review of the martini service at Requin.  In that post, I promised you a few recipes for making martinis at home.  First I offered my version of the classic martini recipe.  Then I gave you my briny, spicy variation, the Hot and Dirty Martini.  Here I offer you a third and (for now) final variation – fit for dry January – the non-alcoholic Actually Dry Martini:

Actually Dry Martini

As pictured here, this drink is powered by Seedlip Garden 108.  Seedlip describes its products as the “world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits.”  The Garden 108 is one of these.  It features flavors of “leaf,” “herb,” and “pod.”  (There’s also another variety – the Spice 94 – described as offering “wood,” “spice,” and “citrus” flavors.)

With its incorporation of gin-like botanicals, Garden 108 struck me as a plausible ingredient for an alcohol-free stand-in for the martini.  Some might object at this point that a non-alcoholic martini is a contradiction in terms, or that using soft ingredients defeats the drink’s purpose.  But I disagree.  For me, the martini’s allure is in its botanical and vegetable flavors, which are uncommon in the cocktail kingdom.

That said, I must manage expectations.  Garden 108 is not gin.  So if you are hoping for an alcohol-free martini that tastes just like the real thing, this recipe is not for you.  But I do think Garden 108’s unique flavors work in a drink with martini-like proportions and profile.  The final product mixes notes of fresh cucumber, earthy brine, and light citrus.  It’s a way to enjoy a month off from drinking without giving up the pleasing complexity of a good cocktail.  And if you’re observing dry January, this recipe gives you excuse to stop your martini glasses from collecting dust.

To make this drink, you’ll need Garden 108 (obviously – available from Amazon and the link above).  You’ll also need Gordy’s Fine Brine, discussed in the recipe post for the Hot & Dirty Martini.  And you’ll need olives and some freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Here’s the recipe:

Actually Dry Martini recipe
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Actually Dry Martini

Looking for a mocktail replacement for the martini?  Try this Actually Dry Martini recipe, featuring Garden 108 by Seedlip.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 5kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 oz. Seedlip Garden 108
  • 1/2 oz. Gordy's Fine Brine
  • 1 splash freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  • Place two olives in a martini glass.
  • Combine the Garden 108, Gordy's Fine Brine, and lemon juice in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.

Enjoy!

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Classic Recipe with a Twist: The Hot and Dirty Martini

Back in my review of the martini service at Requin, I promised you a “few posts” of martini recipes.  First I offered my take on the classic martini.  Then I interrupted our martini study to check out the Brothers and Sisters bar at the Line Hotel.  Now I’m back to deliver on the promise of multiple martini recipes.  As I’ve noted, the martini is an old drink that has enjoyed many iterations over the years.  In that spirit, I now offer you a twist of my own on the classic, the Hot and Dirty Martini:

Hot and Dirty Martini

The recipe begins with the classic gin and vermouth ingredients.  But as its name suggests, there are two modifications here:  heat and additional brine.  The heat is supplied by the spicy Ancho Reyes Verde, a green ancho chile liqueur.  It has a savory flavor, which is fitting for a martini.

The chile liqueur also pairs well with additional brine, which “dirties” up the drink.  The brine in this case comes from Gordy’s (of D.C.), which makes a Fine Brine intended for cocktails specifically.

There are several things I like about this combination of ingredients.  The first is that (as noted above) it adds an earthy, savory flavor to the drink.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the classic martini.  In my classic recipe, the prevailing flavor is the herbal profile of the gin, the main ingredient.  But if you’re someone who likes a good Bloody Mary or a martini with a lot of extra olive juice, I think you’ll like what Gordy’s adds to the drink.  And to me, the chile liqueuer was a natural addition.  The chile flavor is compatible with the vegetable-leaning profile of the drink, and I like adding spice to just about everything.  (If you are sensitive to spice don’t worry, it’s not overwhelming.)

The other advantage to this approach is that it’s a lighter drink than a traditional martini, meaning you can have more of them.  Gin comprises only half the recipe here, and the other ingredients are lower proof or nonalcoholic.

And finally, I think it’s good to have a few variations of the martini in your rotation.  You might want to host a martini night, for example, and new options help keep things fresh for martini diehards and might cast the drink in a new, better light for those who have not been won over by the martini in the past.

Here is the recipe:

Hot and Dirty Martini recipe
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Hot and Dirty Martini

Spice up the classic martini with this recipe, which starts with gin and vermouth but adds a chile liqueur and brine to bring you a Hot and Dirty Martini.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 147kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 1/2 oz. dry vermouth I used Dolin
  • 1/2 oz. Gordy's Fine Brine

Instructions

  • Place two olives in a martini glass.
  • Combine the gin, Ancho Reyes Verde, vermouth, and brine in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.

Enjoy!

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Classic Recipe: The Martini

As promised in my recent review of Requin’s martini service, today’s post shows you how to make a martini at home.  This cocktail is a true classic, well more than a hundred years old.  In fact, by 1891, the Kansas City Star could chastise the “thirsty New Yorker” for being taken with the martini on the ground that the cocktail was “not very new.”  (The same article nevertheless acknowledged the versatility of the drink.  It conceded that the martini was the form in which “the casual, the occasional, the weary, the enthusiastic, the going-to-bed-now, or the just-up New Yorker takes his poison.”)

Not surprisingly, a drink with such history has enjoyed multiple iterations.  The typical recipe uses gin, for example, but some spies—er, drinkers, prefer vodka.  Proportions also vary, anywhere from a one-to-one ratio of gin and vermouth to essentially all gin, with vermouth supplied only (if at all) by an atomizing sprayer or, as Winston Churchill preferred it, by observation “from across the room.”  Garnishes, too, have varied, including lemon peel, olives, and cocktail onions.  Even the method of combining the ingredients – shaking or stirring – is subject to modification.

What follows is my preferred approach.  But the critical drinker may wish to take a cue from experience and tinker with the particulars.  My classic martini is made with gin, dry vermouth, and orange bitters, and garnished with an olive.  When done right, it looks like this:

Classic Martini

Here’s how to do it.  Put an olive or two in a martini glass or coupe.  Add a barspoon of olive brine (or more if you prefer a “dirtier” drink) to the glass.  In a mixing glass, combine a dash of orange bitters, 1/4 ounce of dry vermouth (I used Dolin) and 2 3/4 ounces of gin (I used Botanist).  Add ice to the glass and stir.  Strain into the glass with the olives.

Enjoy!

Classic Martini Recipe
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Classic Martini

This is a recipe for a great martini, my favorite cocktail, featuring gin, a tiny bit of vermouth, a dash of orange bitters, and a couple of olives.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 175kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1/4 oz. dry vermouth I used Dolin
  • 1 dash orange bitters I used Fee Brothers

Instructions

  • Place two olives and a bar-spoonful of olive juice in a martini glass.
  • Combine the gin, vermouth, and orange bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.
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DIY Drinks Gift: Slivovitz from the Washington Post

Ed.: I’m very excited to introduce Julia of the Gose Girls duo (check them out on Instagram at @yougosegirl), who is writing her first post for the blog about slivovitz, an Eastern European plum-based liqueur that you can make yourself at home. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. Merry Christmas Eve!

I am, at best, a casual homesteader. While our fridge is often stocked with quick pickled jalapeños and red onions, I’m rarely motivated to put in the work in August to put up summer produce for December.

But while I may be an amateur pioneer woman, I definitely know how to infuse alcohol.

I’ve expanded my repertoire from the Peachie-O’s and gummy bear infused vodka I made in college (which was well received at the time, but not the kind of thing one could package up for, say, a boyfriend’s parents for the holidays). Citrus is an easy addition to nearly anything – orange and whiskey is a favorite, or lemon and gin for my G&T-loving mom.

This year’s DIY booze gift was inspired by an overzealous purchase of Italian plums, also called prune plums, from Woerner’s Orchards (find them in DC at the USDA Farmers Market) in mid-September. After two Marian Burros plum tortes and plenty of snacking, I was left with three pounds of beautiful fruit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYgoMrFgl_a/?taken-by=truelove7

A quick search turned up a Washington Post article about slivovitz, an Eastern European plum schnapps, accompanied by a DIY recipe for vodka infused with plums, lemon peel, and cinnamon. I loved the idea of a homemade treat that was a step up from a solely citrus (or candy aisle) concoction and called back to my family’s roots in Hungary, Serbia, and Croatia.

Making Slivovitz at Home

This recipe takes about 10 minutes of prep, and 3-4 months of steeping. Start the process in August or September when these plums are at their prime. Pierce the plums to the pit or halve them. Add the fruit and pits to a vessel with the base spirit (I used a mid-shelf vodka) and the rest of the ingredients. For two weeks, shake the bottle occasionally to dissolve the sugar, then let it steep for at least three months. The recipe recommends keeping the mixture dark and cool. I used a dark growler and kept it in the pantry with a label reading “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL XMAS!!!”. 

I eagerly decanted the growler on my first day off for the holidays. The end result is a beautiful dark purple – jammy, smooth, slightly spiced, and sweet. Next year, I might add another cinnamon stick or a few cloves. It’s delicious served chilled in a port glass, or topped with soda and lemon as shown below for a lighter beverage. It would make a wonderful addition to mulled wine, and Max Falkowitz at Serious Eats swaps it into a hot toddy with honey and lemon.

Slivovitz and soda

 

Find the Washington Post recipe for slivovitz here.

I’m excited to share this with my family by the fire, and hope my ancestors are smiling down on our holiday drinks. Next August, I’ll buy the extra pound of plums with abandon.

Happy holidays to you and yours, and cheers!

Julia from @yougosegirl

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Original Recipe: Fireside Fizz

Cold weather season kicked off in the District this weekend with an inch or so of snow.  It didn’t really turn the city into a winter wonderland, but it did mark a shift to colder temperatures.  That means we have fire in the fireplace for the first time this year.  I love a good fire on a winter weekend night, and to celebrate I decided to concoct a new cocktail.  The result:  the Fireside Fizz.

Now, when I think fire my mind often goes to whiskey, and if that’s your speed you should check out my Decorator’s Drink from my last post if you haven’t already.  This time, I wanted to make use of a Douglas fir pine syrup I received as a gift recently, and I didn’t want to use a liquor that would overpower the the infused pine taste.

So I turned to St.-Germain, that elderflower liqueur that supplies a sweet floral taste, and Suze, an aperitif with an earthy flavor, both of which I thought would complement a pine syrup nicely.  To balance out the sweetness, I also used freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I shook these over ice and strained into a coupe and, for a fizzy finish, I topped it with sparkling wine.  For garnish, I used a part of the lemon rind, a freshly cut sprig of rosemary, and frozen cranberries.  And boom, I had a new fireside companion:

Ultimately, despite my efforts not to bury the pine flavor, it was quite subtle in the finished product.  But I went back at sampled the syrup by itself and, even alone, the pine taste is not strong.  Nevertheless, the drink was delicious, and the rosemary brings up the pine flavor at least a little bit.

Here is the recipe:

Fireside Fizz recipe
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Fireside Fizz

The Fireside Fizz is the perfect drink to enjoy by the fire on the first snowfall of the year, with floral, pine and citrus flavors.
Prep Time7 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Champagne Cocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 275kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. St.-Germain
  • 1/2 oz. Suze
  • 1/2 oz. Douglas fir pine syrup I used June Taylor
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • sparkling wine
  • lemon rind
  • rosemary sprig
  • frozen cranberries

Instructions

  • Combine the St.-Germain, Suze, pine syrup, and lemon juice with ice in a shaking tin and shake vigorously.
  • Strain into a coupe.
  • Top with sparkling wine.
  • Garnish with the lemon rind, rosemary, and cranberries.

Enjoy!