RANDA- RITA

RANDA-RITA

1 ounce Bacardi Light rum

Crystal Light Lemonade

Splash of Sprite Zero

Cheers to Country Star Miranda Lambert! I’m not the world’s biggest country music fan, but I’m a fan of the RANDA-RITA cocktail. It’s Miranda Lambert’s drink of choice for before and sometimes after her shows. It’s low-cal and light, and approved of by her trainer.

This is all according to an article in the June issue of Self magazine. The beautiful Miranda also says that she is proud not to be stick thin, and it’s OK to be fat and lazy sometimes. I liked her more with each word I read and thought I would give her cocktail a try. It was an easy one for a busy night. I just put the Bacardi into a glass filled with ice, filled most of the rest of the glass up with Crystal Light and added a splash of the Sprite. I treated myself like a star and added some garnish too — lemon for me, lime for Hubby.

The RANDA-RITA tasted great, especially for a cocktail under 70 calories and found in a health magazine. With the combination of lemonade and odorless rum, it tasted like a supped up drink from a country lemonade stand. It will quench your thirst and flow down your throat like a song. If only in came in a package deal with Blake Shelton.

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Cocktail Connie

LIQUID ELMO

LIQUID ELMO
1 ounce raspberry vodka

½ ounce Grenadine

7- Up or Sprite

Raspberry vodka is a very lovely flavor of vodka and one that I would recommend you make a regular part of your bar stock. As I’m finding out, raspberry vodka is versatile too. I bet there are thousands of cocktails you could make with it, but tonight’s is the LIQUID ELMO cocktail from barnonedrinks.com. Any Sesame Street watching three-year old could make it. Simply pour raspberry vodka over ice in a highball glass, add Grenadine and fill the rest of the glass up with 7-UP or Sprite. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

The LIQUID ELMO is sweet and gentle like the fuzzy red character, but minus the annoying high-pitched voice. The key is the Grenadine — I used Rose’s —which a careful look at the label revealed is basically just corn syrup. Depressing, but it explains why I think it makes every cocktail it is in taste great. Still, as a fan of Elmo’s infectious laugh, I am happy to recommend adding the flavorful, refreshing LIQUID ELMO to your liquid diet.

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Cocktail Connie

BLACKHAWK

BLACKHAWK

1 ½ measure vodka

½ measure crème de mure

½ measure lime juice

My belated Memorial Day cocktail is the BLACKHAWK, named after the U.S Army tactical helicopter. A Blackhawk helicopter is a tough bastard that can transport 11 soldiers and is often used for strategic ops.

The BLACKHAWK cocktail is powerful too, but it’s not too tough to make or enjoy. To make the BLACKHAWK, you’ll need crème de mure, a blackberry liqueur that may not be easy to find, but is well worth tracking down, if only just to smell it. It has a wonderful blackberry fragrance that comes through in the cocktail.

Put the crème de mure, vodka and lime juice into a shaker, fill it with ice, shake and strain into the glass of your choice. Garnish with a slice of lime and a blackberry if you have it. Obviously I did not, but I appreciated this cocktail just the same. The taste was strong, but also completely irresistible. The BLACKHAWK cocktail could be described as “jammy” and it would be best sipped alone, without food. It’s a different kind of treat and one that shouldn’t be missed.

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Cocktail Connie

ST. GERMAIN CHAMPAGNE

ST. GERMAIN CHAMPAGNE

1 measure St. Germain

Champagne

Strawberry

My visit to SouthernOhio this weekend included a stop at the Party Source store in Newport,Kentucky. If you are ever traveling down highway 71, make a stop, because theParty Source is da bomb! It’s been frustrating doing this blog in Ohio. Theliquor stores are very limited in what they can sell because their choices arecontrolled by the state. Many times I’ve seen a cocktail recipe I wanted tomake, but I couldn’t find the ingredients. Not so in the land of freedom knownas Kentucky. The Horse Capital of the World is also the liquor capital of the world.I spent a small fortune, but oh the cocktails I'm going to make with the liquorI found there!

Hubby was so excited about one of his purchases at the Party Source that my planned Memorial Day cocktail got usurped by his need to try the St. Germain that he had bought. St.Germain is a French liqueur made with elderberries. It tastes of tropical fruits, pears, and honeysuckle. It’s very sweet, but in a pleasant way. Hubby said that he had always wanted to try it because, for him, it evoked a vision of high-end, European, summertime sipping. For me, it evoked a vision of him making the cocktail for a change.

There are many cocktails you can make with St. Germain, but Hubby chose the classic ST.GERMAIN CHAMPAGNE. To make it, he simply put some St. Germain into a chilled champagne flute, topped it off with some champagne and floated a lovely little strawberry in. Raspberries or a lemon twist can also be used. The ST. GERMAIN CHAMPAGNE was predictably sweet, but it was also floral, fragrant, fruity and just dry enough to make it good. The taste made me lick my lips and dream of Paris circa 1946, when a woman could have curves. The best part was taking a bite of the strawberry, sipping the cocktail, and loving life.

 

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Cocktail Connie

TASTE OF SUMMER

TASTE OF SUMMER
1 measure Malibu Sunshine Rum
1 measure pineapple juice
Splash of Sprite

The delicious cocktail, though it could have used garnish.

Today was a very hot, very fun day in Cincinnati, Ohio, spent with my wonderful step-daughter, her husband, my family, an old college bud and her husband. Among the highlights were a spinning carnival ride, an exciting Reds game, a trip to the best liquor store ever, chicken dancing on my seat at the Hofbrauhaus, witnessing my son’s first pick-up and sipping a TASTE OF SUMMER cocktail.

Ann!

The TASTE OF SUMMER was the drink of the day at Gameworks in Newport, Kentucky, a happy place just across the river from Cincy. The cocktail is made with Malibu Sunshine rum, which just came out in May. Malibu Sunshine has the expected rum and coconut flavor, but with the added tanginess of lemon and lime in an eye-catching bottle. It is suppose to taste like sunshine in a bottle and, I admit, it kinda does, especially when combined with pineapple juice and Sprite, like in the TASTE OF SUMMER cocktail. No shaker is needed. Just put the ingredients in a rocks glass, add ice and stir.

The TASTE OF SUMMER will get you excited for the three months ahead. The pineapple juice and new Malibu work perfect together. The cocktail has a strong citrus taste, but it’s not so overpowering that you don’t want more than one. In fact, by cocktail number three, I was feeling sand between my toes and salt water in my eyes.

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Cocktail Connie

THE LEMON DROP SMACK DOWN TASTE TEST

After a great day with family in Cincinnati spent taking in Findlay Market and a canoe trip in Loveland, Ohio, we hit a great little pub called Paxton's Grill. I asked the bartender to make me a cocktail and he came up with a LEMON DROP MARTINI. It was very good and it got me to thinking about all of the lemon drop shots I'd had in my life. It got Hubby to thinking about the fact that the martini would be better with Cointreau. Pretty soon all this thinking lead to the great LEMON DROP SMACK DOWN TASTE TEST.

Contender #1
LEMON DROP MARTINI
Absolute citron vodka
Triple Sec
Sour mix
Sugar for the rim

Directions: Put the ingredients into a shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a martini glass rimmed with sugar.

Verdict: Mellow, refreshing, light, lovely, easy drinking, perfect for après-canoe

Contender #2:
LEMON DROP MARTINI WITH COINTREAU
Same as above, except instead of Triple Sec, Cointreau was used.

Verdict: stronger, hint of orange, less sweet, more sour, first cocktail we've had with Cointreau that we weren't crazy about.

Contender #3:
LEMON DROP SHOT
Vodka
Lemon juice
Sugar

Verdict: sour, lemony, great for the shot shy, quick, powerful

And the winner is..LEMON DROP MARTINI. The others are off my list.

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Cocktail Connie

PISCO SOUR

PISCO SOUR (makes two)
4 ice cubes
1 cup Pisco
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg white
Angostura bitters

We are doing a tour of Ohio this Memorial Day weekend and the first stop is Columbus. We are spending the night at our good friends Billy and Cheryl's house.

Pisco is a South American spirit made with Chilean moscatel grapes. They just started selling it in Ohio and Cheryl was first in line. She use to drink them at a now-defunct restaurant near her house in Denver appropriately called Piscos. If she had one cocktail she had four and she has been converting people to the PISCO SOUR ever since. She converted two more tonight because the PISCO SOUR is really good.

To make it, Cheryl put the Pisco, sugar, an egg white, and fresh lemon juice squeezed with care into a blender with the ice. She blended, then she poured the frothy treat into a cool-looking martini glass and added a few dashes of bitters - something she said some recipes don't have, but is key to a good cocktail.

The bitters were important and the PISCO SOUR is very good. It is kind of like a brandy, but the taste is more sublime and subdued, making it very easy to drink. I especially liked the use of sugar and lemon juice instead of artificial sour mix. I may have to throw my bottle of sour mix out when I get home. Convert thyself and try a PISCO SOUR this weekend with some of your friends. It's perfect for a hot summer holiday weekend night.

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Cocktail Connie

KOWLOON

KOWLOON

1 measure Grand Marnier
1 measure Kahlua
3 measures orange juice


Who says daily cocktails aren’t good for you? Not only have several studies proven that a drink a day keeps the cardiologist away, but I’m learning some interesting things researching the meaning of cocktail names. Tonight’s cocktail for instance, the KOWLOON, is named for the Chinese district that faces Hong Kong Island. Within Kowloon today is the old site of the Kowloon Walled City, a place with a real freaky history. It started as a Chinese fort in the 1800s, then was used as an enclave for the Chinese who were trying to escape all the British who were taking over in the late 1800s. It got super densely populated during World War II, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong. By 1987, the Kowloon Walled City had 33,000 people living in 6.5 acres. As you can imagine, prostitution, gambling and drug use were rampant. Hong Kong demolished the wall that same year after a very difficult eviction process and today it’s a park.

Beats me why the KOWLOON cocktail is named after this crazy place, but I liked learning about it just the same. Making the cocktail is easy — no shaker or pitcher needed. Just put the ingredients above into a tall glass filled with chipped ice and stir. The stirrer I have in my cocktail symbolizes the first day of using our home air conditioner and the lemon is an improve garnish. The recipe called for an orange slice, but I was plum out. An orange slice would have been more appropriate, because the KOWLOON has a strong orange flavor, with just a hint of coffee from the Kahlua. Grand Marnier is delicious in any cocktail and this one brings out the best in it. I definitely give the KOWLOON a thumbs up. Drink it someplace with elbow room and give thanks.

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Cocktail Connie

BULL DOG COOLER

BULL DOG COOLER

4 ounces gin

2 ounces Cointreau

4 ounces orange juice

Water

Sipping a BULL DOG COOLER makes me feel cool, healthy, invigorated and guilty, because I have a work function later. Work, schmerk, I can’t go a day without a cocktail. After almost six months, daily cocktailing has become as much a part of my routine as brushing my teeth and nagging my child.

To make the BULL DOG COOLER, just put the first three ingredients listed above into a shaker, add ice and shake it like a Polaroid picture. (OK, maybe the cocktail is already going to my head — I’m in trouble.) Then strain your mixture into a highball glass and fill the rest of the glass up with water. Garnish or whatever.

Just like Spike, the bull dog from the Bugs Bunny cartoons, the BULL DOG COOLER is very lovable. Cointreau and orange juice are a great combo and the gin is tasteless, yet somehow also very necessary. I’m not sure why the cocktail needs water, but I’ll probably be grateful for that later on. This cocktail makes me realize that I’ve only scratched the surface of the many great cocktails out there with orange juice. Next time you are looking to shake things up, make yourself a strong, flexible and reliable BULL DOG COOLER.

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Cocktail Connie

SCOTCH TODDY

SCOTCH TODDY
1 measure scotch whiskey
1 tbsp. honey
1 tea bag

I had an upset stomach today and was craving some hot tea. Hot tea with alcohol seemed even more medicinal and I did a quick Internet search. I found a great website, drinksmixer.com, that listed 27 cold and hot tea cocktails. A lot of them looked great, but I only had all the ingredients for a SCOTCH TODDY and making it was simple. I just put the scotch and honey in the bottom of a mug, put a tea bag in and added boiling water. I let it steep for two minutes, gave it a stir and floated a slice of lemon on top.

Sipping a SCOTCH TODDY is liking sipping Ambien. It a warm, strong drink that will cure your stomach and activate your off switch. Hubby was out like a light in five minutes and my eyelids are feeling heavy. If you don't like scotch, the SCOTCH TODDY is not for you, but if you want a very strong bedtime tea, you won't be disappointed.

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Cocktail Connie

OASIS

OASIS
2 measures gin
½ measure blue curacao
4 measures tonic water

 The captivating OASIS cocktail is a gin and tonic lovers little slice of paradise. It is a pretty cocktail that can be sipped during almost any activity and keep you smiling. The smile comes from the cocktail’s cool blue color and the fact that the OASIS is a breeze to make.


Just put the three ingredients above in the measurements above into a large cocktail glass filled with ice, stir, and garnish as you please. The recipe calls for a garnish of lemon and mint, and I imagine that would have enhanced the refreshing flavor of the OASIS even more. But the cocktail I made was still light, thirst quenching, and perfect for the patio. It had only a slightly different taste than a normal gin and tonic, but it is well worth adding that third ingredient of blue curacao. That’s what gives the OASIS that tangy, slightly sweet, flavor that will keep you hoping that you aren’t seeing a mirage.


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Cocktail Connie

SNICKERTINI

SNICKERTINI
Vodka
Frangelico
Godiva Dark and Carmel Liquor
Snicker shavings
Chocolate syrup


Don’t snicker at the SNICKERTINI cocktail, like my friend Dana did, because it is downright delicious. Dana snickers at all hard alcohol cocktails — something to do with a 21^st birthday party gone wild — but she loves her wine and beer. So the new Woods Martini and Wine Bar was a perfect place to meet her on a beautiful Friday night, one of those nights where the patio is full and the bar is empty.

I was craving a little dessert in my life and the SNICKERTINI seemed like the best choice on the menu. To make it, the bartender first put chocolate syrup all around and at the bottom of a martini glass, then topped the syrup on the bottom with some fresh shavings from a snickers bar. I know, you like it already, don’t you? She then put the ingredients above into a shaker, filled it with ice, shook and strained it into the glass.

The SNICKERTINI was the dessert I was looking for. It was rich, but it was not very chocolately. It was a strong martini, but with three liquors in it, one has to expect a big punch. Of course, I had no problem making it to the bottom of the glass, where all the yummy snickers bar shavings were. That was actually my favorite part of this cocktail and I will not wait too long before heading to Woods for another one. Yep, nothing quite satisfies like a SNICKERTINI.

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Cocktail Connie

WHITE LADY

WHITE LADY

1 measure gin

1 measure Cointreau

1 measure lemon juice

Egg white and lime garnish optional

This white lady drank a WHITE LADY tonight and she liked it. Don’t let the egg scare you, and give this cocktail a try. To make the lovely WHITE LADY cocktail, put equal parts gin, Cointreau and lemon juice into a shaker, add an egg white, ice and shake. Strain the frothy, white mixture into a chilled cocktail glass and add a lime garnish. Mmmm…

The WHITE LADY is smooth and citrusy. Hubby, who is no lady, called it hip and happening. It was an uncommon taste, dry at first, but then it grew on me. I loved the foam produced from using the egg white, plus it added a little needed protein to my diet. The WHITE LADY is also a strong drink. It is a classic cocktail recipe from the 1920s, created as a lady’s drink and supposedly harmless. After having one, I now think the ladies in the 20s were the ones who called it harmless, then chugged them down before going home to their families and household chores.

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Cocktail Connie

PORT IN A STORM

PORT IN A STORM
2 measures red wine
1 1/2 measures red port
1/2 measure cognac

We all need a port in a storm every once in a while, whether figuratively or literally. The PORT IN A STORM cocktail can serve as your rock when the seas get rough.

To make it, just put red wine, port, and cognac - the higher quality the better -into a glass pitcher. Add a generous scoop of ice to the pitcher, stir and let it sit for a few minutes, then pour it into a wine glass with the ice.

Hubby and I both enjoyed the PORT IN A STORM cocktail. It tasted like a very different type of red wine and definitely had a kick that warmed our bellies. The raspberry taste of the port is the dominate flavor, and the cognac was hardly noticeable, which is good since I'm not a big cognac fan. Strong, simple, and satiating, PORT IN A STORM is my go-to cocktail post-shipwrecks from now on.

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Cocktail Connie

BELLADONNA

BELLADONNA

2 ounces orange or other citrus vodka

1 ounce Cointreau

1 ounce sour mix

½ ounce cranberry juice

1 lime wedge for garnish

BELLADONNA means beautiful lady in Italian and its namesake cocktail can make any woman — Italian or not — feel beautiful. Yes, it’s a strong drink, but that’s not what will make you feel beautiful. It’s the color, taste and class of the BELLADONNA cocktail that will make you feel attractive.

For an instant make-over, start by filling a martini glass with ice. While the glass is chilling out, fill a shaker with the ingredients above. I used Absolute Citron Vodka, but a blood orange vodka would work best. And don’t forget my favorite square bottle — Cointreau. It makes everything better. After you have it all in the shaker, add ice and shake with vigor. Then discard the ice from the martini glass and strain the pale pink liquid into the glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and drink immediately.

I think you’ll agree that the BELLADONNA is not only pretty, it’s a pleasure to drink. The citrus flavor is just right and it blends well with the sour mix, without making you pucker. It invites you to sit up straight and sip delicately, then order another and get all sloppy by the third one. The BELLADONNA recipe came from the cocktail book, In the Land of Cocktails. The cocktail is named after a luxurious day spa in New Orleans. Very appropriate.

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Cocktail Connie

BAHAMA MAMA FOR THE MAMAS



My Mama

BAHAMA MAMA
½ ounce rum
½ ounce coconut-flavored rum
½ ounce grenadine syrup
½ ounce Crème de Banana
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce pineapple juice

Nassua, Bahama, was 82 degrees today and Willoughby, Ohio, was only 72. Still, it was feeling beachy on the golf course where me, my Mom and sister celebrated Mother’s Day with nine holes of golf. I am not a golfer, but I like to go every once in while, especially when I can drive a cart and drink cocktails.

The BAHAMA MAMA was a delicious choice of cocktails and made a great cooler drink. There are a few different kinds of BAHAMA MAMA recipes out there. The one I used that is above is a combination of two recipes and is based on what I had at home. You could probably skip one of the ingredients and the cocktail would be just as good. Fresh pineapple and oranges instead of juice will work even better. To make a BAHAMA MAMA, just put what you do have into a blender, add about two cups of crushed ice and blend. It should come out a little slushy, which keeps it nice and cold.

The Bahama Mama

The BAHAMA MAMA is fruity and fresh. It’s tropical, but not sickly sweet. All the different juices give it a nice balance of flavors, and the rum is barely detectable. If you’ve only had cheap versions of this cocktail in bad tourist traps, try making one at home. You’ll probably like it much better. My sister said the BAHAMA MAMA is the best cocktail I’ve made her so far. But she didn’t drink enough if it, because she sure felt it when I hit her in the back with my ball as I was taking a shot toward the green. Whoops! Maybe next Mother’s Day, we’ll find a beach.

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Cocktail Connie

THE NIGHT SHIFT FOR ALL THOSE BRAVE NURSES OUT THERE!

Possibly my worst picture ever!

THE NIGHTSHIFT
½ oz. raspberry vodka
½ oz. Sour Apple Pucker
1½ oz. Red Bull
¾ oz. pomegranate juice

Hip hooray, it’s Nurses Day. I have a great admiration fornurses. They hold down the front line and put up with a lot of BS. They give adamn about the strangers who become their patients and can make a huge impacton the rest of that stranger’s life. I’ll never forget the nurse whoinadvertently, but gladly, became my shoulder to cry on when I was goingthrough the drama that was my son’s birth.

I am lucky enough to have a lot of nurse friends. They can bea hoot to party with and most of them love a good cocktail. So, in honor of them,I made a NIGHT SHIFT cocktail I found on ScrubsMagazine’s web site. Made with Red Bull and vodka, it’s a cocktail that willhelp anyone get through a NIGHT SHIFT, whether it’s at a hospital or thedrive-in theatre, where I was heading.

To make the NIGHT SHIFT, I just put the ingredients aboveinto a shaker, added ice, shook it, and strained it into a glass with ice.Using the shaker made the cocktail nice and cold, but if you are running latefor your shift, you could just put the ingredients in glass with ice and stir. TheNIGHT SHIFT cocktail was a little sweet and sticky, but, you’ll have that withanything made with a pucker. All the different flavors mixed great together,and it was a huge improvement on the ol’ RBV stand-by. The raspberry vodka wasthe essential ingredient and manipulated the taste. Drink one for your favoritenurse — especially if your favorite nurse is you!

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Cocktail Connie

LOW-BALL SANGRIA

SANGRIA

1.5 ounces Licor 43
1 ounce red wine
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce fresh orange juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

I love a good sangria, but with all the fruit chopping and such needed to make one, I jumped on the chance to try the easy recipe I found for sangria on a bottle of Licor 43.

It's not called LOW-BALL SANGRIA on the bottle of course, but that is what it ended up being - cheap and easy, but not very good. To make it, I just put the ingredients listed above into a shaker, added ice, gave it some shakes and strained it into a glass filled with ice. I garnished with orange and apple slices, but grapes can be used as well.


Now, part of the reason the LOW-BALL SANGRIA was disappointing was my own fault. I used the box of cabernet wine I had on my counter rather than the right kind of wine for a sangria, which is a sweet, light red wine with some acid to it. A rose, roija or light merlot wine would have made a world of difference with the LOW-BALL SANGRIA. In the cocktail I made, you don't really taste the red wine at all. You taste the vanilla and citrus flavor of the Licor 43 and the bitters, and, though I drank it all, it did not have that wine cooler taste I was looking for. And I lived on wine coolers in the 80s. The next sangria I have, I'll do the chopping.

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Cocktail Connie

BLUE STAR

BLUE STAR

1 measure gin

¾ measure dry vermouth

1/3 measure blue curacao

1 measure orange juice



The word of the day is frappé! In America, we think of a frappé drink as something similar to a milkshake, and associate it with frappé coffee. But frappé is really a French word meaning chilled, and in France the word refers to drinks served with lots of shaved ice.

The BLUE STAR is a frappé cocktail French-style, and a “grande” one at that. To make it, just put the ingredients listed above into a shaker, fill it with ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass filled  — and I mean filled — with shaved ice. The crushed ice from my refrigerator door seemed to work just fine. Top it off with a slice of orange and you have a BLUE STAR cocktail that is nice and cold, and a very pretty shade of blue.

You don’t taste the gin in the BLUE STAR. Instead, it tastes fruity, but not overly sweet. It would be an awesome poolside or beach cocktail, and since all of the ingredients are pretty inexpensive, you could make it at home for a lot cheaper than you would pay at your average swim-up bar. (God, I love those!) You could fancy it up with a little umbrella, and really frappé the day away!

Drink up^

Cocktail Connie

PUSHKIN’S PUNCH

PUSHKIN’S PUNCH
1 measure vodka
1 measure Grand Marnier
Dash of lime juice
Dash of orange bitters
Dry sparkling wine

PUSHKIN’S PUNCH left me punchy tonight and it was just what I needed this fine Wednesday. The cocktail was named after the great Russian writer, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. Pushkin lived in the early 1800s and is considered to be the founder of modern Russian literature. He was also very, very touchy about anyone who dared to insult his honor, and he was famous for the 29 duels he fought, the last one ending his life at the age of 37.

But, his name lives on in the form of a hard-hitting cocktail that combines both clear and brown liquors. To make a PUSHKIN’S PUNCH, put the first four ingredients above into a shaker, add ice and shake. After shaking, strain the muddy, yellow-colored mixture into a chilled wine glass or goblet, then top it off with dry sparkling wine. The amount of wine you add depends on your personal preference and mood. Now don’t stir, just drink.

Hubby said the cocktail smelled bad and didn’t taste much better. But I thought that once you got past the first sip, the PUSHKIN’S PUNCH starts to grows on you. Mine went down pretty quick. I used peach bitters instead of orange and it didn’t seem to change the flavor. Grand Marnier — a combo of cognac and orange — is the overpowering flavor of the cocktail, and I think it would have benefitted from a touch of something sweet, like grenadine. But as is, the PUSHKIN’S PUNCH was a perfect way to celebrate not only a fine Wednesday, but also this week’s National Teacher Day, another group famous for the duels they fight.

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Cocktail Connie

WHISKEY SOUR

WHISKEY SOUR

Whiskey

Whiskey Sour Mix

Cherry garnish

Since I now love CC and ginger, and it’s a busy night of domestic duties, an easy WHISKEY SOUR made with mix and CC won tonight’s cocktail contest.

A real whiskey sour is made with bourbon, lemon juice and sugar. If you add an egg white, it’s called a Boston Sour (going on my calendar.) But tonight, I took a trip on the lazy train and simply mixed 3 ounces of sour mix with 1 ounce of Canadian Club whiskey, added crushed ice, gave it a stir and garnished with a maraschino cherry. I didn’t bother to shake it first and I didn’t bother to garnish with an orange slice — both of which are recommend on the bottle of Mr. and Mrs. T. Whiskey Sour Mix that I used. Of course, this same bottle says that the mix is not too tart and not too sweet.

The WHISKEY SOUR I made was very sour. Sure, I still drank it and I rather enjoyed drinking something not usually on my roster, but I could have used more sweet and less sour. Plus, it was a fake-tasting bitterness, not like an authentic, lime-flavored, type of sour. Though the lazy way is faster, easier and more convenient, I am now convinced that when it comes to a WHISKEY SOUR, fresh is best.

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Cocktail Connie

GINGERBREAD MAN MARTINI

GINGERBREAD MAN MARTINI
Kettle One Vodka
Kahlua
Goldschlager
Baileys


I’m finding it hard to find a martini I don’t like. Tonight, it was a GINGERBREAD MAN Martini at a near-by wings joint, Harry Buffalo. I was intrigued by the combination of ingredients, especially the Goldschlager. Goldschlager is a swiss cinnamon schnapps with hundreds of real gold flakes swirling around each bottle. I remember how popular it was when it came out in the 1990s. I thought the gold was gimmicky, but the liquor was good. Mixing it with vodka, Kahlua and Baileys didn’t sound to me like something that would create a flavor equal to my favorite holiday-time gingerbread man cookies, so, I had to taste it for myself.

Well my friends, run, run as fast as you can and get yourself a GINGERBREAD MAN Martini. Because, man, was it good. Somehow the ingredients — which the bartender put into a shaker filled with ice, shook and strained into a martini glass — do make a cocktail that tastes like a gingerbread cookie, but even better. Thankfully, the martini was missing that overpowering ginger, sweet taste that the cookies sometimes have. But the martini would have been even better with a gingerbread rim and a whipped cream topping. Either way, I’d sure like to sip this cocktail with a cookie someday. The GINGERBREAD MAN Martini would make a great holiday cookie companion,n and was a damn good Monday night drink too.

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Cocktail Connie

POMEGRANATE MARTINI

POMEGRANATE MARTINI

6 parts vodka

1 part pomegranate juice

1 part triple sec

1 splash lime juice

1 slice of orange

The Derby Party turned into a Cinco De Mayo Party, that segue weighed into a Supermoon Gazing Party. Gotta love a Trifecta, especially one that is topped off with a POMEGRANATE MARTINI.

I’ve been spoiled by having my first ever POMEGRANATE MARTINI made for me by Joe, the very talented bartender at Bistro 70 in Painesville, Ohio. He said fresh pomegranate juice is the key to a good one. To make the POMEGRANATE MARTINI, Joe put his special supply of fresh pomegranate juice, vodka, triple sec, and lime juice into a shaker. He added ice, shook and strained it into a nice large martini glass — that I wouldn’t have to wash later — and topped it off with a slice of orange.

Joe’s POMEGRANATE MARTINI was fresh, light and soo lusciously good it’s dangerous. I didn’t taste the alcohol, I just tasted the good. I don’t even like plain pomegranate juice, like those annoying Pom-Pom bottles that they sell in the grocery store for about $8 a small bottle. But when mixed in a martini, real deal pomegranate juice takes on a whole new meaning for me. Thanks Joe.

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie

A MINT JULEP OF COURSE!

MINT JULEP

4 fresh mint sprigs
2 ½ ounces bourbon whiskey
1 tsp. powdered sugar or simple syrup
2 tsp. water

There are all kinds of ways to make a MINT JULEP cocktail, just as there are all kinds of ways to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, the high-stakes race for three-year old Thoroughbreds that turns Louisville, Kentucky into one big party. You can spend anywhere from $5,000 to $50 for a ticket to the real deal at Churchill Downs or you could go to a local bar that’s hosting a Derby Party. Guess where I went?

Yep, I spent the sunny first Saturday in May not at Churchill Downs, but at Bistro 70 in Painesville, Ohio, where they make a killer MINT JULEP for $7, not $11 like the Derby infield. It was the classic MINT JULEP recipe that starts by muddling mint leaves, powdered sugar or simple syrup, and a little bit of water in a collins glass. A wooden muddler works best. You then fill the glass with shaved or crushed ice and add bourbon — the higher priced the better. Top the MINT JUELP with more ice and garnish with a mint sprig. To really be authentic, use a silver julep cup and drink it at Churchill Downs.

The MINT JULEP is a bit of an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, you’ll never lose your love for it. I found the cocktail surprisingly refreshing. It fancies bourbon up and makes it delicious. I really love the sweet and mint combo. If you haven’t tried one it a while, give it a try It’s good for more than just Derby Day too. A MINT JULEP also goes well with sultry afternoons, rocking chairs and front porches. It will make you want to say “I’ll Have Another.”

Happy Cinco De Mayo Too!

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie

REMOTE CONTROL FRIDAY NIGHT

REMOTE CONTROL

3 ounces Galliano

2 ounces Cointreau

2 ounces orange juice

2 ounces cream

I have to be somewhere for work tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 7 am and I am so not a morning person. So, I’m on house arrest tonight and bonding with my remote control.

I thought a REMOTE CONTROL cocktail would be the most obvious companion and it sounded pretty good. To make it, I put the long-necked Galliano, the new-favorite Cointreau, the healthy orange juice and the good ole’ heavy whipping cream into a shaker. I filled the shaker with ice, gave it some shakes and strained the thick liquid into a glass. The recipe made more than was needed to fill a large glass, so the portions could easily be cut down. I also ended up adding ice to the glass after a few sips of the strong concoction.

The REMOTE CONTROL cocktail was heavy on the orange flavor. Hubby thought it tasted like an old-fashioned creamsicle, but I thought it was more like orange egg nog. It really opened my eyes to the powerful duo of Cointreau and orange juice — something I hadn’t tried before. I liked this cocktail’s creaminess and potency, but I wouldn’t have more than one. Two REMOTE CONTROLS, along with a remote control, could put you into a stooper that you’ll never come out of.

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie

RED ROSE

RED ROSE

Bulleit Bourbon
Muddled Strawberries
Rosemary
Fresh Orange Juice
Fresh Lemon

Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue,
Drink a Red Rose,
And taste bourbon anew

I know, I know, corny poem. I guess I’ve become a full-fledged brown liquor lover, because, not only am I writing poems about it, I also found myself ordering a RED ROSE bourbon cocktail at happy hour with some fine ladies on a fine spring day. I almost ordered one of the delicious-sounding martinis on the menu at Moxie where we were, but this little experiment of mine has taught me how well fresh fruit and bourbon go together, so I had to give the RED ROSE a try.

To make it, the bartender first muddled a strawberry at the bottom of a short rocks glass. He then added bourbon, orange juice and ice, and gave it a stir. Lastly, he added a sprig of rosemary and a slice of fresh lemon, before handing it to the harried waiter to serve.

The RED ROSE cocktail was as perfect as the weather. With bourbon, only high quality will do, and the legendary (and pricey) Bulleit Kentucky Bourbon was very smooth, especially when mixed with just the right hint of sweet and sage. I also loved the rosemary and lemon floating around in my glass like they were in a parade. My only complaint about the RED ROSE is that the strawberry takes up too much room in the glass. That and the fact that it makes me want to write corny poems

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie

A TEQUILA SUNSET FOR CHERYL

TEQUILA SUNSET

1 measure gold tequila

5 measures lemon juice

1 measure orange juice

1-2 tbsp. of clear honey

2/3 measure crème de cassis

Happy Birthday Cheryl! Hope you had a fun time celebrating in NYC. In your honor, I drank some tequila tonight. Have you ever had a TEQUILA SUNSET? I hadn’t and I thought I’d give it a try, especially since I know that you like to be different and having the well-known Tequila Sunrise cocktail would be too boring and predictable.

To make the TEQUILA SUNSET, I mixed gold tequila, lemon and orange juice, in the measurements above, into a clear glass pitcher. I filled the pitcher with ice, then stirred it and let it sit about 10 minutes until it was nice and chill. I then strained the orange mixture into a cocktail glass. I poured in some honey, stirred again, then poured in the crème de cassis, and this time let it be. No stirring.

I loved the layered look of the TEQUILA SUNSET, and its illustrious taste is perfect for a birthday celebration. Even though I’m not a big tequila fan, I saw the bottom of my glass (where the honey was stuck) very quickly, then I made myself another. The blackberry flavor of the cassis balanced out the citrus nicely, but on the second glass, I toned down the amount of lemon juice and it was better. After drinking two, I had reached the sunset of my evening and knew I had better stop if I wanted to see the sunrise the next day. You gotta give a it a try.

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie

THE MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY MARTINI

MAYDAY MARTINI

2 measures vodka

1 measure lemon juice

1 measure cinnamon syrup

“It’s May 1^st. Isn’t that a holiday or something?” a co-worker asked me today. “It’s May Day,” I replied. “But it beats me what that is.”

When I came home, I chose to enlightened myself with a little May Day research while drinking a MAYDAY MARTINI. I found out that May Day is an ancient European celebration of the beginning of sunlight and fertility after the dark days of winter. You are suppose to gather, laugh, play, dance around a maypole, and, of course, drink. During your own personal celebration, you might not want to drink a MAYDAY MARTINI. Because I also found out that it sucks.

But that may be my own fault. To make the MAYDAY MARTINI correctly, you need cinnamon syrup. I went to my fanciest grocery store and they did not carry cinnamon syrup. I forged ahead anyways. I put vodka, lemon juice, and cinnamon sticks and ground cinnamon into a shaker. I filled the shaker with ice cubes, before shaking and straining the weird-looking liquid into a chilled cocktail glass. The recipe also recommends a strawberry garnish. Hubby thought the MAYDAY MARTINI was awful and tasted like medicine. I thought it was borderline awful and actually drank half my glass, but that was all. The cinnamon flavor was very strong and using the syrup may have made a huge difference if you can find it.

Mayday is also what pilots say when their plane is going down. It comes from a French term for “come and help me” and you are suppose to say it three times in a row when in distress. I therefore think this cocktail should have been called the MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY MARTINI.

Drink Up^

Cocktail Connie