Two At The Most

I’ve been experimenting with cranberry relish recipes for well over a decade now, and have finally found one that works well for me. It has the advantage of being incredibly easy to make, and well, bourbon!

It’s best to make this the night before. If you do, I recommend that you first make yourself a bourbon old fashioned to really enjoy the beauty of the bourbon while you prepare the relish.

Bourboned Cranberry Relish

1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 cup bourbon (Bulleit is an excellent choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 dash salt
1 dash fresh ground pepper
12 ounces fresh cranberries

zest orange and lemon. obtain 1/2 cup … Continue Reading

Here’s another drink I stumbled upon in Barflies and Cocktails.

Welcome Stranger

Welcome Stranger Cocktail

0.5 ounce gin
0.5 ounce brandy
0.5 ounce Swedish punsch
0.5 ounce lemon juice
0.5 ounce orange juice
0.5 ounce grenadine

Shake until good and cold, double strain into cocktail glass.

This was one of those recipes I couldn’t quite guess how it would taste, much less if I would like it. But it was invented by Harry McElhone himself, and the man who gave us the Monkey … Continue Reading

I was paging through the delightful Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone, one of the wonderful reprints by Mud Puddle Books. Amongst all the wonderful illustrations by Wynn Holcomb, I found a variation on the martini that was new to me.

Gloom Raiser

Gloom Raiser

1.5 ounces London dry gin
0.75 ounces dry vermouth
2 dashes absinthe (I prefer a white over verte here)
2 dashes grenadine

stir and strain into cocktail glass, garnish with lemon twist.

This is a great variation … Continue Reading

Tequila por mi amante1 is a wonderful combination of tequila and ripe strawberries.

There Will Be Deliciousness

This is my second year making tequila por mi amante, and this year’s result was far superior to last. I pretty slavishly followed Chuck Taggart’s recipe.

Tequila por mi amante

750 ml resposado tequila (Sauza Hornitos)
3 pints fresh ripe strawberries, hulled and quartered (my store … Continue Reading

It took a long time for me to warm up to grenadine as a cocktail ingredient, after a childhood chock full of bright red Rose’s Grenadine Shirley Temples.

Rose's vs Homemade Grenadine

But now I know how many great cocktails include grenadine. A couple of personal favorites are the El Presidente and the Blinker. And now that I know how easy it is to make my own grenadine, I’ll never … Continue Reading

Another month, another Mixology Monday. This month is hosted by Craig at Tiki Drinks and Indigo Firmaments, who offers up the theme of Spice. For guidance, he tells us:
Spice should give you plenty of room to play – from the winter warmers of egg nog, wassail and mulled products to the strange and interesting infusions of pepper, ceubub, grains of paradise, nutmeg — what have you! I would … Continue Reading

I have fond memories of witnessing a traditional Zen Buddhist tea ceremony at the Smithsonian Museum. We were given small sweets, and after the ceremony, a taste of the matcha tea. It was bitter and strong, not like any tea I had tasted before. I can still remember that taste today. Thus, when I read on the back of the Zen Green Tea Liqueur bottle I received that it used matcha tea, I was intrigued.

Matcha Cocktail

It’s Mixology Monday again. This month, Doug Winship at the Pegu Blog has declared the theme to be “Made from Scratch.” We are to make at least one of our own ingredients and decide if it’s worth the effort.

I have written about Swedish Punsch before. This mix of Batavia arrack, neutral spirits, sugar, water, and various flavorings is common … Continue Reading

I love ginger. Ginger ale, ginger beer, gari, gingersnaps, gingered mashed potaotes, you name it, I will presume I’ll love it if it’s flavored with ginger.

Back in my homebrewing days, I flirted with making my own ginger beer, but never followed through. I did make my own ginger syrup, and found that when mixed with soda water, it make a very tasty, and very affordable, version of ginger beer.

After several recent Thursday Drink Nights featured high usage of ginger syrup, I realized it was time to try making some of my own again. Naturally I’ve lost … Continue Reading

When Kevin Kelpe at Save the Drinkers announced that August’s Mixology Monday would be about local flavor, I knew I’d have to come to terms with the blackberry, my great summertime foe.

In the Seattle area, we are overrun by the Himalayan wild blackberry, considered an invasive weed. When I ride in the summer, I wear chaps to protect my legs from the thorny vines I swear I can see growing, … Continue Reading