Two At The Most

The days are already noticeably shorter. It’s getting to the point where it is dark when I’m getting up. I wanted a nice summer drink to hang on to the seasonal feeling.

May Blossom Fizz

Barflies and Cocktails is still my go to recipe book. There I found the May Blossom Fizz. The recipe is written in the book as “1 teaspoonful of Grenadine, juice of half a Lemon, 1 glass of Cederland’s Swedish … 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

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

Here in Seattle, we’re battening down the hatches in preparation for Snowmageddon: The Return. In the calm before the storm, I took a short trail ride in the snow, and now that I’m back, I’m in need of a warming drink.

Hot Buttered Swedish Punsch

Happily, I already had some hot buttered rum batter in my refrigerator, calling to me. This batch was made … Continue Reading

Not quite a Broadway Smile

Searching for more drinks to make with my Swedish punsch, I found yet another entry in Erik Ellestad’s ongoing stomp through the Savoy. This one is the Broadway Smile.

Broadway Smile Cocktail

1/3 créme de cassis (Briottet)
1/3 Swedish punsch (homemade)
1/3 Cointreau

Use liqueur glass and pour carefully so that ingredients do not mix.

I have never attempted … Continue Reading

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

Believe it or not, I still have a little bit of my bottle of Swedish Punsch left. Tonight I decided to find a recipe to appreciate it. I hit a real prize with the Pooh Bah cocktail.

Pooh Bah Cocktail

3/4 oz gin (Bombay)
3/4 oz light rum (Flor de Caña 4 year Extra Dry
3/4 oz Swedish punsch (Carlshamns Flaggpunsch)
1/4 oz apricot brandy (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot)

stir over ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, sip with a smile.

This is really a delightful cocktail. Yes, it’s a sweet cocktail, but not overpoweringly so. In this case the … Continue Reading

It’s definitely a fun time to be a gin lover in the US. Several distillers across the country are producing new, exciting gins. I’ve tried most of the West Coast contenders, but my latest acquisition comes to us from Philadelphia: Bluecoat American Dry Gin.

Corpse Reviver No. 2a

The distiller tells us they use a handmade copper pot still, using a slow heating process in their five batch distillations to maximize separation to reduce … Continue Reading

Over at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, Tiare had a contest to name her drink. As I always have a hard time naming my own drinks, I was thrilled when she liked my name. Especially since the prize was a bottle of Swedish punsch!

Swedish punsch is one of those ingredients that’s near mythological here in the United States. While it’s common in Sweden, it has not been available … Continue Reading