NYE cocktails

Per our tradition, Eric and I stayed in for NYE. We watched the Venture Bros movie.  We worked on the patronum lego while semi-watching Indiana Jones 4 - such a bad movie.

We each made 2 cocktails.  Eric made some really nice drinks with Prosecco.  One was with lemon sorbet. Yum

Eric got me some bitters, so able to make an Old Fashioned, which he liked.  Want to try it out with some maple syrup or honey instead of sugar next time.

Old Fashioned (recipe from GimmeSomeOven.com)

Ingredients:

-1 tsp granulated white sugar

-1 tsp water

-3-4 shakes Angostura bitters

-2 oz bourbon

-1 Luxardo cherry (didn't have)

-orange peel

Directions:
1. Add sugar, water, bitters. Use muddle (or end of wooden spoon) to combine until sugar is nearly dissolved.

2. Add large ice cube

3. Add bourbon

4. Stir vigorously for 10 sec until liquid chilled (forgot to do)

5. Gently twist orange peel directly over glass in order to express its oil into cocktail, then add

Sundaze in Miami (taken from @cocktails on IG)

So Eric said it was top 5 drinks I've ever made?? Could have been the edible talking for him.

Doubled ingredients for 2 servings.

Ingredients:

-0.5 oz fresh lemon juice (half of lemon)

-0.5 oz agave

-2 oz pineapple juice (used pineapple/orange juice combo)

-0.5 oz Campari

-1.5 oz gin

Directions:

-Shake everything together and service with ice

Rosemary cocktails

Rosemary Greyhound Cocktail (from tasteslovely.com)

Made some cocktails for UFC. Eric really liked this one.  Should do more drinks with grapefruit.

Ingredients:

-2 oz vodka

-1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

-4 oz grapefruit juice

-sprig of rosemary for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake together and serve

Rosemary Gin Fizz Cocktail (from inspiredtaste.net)

A little more alcohol forward.  

Ingredients:

-2 oz gin

-1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

-1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

-3 oz club soda

-1 lemon slice + rosemary sprig for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake gin, lemon juice, rosemary simple syrup

2. Strain into glass

3. Add club soda

4. Garnish with lemon slice and rosemary sprig

Thai Basil Gimlet

Taken from nerdswithknives.com
It was ok.  I really like using the St. Germain.

Ingredients (doubled for x2 drinks)

-Thai basil leaves

-1 ounce simple syrup (used a little more using 1/8 cup monk fruit recipe)

-1.5 oz fresh lime juice

-3 oz gin

-2 oz St. Germain

Directions:

1. Muddle basil leaves with simple syrup and lime juice

2. Add gin and St. Germain - fill with ice and shake

3. Strain and garnish with Thai basil leaves

*drinks

Limoncello Gin Thyme

 From Spec's website.  Didn't taste thyme at all.  Too strong tasting, better with topo chico. Would consider making thyme simple syrup instead.

Ingredients:
-Thyme sprigs

-2 oz gin

-1 oz limoncello

-1/2 oz lime juice

-splash of bubble water (topo chico)

Directions:

1. Juice limes

2. Muddle thyme

3. Add gin + limoncello

4. Shake with ice

5. Pour and garnish with fresh thyme

*Drinks

Pineapple Sage Mojito

New plant this year is pineapple sage.  Took me a while to even find pineapple sage, but found at Lowe's.

Cocktail modified from campbrighton.com

Didn't really like it - not sure what the problem was, but have some tips for next time. 

*I used the monkfruit simple syrup instead.  I should always make it in the morning so that it has time to cool and also marinate in with the herb.  The recipe with 1/4 cup of monkfruit + 1/2 cup of distilled water makes 4.5 oz of liquid or 3 large side jiggers of liquid.

*Also, it was too strong.  Made it 1:1 simple syrup and rum.  Use less next time.

Ingredients:

-2 key limes (can adjust)

-pineapple sage leaves

-1 part pineapple sage monkfruit simple syrup - make in morning and let cool in fridge

-1 part rum (would use less?)

-consider a splash of topo chico instead of less rum?

Directions:

1. Squeeze limes into shaker

2. Muddle pineapple sage leaves

3. Add simple syrup + rum

4. Shake

5. Pour into cups with ice

6. Add splash of topo chico

7. Top with pineapple sage for garnish

*Drinks

Winter cocktails

Have a lot of different liquors right now, so to use some bottles up, I made some cocktails last weekend for UFC.  Everything was put in shaker with ice and divided between me, Eric, Jasmine, and Ian.

*UPDATED - did a few more for New Year's Eve 2021 with Eric, Jasmine, and Thomas.

Screwball Whiskey Peanut Butter Cup Shots (by homebodyeats.com)

-1 part peanbut butter whiskey (Screwball)

-1 part coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

-1 part milk of choice (almond milk)

-Reddi whip (coconut milk) to top off

Notes: very tasty

White Russian

-2 parts vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part heavy cream/milk (used lite coconut milk) - other recipes vary amount of this

Notes: not as good as 1st one, tasted too strong, maybe 1 parts of each next time

Peppermint White Russian (another website, but also on The Marvelous Misadventures)

-1 part vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-1 part milk (used almond milk)

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: maybe less peppermint? I think I liked the Peppermint cocktail below with the white chocolate liqueur better than Kahlua.

Mistletoe Martini Cranberry Christmas cocktail (by mixthatdrink.com)

-1.5 oz vodka

-0.5 oz elderflower liquer

-1.5 oz cranberry juice

-0.5 oz simple syrup (didn't make, so used grenadine syrup)

-mint leaves

Notes: Eric liked this one the best

Peppermint cocktail (couldn't find original, but similar one found on thecocktailbird.com)

-1 part vanilla vodka (only had regular vodka)

-1 part white chocolate liqueur

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: Very tasty, some other recipes with milk in it that I would try next time

Cranberry Mule Holiday cocktail (from Aberdeen's Kitchen)

-2 oz bourbon

-1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

-1 oz orange juice

-1 oz cranberry juice

-ginger beer to top off

-add some mint sprigs in shaker

Notes: I'm not sure I liked this as much as Eric.  Maybe try with different liquor like rum

Screwball whiskey peanut butter cup

*Drinks

Spicy Watermelon Jalapeno Margaritas

Recipe from Skinnytaste.  
Eric didn't really like it - well, he doesn't like spicy drinks, so will likely not make again, but I thought it was pretty good.  

Notes - Eric liked it better when I strained the watermelon through strainer, too.  A lot of waste of pulp though.

Ingredients:

-4 cups of cubed seedless watermelon

-1 TBSP sugar (optional)

-4 jalapenos, with seeds and membranes, roughly chopped

-2 limes, juiced

-8 oz clear tequila (2 oz per drink)

Directions:

1. Place watermelon (and sugar) in a blender and process until smooth.  Keep chilled in pitcher in fridge.

2. Place jalapenos in blender with 2/3 cup of water and puree until smooth.  Strain through a mesh sieve.  Add lime juice and keep chilled

3. When ready to serve, fill a tall glass to top with ice, pour 2 oz tequila in each tall glass, then add water melon juice filling 3/4 of the way, about 1/2 cup, then top with jalapeno juice.

*drinks

Mint Juleps

Recipe taken from Martha Stewart and the Chunky Chef, but Eric wasn't a fan, so likely won't make these again. Maybe tasted a bit too strong.

Ingredients for 2:
-4 oz Bourbon
-Spearmint
-4 oz simple syrup
-Water and ice

Directions
1. Put spearmint leaves in with Bourbon overnight, up to 24 hrs
2. Shake/mix Bourbon and Simple Syrup with ice
3. Pour over crushed ice
4. Add water as needed



*Drinks

Thyme cocktails

Made 3 different thyme cocktails last weekend using Thyme simple syrup.  Made for a pretty bad hangover the next morning, so need to try using monkfruit simple syrup next time.  Made 1:1 cup ratio in the morning and had plenty of leftover, so next time can use like 3/4 cup. Garnish with sprigs of thyme and lemon or lime peel.

Thyme gives it a nice smokey taste.

Double recipe for 2 people.

JIGGER RULES:

Small side = 0.75 oz / filling to the brim = 1 oz

Large side = 1.5 oz

1 OZ = 2 TBSP

THYME SIMPLE SYRUP

-1 cup of sugar

-1 cup of water

-Handful of thyme

Directions:

1. Boil water and sugar

2. Pour into mason jar

3. Add in thyme

4. Let cool in fridge

#1. Meyer Lemon and Thyme Whiskey Sour - from footnetwork.com (Eric's favorite!)

-1.5 oz bourbon

-1 oz Meyer lemon juice = 1 lemon + 1 mandarin orange

-1.5 oz thyme simple syrup

FOR 4 DRINKS:

Barely fits in the shaker - don't add a lot of ice because you add ice to the drinks anyways

I added too much ice in shaker and it overflowed

#2. The French Gimlet - from freutcake.com (maybe too sour and needed more simple syrup?)

-2 oz gin

-1.5 oz St. Germain

-1.5 oz lime juice

-1/2 oz thyme simple syrup (maybe do 0.75 oz?)

#3. Lemon Thyme Cocktail - from bettycrocker.com (it was ok, but #1 better)

-2.5 oz vodka

-3 oz cranberry juice

-1 oz thyme simple syrup

-1/2 oz orange-flavored liqueur

-1/2 lemon juice- orig recipe called for lemon-thyme simple syrup with 2 T grated lemon peel added to the simple syrup when making, but I had already made

*drinks

Rosemary Gimlet

Pretty good. First round I put in like 3 shots of gin to 1.18 shots of simple syrup. The second round was 4 shots of gin and 2.5 shots of simple syrup (to use it all up), which was too sweet. Would try the below 2:1 ratio next time.
Recipe taken from:
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/rosemary-gimlet-gin-cocktail-recipe/

(For 3 servings)
Ingredients:
-3 shots of gin
-1.5 shots of rosemary simple syrup (2:1 ratio)
-1 key lime

Rosemary simple syrup:
Put 3 sprigs of rosemary in the hot simple syrup while it cools

Directions:
1. Shake in shaker with ice
2. Pour in glass
3. Fill glass with ice

4. Put the rosemary sprig on top

*Drinks

Monkfruit Simple Syrup

Taken from urbancowgirllife.com

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup monkfruit (erythritol)
-1/2 cup distilled water
-pinch of xanthan gum
-5-10 drops of stevia (didn’t use)

Directions:
1. Heat medium on stove and stir constantly to break up clumps of xanthan gum.
2. Boil for 45 sec when thickened
3. Take off stove to cool

4. Can put in mason jar to shake if still has clumps

*Drinks

Rum & Coconut Milk Cocktail

Got coconut milk and oat milk to taste test with the almond milk.  Almond milk won, but coconut milk was a close 2nd for me.
Looked up some cocktail drinks and this one was pretty good from food52.com (of course modified)

3 servings

Ingredients:
-3 shots of coconut rum (1.5 oz each)
-6 shots of coconut milk
-1 tsp monk fruit or other sugar
-1/4 tsp vanilla extract
-nutmeg & cinnamon

Directions:
-Mix in shakes with ice cubes (half full of cubes)
-Divide into shooters
-Sprinkle nutmeg & cinnamon on top

*Drinks

Frozen Whipped Pineapple

Just made these via @CleanFoodCrush on instagram

Ingredients:
-5-6 cups of frozen pineapple chunks, let sit out for 3 min = 1 large pineapple
-1 cup of milk (used coconut milk)
-touch of sweetener (used a little honey)

Directions:
Blend on low

Notes:
Pineapple was frozen in ziploc bag for 4-5 hours which was definitely not long enough for it to get frozen. Tasted good more like a drink since not frozen enough. Probably didn’t need the honey.
Can try different milk if needed.
Made 9 servings using 3 small square bowls and 6 of the small Pyrex stored in the freezer.

Could work as pops instead.

*Dessert

Gin Fizz Cocktail - Coronavirus Cooking Series

Saturday nights also means making new cocktails.  Last weekend, Eric made a super tasty Tequila Sage Smash.  Last night, I made a Gin Fizz Cocktail from ketogasm.com because we got some monkfruit sweetener recently, and it was refreshing.

Ingredients (doubled for 2 drinks):
-2 oz gin extra dry (only had the strawberry rhubarb gin that Ian got us)
-1/2 oz lime juice (only had key limes and need to remember to use less)
-1 tsp monkfruit sweetener (1 packet)
-1 egg white (procure over a bowl first!)
-4 oz club soda

Directions:
1. In a shaker, combine gin, lime juice, sweetener, and egg white.  Shake for 2 minutes, then pour into a chilled glass
2. Pour club soda into the glass directly down the middle until the foam reaches the top of the glass.
3. Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy.

Ok, so I messed up a little while making.  I added ice to the shaker, which makes it very cold and I think difficult to take the top off.  So, no ice to shake next time.
Also, try getting egg white over a BOWL first and not the shaker because it is more difficult to do things if the yolk falls in the shaker. SMH.
So, it was tasty refreshing, but a little too limey in my opinion, so if using key limes, remember to add less.

*Drinks

Dalgona whipped coffee - Coronavirus Cooking Series

Our weekends now involve making new food/drink things and watching TV.
And so I did the thing that everyone is doing on social media last week. Because it takes a fair amount of sugar, I tried searching for a "healthier version" and found one with eatingbirdfood.com

Ingredients
-2 T instant coffee (used like 4 packets of the Starbucks)
-1 1/2 T coconut sugar
-2 T boiling water
-1-2 cups of almond milk
-ice

Directions:
1. Whisk coffee, sugar, and boiling water together using a stand mixer until foamy (about 10 min or more)
2. Add ice to a cup, pour in milk, and then top with whipped coffee mixture.

So, it wasn't exactly like an iced cafe mocha. I wanted to use a coffee I knew tasted good, so that's why I spent a little more on the Starbucks brand.  I only had coconut sugar on hand, and I think I used more than the 1 1/2 T it called for just because I had a feeling, but need to go all the way to 2 T for sure because it wasn't sweet enough.  Next time, should look up one with monk fruit because we just got that.

*Drinks