Showing posts with label cocktail recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cocktail recipes. Show all posts

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Raise a Glass to Best Picture Inspired Glamorous Cocktail Recipes For a Glam Oscar Party

 

Whether you’re hosting an Oscar party for a crowd this year (yeah for co-mingling), or watching the small screen solo, here’s a few Oscar-worthy cocktails to sip while you indulge in this glamorous peek into a world of fantasy.

Why, even the red carpet is a nod to a worthy champagne toast. Stars will strut their style on a champagne carpet for the first time. 

Here's a sparkling menu of cocktail recipes inspired by the best picture nominees to make your awards show glamorous ~ and delicious ~ and fun.


Friday, August 18, 2017

Total Eclipse Cosmic Cocktails to Celebrate Celestial Canoodling


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Solar_eclipse_1999_4_NR.jpg

There’s no doubt that Total Eclipse 2017 is surely helping to eclipse all the ahem, other-worldly happenings that seem to be streaming in from other planets or outer space of late! Oh this is fun writing and researching. So many puns. )Plus a pun is also called a “paronomasia” which in itself seems like a sure-fire paranormal stressful state!)

The good news is that the Total Eclipse is really about art and science coming together. Many folks refer to it as the “sun kissing the moon.” How romantic is that? Not since 1918 have we witnessed such celestial canoodling.

I’ve worshipped the stars and invoked their magic on more occasions than there are stars in the sky (!) -- ever since my beloved father, George, took me to the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History when I was a little girl. There, we purchased an index-sized card that swung open in order to chart four sky maps -- both the winter and summer skies - looking north and south.



I keep it over my writing desk today. It’s as much a tribute to space and my enduring curiosity as it is about my love for my father and his ability to nurture the fascination, imagination, and magic of the stars. As I must confess that the ancient star constellations or asterisms are almost impossible for me to trace. Rather like a parlor game; except that my husband is great at pointing out Aquila (Eagle), Sagittarius (Archer), Leo (Lion) not to mention the easy ones such as the Dippers and the Canis Minor (Little Dog). So much beauty and legend…

There’s no doubt this celestial phenomena is stirring artists and curiosity seekers. Today’s New York Times has a feature about the artist Howard Russell Butler’s exhibit at the Princeton University Art Museum, highlighting the mash up of art and science at the last total solar eclipse. The Times also offers a musical, top-20 Play List to accompany and enhance the sensual elements surrounding the artful eclipse. I like “I Put a Spell on You” by Alice Smith, “Time” by Pink Floyd or Dark Star by the Grateful Dead.
But my favorite site for all things eclipse is Nasa Total Eclipse - especially their suggested party tips and activities and downloadable activities that can spark your viewing experience. Who throws a bigger party than spacemen, er space people?!

Nasa says, “Many eclipse enthusiasts host parties in local community centers, museums, observatories, parks or open fields. Even your own backyard is a good place to throw a party.”

If you’re throwing your own party or bringing celestial treats to another, here’s a few excellent drinks to further the magical darkness...

COSMIC COCKTAIL RECIPES





Total Eclipse -- neė Ashes to Ashes - created by Jordan Bushell, Mőet Hennessy National Brand Ambassador. This is one of master mixologist Jordan’s more brilliant contributions to my soon-to-be-released book, Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail (available in presale now.)

I think it’s perfect for toasting the total eclipse, don’t you?

Here’s what it looks like in the book:



And here’s how to make the dark cocktail:


Ingredients:
  • 1.5 oz Hennessy VS
  • 1 oz Tawny Port 10 year Old
  • 1/2 tsp activated Charcoal
  • 2 dashes chocolate bitters
  • Garnish – cocktail Cherry (luxardo) and or 1 red rose petal
  • Glass – Rocks
Method:

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir to combine, pour into a rocks glass

Garnish:

With a cherry and/or a rose petal.

From Finishing Touches: Dark and foreboding in look and yet the drinks is full of flavor, Ashes to Ashes was named for the charcoal but also for the end of things for every end is a beginning and this balanced and approachable drink is also deep and contemplative in it’s flavors. You want to sit with it as it begins to warm up in the glass and reveals more and more of itself.

The charcoal does not add any actual flavor and thus is one of the garnishes; if a garnish is not there for the flavor it can still have a purpose, in this case, dramatic effect. We drink and eat with our eyes first, as a drink comes across the room to us, or is handed across the bar we are already imagining different flavors it will have. When a black drink is presented, it creates mystery and thus an open palate. The rose petal and or cherry provide a contrast, bright red, dramatic.


Patrón Platinum Margarita



(photo courtesy of Patrón Tequila)

How beautiful is this cocktail?

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Platinum Patrón Tequila 
  • 1 oz Dolin vermouth Blanc
  • 2 dash rose water 
  • .25 oz agave syrup
  • .5 oz lime juice
Method:

Stir all ingredients with ice for 30 seconds then pour in a mixing glass. In a mixing glass add 
1 bar spoon edible platinum color
1 pinch xanthan gum
Stir for 10 seconds pour in your coupe glass.

Garnish:

With an edible orchid using edible silver sprayer marshmallow flavored to coat the orchid.

Heart of Gold - Leeann Lavin


Ingredients:

  • 2 jiggers Goldschlager - a Swiss Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur 
  • 3-4 jiggers cold Ginger Beer - homemade or hand-crafted artisanal, such as Reed’s: sparkling, filtered water sweetened by a blend of cane sugar, pineapple juice, honey, fresh ginger root, lemon & lime juices and spices. 
The cinnamon of the schnapps harmonizes with the spices in the ginger beer.
Method:

Put ice cubes in goblet

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker

Remove ice from goblet. Pour strained cocktail into iced goblet glass.

Garnish:

Crystallized ginger - highlights ginger beer/ginger root ingredients (or maraschino or orange rind studded with cloves) clipped on glass with gold jewelry pins.

Garnish option

Spun, gold sugar wafers cotton candy on a lollipop stick (can provide recipe)
You can also pour the cocktail into old-fashioned glasses with ice and garnish.

Food Pairing

Posh Pretzels & Piglets

Serve with classic cocktail party, German hot dog-inspired favorites: pigs in a blanket, artisanal pretzels and hearty mustard.

Entertaining Tips

Add glamour to the common beer & pretzel or beer and hot dog. Play off the heart of gold- use mirrors under the goblet glasses to amplify the gold flakes floating in the Goldschlager; create heart-shaped glitter accents.

Sprinkle glitter gold on mirror plates to shine, use gold baskets as serving vessels

Linen napkins with gold embroidered detail add a golden touch.


Silver Blue Moon

Available at Sir Henri in NYC by Beverage Director, Gil Bouhana




Photo courtesy of Nolet’s Dry Gin

Ingredients:

Method:

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass. 

Garnish:

With lavender* or more traditionally, a brandied cherry.

*My notation: be sure to use English lavender. French lavender is used for beauty products such as soap, while the English lavender is used in food preparation, including cooking and drinks.


Reyka’s Take My Breath Away by Anna Levy Mains



(Photo courtesy of Reyka vodka)

Ingredients:

  • 2 parts Reyka Vodka
  • ½ part Dolin blanc vermouth (Dolin is my hands-down favorite vermouth; it is appropriately botanical and delicious.)
  • 1 part cucumber juice 
  • ¼ Lime
  • ¼ part Wasabi simple 
Method:

Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Shake, strain
Garnish:

Use a cucumber ribbon and orchid garnish; serve.

*Wasabi simple was 1 oz wasabi powder by volume to 8 oz of simple syrup

Mixologist Mains hails from Oklahoma City’s In the Raw Sushi Bar, Knucks Wheelhouse, and Rockford Cocktail Den.


Hudson Summer Smash


(photo courtesy of Tuthilltown Spirits)

Ingredients:

Method:

Add apple slices, simple syrup, and two or three mint leaves to shaker tin (or pint glass half of ‘Boston Shaker’) and muddle together. Add Hudson Four Grain Bourbon and ice and shake well. Strain over fresh ice in Old Fashioned/rocks glass and top with splash of ginger ale. Float port (or wine) on top of the drink by pouring carefully over the back of a bar spoon.

Garnish:

With mint sprig.


Free Cosmic Stuff

With more than 750 locations, Pilot Flying J is the latest to get in on the fun.

Guests of Pilot and Flying J Travel Centers can receive a FREE standard size Milky Way candy bar or pack of Eclipse chewing gum when purchasing any beverage in-store (excluding alcohol). This offer is available in the myOffers section of the myPilot mobile app. The solar eclipse promotion is valid for customers in the U.S. from Aug 21 until Aug. 25.

Cheers!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Garden to Glass Spring Cocktail Recipes

Garden to Glass Cocktails 

Cherry Blossom Cocktail

This recipe is from a vintage 1952 Japanese pocket-sized recipe book I inherited when the couple we purchased our country house from left it behind the bar. The recipes are printed in both English and Japanese Kanji. The Bartender's Guide to the Best Mixed Drinks, by “Kappa” Kasuga Boeki KK, Tokyo, Japan, and distributed by Charles E. Tuttle Co.

After some sleuthing, I found out Mr. Tuttle was one of the great characters of the international book trade. Stationed in Japan during the occupation, he was a scholar of American and Japanese literature, a successful businessman, and husband to Reiko Chiba, a beautiful woman from the wealthy, Japanese Hokkaido family, who he married right after World War II. Tuttle was also known to be a prodigious drinker and it is written he “was not infrequently tossed out of, and off, bars and restaurants, golf courses and tennis courts, on six continents - unabashedly, and not without some élan.”

My own experience with all things Japanese has been much more artful - though while visiting Japan on numerous business trips, we did enjoy a fair share of spirits – usually sake. Over the years, I toured throughout many beautiful regions in Japan visiting gardens and shrines – the clouds even parted as we traveled past the venerable Mt. Fuji. Later, working at New York’s best botanical gardens, I celebrated the spring season of Hanami, brimming with the ephemeral beauty of the sakura matsuri culture.





Ingredients:

1 oz. Cherry Brandy

1 oz. Brandy

¼ Teaspoon Curacao

¼ Teaspoon Lemon Juice

¼ Teaspoon Grenadine


Method:

Shake Well with Cracked Ice (sic) and strain into 3 oz. Cocktail Glass


Sakura Garnish:

No garnish is noted in the vintage cocktail recipe. Perhaps such accessories so soon after a tragic war were too luxurious and frivolous. In fact the entire Bartender’s Guide offers virtually no garnish suggestion.  Today, we use fresh cherry blossoms as garnish.

Wrap a pickled cherry blossom in its own leaf, spear onto a cocktail pick with a cleaned lime rind “knot” at the far end. The cherry blossom and leaf can be eaten.

Cocktail Composition and Food Pairing

Serve with pretty green matcha tea bean cakes and wagashi, the traditional Japanese sweet that is made in a breathtaking variety of decorated confections.




Or make some sakura cookies.

Add simple cotton cocktail napkins.

Decorate the setting with cherry blossoms placed in sake pitchers or the organic stoneware or earthenware vases. Throughout the tablescape, sprinkle pretty pink cherry blossoms -- referred to as “pink snow” and is believed to bring good luck.

Sakura cherry blossoms are one of the best-known symbols of Japan. Sakura are not only beautiful, but they also have a subtle flowery or nutty flavor. Sakura flowers are used as a decoration for sweets or are cooked and served with rice. You can eat the blossoms and the leaves, pickling them in salt and umeboshi vinegar

The sakura leaves have the most intense aroma and are used therefore used as powder or as a whole to enhance the flavor of cookies or Japanese style sweets.

KOSAKA

Keeping with the Hanami and cherry blossom viewing seasonal experiences, I just got word from my dear friend, the talented artist and horticulturist, EunYoung Sebazco, KOSAKA Art Curator, that the exquisite restaurant is celebrating the Cherry Blossom Season with Japanese culinary culture.

Please join KOSAKA’s exclusive master sushi chef Yoshihiko Kousaka in a special event on 30th April. The seats are very limited, please reserve your tickets at Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chirashi-sushi-making-tasting-tickets-33729776670

Chef Yoshihiro Kousaka is as an exclusive master sushi chef at KOSAKA will host an exclusive Japanese culinary experience in this Hanami season at KOSAKA.
The guests will learn how to make colorful Chirashi Sushi from fresh ingredients.

Photo courtesy: KOSAKA

At the end, the guests will be seated and tasted. Chirashi Sushi will be paired with sakes which is specially selected by KOSAKA sake sommelier.

Kanpai!

More Garden to Glass Cocktails




Photo courtesy of Conor Harrigan

Bittersweet Boba - Created by Pamela Wiznitzer, Seamstress

Ingredients:

.5 oz Campari

2.5 oz Strong Brewed Black Tea

1 oz Milk

1 oz Vanilla Syrup

.5 oz Grand Marnier

Campari-infused Tapioca Boba*

Edible Red Glitter for glass rim (Try Disco Dust from NY Cake)

Method:

Rim glass with edible red glitter and fill with Campari-infused boba. Shake all ingredients and strain over the boba.

*Campari-infused Tapioca Boba

Purchase plain boba (available online or at specialty grocery stores) and boil for about 30 minutes. Drain boba from pot and let steep in a mixture of 1 cup Campari and 1/3 cup sugar.





Photo courtesy of Montelobos Mezcal


Smoking Rose Paloma - Recipe by Ashley Conway

Ingredients:

5 parts Q Drinks Grapefruit Soda

2 parts Montelobos Mezcal

¾ part fresh lime juice

½ part rose simple syrup

For the flower ice: Fill a glass 1/4 the way full with water. Add rose petals. Prop on it’s side in the freezer, making sure it doesn’t spill. Let freeze completely before using. This is an optional step, if you are looking to make a drink ASAP, just add regular ice to the glass. But if you do take the time for this step, it makes one pretty cocktail!

Method:

Add all liquid ingredients except Q Drinks Grapefruit Soda into a shaker. Shake well to help dilute the cocktail a bit since the ice in the glass won’t melt as fast. Remove the glass from the freezer. Strain into the glass. Top with the Grapefruit Soda and stir. Garnish with grapefruit slice.

Photo courtesy of Nolet's 


NOLET’S Silver Basil Smash

Ingredients:

2 oz. NOLET'S Silver Gin


12 Fresh Basil Leaves


0.75 oz. Lemon Juice


0.33 oz. Simple Syrup

Method:
Muddle basil leaves with simple syrup and lemon juice in a mixing tin. Add NOLET'S Silver, ice and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.

Garnish:

Perch a homegrown or market-fresh washed basil leaf and lemon wedge. You can insert the basil stem into the wedge or position the stem side down and leave up so that every sip imparts the aromatic, garden-to-glass bliss.




Photo courtesy of Reyka

Reyka Southside

Ingredients:

2 parts Reyka vodka

1 part fresh lime juice

¾ part simple syrup (1:1)

4-6 Mint leaves

Method:

Combine all ingredients together in cocktail shaker and double strain and garnish with mint leaves.

Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic born vodka and provides a smooth and crisp base for both complex and simple cocktails.




Photo courtesy of Sailor Jerry


Sailor Jerry Ginger Apple Cooler

Ingredients:

1 part Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

½ part ginger syrup

¾ part apple juice

¼ part fresh lemon juice

1 ½ parts Q Club Soda

Method:

In empty mixing glass, measure Sailor Jerry. Add ginger syrup, apple juice and fresh lemon juice. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled highball glass and fill with ice. Top with soda water and garnish with candied ginger.

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a Caribbean Rum blended with 100% natural spices and flavors.





Photo courtesy of Ancho Reyes

Ancho Verde Margarita

Ingredients:

1 part Milagro Silver Tequila

1 part Ancho Reyes Verde

1 part Fresh Lime Juice

1/3 part Agave Nectar

Method:

Add all ingredients to a shaker, add ice, shake hard and strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass with half its rim salted. Garnish with a lime wheel.





Photo courtesy Montelobos Mezcal

Dances With the Wolves

Ingredients:

2 parts Montelobos Mezcal

1 part Lime juice

¾ part Pineapple gum

2 parts Sparkling water

Dehydrated pineapple slice and hoja santa leaf for garnish


Method:

Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake. Strain over fresh ice cubes in a stemless wineglass. Top with soda. Garnish with pineapple slice and hoja santa leaf





Photo courtesy of Drambuie


Drambuie’s Frozen Sangria

Ingredients:

3 parts Drambuie

1 ½ parts Q Soda

1 part Triple sec

1 Cup White Wine (Chardonnay is perfect)

1 part OJ

1 part Fresh Lime Juice

1 part Honey

2 cups Frozen Berries

10 Dashes Cherry Bitters

Method:

Add all Ingredients to a Blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with skewered berries with basil sprig.
Drambuie is made from a delightful combination of scotch whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices.





Photo courtesy of Q Soda


Blood Orange Soda by Colleen Jeffers

1 part syrup*

5 parts Q Club Soda

Lime

Rub the inside of the glass with whatever herb you have on hand such as mint. Combine ingredient and stir. Finish with a hearty squeeze of fresh lime

*Syrup Recipe: Equal parts squeezed/strained blood orange juice with sugar in a blender. Blend on high just until combined.





Photo courtesy of Hudson Whiskey


New York Manhattan

Ingredients:

2 parts Hudson Whiskey Manhattan Rye

¾ part Sweet Vermouth

1 dash each of aromatic and orange bitters

Method:
Add ingredients to a mixing glass and stir (don’t shake!) until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Peel a silver dollar-sized twist of orange peel and express oils from the twist onto the surface of the drink and discard. Garnish with a cocktail cherry or two.
Hudson Whiskey, the first legal pot-stilled whiskey distilled in New York state since prohibition, sources 90% of its grains from within 40 miles of the distillery.




Photo courtesy of Drambuie


Honey Sour

Ingredients:
1 ½ parts Drambuie

¾ parts Monkey Shoulder

¾ part Lemon Juice

3 slices Ginger

Egg White

Method:

Muddle Ginger with Drambuie, then add the other ingredients. Dry shake, then add ice and shake again. Fine strain out the ginger and garnish with Angostura bitters

A riff on the popular Sour and the oft-copied neo-classic Penicillin, Drambuie’s honey & spices complement the silky mouth feel from the egg white.


Rider + National Sawdust

Under-the-radar Williamsburg gem National Sawdust is an artist-led non-profit venue that attracts and fosters emerging talent like violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson and Icelandic quartet The Nordic Affect. Designed by Bureau V, the stunning space shares a building and a mutually supportive relationship with Rider, a contemporary American bistro dishing up globally-inspired cuisine and laid-back sophistication under the helm of James Beard Award-winning Chef Patrick Connolly.

Both a destination eatery and a neighborhood favorite, Rider serves elevated concessions to concertgoers--think duck confit wrapped in chard, fried chicken nuggets with whole grain mustard and griddled mortadella--and stays open late for those hungry for more. Guests are welcome to pop in before or after a show for a dinner off Rider’s dynamic and tightly curated menu, plus a full bar program with cocktails like the Mister Rogers Flavorhood, made with vodka, hibiscus syrup, all-spice dram and lemon.

Cheers!



Dinner at Rider - photo courtesy of Rider


Brooklyn Bazaar

Located in Greenpoint’s land-marked Polonaise building, Brooklyn Bazaar wears an array of hats from weekend flea market, karaoke bar and arcade to comedy stage and live music venue with headliners like Black Marble and Princess Nokia. It’s also home to a busy outpost by well-loved Williamsburg restaurant The Brooklyn Star, so patrons can pair their punk rock and ping pong games with Texas-style Chicken & Waffles, Catfish and Grits or Crispy Brussels Sprouts and wash it all down with a Kelvin Slush Guava Margarita.

Baby’s All Right

Everybody’s favorite indie haunt, Baby’s All Right keeps South Williamsburg energized with frequent live sets by underground favorites like Chairlift and Monogold and themed DJ nights like Drake Night. The venue’s attached restaurant keeps music lovers and barflys well-fed with an eclectic menu full of dishes that crisscross the globe, from The Risky Chicken, a Thai fried chicken and papaya salad, to Swagoo Poutine, a Green-Curry Fried Rice Burrito and a classic mushroom burger.