Grains of Sand
It’s amazing how much a few tweaks can change a drink. When I’m coming up with a new recipe, I try to be honest with myself. If it sucks, what went wrong? Is the balance right? If it’s awesome, what was the magic element? This drink started off… just okay. It didn’t “pop”. The awesome flavored vodka got lost. Somewhat counterintuitively, it needed more rum “character”— aged rum and a funky overproof rum instead of white rum and rhum agricole. Just tweaking the base made this one really worth the shake.
One With Tea
Hey all! I’m back from vacation and have some new content for you. Today we’re going to keep it fairly simple with a martini-style drink using a delicious flavored vodka kindly sent by @chakravodkas. With this build, I wanted to highlight the jasmine by tying in some tea-leaning flavors with the Italicus (bergamot-forward liqueur) and gin— I used @jaisalmergin, which has green tea among its aromatic botanicals.
Espresso Con Formaggio
Yes, you translated that right: espresso with cheese. Parmesan to be exact. There has been a trend spreading around lately of grating parmesan cheese over an espresso martini (thanks @thebittergringo & @highproofpreacher). My first thought was “hmm… that’s so weird I have to try it”— I’m all on board with unusual (or downright strange) flavor combinations, and as I pointed out in my last post, I’m convinced coffee goes with about anything.
Cosmic Harmony
I know flavored vodkas often get a bad rep, but like with any spirit, there is a wide spectrum of quality out there. I want a vodka that is still clean and not overly sweet, with authentic flavor representation. The lychee, coconut, and jasmine vodka that the folks at @chakravodkas kindly sent me fits that order nicely. It has a ton of depth and the three flavors represented are in perfect harmony.
Tom Kha Gai
It’s been far too long since I’ve had a food-turned-cocktail post, so I’m really excited to share this one. This drink is my submission for the @bestcocktails @bluestembotanicals contest, where we got to choose three of their awesome products to incorporate into a cocktail. I chose savory-leaning ingredients (lemongrass syrup, savory bitters, and lions mane mushroom tincture), initially not quite sure what I wanted to make.
Cafecito Cocalero
Today’s post is featuring a new spirit for me— Cocalero Negro, a delicious South American-inspired liqueur. It is herbaceous, peppery, spiced, with slight floral and citrus notes with a touch of heat on the back-end without being overtly spicy. It has 29% ABV, so it holds up well in a cocktail, and while there's some sweetness, the bontaical profile reads almost like a light amaro to me. Needless to say, it's a versatile spirit.
Clean & Bright
As I’ve pointed out before, I don’t have too many vodka-forward cocktails on my page, but they can be really nice when some warmer weather rolls around. I really like the crisp, refreshing, crushable feel of a citrus-forward, fruity vodka sour. Here’s one that I definitely recommend, even if you don’t take the completely-unnecessary-but-awesome step of layering.
The Real Streets of Cabbagetown
I posted a drink called Cabbagetown (1/18/21) that was named for an area of Toronto, since the drink itself was a Toronto riff. Many people commenting on the drink were expecting actual cabbage in the drink, which made me really happy to know that people think I am bold (?crazy) enough to try such a thing. I mean, it would be on-brand given my love for food-inspired, often savory-leaning concoctions. Yeah, you see where this is going-- I had to do it.
The Ghost of the Espresso Martini
Espresso martinis are having a moment right now. I get it, mixing your uppers and your downers sounds like a perfectly safe decision. Well, at the very least, it’s a bit classier than a vodka redbull (#judgementfreezone). This drink is not an espresso martini, but it does have the essence of one. Or if you’re a bartender who’s sick of the OG, this stirred drink can conjure fantasies of no longer shaking up martinis all night.
Do You Yuzu?
I realized that vodka has been noticeably absent from my feed for awhile. I have nothing against vodka, and its neutral canvas is quite useful for infusions, etc. But it’s also great for cocktails where the main flavor might get bullied by other spirits. In the case of this drink, I wanted to go for a really clean, refreshing cocktail that allowed the star flavor, yuzu, to shine.