Author: Dani DeLuna

Cocktail Crate Grapefruit Daiquiri & Maple Sour

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Cocktail-Crate-Grapefruit-Daiquiri-&-Maple-Sour

HELLOOOOO NEW COCKTAIL CRATE MIXERS! As y’all probably know, I’m really into these mixers. I’ve written several articles about Cocktail Crate mixers and 100% of the time, they’ve been awesome. I’m not sure what kind of magic Alex uses to make his stuff, but damn son!

This time, he sent me a Grapefruit Daiquiri mixer and a Maple Whiskey Sour mixer, so break out the bottles and let’s goooooo!

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Cocktail-Crate-Grapefruit-Daiquiri-Recipe

Always follow the recipe y’all, you will not be disappointed.

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As the good bottle says, use one part clear spirit and one part Cocktail Crate Grapefruit Daiquiri Craft Mixer. The bottle recommends: Rum, Gin or Vodka but this is also really great with Blanco Tequila!

Cocktail Crate Grapefruit Daiquiri

  • 1 1/2 oz White Rum, Gin, Blanco Tequila, Cachaça (or whatever!)
  • 1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Grapefruit Daiquiri Mixer

Combine ingredients over ice and shake it like a rocket. Double strain into coupe. Aaaaaah, yes.

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Delicious.

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Once again, follow the ratios, this mixer makes an excellent Whiskey Sour.

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The suggestion is for Bourbon or Rye, but I’ve tried Maple Whiskey Sour mixer with Berkshire Ragged Mountain Rum (aged in Bourbon casks), Yamazaki Japanese Whisky, Rye and as a bonus…

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…this White Pike Whiskey from upstate NY. Wow. You have to try Maple Whiskey Sour + a White Dog Whiskey (unaged Bourbon), cause it’s totally AMAZING.

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Now this mixer is made with Maple Syrup, Lemon, some other stuff, and Bitters. Personally, I wanted a tad more Bitters, so I’ve been adding one dash of either Hella Bitters Citrus Bitters or Angostura Bitters.

Cocktail Crate Maple Whiskey Sour

  • 1 1/2 oz Whisky, Whiskey, Bourbon, Rum aged in Bourbon, (or whatever Whiskey you want!)
  • 1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Maple Whiskey Sour Mixer
  • Garnish: Lemon peel, Lemon wheel, or Cinnamon bark

Combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into double Rocks glass over ice and garnish.

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Hell yes.

Thanks to Alex for sending me these delicious mixers! Cocktail Crate is supreme above all other mixers!

Puccini’s Nightcap

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So I’m totally digging National Hazelnut month and using as much Frangelico in as many recipes I possibly can. Today, I’ve got another Cocktail with Plantatation Barbados 5 Year Rum, cause the flavors go really well together. Also Hazelnut + Rum seems like a win-win to me y’all!

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It’s also time to bust out the Nutmeg and grater!

Puccini’s Nightcap

  • 2 oz Plantation Barbados 5 Rum
  • 1/2 oz Frangelico
  • 1/2 oz Giffard Banane Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry
  • 1 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram (sub Pimento Bitters)

Garnish: freshly grated Nutmeg

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrrrr. Strain into coupe, grate that Nutmeg until you are feeeling it.

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Let the Hazelnut loving continue! Woo! Cheers to MBooth for including me in National Hazelnut Month!

National Hazelnut Month with Frangelico

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Did y’all know that September is National Hazelnut month? Neither did I, but I’m so happy I found out about it! What delicious Liqueur is made with Hazelnuts and comes in a bottle shaped like a monk? Frangelico!

Frangelico has been leading the charge to get the mighty hazelnut on our collective consciousness. This liqueur hails from the Piedmont region of Italy, using inspiration from centuries old recipes. It has warm, sweet prominent Hazelnut notes, followed by Vanilla, and Cocoa.

Let’s get to the cocktails!

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I decided to start with a Rum sour cause to me, Nuttiness + Rum = hell yes! I didn’t want to go full Tiki, but the Pineapple wedge gives a little island feel to the drink.

Angelica in the West Indies

  • 2 oz Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum
  • 3/4 oz Frangelico
  • 1/2 oz Honey Syrup
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 2 dashes Angostura
  • Garnish: Pineapple wedge

Combine ingredients over ice and short shake. Strain into double Rocks glass with ice. Garnish with Pineapple wedge.

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Next I decided to get spice-y and desert-y, cause I had a feeling that Frangelico + Jägermeister + Carpano Antica would be a great flavour set. It was. It was such a great flavour set that I keep thinking about it. To dry things out, I added Hine H Cognac as the base and topped it off with a couple dashes of Scrappy’s Chocolate Bitters. DESSERT!

The Road to Turin

  • 1 3/4 oz Hine H Cognac
  • 1/4 oz Frangelico
  • 1/2 oz Jägermeister
  • 1/2 oz Carpano Antica
  • 2 dashes Scrappy’s Chocolate Bitters

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrr. Strain into chilled coupe and serve.

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Cheers to MBooth for including me in National Hazelnut Month!

Professor Plum, in the Kitchen, with the bottle of Sherry

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Still rolling deep with that Lemon Sherbet, still trying to keep it real seasonal with a Gin + Plum drink! This cocktail is refreshing, has a great set of spices, and plum-a-liscious. Now all we need is that old box of Clue and we can get this party started.

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For starters, you need to make Lemon Sherbet, my new fave ingredient. Head over here for the recipe. Next you need a nice, big, juicy, plum. Yum, bum, bum.  Then you can make a Lemon Plum Purée.

Lemon Plum Purée

  • 1 Plum, pitted, skinned, and sliced into chunks
  • 3/4 oz Sherbet

Combine ingredients in blender and purée until everything is swimming together nicely.

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Then you need to grab a bottle of Old Tom Gin, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Amontillado Sherry, and a Cinnamon stick.

Professor Plum (in the Kitchen, with the bottle of Sherry)

  • 1 3/4 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
  • 1/4 oz Amontillado Sherry
  • 1/4 oz St Elizabeth Allspice Dram
  • Lemon Plum Purée
  • Garnish: Cinnamon bark

Combine ingredients over ice and shake vigorously. Dirty pour into Mule cup. Grate a bit of Cinnamon bark on top and garnish with the bark. Yummmm.

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Not sure it was Professor Plum, in the Kitchen, with the bottle of Sherry? Well, then why is all of the Sherry gone?

Straw Eyes

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Bonne Fête Nationale mes amis! I’ve chosen to feature this cocktail for Bastille Day because it is so very french: Herbaceous, sophisticated, a provençal dream. The combination of Calvados and Bonal gives loads of earthy terroir and is complimented by Lemon Sherbet and Celery Bitters.

Salut!

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Hottttt off the trails of being written about for Punch Magazine and with Lemon Sherbet, my new fave ingredient, in hand, I have a rip roaringly delicious Cocktail for y’all today! It’s autumnal, sort of sweet, vegetal, and dry all at the same time!

Here we go!

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Look at the colour! Feel the golden glory shimmering in your eyes!

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It’s mine, allll mine! My eyes have turned to Straw!

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So, in order to make this magical drink, you must first make Lemon Sherbet. I’ve been using it in nearly everything and I promise, it will change your Cocktail game. It will especially change your Punch game!

Next, you need Calvados (French Apple Brandy. American Apple Brandy will prob work, but will be less smooth), Bonal (an aperitif from France that I luv), and Celery Bitters (I like Scrappy’s Celery Bitters the most).

Straw Eyes

  • 2 oz Calvados
  • 1/4 oz Bonal Aperitif
  • 1/4-1/2 oz* Lemon Sherbet
  • 1 dash Scrappy’s Celery Bitters

Combine ingredients over ice and shake it like a rocket. Double strain into coupe, no garnish.

*This depends on how sweet you want the drink to be. The Lemon Sherbet can be overpowering so I’d say start with 1/4 oz.

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Yes, Kween, this is your early fall treat. Woooooo!

I’m in Punch Magazine!

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Home Bartending Punch

Whoooooooop! Hey y’all, awhile back Dan Saltzstein called me up for a lil phone interview about what it’s like to be a Home Bar Gurrrrrrl. Then he wrote an article about myself and several other awesome Home Bartenders for Punch Magazine!

Thanks Dan for shouting out the daily smoothies that my awesome girlfriend and I make!

Lemon Oleo Saccharum & Sherbet

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Lemon Sherbet

Since Lemon Sherbet is my new fave cocktail ingredient, I thought I’d give it it’s own post. I configured this recipe based on instructions in Punch by David Wondrich, which holy shit, so many fabulous things in that book. GET IT NOWWWWW. It will change your liiiiife.

In order to make Lemon Sherbet, we must first make Lemon Oleo Saccharum, an old skool syrup made from Lemon peels and sugar.

Lemon Oleo Saccharum

  • The peels of 4 lemons
  • 8 oz superfine Sugar

Combine Lemon peels and Sugar in a jar and muddle. Let sit for several hours or overnight, shaking occasionally. You want a syrup to form from the Lemon Oil and sugar. Remove peels from jar. Save the peels for garnishes if you like.

Taste the jaw-dropping fabulousness. Your Cocktails will never be the same again.

Lemon Sherbet

  • Lemon Oleo Saccharum
  • 8 oz fresh, strained Lemon juice

Combine Oleo Saccharum and Lemon juice together and shake until all of the Sugar has dissolved and everything is swimming together nicely. Keep for around 2 weeks in the fridge.

Lemon Sherbet

Use Lemon Sherbet as often as possible, obvi, I have. You’ll never want to use Lemon Juice & Simple Syrup again. I swear to the stars! The concentrated flavor from the Lemon oil makes everything so much more rich.

Cheeeeeeers!

Ed Note: I’ve updated the recipe to say 1 cup of sugar for 4 Lemon peels, equaling 2 oz of Sugar per Lemon. This is a more favourable ratio. 

The Wedding Planner

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A week ago, I went to the Farmer’s Market during the peak of Pepper season and got my hands on some picante goodness in the form of a Serrano Chile Pepper. I also picked up one of the largest Cantaloupe’s I’ve ever seen. Having just returned from the SF Bay Area, and having had a delicious Cantaloupe Margarita at Tacolicious, it was time to get to werk.

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I was inspired by Tacolicious’ use of Cantaloupe purée and decided to make my own with the aforementioned Serrano Chile Pepper and some Lime Juice.

Serrano Cantaloupe Purée

  • 4 handfulls of Cantaloupe chunks
  • 1 oz Lime Juice
  • 1/2 Serrano Pepper, seeded

Combine ingredients in blender and blend baby, BLEND!

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You did it? You Blended? Supreme! Next we make a tasty Margarita.

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We make this Margarita to be specific. Isn’t it beau-tiful? Don’t you wanna sit outside/poolside/beachside with this one?

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Why is this drink named The Wedding Planner? Well, I asked my brilliant friends if they had any good names for a Marg with Cantaloupe and Seth said, “The Wedding Planner, cause you can’t elope.” HA HA HA.

Also appropriate for a Wedding Planner, is that this is a recipe for two. I didn’t want any of that Serrano Cantaloupe goodness to go to waste.

The Wedding Planner

  • 4 oz Casa Noble Crystal Blanco Tequila
  • 1/2 oz Cointreau
  • 1/2 oz Agave Nectar (if your Cantaloupes are really sweet, you can omit this)
  • 4 oz Serrano Cantalope Purée
  • Pinch of Salt shaken into drink
  • Garnish: Cantaloupe chunks and Tiki Umbrella

Combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into double Rocks glass over ice and garnish.

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Cheers to y’all and may all your Melon Marg dreams come truuuuuue.

Home Bar Gurls: Greek Melonade

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This is Home Bar Gurls, the segment where another Home Bar Gurl or Dude sends me a recipe!

Eleni's Ouzo & Watermelon

It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, but with Labor Day upon us in the USA and this awesome recipe from my friend Eleni Crush, I felt like it was time! Eleni just moved back home from NYC to California to start the next phase of her life and hang out with her Greek family.

If there is one thing to know about Greek families, it’s that they will have at least one bottle of Ouzo in the house.

Ouzo is an anise flavored aperitif which is consumed largely in Greece, Cyprus, and by ex-pats and enthusiasts around the world. If you like Pernod, Absinthe, Sambuca or other expressions of Anise Liqueur, you should totally get some Ouzo! Add to this tasty business some Watermelon Juice and you’ve got a really refreshing and unique cocktail.

Greek Melonade

  • 1 1/2 oz Ouzo
  • 2 oz Watermelon Juice
  • Club Soda
  • Garnish: Mint Sprig

Combine Ouzo and Watermelon Juice over ice and shake. Strain into Collins or Highball glass over ice. Top with Club Soda and garnish with Mint.

Thanks Eleni for the recipe! If you would like to submit a recipe for the Home Bar Gurls feature, email your recipe + a photo to homebargirl@gmail.com. Cheers!