Spring

Five Great Jobs

/ Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

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Say it with me, “Barr-ell Bour-bon. Barr-ell Bour-bon! BARR-ELL BOUR-BON!” Woo y’all, this Barrell Bourbon Batch 006 is deeeeeelicious and today I’m putting it in a tasty sour. If you’re unfamiliar with this unstoppable cask strength bourbon, head over to my review so you can understand the awesomeness that I’m talking about.

You read it? You read the review? Cool! Let’s proceed.

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Golden glory, y’all. Golden glory.

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Cast of Characters:

  1. I wanted to put all that Barrell Bourbon Batch 006 fruity, wheaty, popcorny, apricoty, fabulousness to use with some bright flavors. I was thinking, “Spring sour. What could go in a spring sour?”
  2. ST-GERMAIN! Man, I haven’t used St-G in such a long time. What happened to me? It’s so wonderful, so pleasant, so beautiful to behold and smell. St-G, will you marry me?
  3. Then I thought, “ohhh, let’s keep the fun going and add a bit of orange!” So I reached for the Grand Marnier. It totally complimented.
  4. Lemon for acid, balance, and cause this is a sour. Captain obvious is obvious. (I mean, I could have tried it with Grapefruit or Lime but why? Lemon is the only choice here except for maybe Yuzu. Damn, I wish I had some Yuzu!)
  5. Lastly, a small amount of 2:1 Cane Syrup cause I felt the drink needed to be just a tiny bit sweeter.

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I decided this was going to be an “express and discard” situation. If you want to plop the peel in the drink, go for it!

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Why Five Great Jobs? Cause there are five ingredients and they are doing a helluva great job.

Five Great Jobs

  • 1 1/2 oz Barrell Bourbon Batch 006
  • 1/2 oz St-Germain
  • 1/4 oz Grand Marnier
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 Barspoon Rich Simple Cane Sugar Syrup
  • Garnish: Lemon oil

Combine ingredients over ice and shake it like a rocket. Double strain into double Rocks glass on the rocks. Express Lemon peel and discard.

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Yum yum yummy yum yum. This drink is so damn fabulous, it makes wanna shake my tail feathers!

Cheers y’all! May all your Barrell Bourbon dreams come true!

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Thyme Is On Your Side

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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Are y’all ready for tons of puns? Cause I’ve got a drink with Thyme today!

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But first gaze at this pretty-pretty, delicious smelling Thyme plant and come up with as many puns as you can:

“I’m talking about the space-thyme continuum.”

“We don’t have a lot of thyme, y’all! Step to it!”

“She looked longingly at his watch, a thick, masculine band with an admirable face. She leaned over and asked, ‘What thyme is it sir?'”

Thyme Syrup

Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of our systems, let’s make some Thyme syrup.

Thyme Syrup

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 5 Thyme sprigs

Instructions:

  1. Add sugar and water to a pot and bring to a low simmer.
  2. Add thyme sprigs and simmer for around 15 minutes making sure the liquids do not boil.
  3. Remove from heat, cover and let sit til the syrup cools to room temperature.
  4. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge. Should keep for 2 weeks.

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Now on to this sweet and complicated tipple. Boomp.

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So Thyme syrup really begs for more planty things and I decided to go all the way out.

Cast of characters:

  1. In this plant-filled haze, my first thought was Rhum Agricole.
  2. And ohhhhh man, what goes really well with Agricole? MEZCAL! It’s like a smoked plant sensation!
  3. And what goes well with a smoked plant party? CELERY BITTERS!
  4. Finally, Lemon juice for balance.

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For prettiness, smell and to emphasize the plant party, a Thyme sprig garnish.

Thyme Is On Your Side

  • 1 oz La Favorite Coeur d’Ambre Rhum Agricole
  • 1 oz El Señorio Espadín Mezcal
  • heavy 1/2 oz Thyme Syrup*
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 dash Scrappy’s Celery Bitters
  • Garnish: Thyme sprig

Combine ingredients over ice and short shake it like a rocket. Double strain into double Rocks glass. Garnish with Thyme sprig.

*I tried it with 3/4 oz Thyme Syrup and it was too sweet for me. If you wanna try it that way, go for it!

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This is totally one of those sitting in the backyard/on the porch/at the park/by the pool/ at your outside happy place. Kick back and keep em coming.

Happy Thymes for all of us!

Spring has sprung: Green Reeny

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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APRIL! SPRING HAS FOR REAL SPRUNG!

Hi y’all! I’m totally engulfed in a sea of greenery. I have herbes everywhere: in my mind, on my windowsill, in my fridge, on my list of things to get at the Farmers’ Market…

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…in my drinks. Check this beautiful Dill!

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Inspirational ingredients:

  1. My goal was to put Dill and Cucumber in a drink and it not be a Bloody Mary variation.
  2. And I’ve been on a “how can I get Rhum Agricole to go with herby things” kick, so La Favorite Coeur d’Ambre was a no-brainer.
  3. What else goes with planty things? Tequila cause Tequila is planty. I’ve got the delicious Corralejo Blanco in my Home Bar right now and it fit the drink perfectly.
  4. Ok so this next ingredient was actually the hardest decision: Lemon or Lime? Now when you think Dill and Cucumber, you usually think Lemon, but I was working with Rhum and Tequila, hence, Lime.
  5. A lil Cane Syrup for balance.

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Yes, this is a muddled drink, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty! Score those Cukes!

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The name of this cocktail comes from the fact that my illustrious girlfriend who is named Doreen (and sometimes referred to as Reeny) loves this drink. Cheers darling!

Green Reeny

  • 1 oz La Favorite Coeur d’Ambre Rhum Agricole
  • 1 oz Corralejo Tequila Blanco
  • 3/4 oz Lime Juice
  • scant 1/2 oz Rich Cane Syrup*
  • 1 Cucumber Wheel
  • 1 Sprig Dill
  • Garnish: scored Cucumber wheels and Dill sprig

In tin, combine Lime juice, Syrup, Cucumber, Dill and muddle. Add Rhum, Tequila, ice, and short shake. Double strain into double Rocks glass over ice and garnish.

*I switched over to 2:1 Cane Sugar Syrup because I wanted to use less volume and have greater viscosity in my drinks. I’m digging it for now.

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Mannnnnnn. It’s so fresh and pretty. You could legit drink a bunch of these while sitting on the porch/in the backyard/in the garden/at a cabin upstate/wherever your green happy place is.

Cheers y’all!

It’s Spring and I’m Twitterpated

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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Bring on the Spring cocktails y’all! All of my favouite bars in Brooklyn have switched over to their new programs and I keep eyeing the Lavender bitters up on my fridge. (Keep in mind, most of my bar is up on top of the fridge!) I also keep eyeing the Dolin Blanc ’cause it’s just right for this time of year. (It lives in the fridge. All of the Vermouths and the Sherry live in the fridge.)

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Twitterpated

  • 1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin
  • 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc
  • 1/2 oz Honey Syrup
  • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
  • 2 dashes BarKeep Lavender Bitters
  • Garnish: Maraschino cherry

Combine ingredients over ice and shake. Double strain into coupe and garnish with Maraschino Cherry.

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Remember when Bambi learns about the “birds and the bees” from the Old Owl? The very first thing I thought after taking a sip of this drink was the line, “Don’t you know? They’re twitterpated.”

Happy Spring Cocktails to you all!

Flower Flower & Rose Tea infused Vodka

/ Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

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Yep, you read that right. I did say the word Vodka. I said it loud and proud because this is the first time I’ve been really excited to use Vodka in a drink. (It’s also the first time I’ve used Saké in a drink but more about that later.)

If you know me IRL, you know I’m always like, “Vodka, what’s the point? Where’s the Gin?” Honestly, what got me even considering using Vodka in this drink is cause my friend Chris at Bearded Lady said that he’d been asked to create a Vodka drink for the spring menu. I took it as a challenge to myself.

The inspiration for Flower Flower was to use as many flower flavoured liqueurs/spirits/bitters in my Home Bar as possible while still creating something drinkable and delicious. This was an EXTREMELY difficult challenge and it took me around five tries and a whole lot of “going back to the drawing board”. There are a lot of small amounts in this drink and there is also the aforementioned Rose Tea infused Vodka.

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If you haven’t tried Tulsi herbal teas from India, you haven’t lived. They are definitely the best bagged herbal teas I’ve ever tasted and I always have the Sweet Rose tea at home. I had thought of putting the Sweet Rose with Gin but after my conversation with Chris, decided this was a good time to use that bottle of Tito’s I keep around for emergencies*.

Rose Tea infused Vodka

  • 4 bags of Tulsi Sweet Rose Tea (or your favourite Rose Tea)
  • 300 ml Tito’s Vodka (I always do infusions in ml, it’s just easier)
  • Fine strainer

Rip those tea bags open and let tea steep loosely in the Vodka for 30 mins. (Cover with plastic wrap or seal ur jar) Fine strain into bottle. Smell the deliciousness, taste the glory.

*The emergencies being when someone asks for something with Vodka and I don’t have to panic.

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Now, remember, I said this took like five times to get right, it wasn’t until I opened the fridge and saw that bottle of Yoshinogawa Winter Warrior Saké that the drink all came together.This sake is dry, floral, fruity, a bit sweet and wonderful. I’m always looking for ways to dry out a drink when using multiple liqueurs and in this case, saké was it.

Flower Flower smells like an English Garden, is dry enough on the tongue for serious cocktail drinkers and is perfect for spring. The colour of the drink actually reminds me of a Rose stem. It also features my new BFF Carpano Dry. Enjoy!

Flower Flower

  • 1 1/2 oz Rose Tea infused Tito’s Vodka
  • 1 oz Yoshinogawa Winter Warrior Junmai Ginjo Saké
  • 1 oz Carpano Dry Vermouth
  • 1 tsp Chartreuse Jaune
  • 1 tsp St-Germain
  • 1 tsp Crème de Violette
  • 1/2 tsp Orange Flower Water
  • 1 dash Bar Keep Lavender Bitters

Garnish: Grapefruit peel rose

Combine ingredients over ice and stir until proper dilution has been achieved. Strain into coupe. Express Grapefruit peel and swirl into a Rose.

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Happy spring to you all!

Thanks to the Baddish Group for the wonderful bottle of Carpano Dry Vermouth!