brandy

I Made Mulled White Wine with the Cooking Gift Set Co. Brewing Kit and It’s a Game Changer

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Wooooo y’all, I’m super pumped to be writing this post! A couple of weeks ago, Cooking Gift Set Co. hit me up and asked if I wanted to give their Mulled Wine Brewing Kit a whirl and I was like, “HELL YES!” You know I love infusing spirits and making syrups and to have a product with allllll my fave spices in a kit was music to my Home Bar Grrrrl ears!

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

In addition to good looking and perfectly sized packaging (I mean, look at this amazing packaging!) the Cooking Gift Set Co. Mulled Wine Brewing Kit comes with detailed recipes! Oh how I love a very specific recipe!

The recipes include Festive Red, Spiced Cider, Gløgg, Glühwein, and Lush White…

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

…LUSH WHITE. Hold up a sec! “Lush White? MULLED WHITE WINE?” Yes y’all, MULLED WHITE WINE. Game changer.

Their recommendation was to use a Dry Chardonnay or Viognier but I wanted to try it with Chenin Blanc cause lately I’ve been on a Chenin Blanc kick. Typically Chenin Blanc is big bodied for white wines, kind of fruity, dry, and really pleasant.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

I read the Lush White recipe which suggested the use of dried orange peel, cloves, star anise, and crystalized ginger. I toasted the spices for a minute or two on low heat…

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

…put the spices in one of the satchels from the Mulled Wine Brewing Kit, added 1 bottle of Chenin Blanc, 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup sugar, and a couple of lemon peels.

Then let it simmer, not boil, for around 20 mins (as per the instructions). After that I turned the heat off, covered the pot and let it sit for around 30 mins. (The instructions said to let it sit for 5 minutes but y’all know I can’t let something sit for less than 30.)

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Voila, I had just made the delicious Lush White Mulled Wine. And I’m talking SUPER DELICIOUS. The spices are so so nice, the balance is excellent with star anise coming through first followed by an undercurrent of earthiness from the orange peel, cloves, and ginger.

So, now what? What to do with Mulled White Wine?

Gurrrrrrl, first of all, you should just pour some in a mug with a cinnamon stick and “wooooo” yourself to paradise! Then maybe put on your fave winter movie and chill out on the couch.

But wait, there’s more! You may be thinking, “I know what this Mulled White Wine needs. It needs some Brandy.” Congratulations, you’ve literally just made Fortified Wine. Wine + Sweetness + Herbes/Spices + Fortification (aka some kind of spirit) = Fortified Wine. America, get on that shit.

Lush White Fortified Wine

  • 6 parts Lush White Mulled Wine
  • 1-2 parts Brandy, Cognac, Calvados, Apple Brandy, or Pear Brandy

When serving, I’d encourage freshly grated Nutmeg as a garnish.

If for some reason you didn’t drink all of your Lush White Mulled Wine and part of the bottle made it to the fridge, you can use the wine as a cocktail ingredient.

There were a lot of possibilities when trying to come up with a Cocktail worthy of the Lush White but my first and best thought was, “Gurrrrl, put it with Aged Rhum Agricole and Creole Shrubb.” Done.

Nöel in the Antilles

  • 3 oz Lush White Mulled Wine
  • 3/4 oz Rhum JM VO Agricole (or the Aged Agricole of your choice)
  • 1 barspoon Hamilton Petite Shrubb (or the Creole Shrubb of your choice)
  • Garnish: Star Anise

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrrrrrrr. Strain into chilled coupe and garnish.


Holiday Cheers to y’all and if you want to order a Cooking Gift Set Co. Mulled Wine Brewing Kit, use the code HomeBarGirl and get 20% off if you order by Christmas Day! AMAZING RIGHT?

Advertisement

Wine Syrup and CC’s Punch

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

california-cab-wine-syrup

Hola y’all! So I got an idea from the Smuggler’s Cove book and someone from the Cocktails sub on reddit to make Wine Syrup. Smuggler’s Cove uses the syrup in a Tiki Drink but I was thinking it would be totally rad in autumnal/wintry cocktails.

Wine Syrup

  • 16 oz California Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 8 oz Cane Sugar

-Heat wine on low heat until it has reduced to 1/2 original volume. Stir in Sugar. Remove from heat, cool, and keep in the fridge in a covered container.

The syrup is super delicious! It’s like a cross between a sexy, upscale Grenadine and Ruby Port. Since it reminded me of Port, I felt like a Punch recipe would be a great application for the Wine Syrup.

ccs-punch

CC’s Punch

  • 1 oz Dry Brandy
  • 1 oz Hamilton 86 Rum
  • 3/4 oz Wine Syrup
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 3/4 oz ice Cold Water
  • 1 barspoon Bénédictine
  • Garnish: freshly grated Nutmeg

-stir ingredients and pour into punch cups over ice. Grate nutmeg on top and serve.

Cheers and hope y’all have tons of fun with this syrup!

Thanks u/MONDARIZ for the inspiration!

The Queen’s Blush

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

the-queens-blush-1

Y’all, it happened! The temperature dropped below 70°, I went hiking yesterday and now it really feels like autumn!

What better way to celebrate this seasonal change than with a stirred drink? “Wait gurl, you made a stirred drink? WHUT.” Yes, y’all I finally made a stirred drink and it’s even in a pretty coupe!

the-queens-blush-8

Definitely still obsessed with this Raspberry Syrup cause it’s packing a helluva punch. If you haven’t made it yet, head here for the recipe.

the-queens-blush-3

While mentally working on this cocktail, I thought, “Ok gurrrrl, you’ve got that fabulous new bottle of Julius Drover Alambic Brandy from Shinn Estate, that Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum, why not go for something 19th century style?” So I did.

Cast of Characters:

  1. Raspberry Syrup: Since the point of this cocktail was to get a 19th Century vibe going, I looked up a bunch of recipes that used either Grenadine or Raspberry syrup in Martin’s Index of Cocktails.
  2. I bought the fantastic bottle of Julius Drover Alambic Brandy while on holiday in Long Island Wine Country with my smooth girlfriend. Yes, there is a “wine country” out on eastern Long Island, and it’s pretty amazing out there. This brandy is so damn great, it’s basically American Cognac. Nice n dry, with faint hints of wood, a bit of fruitiness (pear, grape, apple), and a tiny bit floral. Really nice stuff.
  3. The Hamilton 86 is big, molasses-y, spicy, and has notes of leather, tobacco, and dark chocolate, along with some fruitiness. There are a lot of historical punch recipes with Cognac or Brandy and Rum together, so I wanted to put these two in a drink.
  4. The Yellow Chartreuse came about when I was thinking about how to tie everything together. I felt like the flowers and honey from Yellow Chartreuse would play nicely with the notes from the Brandy & Rum. Totally did.
  5. Absinthe: I am fully convinced that Raspberry & Absinthe are perfect partners. Together they create such a sublime marriage that I almost can’t separate them anymore.
  6. Regans’ Orange Bitters: I wanted some citrus top notes since I wasn’t going to use any juice.

the-queens-blush-4

Stir ’til you just can’t stand it anymore! (Or really, about 50 rotations.)

the-queens-blush-5

For this Absinthe application, I went with an atomizer. I’m not really into rinsing these days cause I think it’s kind of wasteful. Plus, you can smell the Absinthe more when it’s on top of the drink.

the-queens-blush-6

The Queen’s Blush

  • 1 oz Julius Drover Alambic Brandy (sub dry Cognac)
  • 1 oz Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum
  • 1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
  • *3/8 oz Raspberry Syrup
  • 2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
  • Garnish: St. George Absinthe Vert mist

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrrrr. Strain into chilled coupe, spritz some Absinthe on top and sip!

*I am so serious about this measurement. Really, it needs to be 3/8 of an ounce or something close to 10ml but if you don’t have those measurements, go for a scant 1/2 oz. If you use a full 1/2 oz, the drink becomes too sweet and the Raspberry totally takes over.

the-queens-blush-7

Hope y’all have tons of fun and enjoy this shift into some autumnal cocktails! May all your Raspberry dreams come true! Cheers!

 

Home Bar Boomerang: FoodieTails

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

A “Boomerang” is when one bar hand delivers a drink to another bar. Well, here in BlogLand, we can’t exactly send a drink from one friend to the next. Cross-posting is the Blog Boomerang! I’m extremely excited to announce that my first Home Bar Boomerang is from the greatest Home Bar Gurl in the South East, the brilliantly talented FoodieTails! I’ve also posted at her blog today, so head on over to see my recipe.

Bonus: this drink is totally part of the January Total Tiki Takeover! Use the hashtag #TikiTheSnowAway on Instagram to add your own Tiki drinks!

Brooklyn Swizzle 2

Hello Home Bar Girl readers!! Welcome to a little piece of FoodieTails and the first guest blog post. I’m Morgan and I love cocktails. That’s why we’re all here, right? The #1 Home Bar Girl, Dani, has been killing the cocktail game with her inventive and complex potations. Especially with Rum. Have you seen those Brugal punches?! Amazing. For this first guest post, I thought I’d add my 2 cents in on the rum scene. One can never go wrong with a good swizzle.

Brooklyn Swizzle 1
Though we’re facing a huge cold front (no snow in the Carolinas yet), I’m still finding a tall glass filled with crushed ice and garnished with mint really refreshing in these cold temperatures. Think tropical thoughts. This swizzle is somewhat of a split base. Combining Brandy and an aged Light Rum. The two balance each other well in this cocktail.
Brooklyn Swizzle:
  • 2oz. Light Rum [Such as Cruzan]
  • 1 1/2oz. Apricot Brandy
  • 3/4oz. Brandy
  • 1oz. Pineapple Juice
  • 3/4oz. Lime Juice
  • 3-6 Mint Leaves
  • 2-3 Dashes Orange Bitters
*Add all ingredients to shaker and fill about half way with ice. Because this cocktail is served over crushed ice, it will be further diluted. Shake until chilled and double strain over crushed ice into a “Hurricane” or highball glass. Garnish with a bouquet of mint.
Brooklyn Swizzle 3
This has been Home Bar Boomerang. Thanks so much to FoodieTails for this excellent recipe!