creole shrubb

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!

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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…

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…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.

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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…

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…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.)

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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?

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Stirred Drinks with Rhum Agricole: Guadeloupe Martinez

/ Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

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Howdy y’all! We’re continuing with the theme of “Home Bar Girl gets obsessed with things and can’t stop talking about them.” The current obsession: Rhum Agricole, the format: Stirred.

Today I’ve got my second Stirred Drink with Rhum Agricole: the Guadeloupe Martinez.

…aaaaaaaaaand it’s so tasty! I’m know i’m tooting my own horn here and I get that this might sound terribly conceited… but y’all, I think this drink is a HOME RUN. I say that because home runs only happen to me like three times a year and this is one of those times!

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Be sure to grab yer prettiest coupe for this drink cause you are going to want to savor every sip of the Guadeloupe Martinez.

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The goal of this Stirred Drink with Rhum Agricole was to put the silky, caramely, faintly funky, and wonderfully delicious Rhum Damoiseau VSOP with some equally as tasty ingredients. I was into the idea of doing a Martinez variation cause I am REALLY into Martinez variations.

Personally, I feel like there are two ways to go with a Martinez and those are: 1. Maraschino direction or 2. Orange Liqueur direction. The flavor of Rhum Damoiseau VSOP sort of screams “ORANGE” to me, so I picked some appropriate modifiers: Bonal Aperitif (I’m also obssessed with Bonal), a bit of Dolin Rouge vermouth to smooth things out, and a dash of Angostura Orange Bitters for extra Orange.

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Speaking of Orange, this Clement Creole Shrubb is super delicious with just the right amount of spices. I’m totally convinced that Rhum Damoiseau VSOP and Clement Creole Shrubb are best friends. BEST FRIENDS Y’ALL.

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I recently learned from the Liquid Intelligence book that one should chill their mixing glasses before use so as to create proper dilution without wasting too much ice to convert heat to cold. If you wanna get really geeky about properly building cocktails, I highly recommend getting this book.

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And now, without further ado, the Guadeloupe Martinez.

Guadeloupe Martinez

  • 2 oz Damoiseau VSOP Rhum Agricole
  • 3/4 oz Bonal Aperitif
  • 1/4 oz Dolin Rouge Vermouth
  • 1 barspoon Clement Creole Shrubb
  • 1 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
  • Garnish: Orange Peel

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrr til you just can’t stand it (or really about 50 rotations). Strain into chilled coupe, express Orange peel and garnish.

Now for a varition on this variation! I gave the Guadeloupe Martinez recipe to my gurl Shannon Mustipher for a Rhum Clement event she was hosting at Glady’s Caribbean and she made the following adjustments:

Martinique Martinez

  • 2 oz Rhum Clement Vieux Agricole (sub aged Rhum Agricole from Martinique)
  • 3/4 oz Alessio Chinato Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz Dolin Blanc
  • 1 barspoon Clement Creole Shrubb
  • 1 dash Orange Bitters
  • Garnish: Orange peel

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Santé and oh man, I really hope you enjoy these Rhum Agricole Martinez variations as much as I do!

If you, like me, can’t get enough Rhum Agricole, head over to The Sugarcane Press, hosted by the House of Agricole.