grand marnier

Mai Tai Find You In Compton featured on Sirius XM

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Mai Tai Find You in Compton

Hey y’all! My friend Madina Papadopoulos (who writes for Paste, Village Voice, and Sirius XM among other things) has included my Cachaça Yaguara Mai Tai in her Summer Sips & Sounds round up! She paired the Mai Tai with Ice Cube’s It Was a Good Day. Cool eh?

Head to Sirius XM to read the whole article and check out some of the other excellent pairings!

Cheers!

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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!

Temple of Clarity

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Ahhhhhhh, a stirred drink. It’s been a hot second since I posted about a cocktail in a Coupe and now that Tiki The Snow Away is over, I’ve got one for y’all.

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Seriously, after a month of shaken and blended drinks, I feel like I almost forgot how zen it is to just STIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Yes, that’s a lot of “R’s” but I like stirring, it makes me feel relaxed.

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Here are yer cast of characters:

  1. Templeton Rye: I wanted the base spirit to be Rye cause I was in the mood. “No lie, she wanted Rye.” I’m really digging the smoothness and mixability of Templeton.
  2. Grand Marnier: I may have mentioned that someone gave this to me as a holiday gift, and I’m so into it! I’ve never had it in my Home Bar before, but the viscosity, spices, dryness, and depth of flavor in Grand Marnier is REALLY doing it for me.
  3. Amontillado Sherry & Dolin Dry: since I added Grand Marnier (sweet, Orange), I wanted to add things to dry it out and compliment. Both the Sherry and Vermouth are dry with the Sherry giving nutty, raisin, briney notes and the Dolin Dry doing that magical thing it does.
  4. Pernod Pastis: last but not least, a bit of Pernod Pastis gives an excellent boost of bright Anise to this boozy drink.

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Express and discard the orange peel, we just want the oil. No distractions in the Temple of Clarity.

Temple of Clarity

  • 2 oz Templeton Rye
  • 1/2 oz Grand Marnier
  • 1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
  • 1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
  • 1 Barspoon Pernod Pastis or Absinthe
  • Garnish: Orange oil, discard peel

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrrrrrrr. Strain into yer favorite chilled Coupe, express Orange peel and discard.

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Clear, simple, complex, rewarding. Cheers to you in this relaxing moment!

 

Pérola Branca with Yaguara Cachaça

/ Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

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Wooooah-ho-ho, y’all. Tiki The Snow Away + Yaguara Cachaça = a whole new world of tropical flavor! And this is my first ever Cachaça post! MAGICAL DREAMS DO COME TRUUUUE.

If you want to share a tropical drink during the month of January, use the hashtag #TikiTheSnowAway on Instagram and Twitter, or tag u/homebargirl on reddit.

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I’ve tasted Cachaça before, had a Caipirinha or two, but I’ve never been truly excited about this spirit until now. Yaguara is by far the best, smoothest, and tastiest of Cachaças with notes of Banana, Strawberry, Coconut, a bit of grassy funk, and a whole lot of YASSSS GURRRRL.

It’s divine and I’m putting it in everything I possibly can, including the following drink.

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Pearly, sensuous, giant mint hat.

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Here are your cast of characters: Yaguara Cachaça, Grand Marnier, Orgeat, Lemon Juice.

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Pérola Branca 

  • 1 1/2 oz Yaguara Cachaça
  • 1/2 oz Grand Marnier*
  • 3/4 oz Orgeat**
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • Garnish: the biggest Mint bouquet of all time

Combine ingredients over ice and shake like a rocket. Strain into double Rocks glass over crushed ice. Garnish with the biggest Mint bouquet of all time.

*Magically enough, dry Curaçao works just as well at 1/2 oz.

**Every Orgeat is different, some sweeter, some more dry, adjust accordingly.

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Cheers! May all your Tiki The Snow Away drinks be sensational and may you enjoy Yaguara Cachaça as much as I am.

Sunken Cannonball

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Alright y’all, Tiki The Snow Away is poppin, so I thought I’d weigh in with my first drink. If you want to share a tropical drink during the month of January, use the hashtag #TikiTheSnowAway on Instagram and Twitter, or tag homebargirl on reddit.

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Here are your delicious Luxardo Maraschino Cherry cannonballs, drowning in a pool of 151.

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Here are your cast of characters: DD’s Spiced Rum with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve, Hamilton 151 Demerara Rum, Grand Marnier, Lime, and Pineapple.

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Sunken Cannonball

  • 2 oz DD’s Spiced Rum
  • 3/4 oz Grand Marnier
  • 3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice
  • ~1/2 oz Hamilton 151 Demerara Rum
  • Garnish: Lime shell, 3 Luxardo Maraschino Cherries, 151 Rum in the shell

Combine ingredients over ice and short shake. Strain into rocks glass or short Tiki mug over cracked/crushed ice. Add Cherries and 151 Rum to the Lime shell and garnish.

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Cheers fellow Tiki lovers!