lemon juice

Mrs Bixby

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Mrs-Bixby-1

As we head into St Patricks day, here’s a bright, fruity and very drinkable Teeling Irish Whiskey cocktail. I used the Flavor Bible to pair the complex flavours of Teeling with Berentzen Pear Liqueur, Lemon Juice and Orgeat. The name of the drink comes from a Roald Dahl short that I’m rather fond of.

Mrs-Bixby-2

Mrs Bixby

  • 1 1/2 oz Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
  • 3/4 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
  • 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1/4 oz Orgeat

Combine ingredients over ice and shake. Double strain into coupe. No garnish.

Mrs-Bixby-3

Thanks again to The Baddish Group for the delicious bottle of Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey and Berentzen USA for the bottle of Pear Liqueur.

Brunch Bonanza: Teeling & Tea

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Teeling-&-Tea-2

Welcome to Brunch Bonanza, the segment where we talk about Brunch cocktails!

Well, it’s still snowing in NYC, so I’m still making Hot Toddies. In fact, I took this gorgeous photo two days ago in Prospect Park.

Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset

Winter Wonderland y’all

What does one want when one is out in the snow? A Hot toddy with Tea. I am lucky enough to have this terrific bottle of Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey and decided to make the toddy with that. Some quick flavour notes about Teeling:

  • Nose: Vanilla, spices, Rum, grains, corn, honey
  • Tongue: Caramel, woody, Rum, apple, a tad peaty or “Moorish”, vanilla
  • Finish: Rich, oily, full bodied, spicy

To these complex flavors I wanted to have a straightforward English Breakfast Tea, Honey, Lemon and complement the Whiskey with Hella Bitter Citrus Bitters. These bitters aren’t just Citrus, they are so much more:

Four kinds of Citrus, Clove, Cinnamon, Allspice, Black Peppercorn, Caraway, Gentian and Wormwood.

Yes please.

Teeling-&-Tea-3

Teeling & Tea

  • 2 oz Teeling Small Batch Whiskey
  • 1 oz Honey Syrup
  • 1/2 Lemon Juice
  • 2 dashes Hella Bitter Citrus Bitters
  • 5-6 oz Hot English Breakfast Tea (PG Tips* forever)
  • Garnish: Lemon Wheel & Star Anise

Combine ingredients in mug and stir until everything has combined and is swimming nicely. Garnish with a Lemon wheel and Star Anise on top. Fragrant and delicious.

*Every day of my life I have a cuppa PG Tips. It’s my fave British tea.

Teeling-&-Tea-1

Happy Brunching to you all! May your toddies be filled with Teeling & Tea!

Thanks again to The Baddish Group for the delicious bottle of Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey!

Be Mine, Clementine

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Be-Mine,-Clementine-1

If January 2015 was spent in a #TikiTheSnowAway denial of Winter, then February is me embracing the cold. It’s so damn frigid in NYC. Everyone East of Colorado has been prisoner to bone crushing temperatures and an endless blanket of snow. I love snow and am a total Winter sports person (Skier 4Lyfe) but could the temperatures just be above 32° F?

So, I did it, I made a Hot Whiskey Punch. My girlfriend wanted something warm when she got home from a hospital shift and I wanted to use up some of the 2 dozen Clementines which come in a box of “Cuties”. Why are there so many Cuties in a box? Why? I’d really be happier if there were like 10. Two dozen are too many Cuties. Just TOO MANY.

Anyway, tl;dr: I’m cold, this drink is Hot & Delicious, Whiskey, Clementines, Spices, Punch. Bang.

Be Mine, Clementine

  • 4 oz Bourbon
  • 1 oz Domaine de Canton or other Ginger Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Santa Maria al Monte Amaro
  • 2 oz Clementine Juice
  • 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 oz Cinnamon Bark Syrup
  • 6 oz Water
  • 7 drops Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters
  • Garnish: Clementine Wheel

In pot combine ingredients and heat on LOW. Like really really LOW. Stir continuously until liquids are swimming nicely together but don’t boil. Nooooooo boiling. When it’s ready to go, strain into Mugs. Should make two Mug sized servings or four Espresso Cup servings.

Be-Mine,-Clementine-2

This delicious Hot Whiskey Punch was named by my girlfriend. Thanks Baby!

MxMo + An English Sailor

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

An-English-Sailor-1

You guys, worlds have collided! It turns out that the Mixology Monday theme for the month of January is BLUE! It’s like I don’t even need an excuse to keep going with #TikiTheSnowAway. Tiki is everywhere. Tiki is omnipresent. Tiki IS.

Blue MxMo Logo

MxMo is a monthly cocktail party with a theme. They give the theme, then we cocktail bloggers post our drinks to fit this theme. This months’ boistrously Blue theme is being hosted by Andrea over at GinHound and she is using Blue in two ways:  “melancholy” or “Tiki”. Obvi, I’m going with Tiki.

ALSO: why has no one made a Blue Monday joke here? Seriously. Such a great opportunity.

An English Sailor

  • 2 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
  • 3/4 oz Senior Blue Curaçao
  • 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 dash of Orange Bitters
  • Garnish: Lemon peel and Maraschino Cherry flag

In container, combine ingredients over ice and shake baby shake. Strain into coupe, garnish with Lemon peel and Cherry flag.

An-English-Sailor-2

What fun! This is my first time to participate in MxMo and I’m looking forward to more challenges! Have the best Blue Monday ever, y’all. 🙂

Classic Cocktails: Aviation

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Aviation-1

I have a lot of feelings about this drink. I went on a 2.5 year Aviation challenge during which time I went to many different bars, in many different States of the good old USA, ordered an Aviation, and took notes. Most of the time, these “Aviations” were WAY TOO lemony. Even bars I really respect used too much Lemon Juice in the drink and Lemon Peels as garnishes. HELL NO.

Where is your Maraschino Cherry? Where are your correct proportions? These are the questions and I’ve got the answer.

Honestly, the very best Aviation I’ve ever had (on more than one occasion) is made by Angel Negrín and here is his perfect recipe.

Aviation

  • 2 oz / 60 ml Plymouth Gin
  • 2 tsp / 10 ml Luxardo Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
  • 1 tsp / 5 ml Crème de Violette
  • 1/2 oz / 15 ml Lemon Juice
  • Maraschino Cherry

In tin, combine ingredients and shake over ice. Place Maraschino cherry in coupe, double strain liquids into coupe.

Aviation-2

Bonus: Aviations make sensational Fizzes and even better Silver Fizzes.

Aviation Fizz: Make the Aviation, strain into Collins glass and add ice, Club Soda and Cherry.

Aviation Silver Fizz: When making the Aviation, use 2 tsp Violette and add Egg White. Dry shake like hell, add ice and shake again. Add 1 oz Club soda to Collins glass, add ice and Cherry, strain Aviation into glass. Top with more soda.

Aviation Royale: Make the Aviation, strain into coupe, add cherry and top with Champagne.

Aviation-Fizz

Muhhhhhhhhhhhgh. This drink is so so amazing. I can’t handle it…when it’s made properly. 🙂

You’re So Kind: Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Gold-Hunter-2

Last weekend at the Brooklyn Winter Flea, I went to the Cocktail Crate booth to say hello to Alex Abbott Boyd and thank him for the very tasty Spiced Old Fashioned Mixer. In return, he gave me this bottle of Ginger Bee. Isn’t he kind? SUPREMELY KIND!

I love Ginger Bee! It tastes very much like my Honey Ginger Juice but also has a touch of Clove. Yummmm, perfect for the Holidaze. As you can see from the above photo, I’ve already used more than half of the bottle cause it’s just so versatile!

HINT: THIS WOULD BE A GREAT GIFT

And now, the cocktails:

Ginger-Bee-Toddy-3

Since it’s Hot Toddy weather, we’ll start with a Ginger Bee Toddy.

Ginger Bee Toddy

  • 1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum, Bourbon, Rye or Añjeo Tequila (but Aged Rum is SOOO good)
  • 1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
  • 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1/8 oz or 1 Barspoon Cinnamon Bark Syrup
  • 3-4 oz Hot Water (depends on yer mug size)
  • Clove studded Lemon Wheel

In mug, combine ingredients, top with Hot Water and stir. Garnish with Clove studded Lemon Wheel. Sexy Lemon Wheel. 

Bobbies-&-Blockheads-1

This is another variation on my variation of the Police & Thieves from Gin Palace. RIP Gin Palace, I hope you didn’t sink too far into the ground. 😦

Bobbies & Blockheads

  • 2 oz Pineapple Plymouth Gin
  • 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
  • 1/2 oz Cinnamon Bark Syrup
  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice
  • 1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
  • 2 dashes of Regans’ No 6 Orange Bitters
  • Pernod Pastis Rinse or Absinthe
  • Grapefruit Peel

Rinse Coupe with Pernod and chill. In tin, combine remaining ingredients over ice and shake. Express Grapefruit peel and garnish.

Gold-Hunter-3

This is a very tasty Gold Rush variation. Perfect for winter!

Gold Hunter

  • 2 oz Elijah Craig 12 Year Bourbon
  • 1 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • Star Anise

In tin, combine Bourbon, Ginger Bee, Lemon Juice and shake over ice. Strain into double rocks glass with ice. Star Anise garnish.

St-Marks-Punch-2

I mentioned this Punch recipe in my Punch for Two: Brugal Rum post. It’s too good not to mention here in this Ginger Bee review! Perfect way to showcase such a tasty mixer in a Punch format.

St Marks Punch

  • 1 1/2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
  • 1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum
  • 1/4 oz Santa Maria al Monte Amaro
  • 1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee (may need to add more Honey Syrup to taste)
  • 3/4 oz Fresh Mandarin Orange Juice
  • 1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 dash Hella Bitter Citrus bitters
  • 1 dash Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters
  • Club Soda
  • Lemon slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lemon slice garnish.

Well, that’s it for now! Thanks again to Alex and be sure to get this mixer into your Home Bar. Totally worth it! This has been You’re So Kind, the post where someone nice gives me a bottle and I review it!

You’re So Kind: NOLET’S Silver Gin

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

NOLET'S-Silver-Fizz-No-2-2

I would like to once again thank those kind people at MBooth Marketing for giving me the opportunity to work with such a fantastic product. Aren’t they kind? THEY’RE SO INCREDIBLY KIND!

Ok, wow, like really wow. NOLET’S Silver Gin is sensational! It’s unlike any Gin I’ve ever had and if you’ve read the My Home Bar page of this blog, you know that I am INTO GIN! When tasting it neat, the nose is some outrageous combination of Turkish Rose, Peach and Raspberry, then comes more familiar Gin botanicals. The palate is smooth and silky Gin beautifulness. Truly, I was blown away.

I feel like NOLET’S Silver and I are going to have a long and fruitful relationship. I’m planning to do some strange and wonderous things with this Gin, I’m planning to use it with lots of fruit, hell, I’m planning to drink it neat with a Lemon twist. Right? It’s so good neat!

And now, the cocktails:

Half-Light-3

It’s an Improved Martini except because NOLET’S Silver is so different from any Gin that I’d usually use in a Martini, it’s NOT A MARTINI! I swapped out Dolin Dry for Dolin Blanc and added a rinse of St. George Absinthe Verte. Brilliant right? Just wait and see!

Half Light

  • 2 1/2 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
  • 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
  • 2 dashes of Regans’ No. 6 Orange Bitters
  • St. George Absinthe Verte Rinse
  • Lemon Peel

Rinse coupe with Absinthe and chill. In tin, combine Gin, Vermouth, Bitters over cracked ice and stir. Strain into coupe, express Lemon peel and garnish.

Winter-Blossom-2

This is a Variation on a Sunflower Cocktail which is a Variation on a Corpse Reviver No. 2. I swapped out the Cointreau for Berentzen Pear Liqueur, ditched the Absinthe, adjusted the ratios a touch and added an Asian Pear Slice as garnish. Divine. A fabulous shaken Wintry Cocktail!

Winter Blossom

  • 1 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
  • 3/4 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 3/4 oz St-Germain
  • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • Asian Pear Slice

In tin, combine Gin, Pear Liqueur, St-G and Lemon Juice over ice and shake baby shake! Double strain into coupe and garnish with Asian Pear Slice.

NOLET'S-Silver-Fizz-No-2-3

Silver Gin, Silver Fizz. Just cause it’s chilly, doesn’t give us any excuses for not making a Silver Fizz! Ohhhh, what a Silver Fizz this is too! I wanted to add complexity to the Fizz formula and build on NOLET’S Silver’s already fabulous flavour profile. Enjoy!

NOLET’S Silver Fizz

  • 1 3/4 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
  • 1 dash Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
  • 1 dash Barkeep Lavender Bitters
  • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 oz Demerara Simple Syrup
  • Egg White
  • Club Soda

In tin, combine ingredients and dry shake until Egg White has emulsified. Add ice to tin and shake again. Add 1 oz Club Soda to Collins glass first, then ice on top of that. Double strain contents of tin into Collins glass, top with Club Soda. *This version of Soda first, Double Strain, Soda last will give you a nice foamy top to the Fizz. Cool baby, cool.

CHEERS!

Winter-Blossom-1

Don’t you just wanna drink like a million of these? I do.

Punch for Two: Brugal Rum

/ Dani DeLuna / 5 Comments

DKO-Punch-1

It’s Punch for Two! As previously stated, the very nice people from MBooth Marketing gave me a bottle of Brugal Especial Extra Dry, so we’ll be making the Punch with this Rum. This is a totally tasty dry Rum and such a bang for your buck! Toasted marshmellow, vanilla, coconut and citrus flavours abound.

Holiday times make me think of Punch more than any other time of the year. This may have to do with the fact that last winter I had the greatest Whiskey Punch ever at Dead Rabbit NYC. Woah, damn, I think about that Whiskey Punch all year round. Come to think of it, I may have to head over to Dead Rabbit this week.

Here at my Home Bar, I’m not batching Punch for 20 people, just myself and my girlfriend, aka Punch for Two! As these recipes are created with just two people in mind, some of the rules have changed. But first, before we can talk about the rules, let’s talk about what goes into *Punch.

According to the Death & Co book, Wikipedia and David Wondrich’s Book Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl, Punch contains: Spirits, sugar, citrus, water and spice. The spice is really what differentiates punch from say, a Gin Sour, Margarita or Daquiri. The other important component of Punch is that Punch is stirred and ice, soda/champagne are added after the ingredients have been properly mixed. This last rule is the one we’ll be breaking when serving Punch for Two. We aren’t going to be leaving the Punch in a bowl with ice, we’re going to shake it, serve it and top it with soda!

And now, the cocktails:

DKO-Punch-2

DKO Punch: I loosely based this one on a Planter’s Punch and the Mandarin Orange slices are so very nice.

DKO Punch

  • 1 3/4 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
  • 1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
  • 1/2 oz Grenadine
  • 1/4 oz Simple Syrup
  • 1 oz Fresh Orange Juice
  • 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • Carbonated Lemon-aid or Lemon Soda
  • Mandarin Orange Slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into punch cups and top with Carbonated Lemon-aid/Lemon Soda. Mandarin Orange Slice garnish.

St-Marks-Punch-2

St Marks Punch: The super nice Cocktail Crate man, Mr. Alex Abbott Boyd, gave me the Ginger Bee Craft Mixer at last weekend’s Brooklyn Flea. Isn’t he kind? He’s so kind. It’s similar to my Honey Ginger juice but also has hints of clove. So nice, so perfect for punch!

St Marks Punch

  • 1 1/2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
  • 1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum
  • 1/4 oz Santa Maria al Monte Amaro
  • 1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee or Honey Ginger Juice (may need to add more Honey Syrup to taste)
  • 3/4 oz Fresh Mandarin Orange Juice
  • 1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 dash Hella Bitter Citrus bitters
  • 1 dash Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters
  • Club Soda
  • Lemon slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lemon slice garnish.

DeLuna-Punch-3

DeLuna Punch: Yep, you knew it, you knew there would be Tequila and you knew I would name the punch after myself cause I’m so into Tequila! Narcissism!

DeLuna Punch

  • 2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
  • 1/2 oz Espolón Blanco Tequila
  • 1/2 oz Cointreau Triple Sec
  • 1 oz Agave
  • 1 oz Fresh Grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 oz Fresh Lime juice
  • 2 dashes Elemakule Tiki Bitters (Orange bitters work but the Tiki ones have that Spice!)
  • Club Soda
  • Lime slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lime slice garnish.

DeLuna-Punch-2

*You know what really goes into Punch? A million ingredients and that’s why I love it so much! You can finally make a cocktail with at least eight ingredients and no one will call you silly!

Cheers

You’re So Kind: Berentzen Pear Liqueur

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Berentzen-Pear-Promo-Shot

As I’ve stated before, the very kind people at Berentzen sent me a fabulous bottle of Pear Liqueur. Aren’t they kind? I think they’re pretty kind. YOU’RE SO KIND BERENTZEN!

This Liqueur is a total knockout. I love it. It’s so fruit forward, crisp and refreshing. Pear all the way but in a totally different universe than many other Pear Liqueurs. This is not dry, subtle or mysterious. It’s PEAR! It’s happening! It’s fresh! I love it. I been using it with Gin, Tequila, Dolin Blanc, Soda, Tonic, Bourbon, Rum, EVERYTHING! Berentzen Pear Liqueur is awesome!

Bonus: now that it’s winter times, #PEARSEASON! Get into it!

And now, for the cocktails:

Portrait-of-a-Lady-1

Portrait of a Lady

  • 2 oz Smooth Gin (Plymouth used here)
  • 1 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • Cinnamon Garnish

In tin, combine Gin, Pear Liqueur, Dry Vermouth and Lemon Juice over ice and shake. Double strain into coupe and garnish with Cinnamon.

A-Long-Hard-Look-in-the-Mirror-2

A Long Hard Look In The Mirror

  • 2 oz Bourbon
  • 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Spiced Old Fashioned Mixer or Allspice and Cinnamon Simple Syrup
  • 1/2 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 1 dash Black Walnut Bitters
  • Maraschino Cherry

In tin, combine Bourbon, Spiced Old Fashioned Mixer, Pear Liqueur and Bitters over cracked ice. Stir and strain into Rocks glass. Add Ice and Cherry.

The-Feeling-of-Flight-2

The Feeling of Flight

  • 2 oz Dolin Blanc or Lillet Blanc
  • 3/4 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
  • Grapefruit peel

In tin, combine Blanc Vermouth, Pear Liqueur and Grapefruit Juice over ice and shake. Double strain into coupe, express Grapefruit peel and garnish.

Sandals-in-Winter-2

Sandals in Winter

  • 1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila
  • 3/4 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Cointreau Triple Sec
  • 1/4 oz Bonal Aperitif
  • 1 dropper Elemakule Tiki Bitters
  • Grapefruit peel

In tin, combine Blanco Tequila, Pear Liqueur, Triple Sec, Bonal and Bitters over ice and shake. Double strain into coupe, express Grapefruit peel and garnish.

Berentzen-Pear-Liqueur-2

Woo, this Liqueur is all worn out and taking a nap now. So many uses, so many possibilities. This has been You’re So Kind, the post where someone nice gives me a bottle and I review it!

Brunch Bonanza: Golden Light

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Welcome to Brunch Bonanza. The segment where we talk about brunch cocktails!

Golden Light 3

Golden Light at a Fancy party. Doesn’t it look Fancy?

I originally created this drink for Home Bar Girl Presents: A Party several weeks ago but have since realized that I love it as a Brunch or Afternoon cocktail. It’s so fresh and refreshing but still complex! The Celery Bitters and St-Germain work very well with the other mix of flavours. Enjoy!

Golden Light

  • 1 oz Smooth English Gin (Plymouth or Mayfair)
  • 1 oz Apple Brandy
  • 3/4 oz St-Germain
  • 1 oz Apple Juice
  • 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 dash Celery bitters
  • Apple Slice or Lemon Peel

In tin, combine Gin, Apple Brandy, St-Germain, Apple Juice, Lemon Juice and Celery Bitters over ice and shake baby, shake! Double strain into coupe and garnish with Apple Slice or Lemon Peel. Cheers!

Golden-Light-1

Golden Light at Home. It still looks fancy!

Golden-Light-2

Yummm!