Raspberry Simple Syrup

2016-09-152016-09-14 / Dani DeLuna / 4 Comments

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Every saturday I go to the Farmer’s Market at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. It’s a 5 min walk from my lil apartment and definitely the highlight of my week. Last Saturday, I picked up a couple of cartons of Raspberries and decided to make a tasty syrup to use in Cocktails.

Ready? Let’s go!

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I wanted to keep a carton for garnishes (and to eat) so I made this recipe with one cup of Raspberries instead of two. I also used the following recipe because I wanted this to be a Simple Syrup recipe that would be consistent with other simple syrups we use in drinks.

Yer gonna need:

1 cup freshly washed Raspberries
1/2 cup Cane Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1/4 tsp Lemon Juice

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Yer gonna:

Add Raspberries, Sugar and Water to a pot. Gently muddle Raspberries.
Turn heat on low and bring to just below boiling, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat and simmer for around 15 mins, stirring often. (You really don’t want it to boil or you’ll lose the brightness from the Raspberries)
Remove from heat, add Lemon juice and stir til it has mixed in.
Strain through cheese cloth into an airtight container and cool.
Will keep in the fridge for approx 2 weeks

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Strainy-strain-strain. You should have approx 1 cup of syrup at this point.

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Now, what to do with this? Well, I did what I always do and looked up “Raspberries” in The Flavor Bible. Some notable pairings include:

Almonds (think Orgeat)
Apricots
Blackberries & Blueberries
Brandy, Cognac
Cinnamon
Cointreau
Lemon
Lime
Mint
Pineapple
Rum
Star Anise
Tequila

and a bunch of other things.

Now based on the above list, I feel like we could make several Tiki drinks. Odd to me that Gin isn’t listed since the Clover Club is possibly the most famous Raspberry cocktail of all time. However, TEQUILA…now that sounds really interesting!

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I’m currently working on a few ideas and will post the drinks when they’re ready. If you come up with a fabulous Raspberry cocktail (preferably one a bit outside of the “Clover Club” box), lemme know!

Cheers and happy syrup making!

Copa de Cibola

2015-08-032015-08-03 / Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

AUGUST, I have arrived! This is the month of my birth and I always feel a certain kind of fever this time of year. Maybe it’s the heat? Maybe it’s the golden tones in the light? Maybe my brain is fried from going to the beach?

Yeah, it’s definitely the heat.

Yesterday on Instagram I posted the August version of #HomeBarFrontRow cause I like to switch bottles out for inspiration. If you want to join in the fun and show off your Home Bar, just post a photo with the hashtag #HomeBarFrontRow!

Well, inspiration came rather quickly in the form of these ingredients! I began with Calvados*, then thought “Oh that would totally go well with Denizen White Rum and Giffard Banane.” Then I wanted a Pimento spice set for the “bitters” and sort of went back and forth between St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram and Dale Degroff’s Pimento Bitters. I did a smell test and St. Elizabeth won. (But major love for the Dale Degroff Bitters. No hard feelings!)

*Note: this is Christian Drouin Calvados but that bottle definitely doesn’t fit in my Home Bar, so I switched it.

As far as the name of the drink goes: In the 16th century, there was an area in the southwestern US that was fabled to have seven cities of gold. Cibola was one of those cities.

Copa de Cibola

1 3/4 oz Denizen Aged White Rum
1 oz Christian Drouin Calvados
1/2 oz Giffard Banana Liqueur
1 tsp (5 ml) St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Garnish: Orange peel

Combine ingredients over ice and give it a nice long stirrrrrrrrrr. Strain into the most beautiful coupe you have. Express Orange peel and garnish.

Golden August Cheers to all y’all!

Our Summer Martini: Melissa Martini

2015-06-222015-06-21 / Dani DeLuna / 4 Comments

As temperatures climb, I’m looking for ways to have lower and lower octane cocktails. I want deliciousness, but I want it light and fragrant y’all. It’s time to break out the Blanc Vermouth, brightest Gin you have, some tasty Absinthe, and fresh herbs for garnish.

I recently took a trip down to my local plant shop and got Lemon Balm and Mint to add to the recently acquired Basil plant. If you haven’t smelled Lemon Balm before, it’s definitely Lemony but also astringent, kind of minty and herbaceous in an Anise sort of way. In otherwords, it’s perfect as a cocktail garnish.

I mean, look at it this Lemon Balm! It’s a stunning leaf and so wonderfully fragrant. I highly recommend getting a plant and putting it in your garden or window sill. Lots of sun & water = happy Lemon Balm.

I’m actually so into the Lemon Balm that I named the drink Melissa which is the greek name for this plant. I am of course using the Berkshire Mountain Distillery Ethereal Gin Batch 9 because it’s supremely bright, floral, fragrant, and well, it makes me feel happy. If you can get this Gin, do it!

Melissa Martini

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillery Ethereal Gin Batch 9 (sub the brightest Gin you’ve got)
1 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc (Sub Carpano Bianco)
rinse St. George Absinthe Verte
Garnish: Lemon Balm leaf

Rinse a coupe with Absinthe and chill. Combine Gin and Blanc over ice and give it a very very long stir. Dilution is key to the lightness of this Martini. Strain into rinsed coupe, spank the Lemon Balm and garnish.

Cheers!

Summer Spritz with Carpano Bianco

2015-06-192015-06-18 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Y’all in just a couple of days the Earth is going to be the closest to the Sun that it will be all year and we know what that means, SUMMER IS UPON US! To celebrate this glorious occasion and kick off the Solstice parties, let’s have a Summer Spritz with Carpano Bianco! Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, which means we need to be sipping on some light, refreshing cocktails to keep the party going ’til the Sun sets.

Carpano Bianco is one of the magnificent Vermouths made by the House of Carpano in Italy. The flavor is light, fresh and complex with citrus and exotic fruit notes coming through, followed by grapey, vinous notes, and rounding out with almond and floral tones. Essentially, perfect for summer and perfect for Spritzing.