Strawberry Lavender Cocktail

Can't you just taste it already? These two amazing summery flavors combine to make a drink that deserves to be served on your patio at least once this season. (Or twice. Or more.)

We decided we wanted to really get the full flavor of fresh seasonal strawberries in this cocktail, so we pureed and then strained them, to get out all those pesky seeds. (A few seeds don't bother me, they are so itty bitty, but you do want to use as fine a strainer as you have.) This drink was also our first time using a lavender simple syrup, though certainly not our last. (I am drinking a lavender lemon cocktail as I type this!) This drink just gets me fired up for farmers' markets and the sweet smell of summer.

Strawberry Lavender Cocktail

• 1/3 cup strained strawberry puree (see note below)
• 1 oz lavender simple syrup
• 2 oz vodka

Place strawberry puree in a glass. Add simple syrup and vodka and stir vigorously. Add lots of ice, and enjoy!

Note: We pureed 15 large strawberries which resulted in enough puree for at least 4 drinks. Puree in a food processor or blender to get it as smooth as possible. Use a very fine sieve to remove as many seeds as possible, pressing the puree through with a spatula.

Lavender Simple Syrup

I was going to include the recipe for lavender simple syrup in our next cocktail post, the delicious strawberry lavender cocktail, but then I felt it is too tasty of a concoction - it needs to be the star of the show for at least a few minutes.

Simple syrups are so, well, simple. They allow flavor infusions with just a few minutes at the stovetop. No need to wait for booze infusions which can take weeks. Once you have made your simple syrup, refrigerate it, and it should last three to four weeks allowing ample time to experiment with new and exciting drinks! I already have a few up my sleeve.

Lavender Simple Syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 3 TB dried lavender 

Place everything in a medium pot. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat, continuing to stir until all sugar is dissolved. When it is, remove the pot from the heat, and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain out the lavender buds, and refrigerate. Makes 2 cups.

Rum with Coconut Water & Lime

Have you ever tried a really high quality rum? Until recently we hadn’t had the pleasure.  I didn’t even realize that rum was a spirit that could be appropriate for sipping straight rather than hiding in a daiquiri or some such.  By now you know we’re big supporters of locally made artisanal food, so we were really excited to discover a new distillery in our neck of the woods that is making this lovely rum!

A good rum actually reminds us of Bourbon.  Tesouro has tasting notes of caramel and pepper with a smooth finish.  By the way, that comparison to Bourbon is a major compliment coming from us.  See what I mean?

We didn’t want to mask all that deliciousness with overpowering mixers, so we kept it simple.  Coconut water stays true to rum’s roots without being too tropical and abrasive.  Lime brightens it up and holds it together.  We used one big ice cube per drink – old fashioned style – and were totally pleased with the results. 

One note – I’m obsessed with the brand Taste Nirvana for coconut water.  It has so much light fresh coconut flavor.  I find that other brands taste kind of like water, but this one actually tastes like coconut without being creamy or sweet.  I’m not being paid to say this, I’m just obsessed with Taste Nirvana.  So, I recommend it but it is not mission critical to this cocktail like a high quality rum is!

Rum with Coconut Water & Lime

• 1.5 ounces high quality rum.  We used a Longmont distilled rum, Tesouro.
• 1.5 ounces coconut water.  I like Taste Nirvana.
• Squeeze of lime (approx 1/4 lime)

Pour all ingredients in a lowball cocktail glass, add one large ice cube, and serve.

Paloma

It has been far, far too long since we've posted a cocktail. Please, don't think that I've become a teetotaler all of a sudden. Goodness, no. But lately, I've reached for either red wine or bourbon on the rocks, and that does not leave much to write about. (I wish that I could write about red wine, but I also don't want to go down that road. It is hard enough now that my liquor tastes have been elevated well above what my income should allow.)

But here we are teetering on the edge of February, and grapefruit has been calling my name. I've done plenty of mixing with gin and with vodka, but today tequila comes into play. Say hello to Paloma.

I stumbled upon this lovely lady while flipping through the pages of Bon Appetit. They were using this cocktail to tout one of the trendiest liquors of the year, mezcal. Well, mezcal has not yet graced my liquor cabinet, but I have plenty of tequila which palomas are typically made with, so here we are. Fresh grapefruit, tangerine, and lime juice, tequila, sparkling water, and just a touch of sugar. This Mexican drink is traditionally made with grapefruit soda, but is there anything more lovely and refreshing than fresh grapefruit juice?

I added some tangerine because my grapefruit just wasn't yielding the amount of juice I wanted it to, and I love the natural sweetness that it imparts. While this drink is perfect for winter with all that happy citrus, I can see sipping this one all summer long.

Paloma

adapted from Bon Appetit

• kosher salt

• 1 grapefruit, juiced

• 1 tangerine, juiced

• 2 tbs fresh lime juice

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1/2 cup tequila, divided

• ice

• 1/2 cup sparkling water, divided

1. Put some kosher salt on a place. Dab your finger into some grapefruit juice and then run it around the edge of two highballs. Dip the rim of each glass into the salt.

2. Combine juices and sugar into a small pitcher and stir together. Then divide equally among the two highballs.

3. Stir 1/4 cup tequila into each glass, and then add ice. Top off each glass with 1/4 cup sparkling water.

Cranberry Clementine Cocktail

It’s time to get excited about winter!  Well, let’s just say that we’re pretty excited about this glowy pink cocktail that’s made with freshly squeezed clementines, cranberry juice, and vodka.  We garnished our drink with a fragrant green juniper sprig for its piney aroma and festive look. 

This cocktail is so simple to pull together.  The ingredients are easy to access (you could even sub in plain jane OJ for the fresh squeezed clementine juice if you were so inclined).  The sparkling water adds festivity and fizz, but isn’t strictly required in my book.  And – lucky us – we simply walked into our front yards to snip the juniper sprig garnish!

We highly recommend a juniper spring as a lovely winter garnish.  It’s piney scent and pretty blue gray berries are irresistible.  It’d be perfectly appropriate in a gin-based drink as well because after all, juniper berries are used to flavor gin!

Cranberry Clementine Cocktail

• 2 oz clementine juice, freshly squeezed.
• 2 oz cranberry juice
• 1.5 oz vodka
• sparkling water to taste. I preferred just a dash, Dulcie liked the festivity of additional bubbles!

Combine clementine juice, cranberry juice, and vodka in a shaker with ice. Shake till well chilled. Pour into serving glass, top with your desired amount of sparkling water. Garnish with a juniper sprig and serve.

Cider & Bourbon

Sometimes the best recipes are the simplest ones. This fall, we're drinking a cocktail that falls into this category. Delicious apple cider, small-batch bourbon, and a hint of those quintessential fall spices that we start longing for this time of year.

Of course, while stirring bourbon and cider together on their own would be a perfectly tasty beverage, add some fall spices to the mix and you have something truly special. We grabbed some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and a few cardamom seeds, and then added them to our shaker along with the bourbon and cider. A minute or two of shaking, and you've got yourself a beautifully spiced cocktail -- not overly cloying like the off-the-shelf spiced ciders can be.

We have enjoyed our cider & bourbons a couple of ways: in a jam jar (rustic-style) and in a martini glass (ever-so sophisticated). This drink is ready for whatever occasion you have in mind. If it is sweater-weather, then the cider & bourbon is entirely appropriate.

Cider & Bourbon

• 3 oz apple cider

• 2 oz bourbon

• 1/2 cinnamon stick

• 5 whole cloves

• 5 cardamom seeds

• Apple cross section, for garnish

Vigorously shake cider, bourbon, and spices in a shaker with ice for a minute or two. Pour into glass, and garnish with apple slice. Enjoy!

Ginger Gold Rush Cocktail

This cocktail is sweet and spicy and makes for a delicious fall treat.  The golden color goes perfectly with the leaves, but it’s a refreshing change from all that cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin floating around these days.  This cocktail features pure sweet & spicy ginger, bourbon, and a squeeze of lemon.

We tried out a delicious small batch bourbon for this recipe.  It’s called Black Maple Hill.  An authentic Kentucky Bourbon, this baby has tasting notes of “vanilla, caramel, spice and nectarine. Very smooth without being cloying or flat.”  Thanks to the reviewers here for those notes; my palate loves this bourbon but comes up short with the adjectives. I’d make a terrible perfumier!

Another thing to love about this cocktail is it’s simplicity.  Three ingredients, a citrus twist if you want to be fancy, and serve. 

Ginger Gold Rush

• 1.5 ounces Bourbon
• 1.5 ounces Ginger Liqueur (we used Canton)
• .5 ounces fresh lemon juice

Combine all three ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake well, then strain into a martini glass.  Serve with a citrus twist if desired.

Best Fall Cocktails

Leaves are ever so slightly turning color, and mornings have that certain briskness that says fall is coming. What better way to celebrate than with a drink? Here are five cocktails that will help warm your cockles when temperatures begin to drop.

Hot Apple Pie

Cocktail Remedy manages to satisfy our sweet tooth and our alcoholic tendencies in one gulp.

http://www.cocktailremedy.net/2011/10/26/hot-apple-pie/

Smoky Martini

Where there's smoke, there's fire... or maybe just a healthy dose of Scotch. This twist on the classic martini from Cold Glass has us intrigued.

http://cold-glass.com/2010/01/23/smoky-martini-cocktail/

Vanilla, Pear, and Vodka Cocktail

This is our own creation, and this drink tastes like the epitome of fall to us.

http://www.two-tarts.com/2011/09/vanilla-pear-and-vodka-cocktail.html

Old Fashioned

Esquire calls this the manliest drink to order at a bar, and I'm secure enough in my femininity to be okay with that. Make mine a double.

Squash-Infused Vodka

And now for something completely different... how about some squash-infused vodka? Put that pumpkin patch to some good.

http://www.designsponge.com/2011/03/behind-the-bar-morris-kitchens-winter-csa.html

Melon Agua Fresca

With a name that translates from the Spanish to "fresh water," you know that this is going to be one cool and refreshing drink. Even better, it makes great use of that late summer crop of melon that you might be dealing with. Any melon will do, but I used a cantaloupe because that is what I had on hand. Honeydews and watermelon are also perfect candidates, and think of the gorgeous pale greens and bright pinks.

Aguas frescas come together in just a few whirs of your blender or food processor, but put them in a pretty glass pitcher and they will be quite impressive at your next party. This drink is non-alcoholic (and a huge hit with my toddler), but if you want to take it to the next level, -- I wont' blame you a bit -- try adding a splash of tequila to your glass.

Melon Agua Fresca

• 1 cantaloupe (or honeydew, or small watermelon)
• 3 limes, juiced
• 2 tbs honey
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup water
• ice

1. Cut your melon off the rind, and chop into large chunks.
2. Put the melon, lime juice, honey, salt, and water into your food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. Taste and add more lime or honey if necessary.
3. Pour into pitcher and chill. Serve over ice.

Tomato Basil Martini

Our Tomato Basil Martini is a remarkably light, fresh tomato cocktail for summer.  No cans of tomato juice here - muddling fresh and seasonal cherry tomatoes with a few torn basil leaves and a spritz of lemon results in a surprisingly pink dose of summer goodness.

It was only right to pair these garden flavors with an herbal liquor such as gin, which is exactly what we did.  We’ve been getting into craft distilleries lately, so for this cocktail we sampled a new to us gin from the California Bay Area.

Tomato Basil Martini

Check out our column, Locally Mixed, over at Whole Foods Market Cooking for the complete recipe!
Ingredient List:

• cherry tomatoes
• fresh basil leaves
• lemon
• sea salt
• ice
• gin

Bourbon Cream Float

Yep. Three indulgences come together to make one adults-only dessert which is still just a kid at heart. 

I recently waxed poetic about bourbon for our cocktail column at Whole Foods. Now I am finding myself looking for new and different ways to use bourbon other than the time-honored Old Fashioned. Pouring it over a scoop or two of ice cream seemed well worth a try. (Better yet was the notion of pouring it over our new favorite bourbon from local distillery Dancing Pines.)

I will confess that I'd meant to pick up root beer at the market when I picked up cream soda instead. At first I was irritated, but then I realized a cream soda float didn't sound half bad. In fact, it is delicious! The cream soda (we used Virgil's) is mellower than root beer and lets the bourbon flavor really shine through.

[Note: Toddler is salivating over the prospect of forthcoming ice cream, not booze.]

Bourbon Cream Float

• 1-2 scoops vanilla ice cream

• 2 oz bourbon

• cream soda

1. Scoop ice cream into a tall glass.
2. Pour bourbon over ice cream.
3. Fill glass to top with cream soda. Enjoy!

Blueberry Hard Lemonade

It has been crazy hot here in Colorado. So hot that, well, much of our state is literally on fire. Thank goodness we are (so far) well out of harm's way, and there is cool weather and rain on the forecast for this weekend! ("Cool weather" now means 80s for us... yeah, it has been rough.) And during these hot, hot days, we've been wanting little else than to sip on cold, refreshing drinks like this one.

This is one of those drinks that my toddler just doesn't understand why she isn't allowed to drink. Lemonade, blueberries, and just a luscious pinky-purple color. Oh yeah, and there's that healthy helping of vodka that makes it strictly adults-only.

We used frozen blueberries in this cocktail because they are something I always have on hand. As a bonus, they help to keep this drink frosty on those 103+ degree days. Sigh. We also love the beautiful color that they provide as they start to melt.

It almost seems silly to provide a recipe because this is so flexible and easy. Feel free to use the proportions of lemonade to vodka to frozen blueberries that makes you happy! But as a guide, here is what we do.

Blueberry Hard Lemonade

• 2 tbs frozen blueberries

• 2 oz vodka

• lemonade (we like Santa Cruz Organic)

• ice

• lemon slice, for garnish

1. Place frozen blueberries into your glass.
2. Add vodka and ice.
3. Add lemonade to fill glass, stir, and garnish with lemon slice.

Watermelon Jalapeno Margaritas

This watermelon-jalapeño margarita is like the traditional version turned extra summery and fresh. We added sweet, mild watermelon juice to the usual lime and tequila, then added a tiny splash of fresh jalapeño juice to the mix to keep things from getting too mellow. It easily multiplies to make a pitcherful, so friends can serve themselves in tall salt-rimmed glasses full of ice.

My favorite part of this margarita is the fresh jalapeno juice.  We threw a couple of jalapenos into my fancy juicer to see what would happen. The results were exciting -  a tiny vial of neon green juice with an intensely green spiciness. This jalapeño juice is a totally different animal from the flavorless spice of an infused vodka because it is so incredibly fresh tasting. It's not just spicy, but bright and green and herbal. The perfect thing to add -- drip by drip -- to give a traditional cocktail a new dimension.

Watermelon Jalapeno Margaritas

Recipe available on our column, Locally Mixed, over at Whole Foods!

Vanilla Raspberry Cocktail

Combine the fresh summery taste of raspberries with the sweetness of vanilla simple syrup (and just a touch of bitters to keep it interesting), and you've got our new favorite beverage: the vanilla raspberry cocktail.
We found ourselves with a fresh batch of raspberry-infused vodka after we whipped it up for our Whole Foods column. (It is beyond easy to do, so you should really give it a whirl.) And then we also had our vanilla simple syrup on hand. Well, you can see how this drink was destined to be.

We mixed the raspberry vodka and vanilla simple syrup together and found ourselves with a drink that was delicious, but (not surprisingly) quite sweet. We didn't want to muddle up the great summery flavor, so we just added a touch of orange bitters. Now our drink had just the right amount of complexity.

Vanilla Raspberry Cocktail

• 2 oz raspberry-infused vodka

• 1 oz vanilla simple syrup

• dash of orange bitters 

Place ice in a glass. Add vodka and simple syrup, and a dash of orange bitters. Stir well. Garnish with a mint sprig. Enjoy!

Vanilla Simple Syrup

It is no secret that we love vanilla. The distinct, creamy flavor of the vanilla bean adds so much to baked goods and drinks (two of our favorite things). It was only a matter of time before we created a vanilla simple syrup.

I love how versatile this simple syrup is. I've been using it almost every morning in my cold-brewed iced coffee (recipe coming very soon!) When you add granulated sugar to cold coffee, you have to stir and stir and stir, and hopefully the sugar will eventually dissolve. But with a simple syrup, it mixes in a flash. And then of course, you have that kiss of vanilla. And this simple syrup is equally at home in cocktails. It is a clear winner.

Vanilla Simple Syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 vanilla bean

1. Add sugar and water to a sauce pan, and heat until sugar has dissolved.
2. Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean, and add to the sauce pan. Let steep for 10 to 20 minutes, and then strain through a very fine sieve, cheesecloth, or (what we used) a permanent coffee filter. Let cool, bottle, and refrigerate. It should last a month or so in your fridge. Yields 1 cup.

Strawberry Basil Sparkler

This sparkler is made with thinly sliced strawberries, torn basil leaves, a little vodka, and a lot of sparkling water.  Here's why we love this cocktail: it isn't sweet or sour or bitter. It's a whole new animal -- a fizzy collection of real ingredients, sliced thinly & torn roughly to give up the edge of their unique flavors, but not overwhelm the pureness of the vodka and sparkling water.

The combination of strawberries and basil is unexpected; basil isn't as sweet smelling as mint. We chose it for this reason specifically, because against the sweet strawberries, it elevates this drink's flavor profile to something sophisticated.

Strawberry Basil Sparkler

Visit our Whole Foods column, Locally Mixed, for the recipe.