Halloween Recipes Straight From the Pumpkin Patch...

Last fall, I was all about apples. This October, I’m much more excited about pumpkins. Now, I’ve made pumpkin cocktails before – a Pumpkin Juice margarita for my Harry Potter party and an apple pumpkin sangria for this fall. Those recipes involved me making my own syrup using canned pumpkin pie filling. While this process can yield delicious results, it also takes a lot of time and might not be practical for your autumn cocktail party.

Enter Fee Brothers’ Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup. I’m a big fan of pumpkin flavored hot beverages – Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, to be exact. With that in mind, Alissa gave me a bottle of the cordial syrup last year so I could make fall themed drinks in Florida. Due to lack of room in my suitcase, I left the bottle at home and didn’t start experimenting with it till this year.

I love using the pumpkin spice cordial in my morning coffee. (I add one teaspoon for every 4 ounces of coffee, then stir in half and half.) But I’ve also started adding it to cocktails, just in time for Halloween, with some pleasing results. The cordial syrup is extremely sweet, so I usually only add ½ – ¾ oz for just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.


Pumpkin Planter’s Punch
This is my take on a classic rum punch recipe originating in colonial Jamaica.

2 oz dark rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz orange juice
½ oz grenadine
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Dash Angostura bitters
3 oz chilled lemonade

Squeeze lime and orange juice and combine them in a mixing glass with ice. Add rum, pumpkin spice syrup and grenadine and stir well for about 30 seconds. Fill a tall glass with fresh ice and add a dash of Angostura bitters. Strain rum mixture into glass and top with chilled lemonade. Add a straw and stir. Garnish with a peach slice and a cherry.

The Pumpkin King
This is a variation of a hot chocolate and cognac drink called an Alhambra Royale. Mine is named after The Nightmare Before Christmas character Jack Skellington, a.k.a. the Pumpkin King.

5 oz rich hot chocolate
1 ½ oz cognac
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
1 small piece orange rind
Whipped cream
Cocoa powder

Prepare hot chocolate and pour into an Irish coffee mug. Drop in orange rind and stir in pumpkin spice syrup. Briefly heat cognac by holding it in a metal ladle over boiling water, then light it on fire. Pour flaming cognac into hot chocolate, stir in, and top off with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

The Headless Horseman
During the fall at Brown, the Marcus Aurelius statue would occasionally be dressed as the Headless Horseman while pumpkin pie and hot apple cider were served to the students. This is the perfect cold weather beverage.

4 oz hot apple cider
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Whipped vodka
¾ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Whipped cream

Fill a mug with hot apple cider. Stir in vodka and cordial syrup. Top with and then stir in whipped cream till you create a frothy, creamy pumpkin/apple concoction.

Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin
In the Peanuts TV special, Linus says, “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”

1 oz Grey Goose L’Orange vodka
1 oz Grand Marnier
1 tsp Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Dash lime juice
Dry sparkling wine to fill

Shake first four ingredients with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top with chilled sparkling wine.

Cinderella’s Carriage
Probably my favorite fictional pumpkin. And my favorite combination of flavors.

1 ½ oz Grey Goose La Poire
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
4 oz ginger ale
Splash of orange juice
Fresh cranberries

Combine vodka and pumpkin spice syrup in a shake with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with chilled ginger ale and a splash of fresh orange juice. Drop in a few fresh cranberries for garnish.

Pumpkin Smash
The name seemed fitting since this is a combination of Old and New World alcohol (Italian vermouth and Peruvian pisco) with the addition of pumpkin flavoring.

1 ½ oz Don César Pisco
¾ oz Martini & Rossi Rosso Sweet Vermouth
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
4 oz pineapple juice

Fill a stemless wine glass with ice and a few small pineapple chunks. Build liquid ingredients in a mixing glass over more ice. Stir well and strain mixture into wine glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Pumpkin Piñata
A sweet treat for Halloween.

1 ½ oz gold tequila
1 oz crème de banane
1 oz lime juice
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Bit of apricot jam
3 oz pineapple juice

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice, and add a bit of apricot jam. Shake and strain into a stemless martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lime.

Happy Halloween!

Let Them Drink Cake

I’ll admit, for a long time I was at a loss over what to do with Pinnacle Cake Vodka.

Now you’ve heard of cocktail-inspired cupcakes. Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri and Margarita cupcakes with key lime frosting are somewhat common varieties at gourmet cupcake shops. The Duck and Bunny in Providence makes a Guiness cupcake for St. Patty’s Day, and the Food Network has this delicious recipe for an Arnold Palmer cupcake by Paula Dean.

But what about the reverse – cocktails inspired by cupcakes? For help with cake vodka cocktail recipes, I turned to past recipes from my all time favorite cooking show, Cupcake Wars. Each of the cocktails listed below is inspired by one of the show’s top 70 recipes listed on their website. Click on the name of the drink for the cupcake recipe that inspired it.


Peach Berry Shortcake
1 strawberry, sliced
3 blackberries
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
¾ oz peach schnapps
1 ½ oz apple cider (frozen)

First, make apple cider ice cubes by freezing about ¾ oz cider in 1 oz containers. (The cider will expand a bit when freezing, so make sure there’s some room left.) Place strawberry slices, blackberries, vodka, peach schnapps, and two cider ice cubes in a blender. Blend until smooth, then pour mixture into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a peach slice.

This is a delicious, refreshing drink that eliminates the need for ice by freezing the cider ahead of time. I used apple cider as a mixer since the cupcake recipe calls for apple cider vinegar.

Coconut Orange Chardonnay
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
¾ oz Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut
2 oz orange juice
2 oz Chardonnay

Combine vodka, cream of coconut and orange juice in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake and strain into a white wine glass. Top with chilled Chardonnay and stir. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top for garnish.

Lemon Kiwi
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
3 slices of kiwi
4 oz Minute Maid Lemonade

Cut kiwi into small pieces and muddle well in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka, lemonade, and ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Add a straw and a kiwi wheel for garnish.

Lavender Cake
1 sugar cube
Scrappy’s Lavender Bitters
4 oz chilled champagne
Pinnacle Cake float

A new twist on the classic champagne cocktail. Place a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute. Soak sugar cube with a couple of good splashes of Scrappy's Lavender Bitters. Add champagne. Sugar cube will start to dissolve. To “float” the vodka, gently pour a small amount as a top layer. Like the cupcake, garnish the cocktail with a couple of candy pearls and some edible lavender flower petals.

Chocolate Cherry Cola
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
¾ oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
4 oz Cherry Coke

Combine vodka and chocolate liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Add Cherry Coke. Since the cupcake recipe calls for a red licorice filling, garnish with a piece of strawberry Twizzler.

Raspberry Champagne
1 oz pureed fresh raspberries
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
Champagne to fill

Pour 1 oz raspberry puree into a champagne flute. Add vodka and then fill with champagne.

White Russian
This is a cocktail that inspired a cupcake that inspired a new twist on the cocktail. Since the cupcake recipe called for an Irish Cream filling, I used Bailey’s in addition to Kahlua.

1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
¾ oz Kahlua
¾ oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
4 oz milk
Chocolate cigarette garnish*

Combine vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream and milk in a highball glass with ice. Speed shake, add a straw, and garnish with a gold dusted chocolate cigarette.

*The cupcake calls for a gold dusted chocolate cigarette topper. To do this, mix equal parts vodka and gold dust to make a small amount of edible gold paint. Use a small round brush to paint the end of the chocolate cigarette. The edible paint will dry, leaving behind a gold finish.

Caramel Apple Vanilla Bean
Caramel sauce
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Cake
¾ oz homemade vanilla bean liqueur*
1 ¾ oz apple cider

Lace a cocktail glass with caramel sauce. Combine vodka, vanilla bean liqueur and apple cider in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into laced cocktail glass.

*The vanilla bean liqueur should be prepared about a month ahead of time. Combine three vanilla beans (split lengthwise and cut in half) in a screw top jar with one cup sugar and 2 cups vodka. Put top on jar and shake until sugar dissolves. Store in a cool, dark place for one month. Strain out vanilla pieces before use.

Let the celebrations begin!

Creating a Masterpiece, One Cocktail at a Time

I first tried Van Gogh Vodka in Orlando, where it was prominently featured on the Disney World signature cocktail menu. The Acai-Blueberry, Coconut, Wild Appel and Vanilla flavors were main ingredients in several cocktails at the Polynesian Tambu Lounge and Rix Lounge at Coronado Springs.

Van Gogh boasts the world’s largest line of flavored vodkas, all hand crafted in small batches using natural ingredients for their infusions. I was drawn to the brand because of the Coconut and Mojito Mint varieties, flavors rarely seen in today’s already packed flavored vodka market. This family owned business has been passed down from father to son in Schiedam, Holland. Master Distiller Tim Vos and his team are constantly working on developing new, innovative flavors, all sold in bottles designed by George Miller and inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s impressionism.

Here’s a large sampling of my recipes. Several require muddling fresh fruits and would be great summer cocktails. The last two are variations on sangria and would be better for fall.

I know that naming cocktails after Van Gogh’s masterpieces when using this brand is probably a little cliché, but I couldn’t resist. Click on the drink name to see the work that inspired it.

Starry Night
Naming a Van Gogh Vodka drink “Starry Night” is definitely something that's been overdone. Mine uses Van Gogh’s classic vodka in a simple blueberry martini.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Classic 80-proof Vodka
8-10 medium blueberries
2 oz fresh lemon juice

Muddle blueberries in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice, vodka, and lemon juice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a few blueberries on a cocktail skewer.

Strolling on the Beach
The extremely cold people in this painting probably wish they were drinking coconut vodka with strawberry and lime.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Coconut Vodka
2 medium strawberries, sliced
2 oz fresh lime juice

Muddle strawberries in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice, vodka and lime juice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a strawberry slice.

Fourteenth of July Celebration in Paris
1 ½ oz Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate Vodka
8-10 raspberries
¾ oz Grand Marnier
4 oz ginger ale

Muddle raspberries in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice, vodka, and Grand Marnier. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger ale and garnish with a pair of fresh raspberries.

Flying Fox
1 ½ oz Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka
¾ oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur (Original)
1 ¾ apple cider

Combine vodka, chocolate liqueur, and cider in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh apple slice dipped in caramel.

The Lying Cow
1 ½ oz Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka
¾ oz Kahlua French Vanilla Liqueur
4 oz milk

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add vodka, Kahlua, and milk. Speed shake, add a straw and serve.

Green Parrot
This is a Dirty Apple Mojito Royale, my combination of three different mojito variations, but with vodka instead of rum. Perfect for any time of year.

1 ½ oz Mojito Mint Vodka
¾ oz apple liqueur
Champagne to fill
Dash of brown sugar

Combine vodka, brown sugar, and apple liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top off with champagne. Consider first rimming the cocktail glass with brown sugar, if desired.

Poet’s Garden
The flavor combination was also partly inspired by this Still Life with Grapes, Pears and Lemons.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka
¾ oz Poire William
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Sparkling wine to fill

Build ingredients in a champagne flute. Drop in a pair slice for garnish.

Pink Peach Tree
This is basically a melon Bellini without the puree.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Melon Vodka
¾ DeKuyper Peachtree
Sparkling rosé to fill

Build ingredients in a champagne flute. Garnish with a peach slice.

White Orchard
This is a white sangria. The color will actually be much darker with the addition of the liqueurs.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Black Cherry Vodka
½ oz apricot liqueur
½ oz plum wine
½ oz amaretto
4 oz white wine

Build ingredients in a white wine glass over ice. Add some maraschino cherries and small plum slices. Stir and serve with a swizzle straw.

Red Vineyard
Apple pumpkin sangria? Yes, please. Think this year’s Thanksgiving punch.

1 ½ oz Van Gogh Wild Appel Vodka
¾ oz pumpkin simple syrup*
½ oz fresh orange juice
½ oz fresh lemon juice
4 oz dry red wine (Bordeaux, for example)

Build ingredients in a large red wine glass over ice. Add an orange and lemon wheel and stir.

*Recipe for Pumpkin Simple Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
2 cinnamon sticks

In a saucepan, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil. When sugar has dissolved, add pumpkin puree and cinnamon sticks. Let simmer for five minutes, remove from heat, and allow mixture to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Vodka Fit for a Princess

While living in Florida, I paid a visit to the Orlando Ice Bar where I had the distinct pleasure of trying Diaka, the self-proclaimed “world’s most expensive vodka.”

Now Diaka doesn’t claim to be the world’s best tasting vodka (though it was good) and it isn’t advertised as the world’s smoothest vodka (though it was extremely smooth). It’s simply the world’s most expensive, charging about $100 for each Swarovski crystal-encrusted bottle. But the packaging isn’t what ups the price. Unlike other vodkas which are filtered through coal, Diaka is filtered through DIAMONDS. (So super heated, pressurized, 10 million year-old coal. Not really, but you get my point.) The Diaka patented filtration process filters its Polish, rye-based vodka through 100 cut diamonds as large as one carat each. (The name Diaka is actually a combination of the words Diamond and Vodka.)

The diamond filtration process is supposed to lend a spirit with an “unsurpassed clarity and smoothness”. It’s unclear if this refined taste is worth the price, and consumers of luxury goods are most likely willing to pay more for the image. I was certainly willing to pay $20 for my cocktail, just to say that I had once tried the world’s most expensive vodka. My drink was called “The Billionaire” and it consisted of Diaka, Welch’s White Grape Juice, and a splash of champagne. Honestly, it was delicious – possibly the best vodka cocktail I’ve ever had. But I think this had more to do with the fact that it was super-chilled (keep in mind, I was in an Ice Bar) and extremely well mixed.

Will I spend $100 on my own bottle? Probably not anytime soon. But if you ever find yourself with your own Swarovski encrusted bottle, here are a few of my recipes you can use.

Hope
I have a fascination with blue diamonds, so this is the first of two recipes using blue curacao. Unlike its namesake, I promise this cocktail is not cursed.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz blue curacao
Champagne to fill

Chill ingredients beforehand and build in a champagne flute.

Heart of the Ocean
As in that blue diamond from Titanic. The egg white gives this cocktail a nice frothy, almost ocean-like consistency.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz blue curacao
1 ½ oz lemon juice
1 egg white

Shake ingredients well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

A Girl’s Best Friend
Named after the song made famous by Marilyn Monroe, this is an extremely expensive vodka cranberry (which has been every girl’s go-to drink at one time or another) with a hint of pear flavor.

1 ½ oz Diaka
¾ oz Poire William (pear brandy)
1 ¾ oz white cranberry juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime or lemon wedge.

Ruby Slippers
Despite the feminine name, this is very much a gentleman’s cocktail. It is an updated version of an old-timey drink called the Princeton, which was made with 1 ½ oz gin, ¾ ruby port, and 1 tsp orange bitters.

1 ½ oz Diaka
2 oz Ruby Port
Dash orange bitters
Orange slice
Splash of ginger ale

Build vodka, port and bitters in a red wine goblet over 2 large ice cubes (perfect cubes work best). Give orange slice a good squeeze and dunk it. Stir drink well, then top with chilled ginger ale.

Emerald City
I really didn’t mean for this entry to take on a Wizard of Oz theme.

1 ½ oz Diaka
1 oz Midori
1 ½ oz passion fruit juice
1 ½ oz mango juice

Build ingredients in a highball glass with ice. Speed shake and garnish with a melon ball size piece of honey dew on a cocktail skewer.

California Dream Drinks

A year ago this week, I started work at the California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. In addition to introducing me to a Snake in the Grass roll (barbeque eel and avocado sushi) and Tanzanian chocolate crème brulée, the restaurant yielded one more amazing find – Charbay vodka. Like the bulk of the Grill’s award winning wine list, Charbay is a product of California – St. Helena in Napa Valley, to be exact.

What makes Charbay different is its flavoring method. Unlike many of today’s popular vodka brands which use commercially produced essences, Charbay uses only whole, organic, fresh ingredients to achieve their vodka flavors. The flavor and color of the fruits and herbs are fully extracted by crushing them whole, “skins and all”. This lends an array of colorful and extremely flavorful results – juices that are then integrated into Charbay’s clear vodka.

The Charbay Winery and Distillery is owned and operated by the Karakasevic family in St. Helena. Son Marko is a 13th generation distiller and was named “Vodka Visionary” by Food and Wine Magazine in 2005. In 1996, Marko predicted that flavored vodkas would become the next big thing. He saw a need for fresh ingredients in a market soon to be dominated by artificial flavoring.

In Florida, I had the opportunity to try and experiment with the Charbay Pomegranate and Green Tea vodkas. The California Grill used the Pomegranate flavor in their Pomegranate COZ, a cosmo comprised of Charbay Pomegranate vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and a splash of lime. A version of this cocktail (using lemon instead of lime) is also featured on the Charbay website. The Green Tea was used in our signature mixed drink, The 19th Hole, featuring Charbay Green Tea vodka, iced tea, and a splash of sour mix.

Here are a few of my recipes. Charbay is currently available in around 40 states.

Green Dream

1 ½ oz Charbay Green Tea vodka
¾ oz Midori
2 oz Ginger Ale
5-7 mint sprigs

Muddle mint in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add ice, vodka, and Midori. Speed shake and top off with chilled ginger ale. Add a swizzle straw and some additional mint for garnish.

Flower Drum Song

1 ½ oz Charbay Green Tea vodka
¾ oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 ¼ oz pineapple juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a fresh purple orchid for garnish.

This cocktail is a guilty pleasure that pairs well with Chinese food.

Curse of Nefertiri

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching The Ten Commandments when I concocted this drink. (It was Easter Weekend, what else would I be doing?)

1 ½ oz Charbay Pomegranate vodka
Several blueberries
Teaspoon of honey
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Sparkling white wine to fill

Muddle blueberries with honey and lemon juice in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka and ice. Shake and strain into a champagne flute. Fill with sparkling white wine. Garnish with a pair of fresh blueberries.

Jewel of the Nile

This drink is made up exclusively of flavors that were available in Ancient Egypt. (Think Ramses II, New Kingdom, way back in the day.) I wanted to combine the pomegranate with grape juice and some type of fig flavor (See the description of the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:7-8. Pomegranates, figs, and grapes were all hot commodities in Biblical times.) A fig liqueur has to be brewed at home, which requires a little extra forethought for this cocktail.

1 ½ oz Charbay Pomegranate vodka
¾ oz fig liqueur*
2 skinless slices of cucumber
2 small chunks of honey dew melon
1 oz Welch’s Sparkling White Grape Juice

Muddle cucumber and melon in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka, fig liqueur, and ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with sparkling grape juice and garnish with three frozen red grapes on a cocktail skewer. (I got the idea for a frozen grape garnish from this Ciroc recipe for a White Grape Martini. Frozen grapes are delicious – creamy and sweeter than normal grapes. I’ve even heard some low calorie snack lovers say they’re better than ice cream. Simply place some red grapes in the freezer for a few hours.)

*Here is a recipe for making your own home-made fig liqueur. It was developed by mixologist Christ Tunstall from Sonoma, California’s The Girl and the Fig. The recipe calls for 6 oz fresh black mission figs, 1 liter vodka, and 8 oz sugar. The vodka needs to be infused with figs for about a week before cooking. Make sure you have good ventilation when heating vodka over an open flame.

New Twists on Some Old Classics

My bartending class at JWU taught me how to prepare classic cocktails. Some you’ve heard of (Tequila Sunrise, White Russian, etc.) and some you haven’t (Rusty Nail – who drinks Drambuie these days, anyway?). When I first started experimenting with mixology, one of my favorite things to do was take the classic cocktails I learned in class and substitute certain ingredients to make them my own. Here are some new takes on well known drinks.

The Woo Girl

A Woo Woo is a mixed drink that combines vodka, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice – basically a Sex on the Beach without the OJ. My version is named after an episode of How I Met Your Mother and uses a blueberry/peach flavor combination. A vinaigrette at Mill’s Tavern introduced me to this pairing.

1 ½ oz Stoli Blueberry Vodka
¾ oz DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps
1 ¾ oz White Cranberry Juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh blueberries on a cocktail skewer.

Country Club Kamikaze
A Kamikaze uses vodka, triple sec and lime juice. My version is a little smoother, a little more flavorful, and a little more expensive.

1 ½ oz Grey Goose La Poire
¾ oz Triple Sec
½ oz Rose’s Lime Juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lime.

Cherry Pom Collins
A Tom Collins is typically gin, lemon juice, and club soda. Vodka Collins have also gained in popularity. Mine uses vodka and pomegranate liqueur. Because of the added pomegranate flavoring, I’ve eliminated the sugar that’s sometimes used.

1 ½ oz Skyy Cherry vodka
¾ oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
3 oz lemon juice
Club soda to fill

Shake vodka, pomegranate liqueur, and lemon juice with ice. Strain into a Collins glass and add fresh ice. Top off with club soda and garnish with a cherry and an orange on a cocktail skewer.

Early Morning Orgasm
An Orgasm can be a cocktail or a shooter and has many variations. The one I chose uses vodka, amaretto, coffee liqueur, and milk/cream. The use of Three Olives Triple Shot Espresso makes it more of a brunch cocktail. (This is the first time I’ve successfully utilized any brand of espresso flavored vodka, so I’m pretty excited about this recipe.)

1 ½ oz Three Olives Triple Shot Espresso
½ oz Amaretto
½ oz Kahlua
4 oz Milk

Build ingredients in a highball glass over ice. Speed shake and serve.

Gillyflower Gimlet
A gimlet traditionally contains gin or vodka, lime juice, and sometimes simple syrup. Mine uses a gillyflower infused simple syrup. (When I say “gillyflower” I mean carnation. I call it a “Gillyflower Gimlet” for a couple of reasons: 1) A carnation is a member of the gillyflower family and is also edible. 2) When Shakespeare mentioned gillyflowers in his plays, he meant carnations. 3) If I called it a “Carnation Gimlet” you might think I was making it with some type of Good Start powdered milk product, and, finally, 4) I love alliteration, obviously.)

1 ½ oz Grey Goose Le Citron Flavored Vodka
¾ oz lime juice
¾ oz Gillyflower infused simply syrup*

Build ingredients in a rocks glass over ice. Speed shake, add a swizzle straw, and use a fresh carnation (preferably deep pink) for garnish.

*To make the simple syrup, combine water and sugar in a one to one ratio. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat till sugar is dissolved. Add gillyflowers, remove from heat, and allow mixture to cool. Transfer mixture into a covered container and refrigerate at least three days, then strain before use.

This is my first attempt with edible flowers. You should only use flowers that have not been exposed to pesticides, so don’t buy carnations from your local florist if you’re planning on making this cocktail.

Hawaiian Blueberry
Hawaiian Blueberry isn’t a combination you normally hear about. But, recently, there have been recipes for pancakes, pies, and muffins that combine blueberries with coconut, macadamia nuts, and sometimes pineapple. Today I was served a blueberry pineapple cobbler that was extremely delicious. And The University of Hawaii has even attempted to grow their own blueberry crops on the island.

A Blue Hawaiian is a tropical drink made with rum, blue curacao, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice. I thought it would be fun to try a new take on the Blue Hawaiian, using fresh wild blueberries instead of the curacao. (Wild blueberries combat cancer and help prevent heart disease, so why not?)

I know I’ve been using blueberries in my cocktail recipes a lot lately, mostly because it’s summer, and they’re in season. I promise this obsession is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

1 ½ oz Cruzan White Rum
2 oz Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut
3 oz Pineapple Juice
½ cup frozen wild blueberries
Dash of grated ginger
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup ice

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a Collins glass and sprinkle some shredded coconut on top for garnish.

Just Whipping Up Some New Cocktails

I’ve already reviewed Pinnacle Whipped and posted several recipes that incorporated the vodka, including banana cream pie, apple pie, mocha, and Christmas themed cocktails. But now, Pinnacle has come up with even more whipped cream flavored vodkas – Cherry Whipped, Orange Whipped, and Chocolate Whipped. Now I’m a big fan of the original, so I’ll give the company credit for taking a good idea and running with it.

Pinnacle’s “Whip It Up” recipe contest wrapped up on Sunday. To qualify, you had to use one of the whipped cream flavored vodkas. I submitted a different cocktail recipe, but here are some of my concoctions that didn’t quite make the cut.

Wimbledon Brunch
Strawberries & cream and champagne are the official food and drink, respectively, of the Wimbledon sporting event. Here is a cocktail that combines all three. If you wanted to be authentically English, you’d muddle your own Grade I strawberries from Kent. But let’s not get crazy.

1 ½ oz Pinnacle Whipped
2 oz frozen strawberry topping, thawed
2 oz Champagne

Build chilled ingredients in a champagne flute. (Don’t worry about straining out the strawberry pieces – they’ll sink to the bottom like the peach puree in a Bellini.)

Parisian Punch

2 parts Pinnacle Whipped
1 part Chambord
2 parts White Grape Juice
3 parts Parisia Sparkling Lemonade

Combine ingredients in a punch bowl with ice. Add a few orange and lemon wheels and stir. Ladle into punch cups.

Cherry Tree Lane

1 ½ oz Cherry Whipped
¾ oz Amaretto
¾ oz sour apple schnapps
1 oz sour mix

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Banana Split

1 ½ oz Cherry Whipped
¾ oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
4 oz milk
1 scoop strawberry ice cream
1 banana, peeled and sliced
1 scoop ice

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a Collins glass and garnish with a cherry and a banana wheel on a cocktail skewer.

Dole Whip
Dole Whip is a sort of soft serve frozen dessert sold in Disney's Adventureland and the Polynesian Resort. It comes in pineapple, orange, vanilla, and twist varieties. It’s considered to be the best dessert in Magic Kingdom, and it inspired this cocktail.

1 ½ oz Orange Whipped
½ oz Grand Marnier
½ oz NAVAN Natural Vanilla Liqueur
1 ½ oz Dole Pineapple Juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

Daisy Buchanan
They probably didn’t drink this at Gatsby’s parties, but I’d like to think they did.

1 melon ball sized scoop orange sherbet
1 ½ oz Orange Whipped
¾ oz Peach schnapps
1 ½ oz Prosecco
1 ½ oz orange juice

Scoop sherbet into a champagne flute. Combine vodka, orange juice, and peach schnapps in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into champagne flute. Top with Prosecco.

IHOP Martini
Best breakfast ever. In a glass.

Handful of blueberries
½ oz maple syrup
Pinch of cinnamon
Dash of lemon juice
1 ½ oz Chocolate Whipped
1 ½ oz apple cider

Muddle blueberries with cinnamon, maple syrup and lemon juice in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add ice, vodka, and cider. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Kiss Me, I’m Irish

4 mint leaves
1 ½ oz Chocolate Whipped
¾ Bailey’s Irish Cream
4 oz iced coffee
Cream and sugar to taste

Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a highball glass. Add ice, vodka, Irish Cream, and coffee and speed shake. Add a straw, cream and sugar to taste, and fresh mint leaves for garnish.