Wednesday, August 10, 2011

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.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

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.