Warm Mulled Wine

Hello Everyone,

Well fall is officially here and that means it's time for some mulled wine. This recipe is dedicated to a great couple who recently celebrated their wedding. Nick and Kristina this one is for you!

Recipe:

6 cups of Apple Cider

3 cups of Red wine (I used a Shiraz)

2 ounces of Vanilla Vodka

2 ounces of Apricot Brandy

2 ounces of Spiced Rum

2 ounces of Apple Brandy

Spices: Stick Cinnamon, Whole Star Anise, Whole Clove, Whole All Spice and Sugar.

1/2 navel orange cut into wedges

Start by lightly toasting your spices in a pot or slow cooker. Then slowly pour in you apple cider, red wine, liquors and orange wedges. Allow everything to marry over a very low flame or the lowest setting on your slow cooker. The secret of this recipe is to not allow the temperature to get too high; doing so will "break" the cider souring the flavor. Once everything is going for 10 minuets add in your sugar to taste. Add wedges of orange and apple to the glasses before serving if desired.

More warming drink recipes on the way; stay tuned!

The Black Russian

Heya Team,

I am back with another great cocktail. For years I've heard this whenever I go out to dinner with my parents, "Sir would you like to order a cocktail?" "Yes a Black Russian." This is my father's drink so much so I think they should rename it the John Russian! For this version I decided to make a few changes to the classic recipe.

2 ounces of Kahlua
1 ounce of Vanilla Vodka
1 ounce of Cake or Whipped Vodka

The great thing with this drink is that you can play with the amount of vodka to change the drink from sweet to dry. Also have fun with your presentation; I made this with some amaretto infused cherries and served it up instead of on the rocks!

Until next week!

Lindsay's Fall Classic

Hi Everyone,

A few weeks ago I asked a few friends and family members for ideas for a new cocktail. Here is the result! Evan's sister Lindsay asked for the ideal fall drink. During our conversation (with some help from Lindsay's older sister Jen) we decided on something with apples and pears; here is the result.

1 ounce pear vodka
1 ounce apple brandy
splash of spiced rum
splash of caramel vodka
2 ounces of apple juice
2 ounces of pear nectar

Shake everything and pour into a rocks glass over ice; garnish with a cinnamon stick.

The idea with this cocktail is to ring in the fall with something that will have you thinking about the changing leaves and flavors of the season. The rum and cinnamon stick will bring in the spicy essence of fall, while the pear, apple and caramel evoke your favorite fall memories.  To capture the spicy essence of the fall make sure to use spiced rum rather than light or dark rum in this cocktail.

Evan's KCCO Bomb

Hi Team,

Alright so we all know that guy; the one who will always get everyone to do an Irish Car Bomb. For our group that great guy is my wife's cousin Evan. Once again this drink was issued as a challenge so here we go: Evan this one is for you!

I wanted to make something that held a close relationship to the original drink, but added something more to change up the flavor profile. The first thing that I changed was the beer. Normally you would use Guinness but for this I decided on the new KCCO black lager (if you can't find you can use another stout or black lager) which really has a great flavor profile on it's own. Check out the recipe below:

Shot #1
Kahlua 1/2 ounce
Godiva Chocolate Liqueur 1/2 ounce

Shot #2
Jameson 1/2 ounce
Bailey's 1/2 ounce

I knew that I didn't want to change the great Jameson/Bailey's combo so I added a pre shot that uses chocolate liqueur and Kahlua.

So here is how you take this shot; first take the pre-shot with the Kahlua and chocolate. This shot sets up the experience; the flavor isn't overly sweet but smooth. Next drop your bomb and chug. Remember to drink fast as it will curdle like any Bailey's and beer combo.

Colleen's Blue Topaz

Hello Everyone!

So this is a signature cocktail that I dedicated to my wife Colleen. I wanted to make her something that not only featured her favorite flavors, but also spoke to her personality. What I came up with is a cocktail that features raspberry, peach and vanilla flavors as well as one of my wife's favorite things, moscato wine! Take a look at the recipe below.

1 oz of UV blue raspberry vodka
1 oz of peach schnapps
1 oz of vanilla vodka
2 oz of Rose's blue raspberry cocktail mix
1 maraschino cherry

Mix the vodkas, schnapps and cocktail mix together with ice in a shaker and swirl gently.

Now sugar the rim of your wine glass or flute and drop a cherry in the bottom. Fill your flute or wine glass about halfway with the mixture from the shaker and add in the moscato wine to finish.

What I love about this drink is that is that the color really stands out and makes for a great presentation in a nice pair of flutes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Shots!!!

In celebration of the return of four of the greatest heroes of our generation and to answer an official challenge by my brother in law David, I proudly present to you the TMNT shot series.

Each shot embodies the spirit of each of the turtles. Try them out for yourself and I think you will agree. Each recipe yields about three shots.

First up is Mikey as the fun loving brother of the four, Mikey's shot had to be something that you could really feel good about, and who doesn't feel good about the tropics with orange juice, pineapple and coconut. I think that anyone would love this shot.

The Michaelangelo
1 oz pineapple coconut rum
1 oz tripe sec
1 oz vanilla vodka
2 oz orange juice
A drop or two of grenadine

Next is the serious brother, Raph. So in building the concept for this I really remembered my childhood and Raph's personality from the first move in 1990. So yeah, this is an angry shot. Combining cherry vodka and whiskey make this is a slap in the face. If you want something a little tamer just add in more soda to give you a bit less burn.

The Raphael
1 oz cherry vodka
2 oz blended whisky
1/2 oz grenadine
Splash of sprite

Third is Donnie. I wanted to go with something a little more fun than Raph but not as much fun as Mikey so I went with a black raspberry and pomegranate combination. This one is a bit trickier to get that right color but the raspberry and pomegranate really make this shot brilliant.

The Donatello 
1 oz black raspberry rum
1 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz pomegranate schnapps
1 oz Rose's Blue Raspberry drink mix
Splash of blue curacao

The final shot in the series is Leo. As the leader this shot really had to stand out and in my mind that means gin. I wanted this shot to be something that you would want to drink right after a big win. Just like with Raph's shot, this one can be a little intense so add in more sprite to your taste.

The Leonardo
1 oz gin
1 oz vodka
1 oz blue curacao
Splash of sprite

Another Great Summer Drink: The Frozen Arnold Palmer

Here we go!

One of my all time favorite drinks is an Arnold Palmer; so I decided to make a boozy version for the blog!

If you are not familiar with an Arnold Palmer (no not the golfing great) it is a soft drink that is half ice tea and half lemonade. 

In this recipe I decided to keep it cool by freezing the lemonade portion of the drink. You can use a few methods to do this; you can simply blend some ice or like my example you can make a granita with the recipe below.

4 ounces of Vanilla Vodka
2 cups of water
1 cup of lemonade
2 ounces of lemon juice

The process is easy, mix all of the ingredients in a shallow pan and whack it into your freezer. After about two hours pull out the contents and scrape it down with a fork. Repeat this process until you have a constancy that is similar to shaved ice.

Of course you need ice tea as well here is how I spiced it up!

2 ounces of Sweet Tea Vodka
1 ounce of peach schnapps
6 ounces of fresh brewed iced tea 

Now all you need to do is scoop your lemonade pour your ice tea and enjoy!

Happy Summer Team

Black Cherry Tea Infused Cocktail

Alright team here is another original!

I've wanted to experiment with steeping tea in vodka for awhile now and I thought it would be good to start with one of my wife's favorites, Black Cherry.

In this cocktail I used a black cherry tea and infused it in a regular vodka for just over 3 hours. The flavor is a little different then what you would imagine as the tea itself adds a layer beyond what a store bought cherry vodka would deliver.

As for the cocktail here is the recipe that I came up with; I am going to do a few more drinks with this idea to see what else I can come up with!

1 ounce Black Cherry Tea infused vodka
1 ounce of vanilla vodka
1 ounce of black raspberry rum
Finish with Sprite.

As for the garnish I used a couple of whole black cherries dredged in sugar with a sugared rim. A nice lemon peel would also give this some contrast in color.

The Gear Post

Hi Team!

I realized that I was two posts into my blog and I didn't give any info on what you need to make these fantastic drinks!

So as you can see from the picture below, there are a lot of options out there for bar equipment. The basics that you'll need on your mixology adventure will be: a shaker, a two sided jigger and a couple of bar spoons.

I would also suggest a few items like straws (both drink size and stirring size), stirring rods and garnish toothpicks.

Now the sky is the limit from there, if you are going the extra mile I would suggest different size shakers, extra jiggers and at least one good cocktail book for reference.

A Great Frozen Drink for "Murica"!

Hey Team with the fourth of July right around the corner; I thought it would be a good idea to bring you a drink that will keep you cool and celebrate freedom. This version of a Miami Vice uses a layer of blue to change up the taste while adding a patriotic feel. Here is the recipe that I use:

Red: 2 ounces of spiced rum, 1 ounce of peach schnapps, 2 ounces of strawberry daiquiri mix, a splash of grenadine

White: 2 ounces of coconut rum 1 ounce of pineapple rum 2 ounces of pina colada mix

Blue: 2 ounces of blue curacao, 1 ounce of triple sec, 1 ounce of vanilla vodka

Now here is how you construct this great drink. Set up each mix layer in a separate glass. Have mugs or nice tall glasses cleaned and ready to assemble your drink. You will also need a bar spoon or a tablespoon to help you create the layers when you pour the drink. For each layer you will need 2-3 cups of ice.

Start with the blue layer. Place the ice and your blue curacao mixture into your blender and blend until all ice chunks are gone. Open the blender and check your consistency. You want the mixture to be thick but not too thick that you can't pour it out of the blender and into the glass. Fill your prepared mugs/glasses 1/3 of the way full with the blue mixture.

Repeat the process above with the white mixture. This time when pouring it into the glass, pour it onto the spoon and let it slowly slide down the spoon and down the side of the glass so that it layers itself on top of the blue layer. If you pour it too quickly or directly into the glass, it will mix with the blue layer and while it will still taste delicious it won't be as pretty to look at.

Repeat the process with the red layer, using the spoon as you did with the white layer and you are done. Place a straw in it and sit back, relax and enjoy the fireworks!

This makes for an easy way to make a professional looking cocktail without all of the  fancy equipment.

Welcome!

Hey everyone! I wanted to make a blog about some of the great times I've had with friends and family. I hope that you find this blog entertaining and instructive. Oh and always drink responsibility.

The Brooklyntini

So as this is my first "official" drink for this blog I thought it would be appropriate to share my signature cocktail. The Brooklyntini was inspired by one of my friends who bought me a bottle of Absolute Brooklyn for my birthday.

This martini is simple, the core idea is to  soften the flavor of the vodka to allow taste of the apple and ginger to come though. Here is the recipe:

One ounce of Brooklyn (or Orient Apple)
One ounce of Vanilla Vodka
Two ounces of Apple Juice
A splash of Grenadine
Lime wheel for garnish

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can substitute the ingredients to make many other martinis.