Mixed Drinks

 

Roll Tide Beat the Irish Gameday Wine Punch

• 1 750ml bottle sparkling wine (Prosecco)
• 1 750ml bottle fruity red wine (Shiraz or Zinfandel)
• 1 gallon Hawaiian Punch
• 2 packages frozen strawberries (or mixed berries) in syrup, thawed
• Raspberry sorbet

Combine all ingredients except for sorbet in large punch bowl; chill before serving. To serve- Place 1 scoop sorbet in a large glass, top with punch and enjoy!

 

Hot Apple Toddy

• 1 cup Apple Cider
• 2 oz Dark Rum
• Mulling Spices*
• Honey
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Cinnamon Stick
• Apple Slice

Simmer apple cider and mulling spices over medium-low heat until warm (not boiling), about 5-15 minutes. Drizzle some honey into a mug, add liquor then cider mixture and squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Stir then garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slice.

*Mulling spices may be purchased at most grocery stores or made by combining cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, dried orange peel, and dried lemon peel (brown sugar is optional). Place these items within a cheese cloth, tie tightly and infuse!

 

Apple and White Wine Spritzer

• 1 bottle Riesling or Gewurztraminer, slightly off-dry
• 8 oz Apple liqueur (such as Apple Pucker)
• 1 oz sweetened lime juice
• Club Soda
• thinly sliced Granny Smith apple for garnish

Combine chilled wine, apple liqueur and lime juice in pitcher and stir. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Pour into wine glasses (over ice if prefered), top with a splash of club soda, and garnish with a thin slice of apple.

Pomegranate Sparkling Wine Cocktail

• 1 bottle good quality Sparkling Wine
• 8 oz Pomegranate Liqueur
• 8 oz Pomegranate Juice
• Pomegranate seeds or cranberries for garnish

Combine the pomegranate liqueur and pomegranate juice, chill mixture and bottle of sparkling wine. When ready to serve, fill Champagne flute halfway with pomegranate mixture and top off with sparkling wine. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and/or cranberries.

 

Early Fall

• 1.5 oz Apple-Infused Gin (see below)
• 1.5 oz Apple Cider
• 1 oz Apple liqueur (such as Pucker)
• 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 oz Ginger Beer

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker and serve over ice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and lemon peel.

Apple-Infused Gin- Cut a Granny Smith apple into thin slices. Place in bottom of small jar (may add 1T. sugar to fruit if prefered) and pour gin over fruit. Store for at least a week before using. Strain gin from fruit and discard fruit. Wash jar and return gin to it. Store as you would other liquors.

 

Kina Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
• 3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
• 3/4 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth

 

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

 

Corpse Reviver (No. 2)

• 1 shot Hendrick's Gin
• 1 shot Cointreau
• 1 shot Cocchi Americano
• 1 shot fresh lemon juice
• 1 dash Absinthe

 

Shake vigorously with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. Originally concocted as a hangover remedy.

 

Independence Day Mixed Drinks

Red, White and Blue Shooter

• 1/2 oz Blue Curacao
• 1/2 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
• 1/2 oz Grenadine

Gently layer in large shot glass and serve

Red, White, and Blue Strawberry Daiquiri

 

St. Patrick's Day Cocktail

• 1 oz Green Creme de Menthe
• 1 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 oz Irish Whiskey
• dash bitters (Angostura)
  

Pour ingredients over ice in Boston shaker and gently shake or stir. Strain into chilled martini glass.

Cheers and may you have the luck of the Irish!

 

Chocolate Milk Stout Ice Cream Float

This new twist on an ice cream float makes for a tasty and refreshing beer dessert!

• 1 bottle Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout
• chocolate or vanilla ice cream (or yogurt)
• crumbled chocolate wafer cookies and chocolate syrup for garnish
• 2 chilled malt glasses and 2 straws

Place one scoop of ice cream in each chilled glass. Slowly pour Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout (or another Chocolate or Cream Stout) over the ice cream, and garnish. Enjoy!

 

Valentine Martini

Try this delicious martini with your favorite flavored vodka or liqueur.

• 2 oz Vodka
• 1 oz white Creme de Cacao
• 1 oz whipping cream
• 1/2 oz Chambord (or other fruit infused liqueur)
• white chocolate shavings
  
• raspberries, strawberries, or other fruits for garnish
• lemon slices
• decorative toothpicks
  

Chill martini glass (fill with ice and water and place in freezer). In a cocktail shaker combine ice and first four ingredients. Shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass rimmed with white chocolate (to rim glass, rub with a lemon slice and place in chocolate shavings, slowly rotating until the outer edge is coated; shake off excess) and garnish with berry fruits on a decorative toothpick. Toast your Valentine!

Mulled Wine

Mulled Wine (also known as gluhwein) is a traditional European beverage that is consumed during the cold winter months. It is made by infusing red wine with spices and is served warm. The ideal wine to use for mulled wine is one that is full-bodied with fruity/spicy flavors such as Syrah, Zinfandel, or Merlot.

• 1 bottle red wine
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T fresh orange juice
• lemon rind
• orange rind
• 6 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 c Port or Brandy
• 1/2 c sugar (or more to taste)

 

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about thirty minutes. Strain mulled wine into a mug and garnish with a cinnamon stick and a piece of orange rind.

Holiday Drink: Poinsettia

• 1/2 oz. Triple Sec (or other orange liqueur)
• 3 oz. Cranberry Juice
• 3 oz. Sparkling Wine
• mint leaves for garnish

 

Chill all ingredients in advance. Mix triple sec (or orange liqueur of choice) with cranberry juice and pour into a chilled Champagne flute. Add good-quality sparkling wine (Prosecco works well) and garnish with a sprig of mint. May also garnish with candied cranberries. Cheers!

 

Hendrick's Gin Dirty Martini with Pickled Cucumbers

Hendrick's Gin is a "most unusual gin" that claims to be for "those rare individuals who are excited by what is strange and different. Hendrick's Gin is instilled with coriander, juniper, and citrus peel - and infused with rose petal and a curious, yet marvellous hint of cucumber."

• Hendrick's Gin
• Dry Vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
• 1/4 c. Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2 small cucumbers

 

Slice cucumbers crosswise into very thin slices. Add to Rice Wine Vinegar and soak in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and up to an hour, tossing occasionally.

For each martini add 3 oz. Hendrick's Gin and 1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth to ice-filled shaker; shake gently and strain into chilled martini glass (fill martini glass with ice water and place in freezer for 5 minutes). Garnish with pickled cucumbers.

This Martini pairs nicely with Tuna Tartare atop creamy wasabi sauce with a salad of pickled cucumbers, ginger, avocado, and sesame wonton "crackers."

 

 

A Twist on the Mimosa

• Good-quality orange juice
• Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
• Good-quality sparkling wine
• chunks of tropical fruits

 

Orange juice and sparkling wine is the classic combination, but with all of the options for bubbly mixed drinks, the Mimosa is easily forgotten.

So try this- macerate fruits, such as chunks of mango, pineapple, orange, and papaya in Grand Marnier Orange Liqueur (or any brand of orange liqueur).

Mix orange juice and Grand Marnier (this is to taste- I use a little more O.J. than Grand Marnier) and pour into champagne flutes filling half way. Fill the remainder of the glass with good-quality sparkling wine. Garnish with macerated fruit and enjoy!