A Girl's Best Friend - Spicy Pineapple Margarita
A Girl’s Best Friend - Spicy Pineapple Margarita
Ingredientses:
3oz Reposado Tequila
1.5oz Pineapple Juice
.25oz Lime Juice
1oz Ancho Reyes Arbol Chili Liqueur
1oz Simple Syrup
Smoked Salt
Pineapple Leaves
Pineapple Wedges
Sliced Jalapeno
During the testing day for our Cinco de Mayo workshop, this drink was by far the crowd favorite. It is spicy and sweet with fresh citrus flavors. The smoked salt adds a nice touch which helps to bring forward the heat from the chili liqueur. It is also quite beautiful when complete!
Instructions:
Salt the rim of a rocks glass with smoked salt and set aside.
Put all liquid ingredients into a shaker tin, fill with ice, and shake.
Using a hawthorne strainer pour the cocktail into salted rocks glass and top with fresh ice.
Garnish with two pineapple leaves, a slice of pineapple, and a few slices of jalapeno.
The Pacific Islander - Paloma with Hibiscus Foam
The Pacific Islander - Paloma with Hibiscus Foam
Ingredients:
3oz Tequila
1.5oz Grapefruit Juice
1oz Triple Sec
1oz Thyme and Grapefruit Simple Syrup
4oz Hibiscus Tea
2oz Simple Syrup
2oz Lemon Juice
4 Droppers Wonder Foam (Or and egg white)
Makes 2 Servings
This cocktail brings together some of my absolute favorites! Tequila for one is some kind of special, but the bitter backbone of the grapefruit coupled with the earthy essence of thyme brings to life something truly delightful. Now, you may be wondering if this sunshine sipper is a little too down the earth; have no fear! This is where the hibiscus foam comes into fly. So light and flavorful! You taste buds pop with excitement and then they settle down with a pleasant sweetness. Served on the drink rather than in the drink, you will first experience these inviting flavors followed by the earthy paloma.
Before making the cocktail there is a little bit of prep:
First you will want to steep your hibiscus tea. Use 5 tea bags for 16oz of hot water. Let steep for at least an hour. I often let it sit overnight.
You will also need to prep your grapefruit and thyme simple syrup. First you want to use a peeler to take off the skin of one grapefruit. Put the peels into a 32oz mason jar.
Fill the mason jar halfway with granulated sugar.
Add 25 stems of thyme to the mason jar. Put the lid on the container and shake around so that the granulated sugar sticks to both sides of the grapefruit peel. Let sit overnight in the fridge. After about a day of sitting, fill the remainder of the container with boiling water and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved. Let sit until the syrup cools at which point the syrup will be ready to use.
Assembling the cocktail:
In a CO2 canister add hibiscus tea, simple syrup, wonder foam, and lemon juice.
Close the container, add the CO2 cartridge, shake and put in the fridge to keep cool.
In a shaker tin add all other ingredients and shake with ice. Using a hawthorne strainer, pour the drink into a rocks glass and add fresh ice.
Top with hibiscus foam and a candied hibiscus flower.
Gold on the Dance Floor
Gold on the Dance Floor
Cocktail Ingredients:
3 oz Vodka
4 oz Golden Falernum
Gold Leaf
Makes 2 Servings
Falernum Ingredients:
1 Whole Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Silver Rum
½ Cup Sliced Almonds
1 Teaspoon Whole Cloves
4 oz Honey Syrup (3 oz Honey + 1ish Oz hot water mixed till dissolved)
6 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
.75 Cup Simple Syrup
Zest of 8 Limes
Juice of 8 Limes
Falernum Instructions:
Wrap nutmeg in a towel and smash with a mallet. Add to a hot pan with cloves and toast for 3-5 minutes until the pan starts to lightly smoke. Take off heat and add to a blender.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees. Spread sliced almonds on a non stick sheet pan. Toast for about 5 minutes. Mix up and toast for another 3-4 minutes. You want golden brown. Add to the blender.
Zest and juice all limes. Add zest and juice in the blender.
Add honey syrup, simple syrup, rum and allspice dram to the blender and pulse for 3-5 seconds to lightly break up solid ingredients. You do not want to finely blend as we will be straining out the solid ingredients.
Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and strain through a fine mesh sieve lined with a cheesecloth and bottle.
Gold on the Dance Floor Build Instruction:
3 oz Vodka
4 oz Golden Falernum
Makes 2 Servings
Here’s how to make Golden on the Dance Floor:
Instructions:
Add vodka and falernum in a shaker tin and fill with ice. Shake for 15 seconds and double strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube.
Top with gold leaf and enjoy!
Perc Up! Espresso Martini
Perc Up! - Nitrogen Infused Espresso Martini
Ingredients:
2oz Vodka
1.5oz Espresso
2oz Licor 43
2oz Perc Coffee Liqueur
Coffee beans
Nitrogen Infusion Canister
Nitrogen Cartridges
Makes 2 Servings
Everyone loves an espresso martini! Rich, creamy, and lightly sweet this brewed blunder packs a kick of caffeine needed for any night out! This is a variation of the classic version with a couple of my favorites, Licor 43 and Perc Coffee Liqueur!
Here’s how to make Perc Up!:
Instructions:
Add vodka, espresso, Licor 43, and Perc Coffee Liqueur in a shaker tin and fill with ice. Shake for 10 seconds.
Double strain and pour the mixture into a nitrogen infusion canister.
Dispense equally into two martini glasses. Top each with 3 coffee beans.
What is nitrogen and why is it in my cocktail?
Nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements on the planet. It is a gas that is odorless and tasteless. To add nitrogen to a liquid it requires pressure (provided by the steel canister) and cold temperatures (ice) to dissolve. When dispensed the infused gas first tries to escape the glass by rushing downward to the bottom. The nitrogen then travels upward releasing around the rim of the glass. The result is a light and creamy textured foam which forms on the top of the beverage.
Saxtons River Mai Tai
Saxtons River Mai Tai
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Saxtons River Vodka
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.5 oz Triple Sec
1 oz Orgeat
Maple Caviar Ingredients:
3 oz Saxtons River Sapling Maple Liqueur
1 oz Maple Syrup
¼ Teaspoon Agar Agar
Vegetable Oil
Fresh Mint
Orgeat Ingredients:
83 g Sliced Almonds
Olive Oil
2.5 Cups Simple Syrup
.5 Teaspoon Salt
1.5 oz Orange Blossom Flower Water
4 Oranges
Like most of my drinks, this one is time consuming! Make sure that you prepare your orgeat and caviar 24 hours in advance! Once the bulk of the prep is complete making the cocktail is quick and easy. I decided to go with a play on the classic Mai Tai, because I love the toasty nut flavor and thought it would pair well with Sapling Maple Liqueur. I also really want to be on the beach!
Let’s start with the orgeat:
Toss sliced almonds very lightly in olive oil. Spread on a tray and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Toss the almonds on the tray and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so. Keep an eye on the almonds so they do not burn. When toasted to your liking, take them out of the oven and put them in a blender.
Add simple syrup, salt, and orange blossom flower water and blend until incorporated.
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the outer layer of skin from all four oranges. Place orange peels in the blended nut mixture and refrigerate for 24 hours. I like to express the oils from the orange peel into the orgeat to maximize on the flavor.
Remove from the refrigerator and strain through a fine mesh strainer and cheese cloth to remove any chunks. The texture should be very smooth with an extremely nutty flavor.
Maple Caviar Instructions:
Pour vegetable oil in a tall cylindrical glass vessel. Make an ice bath for the oil filled vessel. Place the bowl in the refrigerator. In making the caviar the oil needs to be very cold. I recommend putting the oil in the refrigerator for 24 hours even before putting it in the ice bath.
Add Sapling Maple Liqueur, brown sugar, and agar agar to a small saucepan and heat up. You do not need to boil the mixture. The goal is to melt the sugar and incorporate the agar without cooking down the liquid. Once all ingredients are dissolved, take it off of the heat and let cool down for 4 minutes.
After four minutes pull the oil mixture out of the refrigerator. Using a dropper, slowly add the maple liqueur mixture to the vegetable oil. You will notice that the liquid will slowly fall to the bottom of the oil filled vessel forming a perfect sphere. It is extremely important that your oil is very cold so that when the caviar reaches the bottom of the vessel, it does not alter shape or form into your other caviar spheres.
Once the spheres are complete you will need to strain them out of the oil using a fine mesh strainer.
Rinse thoroughly with cold water.
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container with a little maple liqueur so they do not stick together.
Saxtons Mai Tai Instructions:
In a shaker tin add the vodka, lime juice, triple sec, and orgeat. Fill the shaker with ice and shake for about 15 seconds or until ice forms on the outside of the container.
Strain the shaken cocktail into a collins or rocks glass and fill with fresh ice.
Top with maple caviar and a sprig of fresh mint. Enjoy!