A blog for innovative, unabashed and delightful cocktails. All posted recipes are my original creations. Check out the links for other quality sites that review both classic and hard-to-find recipes from other sources.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Clementine Margarita

This cocktail features the clementine syrup I recently posted.


Clementine Margarita

2 oz tequila
2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz clementine syrup
Juice of 1/2 lime

Stir ingredients together with ice in a salt-rimmed glass.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Clementine Syrup

High maintenance...and so worth it in the end. A thick, intense syrup that can be a foundation for cocktails or a spike of flavor pooled in the bottom of a cocktail glass. Look at it this way...it's easier than demi glace.


Clementine Syrup

Juice of 10 clementines
4 oz simple syrup


Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat and reduce until thickened, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if not using immediately. If the syrup sets in the refrigerator, loosen it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Yields about 3 oz.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Tuaca Sidecar

The sidecar has been one of my favorite cocktails for years, and I wanted to try a variation using Tuaca. To balance the sweetness and bring forward the liquor's inherent flavors, I scaled back the usual proportion of triple sec.

Tuaca Sidecar

2 oz Tuaca
1 oz triple sec
2 oz lemon sour

Stir ingredients together with ice in a double old-fashioned glass.

Sub Rosa Saffron Ginger Ale

Sub Rosa Saffron Ginger Ale


Sub Rosa saffron vodka is intense. The flavors are so complex and assertive that they tempt me to pair all sorts of different ingredients with it. In the end, though, simplicity lets good ingredients shine through. A little sweetness to curb the bite, a hint of a complementary Asian flavor, leads to...



Sub Rosa Saffron Ginger Ale


2 parts Sub Rosa saffron vodka
2 parts ginger ale


Stir ingredients together with ice in a double old fashioned glass.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Blood Orange Caiprihinia

Blood Orange Caiprihinia

2 oz cachaca
1/4 blood orange
1/2 oz simple syrup

Squeeze orange into a double old-fashioned glass, then add the fruit and muddle with cachaca and syrup. Add ice and stir.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Blood Orange Margarita

Tres Margaritas

This weekend a friend from college was in town. After a decedent meal of tapas, I was in charge of keeping everyone's glass full as the conversation flowed. I started with a basic margarita on the rocks. The next round was a blood orange margarita, inspired by the sumptuous blood oranges left over from one of the tapas. That was followed by a grapefruit margarita. It was a long conversation, we had a lot of catching up to do.

Blood Orange Margarita

2 oz tequila
1 oz tripe sec
1/2 oz simple syrup
Juice of 1/2 blood orange

Stir ingredients together with ice in a highball glass rimmed with salt.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

08 Pineapple Fizz

I whipped up this impromptu drink at a New Year's Eve gathering some close friends were hosting, and it turned out quite well. It kept the women diverted while the guys watched a little UFC. For a stronger variation, check out the Pineapple Almond Cocktail.

o8 Pineapple Fizz

1 1/2 oz pineapple rum
1 oz amaretto
Lemon-lime soda


Combine rum and amaretto with ice in a highball glass. Top with soda and stir.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Bubbly Snowbird

A New Year's Resolution

I fear I have disappointed a friend. Stacey (as in Stacey's Vietnamese Buzzsaw) asked me what I would drink on New Year's Eve, and if I had any practical suggestions, considering that recent posts have called for a bit more hard-to-find ingredients. (Sub Rosa is working hard on that, by the way!) Unfortunately, I didn't get the e-mail until late and failed to respond.

The champagne cocktail is an easy choice this time of year, and a batch of Snowbird Rum Runner left from a dinner party last night looked inviting. They made a great pair...and I hereby just need to resolve to be more responsive in 2008.


Bubbly Snowbird

2 oz Snowbird Rum Runner
2 oz dry champage

Pour Snowbird Rum Runner into a champage flute. Top with champagne.