You can drink these! - 4 Drink Special!

Do you like to entertain guests? Do those guests like different drinks? Are you tired of vodka and cool-aid or rum and coke? No? Too bad, drink-making time.

Here are four quick and easy simple drinks, no shakers, no muddling, no fancy syrups, just pour it the ingedients in a glass, stir and serve. So in no particular order here's four stir and serve drinks.

1 - The Royal Wedding

This on is very straight forward
Ingredients:
2 oz. Crown Royal Whiskey
Royal Crown Cola

Fill an old fashioned glass with ice. Pour in whiskey and fill with R/C. Serve.







2 - Appalachian Mule

This is a variation of the Minnesota Mule, but with a few teaks.

Ingredients
2 oz (At least 100 proof) Moonshine or Unaged Whiskey
1 Bottle of Ginger Beer

Fill an old fashioned glass with ice. Add Moonshine and fill with Ginger Beer. Serve.

Note: Ginger Beer is a necessity for this drink because its sharpness helps curb the harsh taste of moonshine. 




3 - Brandy Milk Punch

This ones a classic. It's a delicious drink and is a nice surprise to anyone not expecting a milk-based drink.

Ingredients
2 oz. Brandy
5 oz. Milk
1/2 tsp sugar
Whip Cream (Optional)
Nutmeg or Cinnamon (Optional)

Fill old fashioned glass with ice. Add milk brandy and sugar. Stir. Top with dollop of whipped cream and nutmeg. Serve.


4 - Golden Lion

All of the other drinks were either classic drinks or variations on classic drinks. This one is of my own invention.

Ingredients
2 Joven (gold) or Reposado Tequila
Vanilla Cream Soda
Lime Wedge

Fill old fashioned glass with ice. Add tequila and fill with cream soda. Squeeze lime wedge and drop wedge in glass. Stir and serve.


Note: Quality matters with tequila. I prefer to get a bottle of 100% agave tequila because I know it's a better tasting drink compared to sweaty-socks bottom shelf tequila. 


Well there you have it. Simple, quick drinks that are easy to make a serve and taste great. Impress your friends, make your enemies jealous, brag to your co-workers. All of these ingredients are great to keep around and can be used for other drinks too.

As always, enjoy your drinks. Remember to serve and enjoy responsibly and drink up the good things in life.

You can drink this! - Appletini

The appletini is a very popular and simplistic drink. Usually, the recipe follows thus: put ice, vodka, and sour-apple flavored syrup in a shaker and strain.

How boring is that? It's a sad statement when one of the most popular drinks around contains some artificially flavored and colored syrup that is only good for making pretty much one drink.

Well, now you have a way out. If you don't feel like buying a container of sour apple mix just to make one dang drink, then I have a solution for you.




Assembling the Equipment:

Hardware:
Cocktail Shaker
Knife
Martini or other stem glass
Fruit juicer
Small strainer

Software:
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Lemon
Vodka
Ice


Step 1 - The Prepwork

Add ice to your martini glass and/or place glass in the freezer. Stem and cut the apple, make sure to leave a slice as a garnish. Cut a lemon in half.

Side Note: The next step involves juicing said apple. Most commercial juicers can handle apples very well and will make a great drink. For those that do not own a juicer, there is a simple way to make apple juice. Drop the sliced apple into a small pan with an inch of water at the bottom. Boil until apple slices are soft. Mash the apple inside the pan and strain liquid into jar to chill in the fridge. 


Place cut-up apple, reserving the slice for a garnish, into a juicer. Make sure to leave the skins on, not only for flavor and color, but there are nutrients in the skin as well. Might as well make some part of your drink healthy right?

Step 2 - Combining the Ingredients

Procure a small strainer and tongs. Put a paper towel in a small strainer over your cocktail shaker. Pour the juice over the strainer. If the juice does not strain out of the paper towel gently squeeze the juice out the paper towel.

Now my apple made a lot of juice so I added 2 oz. of vodka. If your apple is smaller or if you don't have as much juice from yours, it's probably a good idea to use less vodka as well.

Add the vodka to the shaker and the juice of half a lemon. Take the squeezed half of a lemon and rub it on the apple slice that was saved for garnish. This will keep it from browning.

Once all the ingredients are added to the shaker, empty your glass and set it aside. Shake all the ingredients together until the shaker is very cold, preferably until a layer of frost forms on the outside of the shaker.

Strain into a glass and garnish with an apple slice.

I promise this drink will taste just like you are drinking an apple. If you want a more sour flavor, then be sure to add the juice from the other lemon half, although I prefer it with just the one half.


This is a great drink and it's pretty simple as far as ingredients go, not to mention it's really easy to make several for a large party.

Enjoy your drink and remember to serve and enjoy responsibly and drink up the good things in life.

New Drink Recipe Soon

I'm still working on the drink. And you thought the fancy flask was just for the twitter picture.

 
Also, a word to the wise, do NOT give absinthe to a lightweight. It is strong and subversive. You have been warned. (On a side note: I did make the absinthe louche a bit. Practice makes perfect. That might not mean much to other people, but some drink nerds know what I mean.)

You can drink this! - Herbaceous Mojito

I consider myself a practical man. I do enjoy making drinks, but I don't like spending lots of money on specialty drinks. Using a little know-how, some canny drinkcrafting, and a few common ingredients; I make easy to create and delicious drinks that are perfect for the home bartender.

Ahhh yes, the Herbaceous Mojito. What a good drink for an experiment. It combines all of those wonderful flavors that drink tasters seek; savory, sweet, spicy, strong, and soft. So if you happen to be stranded in somewhere and you are craving some cilantro-infused cocktail to beat the heat (or cold!), now you have a great recipe for a reasonable cost.

To make this, you will need:

I forgot to add the jalapeño and my 'muddler' in the picture

Hardware:
Cocktail Shaker (Science kit optional)
Measuring glass/Jig and Pony
Ice
Wooden Spoon
An Old-Fashioned or Highball glass

Software:
Handful of cilantro
Jalapeño Slice
1/2 Lime
1/2 tsp Bartender's (superfine) Sugar
Club Soda
2 1/2 oz Rum




Now, I like to make my herbaceous mojito in a cocktail shaker where some would prefer to make it directly in the glass. Either way is fine really, but because I opt for a shorter glass instead of a Collins glass I don't want precious liquid volume by a mushed up lime.

Step 1: Muddle the Mixture
 Place a big handful of cilantro in the bottom of your cocktail shaker. Sprinkle a heavy pinch of bartender's sugar over the cilantro. Take a spoon with a wide handle and grind the cilantro against the bottom of the cup. Do this until it looks like wilted spinach and much of the juice from the herb is released. Then take your lime half, juice it into the cup and drop the squeezed lime into the cup.
On a side note, I don't really do this with a traditional mojito or when I make any drink with mint. I find that mint is a much more delicate herb and a little bruising releases those great oils without those woody and bitter flavors that come out when you grind mint into a pulp.

I'm Leverman!!

*Protip* I find the best way to juice a lime is to place it thusly between the arms of springloaded tongs and squeeze over the shaker cup.








Step 2: Put the chile in... herbaceous...
Take a slice out of a jalepeno and run a knife around the inside of the slice, cutting out the middle waxy area as well as the seeds. If you skip this step you will have a very spicy drink, which is just cruel. Sip...Holy s#!*  this is hot I need a drink! Sip...

If you are really good, the knife won't even move.








Add the jalepeno slice to the cup and muddle again, crushing the lime half and chile pepper into the already muddled herbs.

Fill the shaker 3/4 full with ice and add 2 1/2 ounces of silver rum and shake with vigor. Strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. If you muddled the cilantro correctly, the liquid should be bright green.

Take a sprig of cilantro in one and clap your hands together. This will bruise the cilantro and release its oils. Fill the rest of the glass with soda. Place the sprig in the glass as garnish and add a straw. Serve cold and fresh. 

Well there you have a nice, elegant drink without having to break the bank for some fancy liqour or some ridiculous piece of hardware you will never use for anything else.

This can be a great hit served at a party, but be warned, some people really hate this herb. As a matter of fact, most people either fall into the love-it or hate-it category. So make sure and take requests for it, this isn't the kind of drink that can be sprung on a group of friends when half of them say it tastes like spicy soap.

Props go to my gracious hand model.

 Enjoy your Herbaceous Mojito, and always remember to serve and enjoy responsibly and drink up the good things in life.