Mixology Lab: cocktails and friends

Tonight we experiment with a couple of seasonal Halloween inspired drinks.    Poison Apple Martini Found online at Half Baked Harvest INGREDIENTS Black lava salt, or coarse black sugar, for rim (optional) 1/2 cup apple cider 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 ounces vodka or apple vodka 1/8 teaspoon activated charcoal for coloring (could also use black food dye) (optional) Dry ice (optional) INSTRUCTIONS 1. If desired, rim your martini glass with black lava salt or coarse black sugar. 2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the cider, pomegranate juice, lemon, vodka, and activated charcoal, if using. Shake to combine. 3. Strain into prepared martini glass. Add a very, very small amount of dry ice, if desired and be sure to wait until the ice fully dissolves to drink or serve as dry ice can be dangerous if it has yet to melt. Pumpkin Kentucky Mule with Ginger and Spice A Pumpkin Kentucky Mule with Ginger and Spice is "autumn in a glass"... Pumpkin butter (homemade or purchased), bourbon, ginger beer, and cardamom bitters get garnished with a cinnamon stick and candied ginger. This simple cocktail may become your new fall favorite ingredients 2 tbsp pumpkin butter 3 ounces bourbon 4 shakes cardamom bitters ginger beer candied ginger , garnish cinnamon sticks, garnish Found online at Beyond Mere Sustenance #cocktails #Mixology #HalloweenCocktails #Pumplincocktail

Another Zoom session while we all continue to shelter in place.   Today we are trying some lighter drinks as. we prepare for Easter.   Strawberry Champagne Mojito 1 cup diced strawberry’s 12-14 mint leaves 4 teaspoons superfine sugar or simple syrup 4 oz of fresh lime juices 4 oz of white rum 1 bottle of champagne Place 1/4 cup of strawberries, 3-4 mint leaves, 1 teaspoon sugar (or simple syrup) and 1 ounce of lime juice in the bottom of a champagne glass. Using a muddler, crush the strawberries and mint to release the oils. Stir in 1 ounce of rum. Top with champagne until the glass is filled. Garnish with strawberries and fresh mint leaves, if desired. Found online at The Suburban Soapbox Lemon-Lime Drop 6 mint leaves 6-7 small cubes 1/2 oz Simple syrup 2 oz kettle one 1 full lime squeezed 2 oz lemonade The second drink was shaken, strained and served straight up Bloody Good - Killer Bloody Mary Mix We’ve never found a better tasting Bloody Mary mix. During a decade of serving locals and tourists alike, a master mixologist in Sausalito, California developed this flavorful blend. Handcrafted in small batches using only the finest ingredients. Bloody Mary Mix - Bloody Good 2 oz Vodka

The Search & Rescue INGREDIENTS 1.25 OZ RYE .75 OZ RUBY PORT .75 OZ LEMON JUICE .5 OZ SIMPLE SYRUP .5 OZ CYNAR METHOD Steps Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake and double strain into a rocks glass. Created by Blake Pope, beverage director at Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina, this ruby port-enhanced Whiskey Sour transcends trends and seasons. “I use Quinta de Novol’s ruby port—a younger style that’s jammy and rich—which gives this cocktail loads of body,” Pope says. “The port also softens and sweetens a bracing combination of overproof rye whiskey, lemon juice and the bitter Italian digestif Cynar.” Shaken together, the cocktail is downright addictive and amazingly good with Southern food like fried chicken and country ham biscuits. Boulevardier Ingredients 1 1/4 ounce bourbon or rye 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce sweet vermouth Garnish: orange peel Steps Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange peel. Loosely translated, a boulevardier is a man-about-town. The cocktail by the same name was created by Erskine Gwynne, the publisher of “Boulevardier,” a magazine for expats living in Paris in the 1920s. It’s a tidy story, just like the drink it inspired. Equal parts whiskey, vermouth and Campari, the Boulevardier is both adaptable and adored for its balance of bitter, boozy and sweet. Choose your ingredients wisely. The best Boulevardier, like the best Negroni, hinges on a happy marriage between base spirit and vermouth.

Don't take this one serious.    We are finishing up the year talking about random things but, goals for next year and just chatting for this short episode.  Have a great Holiday and a Happy New Year!

Tonight we embark on our first Tequila tasting but first, start out with a tasty cocktail.   It's Greek to Me Mixed By "Mike, the fact-checker" 4 Slices of Ginger 1 oz Casamigos Anejo  Tequila  1/2 oz Mavrakis Tsipouro 1 oz Lime juice 3/4 oz Chambord 1/2 oz agave 1 dash of angostura bitters  Muddle the ginger in the shaker and add all ingredients and shake.  pour over ice and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a sage leaf. found at Avra Madison in NYC #cocktail #tequila #mixologylab #mixologylab.sc  Facebook  Instagram 

Stories from Russa, Vodka, Gin, Whisky... Lots to do tonight Great Drink - It has no name 3/4 ox Hine Conac 3.\/4 oz of High West Campfire 3/4 oz Vermuth 1/4 oz Benedictine Liquor #mixology, #mixologylab, #bourbon #burbonmonth #mixologysc Instagram

its 100 Deg in Santa Cruz, so we retry the Aperol Spritz,.  Ryan and Eddie are thumbs up but Justina is still not a fan.    We remake a classic and goof off a bit.    instagram #mixology #mixologylab

Strawberry Mojitos -  Prepared by Justina 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 6 strawberries handful of mint leaves 1 lime  4 oz rum (we only used 1 1/2) lime flavored club soda  Old Fitzy Girl found at Salthouse in SF - Prepared by Ryan 1 1/2 Oz Larceny Bourbon  1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 1/4 clear Creek Cherry Liqueur 1/2 oz raspberry shrub 2 dashes of bittercube bitters Blackberry Whisky Smash - Prepared by Eddie 1 1/2 Oz Rye handful of mint leaves 5 blackberries (muddled and strained) 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemons  1/2 oz agave nectar splash of club soda Instagram  #mixologylab.sc #mixology

Today we go all in on Gin.   We turn a doubter into a Gin drinker.   We start the episode with a loaded corona, move to a Gimlet and finish off with a Gin Gin Mule.   Loaded Corona Gulp 1 oz out of your fresh corona Add a shot to the Bacardi Limon. and a lime wedge Flip it upside down (thumb over the top of the bottle) Be careful to let the pressure out slow when flipping back over. DRINK! Classic Gimlet  2 Oz Gin 1 oz Rose’s Lime Juice Lime garnish Gin Gin Mule 1 1/2 of Venus Gin  Ginger Bear to fill 1 oz Simple Syrup 8 Fresh Mint leaves 3/4 fresh lime juice  Mint Garnish 

This week we are going to recap our birthday drink specially made for a friends party, talk about the "Lemon drop", where it came from and how we make it and glasses.   Why Glasses?  because they enhance the flavor and the experience of a drink.   "Join our Club" and have a drink with us!