Homemade Amaretto

Recipe

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1.5 cups vodka

1 TBSP almond extract

1 TSP vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine hot water with sugars in a bowl or pitcher and mix well till sugar is dissolved.
2. Add corn syrup to sugar water and stir well
3. Finally add vodka, almond, and vanilla and still.
4. Bottle and Enjoy!

Cheers!

Salted Whiskey Caramel Cream

The holidays are approaching and you are trying to decide what to give everybody on your list. How about a homemade Salted Caramel Canadian cream? Sounds delicious right? Well the recipe is super easy, so give it a go.

Recipe
6oz Heavy Cream
14oz Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 can)
12oz Whiskey
1 TBSP instant coffee granules
2 TBSP Caramel Syrup ( such as +Torani Salted Caramel)

Combine ingredients in a blender to mix. Pour into clean food safe containers and store in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Salted Caramel Irish Cream

The holidays are approaching and you are trying to decide what to give everybody on your list. How about a homemade Salted Caramel Irish cream? Sounds delicious right? Well the recipe is super easy, so give it a go.

Recipe
6oz Heavy Cream
14oz Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 can)
12oz Irish Whiskey
1 TBSP instant coffee granules
2 TBSP Caramel Syrup ( such as +Torani Salted Caramel)

Combine ingredients in a blender to mix. Pour into clean food safe containers and store in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Homemade Irish Cream

The holidays are approaching and you are trying to decide what to give everybody on your list. How about a homemade Irish cream? One of many variations that we have tried, with Salted Caramel, Whiskey, etc.

Recipe
6oz Heavy Cream
14oz Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 can)
12oz Irish Whiskey
1 TBSP instant coffee granules
2 TBSP chocolate syrup ( such as Monin)

Combine ingredients in a blender to mix. Pour into clean food safe containers and store in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Cheers!

Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour

Ok so I was scouring the web reading everything about the Beverage world and I came across a post from +Jeffrey Morgenthaler titled "I Make the Best Amaretto Sour in the World"... naturally I had to check this out.

The essence of the improved Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour is that the traditional recipe is too sweet, and amaretto isn't strong enough on it's own, and therefore it needs cask proof bourbon, in this recipe he uses Bookers bourbon.

Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
1½ oz amaretto (I love the Lazzaroni amaretto, but DiSaronno works well here, too)
¾ oz cask-proof bourbon (I use Booker’s, from the Jim Beam distillery)
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp. 2:1 simple syrup
½ oz egg white, beaten
"Dry shake ingredients to combine, then shake well with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon peel and brandied cherries, if desired. Serve and grin like an idiot as your friends freak out".

This cocktail is the real deal. Mix this up and enjoy!

So we actually tested this cocktail and altered it slightly since we are in the deep south and the locals are still nervous about egg whites in their cocktails... We also substituted with +Maker's Mark to see how the cocktail changed, and then let guests sample the 3 (traditional, Makers, Bookers) and the feedback was 1. Bookers  2.Makers 3. Traditional

We followed the above recipe and removed the egg whites and used 1:1 simple syrup and DiSaronno.

Cheers!

Jalapeno Moonlight Gimlet

Jalapeno Moonlight Gimlet

 

Thinly slice fresh jalapeno WITHOUT SEEDS

1 oz Stills Crossroads Alabama ‘Shine

2 lime wedges (about 1/2oz)

1 oz simple syrup (1:1)

1. Squeeze 2 lime wedges into the mixing glass of a boston shaker.
2. Add seedless jalapeno's 
3. Muddle the seedless jalapeno with 2 limes and simple syrup. 
4. Add Stills AL ‘Shine. 
5. Shake and serve over ice in rocks glass (limes & jalapeno included).
6. Garnish with lime.

For more information on High Ridge Spirits and their delicious 'Shine, visit their website or Facebook page.

Repeal Day

Repeal Day

What a great day to celebrate! After 13 years of alcohol being prohibited in the U.S., President Roosevelt and Congress repealed the absurd policy of Prohibition on December 5th, 1933.

I know what you are thinking, what a great idea... How did you think of this. Actually I am a big fan of +Jeffrey Morgenthaler and digging around his website I came across this section on Repeal Day (actually its the only thing listed under "Events") and clicked into a world I never knew existed - Repeal Day! Click the link and enjoy.

On January 16th, 1919 Congress passed the 18th Amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol. During this disastrous time (13yrs) crime across the country increased, particularly organized crime, and the country was getting out of control. Furthermore, all the great bartenders that had built the American cocktail culture over the previous 100+ years packed up and moved abroad, where they could still work their trade.


Finally on 12/5/1933 the 21st Amendment was ratified as a proclamation from President Roosevelt ending the unpopular ban. The +US National Archives had a great post on the subject, with the following picture of a silver cocktail shaker that President Roosevelt used while hosting pre-dinner cocktail hours at the +The White House .

So after all of this we decided that we must do our part and Celebrate Repeal Day, so we created an event at Bucky's Birdcage Lounge on 12/5/2013 and partnered with High Ridge Spirits, these guys are the makes of Stills Crossroads 'Shine, Alabama's First Legal Moonshine since Prohibition - yes too good to be true - but it gets better.... So we begin to tell everybody about this great American event that we are having and we get this note on Facebook:

Yes - Her mother was born on 12/5/1933 on Repeal Day!!and they are coming to the party. AMAZING! Once they arrived and we got an opportunity to wish her a Happy 80th birthday, she began telling us stories about her life and her parents owned a saloon in St.Louis during Prohibition, so the night Repeal there was a huge party at the family saloon as they were celebrating Repeal and the birth of their daughter.

We created 3 cocktails for the event - The gimlet was awesome, although most of the ladies liked the Cooler.

Bullock County Cooler

1 ½ oz Stills Crossroads Alabama ‘Shine

3 oz water

4 mint leaves

2 lime wedges

.25 oz. grenadine

-muddle 4 mint leaves and 2 lime wedges, pack shaker with ice, shake, pour.

- garnish with strawberry

Jalapeno Moonlight Gimlet

 

Thin slice fresh jalapeno WITHOUT SEEDS

1 oz Stills Crossroads Alabama ‘Shine

2 lime wedges

1 oz simple syrup

-Squeeze 2 lime wedges into mixing glass,

-muddle seedless jalapeno with 2 limes and simple syrup. 

-Add Stills AL ‘Shine. 

-Shake and serve over ice in rocks glass (limes & jalapeno included).

-Garnish with lime.

Yellowhammer

½ oz Amaretto

1 oz AL ‘Shine

3 oz OJ

1 oz Pineapple Juice

- Combine all ingredients into mixing glass.

-Roll ingrediants from mixing glass and tin.

- Pour contents into tall glass

Cheers

Simple Syrup

One of the most used products in any bar or beverage program is simple syrup. Simple syrup is very easy to make, and once you begin working with it, you will find out that it is indispensable.

Simple Syrup

1 part Sugar

1 part Water

You will need a container that you can seal airtight. Measure equal parts sugar and water and add to the container. Seal the container and shake vigorously for a couple of minutes, dissolving all of the sugar. You will then let the mixture settle for a minute, and then shake again for a minute. Your simple syrup is now complete and ready to use in your cocktails.

Cheers!

Pumpkin Rum Punch

Tis the season for fall concoctions and what better than a pumpkin cocktail.

Pumpkin Rum Punch:
1 cup brown sugar
5 cups hot water
pinch of nutmeg
a couple of cinamon sticks
1 can of 100% pure pumpkin
8 oz of spiced rum

Combine brown sugar, water, nutmeg and cinamon sticks, stir until dissolved, then let punch cool. After this mixture has cooled sufficiently you will notice that there is a bunch of pumpkin pulp in the bottom of your container, we will leave this behind. Next you will ladle out the mixture into a new container (preferably a store and pour container), being sure to leave the pulp behind.  At this point you have made the base for the cocktail.

You now have two options:

1. Add the spiced rum to this base and put back into refrigerator and have your punch ready to serve.
2. Serve cocktails individually to order
1. Add 1 oz of spiced rum to an old fashioned glass with ice.
2. Fill with pumpkin base mixture.
3. Garnish with a stick of cinamon.

Cheers!

The Boston Shaker

The Boston shaker is one of the must have tools for any bartender or mixologist. It is such a simple piece of construction with it's two components - two cones, one metal, and one glass. 

Once the cocktail has been chosen by you and/or your guest, you will prepare the glassware necessary, then build the drink in the Boston shaker. Begin by filling the mixing glass about 2/3 full of ice, next pour the ingredients into the mixing glass, and finally place the metal tin on top of the glass and give it a sharp tap on the base to make sure that you have a tight seal. You can certainly build the drink in the metal side, however you are then missing out on one of the important aspects of the mixing glass - THE SHOW! By building in the mixing glass it gives you the opportunity to wow everyone in the room with anticipation of what is being created.

Once you have created a tight seal you will pick up the shaker and shake for about 15-20 seconds. While shaking, it is important to keep the metal side facing your guest and the mixing glass facing the back bar. In the event that you don't have a tight seal and the shaker separates, the mixing glass and contents will hit the back bar and not your guest.

Once finished shaking you will hold the shaker with the metal side on the bottom and give it a sharp tap with the heel of your hand where the two cones come together, this will break the seal and allow you to serve this delicious cocktail.

Bramble

The Bramble is one of the delicious gin cocktails of yesteryear. This cocktail has a great balance of sweet sour and is visually appealing as well. A great gin to mix this cocktail with is @tanqueraygin.

Bramble:
1 oz gin
1.75 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
1/4 oz Chambord

Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in an old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice. Drizzle @chambord over top.

If you don't have crushed ice, you can use cubes and get a similar effect.

Cheers!

Victorian Lemonade

Recently we were tasked with creating a hard lemonade, and in doing so we created a great lemonade base that we have used interchangeably with different spirits.

For this particular project we were working on an English themed event - Downton Abbey - and therefor we decided that we should use gin to fit the theme.

Victorian Lemonade Recipe:
1 oz Broker's Gin
1.75 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup










We started our Downton Abbey event by serving this hand crafted cocktail first and wow was it a winner. Guests continued to come back throughout the event asking for more of the Lemonade.

CHEERS!

Downton Abbey Party

So we just had the annual Polo at Point in Point Clear, Al and The Grand Hotel decided to do a Downton Abbey themed tent.... lot of fun. So naturally we get to create English cocktails that we think may have been popular during the early 1900's.







Naturally we were immediately drawn to gin, and we wanted to keep the drinks period relevant and simple. History shows that there were not many complex cocktails during this time and there was certainly not any flavored vodkas or pre-mixed sweet & sours. History also shows that gin is not nearly as popular as it was in 1919. Ever since the "vodka craze" of the 1950's, gin's popularity has seen a steady decline in popularity, so we knew we had our work cut out for us to try and convince vodka drinkers that they could enjoy gin also.


After doing our research, we narrowed our cocktail list down to 5 cocktails, please click on the name of each to be taken to the recipe.

Bramble

Earl Grey MarTEAni

Raspberry Collins

Victorian Lemonade

English Garden (pic coming soon)

Recipes coming soon...