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