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Lula Harp

~ one girl's journey into cooking, crafting and self discovery

Lula Harp

Category Archives: cocktails

A punch in the head

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by Lula Harp in 365project, cocktails

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

365project, cider, dinner, mac & cheese, pears, photoaday, prosecco, punch

A couple girlfriends and I threw a mac & cheese dinner party last night. We had 4 different mac & cheese dishes, wine, & punch. It all turned out quite tasty!

And like every successful party, the fire department was peripherally involved. I’m sad to report the lobster mac did not survive. Clearly this means a do-over!

#365project #photoaday #goodfriendsrock

Super simple & tasty cider punch

1/2 gallon fresh apple cider
1-2 cups pear infused vodka (I didn’t measure, but made to taste)
2 bottles prosecco
sliced pears to garnish

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Toast Tuesday: Concocting crafts and cocktails

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Concoct, creme de cacao, Shelby Farms Park, tequila, tincture, volunteering

I live next to one of the most amazing parks.  I walk out my front door and I’m in 120 acre wooded off leash dog heaven.  It’s where I dust off the cooties of the work day, find peace, and my sanity.  Coe and I spend a great deal of time in this park, day and night.  In the three Decembers I’ve lived in Memphis, I have given back to this awesome park by volunteering at Starry Nights, a drive through holiday light display.  Some nights have been cold, raining, warm, and stormy, but it has always been great fun.

I’ve met some incredible people in my volunteering time and when I had the opportunity to share an idea with the park, they listened.  I’m sure it helped that I made cocktails for our first two meetings.  One of the things I’ve found in my move is that there is a gaping hole in the activities available for 30-50 year olds.  I know the kind of things I like to do and I just haven’t been finding it here.  As a result, I’ve made my own.

If this hadn’t already been on calendar, I might have been inclined to bail, since still recovering from the flu.  We had worked so hard to promote this event and get folks interested, I was making this happen.  Thanks goodness for my lovely assistant and the awesome folks at the park.

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At our kickoff event, we had 20 enthusiastic people, one really yummy cocktail four ways, and a creative Valentine painting project.  I talked to folks about bitters and how they enhance and highlight different flavors in a cocktail.  They got to taste the different bitters and customize their cocktails.  While they sipped, they painted, glued, and glittered.  I think I can safely say this event was a success and I am delighted and giddy for the next ones.

We are going to do this monthly, with each month’s drinks selected for the season or event of the month.  In the upcoming months we will be doing Irish whiskey, mint julep, and sangria.  So many yummy ideas are swirling in my brain… what to concoct next?

Wondering what we made?  Here’s our cocktail: Mambo til Morning

Mambo til Morning
1 ounce tequila
1 ounce fresh expresso or cold brewed coffee
½ ounce heavy cream or ¾ ounce half & half
1 ounce cream de cacao
2 dashes chile tincture or bitters

Tools: shaker, jigger, strainer
Glass: coupe or cocktail glass
Garnish: mint leaf

Combine the ingredients in your cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake briskly.
Strain into a coupe.
Slap fresh mint leaf in the palm of your hand and float on cocktail

Chile Tincture
Fill a small jar with stemmed hot chili peppers and cover with high proof vodka. Let sit soak for three days, shaking at least once per day, then strain. You can use a combination of any type of chili peppers such as habaneros, jalapenos, arbol, or Thai chiles.

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Toast Tuesday: Toasting Life

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

aged rum, bitters, creme de cacao, Elemakule Tiki Bitters, Scrappy's Orleans Bitters, tequila

In the new year, I am going to continue with Toast Tuesday, but with a twist. I am going to be toasting life. I will be trying new spirits, new cocktails, new recipes, new restaurants, meeting new people, and in short, trying all sorts of new stuff.

It’s not like I have really ever had trouble getting out of my shell, but I am going to make myself try things I would not otherwise.  In the past year, I have spent a lot of money on booze in the pursuit of drinking adventurously.  I normally read a lot of food and cocktail recipes.  I buy herbs, spices, and chiles with the intent of making some dish that ultimately never gets made.  Those days are over.

One of the things I bought last year, with no real plans, was creme de cacao.  This is a chocolate liqueur and since I don’t really like sweet drinks, I can’t recall why I bought it.  I am working on a new series of workshops focusing on cocktails and crafts.  The first will be in February and I am focusing on chocolate.

In the name of research, I have been making cocktails with the creme de cacao.  Most of the recipes I have found, have focused on the sweet chocolate aspect of the liqueur, of which I abhor.  I’m more interested in cocktails that make you wonder what’s in there.

The two I have found most interesting so far pair tequila and aged rum with the creme de cacao.  Both are rich and decadent, but with the addition of interesting tinctures and bitters, balance into something really enjoyable.

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This is Occam’s Razor with cold brewed coffee, chile tincture, and a mint garnish.  I didn’t have a chance to make the chile tincture this weekend, but instead used Elemakule Tiki Bitters.  I think with the flavors in this drink, it could also be made with bourbon or an aged rum.  I’ll be making the chile tincture very shortly.

 

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This is the Coctel de Chocolate that calls for a chocolate sauce made with Mexican chocolate.  Mexican chocolate has spices and depth you don’t normally find in good ole hersheys, but one of the things I’m trying to do in my workshop is get folks to make interesting cocktails with regular ingredients they have in their cabinet.  So, I did use good ole hershey syrup and Scrappy’s Orleans Bitters.  Without the bitters, the drink was too sweet, one most of the Memphis girls will love.  The addition of bitters, gives it more balance and depth, making it something I found much more interesting.

Here’s to toasting you a sweet and extraordinary new year!

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Toast Tuesday: Props to the Elder(flower)s

31 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

basil, cucumber, elderflower liqueur, fads, martini, St Germain, The Year of Drinking Adventurously

This week we are exploring elderflower liqueur.  As our author starts off reminding us, there are so many fads that come and go, and so few that actually stay.  Elderflower liqueur is one of the few that took hold and has become known as the “bartender’s ketchup” because it will fix just about anything.

Our guide

Our guide

It is for that very reason that it has been something I have avoided.  Avoided may be too strong, but steered away from.  I can appreciate the floral flavor and sweetness it can add to a drink.  On it’s own, I found it reminiscent of children’s cough syrup, with a familiar, but undetermined, flavor that lingered in the back of my throat.

I enjoy a cocktail that has balance and nuance, and if it needs ketchup, then it generally isn’t for me.  Brother C sent me a Cucumber Basil Martini recipe with the following quote

Martinis- the first one is divine; the second will make a third seem like a good idea which, I assure, it is not.

 

This is one of the few cocktails I have had where the elderflower liqueur is a complement, and not a cover-up.  With all of the strong flavors in this cocktail, the only sweetness is from the liqueur, and it marries everything together.  I expected it to come on strong and had dialed back the liqueur a touch, but found that the full amount brought balance to the picture.

2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Vermouth
¼ Large Cucumber
3 Large Basil Leaves
¼ Lime Juice

Directions:
Muddle cucumber, lime juice, and basil together in a cocktail shaker.
Add vodka, St. Germain, and vermouth.
Fill with ice and shake well.
Strain into a martini glass or coupe.

While there are now a few different brands on the shelves, the first, and most distinctive, is St Germain.  The bottle is beautiful and that alone is worth buying it for.  Sadly, the creator of St Germain died earlier this year, a fact I learned while purchasing this week’s bottle.26755325214_2ff1b45a0c_z

So, this Tuesday, we Toast to St Germain, and the fad that stuck around.  Be sure to visit Meg and see what she came up with this week.

Here’s my little monster who photo-bombed my cocktail photo-shoot.

photo bombed cocktail kitty

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Toast Tuesday: Pulque

10 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

agave liqueur, Agavero, ginger liqueur, pomegranate, pulque, tequila, The Year of Drinking Adventurously, toast tuesday

Before there was beer, there was Pulque.  Week 19 in our Year of Drinking Adventurously finds up discussing a cousin of mezcal.  I glossed over mezcal last week in favor of tequila, but to play catch-up for a moment, mezcal is a spirit distilled from agave, like tequila, but tends to be earthier and smokier than tequila, somewhat akin to the peatiness of  scotch.

Our guide

Our guide

Fast forward to this week, pulque is a fermented, but not distilled beverage.  According to our author, it is a mildly sweet, viscous beverage that dates back sometime to the Aztec Empire.  It’s exact origins are not entirely clear, but there’s a legend that a woman came upon 400 rabbits and as she approached them, all but one scattered.  The one that remained was running in circles “like a lopsided drunkard”.  Now if that doesn’t paint a pretty picture.  She followed the drunk bunny, who led her to an agave plant that was leaking nectar.  It spontaneously fermented and intoxicated the bunny.  She took this back to her village and they took this as a sign from the gods.  She was dubbed Mayahuel, goddess of the maguey plant.

Pulque was pervasive throughout Mexico until about a century ago, when it faded from popularity.  According to the mom and pop pulque shops, the beer distributors started a  smear campaign about how unsanitary pulque was.  Our author gives the impression he doesn’t put much stock in this reason for the decline in pulque; but I’ll say a smear campaign worked on absinthe. Also, a couple years ago Costco showed what big money backing a ballot initiative could do in the state of Oregon.  Like many smart artisan products though, pulque is experiencing a resurgence.  It just hasn’t made it to Memphis.

Neither has mezcal, or based on the feedback when I inquired in at least six different liquor stores, the mezcal resurgence hasn’t made it here.  We used to carry that or we discontinued it was what I heard from each store where I inquired.  Just when I was about to throw up my hands in a fit of failure, I looked over and saw an intriguing little bottle… an agave liqueur.  $17, what’s to loose?

agavero

Upon arriving home, I tasted it straight and it had a nice flavor, with just a hint of tequila, and not overly sweet like some liqueurs.  I took to the google for some inspiration and a jumping off point of what to do with little lovely.  I found a recipe for a riff on a pomegranate cosmo, but I can never follow a recipe as it’s written.  Here’s what I did:

1 oz Agavero
1 1/2 oz tequila
3/4 oz pomegranate juice
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz ginger liqueur

Combine all in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and poured into a coupe glass.

Agavero Pom cocktail

This was delightful while sitting on the patio enjoying the evening.  It certainly made any remaining frustrations from the work day vanish.

Here’s to Toasting another Tuesday! Cheers y’all and be sure to check out what Meg drank this week.

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Toast Tuesday: Tequila

03 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

margaritas, poem, tequila, The Year of Drinking Adventurously, toast tuesday

We all have that story.  You know, the one where we do shots of tequila and then end up ridiculously sick.  Mine was on my 21st birthday.  So was yours?!  It took me years to drink tequila again.  I was more scared of tequila than I was of whiskey… hmmm… maybe not…

I am so thankful tequila and I made up.  It really is one of life great pleasures.

Our Guide

According to our author, much of the popularity and “premiumization” of tequila is thanks to Patron.  It certainly was the first tequila I thought was something better than swill.  I can’t recall the name of it now, but there was (is?) a tequila bar in Portland.  That was the first time I had ever heard of a shot, one single shot, of tequila costing $30+.  I didn’t spend that, but I did try some that certainly made me rethink tequila.

The key with tequila is buying one that is 100% agave.  Many will say agave tequila, because like whiskey they have to have a certain percentage of agave to be called tequila.  There are different types of tequila.  Silver or blanco, is an unaged tequila.  Clear in color, right off the still.  Then there is reposado, where it has “rested” anywhere from two months to nine months in wooden vessels.  Finally, there are anejo, meaning aged.  These are aged at least a year, but can spend any where from two to four years in a barrel.

This week also would have covered mezcal, but I have a good stock of tequila and decided to stick with what I had on hand.  I’ll double back and hit mezcal on a week I foresee another fail.

My friend P and I used to drive home from work on a back road, winding through Oregon City and we stumbled upon one of the greatest margaritas of all times.  We still refer to this as the Steven Margarita.  We made a rule, we could talk about work for one drink, then when the second one was placed in front of us, all talk of work had to stop.  These margaritas cured everything!  When Steven got a new job and left us to fend for ourselves, we attempted to recreate his magic.

There is really nothing better than a fresh, from scratch margarita.  But most of us don’t have that kind of time or patience during the week.  So, I came up with the Steven Shortcut.

In a rocks glass, muddle 1 or 2 wedges of lime
1/2 oz triple sec
2 oz tequila of your choice
top with about 4 ounces of Freshies Margarita Mix*
Sprinkle with pink Himalayan salt (or whatever you have on hand)

Stir and drink. ahhhhhhhh
*Freshies has no high fructose corn syrup and if I can’t make fresh, its my favorite mixer.

Margarita Tuesday

I have three tequilas on my bar, one purchased purely for the pretty bottle, one for mixing, and one for sipping or mixing.  This is the first time I have ever sipped all three side by side and I’ll admit I was surprised.  The pretty bottle may be my new favorite mixer, especially for people who think they don’t like tequila.

Coa Silver was about $15.  It has a little boozey nose, but it tastes like water.  Quite smooth, but it got lost completely in the drink.

El Charro, a reposado, has been my mixer, and by itself I was not impressed, but it stands up quite nicely to a mixer.  Giving my margarita a hint of something, with that little bit of age coming through.

Finally, my sipper/mixer has been Zircon Azul, but I think it’s been bumped in favor of the other two.  Good, but a little more expensive and not any better.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to try some very nice tequilas and you can check that out here.  Be sure to see what Meg drank this week.

This Toast Tuesday I leave you with a poem…

Tequila with salt and lime
I can drink you any time
You always lift my mood
And pair with all kinds of food
Oh the simple joys in life
A cup filled w happiness & ice
I don’t know how else to tell ya
I love a good margarita

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Toast Tuesday: It’s not a fail, it’s a pass-over

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

apple, charoset, cinnamon, Passover, potato vodka, The Year of Drinking Adventurously

This week I’m supposed to be telling you all about grappa, but a couple of things have stopped me. Number one of which is all the grappa I found locally was $60 a bottle. That just wasn’t in the budget this time, especially when our author states that the flavor profile can be somewhere between furniture polish and lighter fluid.  I may revisit this some day and if you have suggestions to offer, please post them below.

Our guide

Our guide

This week instead of following our guide, I have taken a hard left and then down a tree lined driveway.

Every family has its traditions and in my Portland family the tradition is I make the charoset. This week is the Jewish holiday of Passover and it usually kicks off with a big dinner with lots of wine, and instead of a song about a reindeer, we sing about a goat. The centerpiece of the dinner is a plate with an assortment of symbolic foods and charoset represents the mortar. The way I make charoset, it is a simple salad of apples, pecans, cinnamon, honey, and wine.  I even made a charoset inspired scone one year, you’ll find that here.

I threw out an idea to my ladies group, half joking, that this month’s happy hour at home would be during Passover and a challenge for them to make dishes that were kosher for Passover. They quickly picked up the gauntlet, and then almost as quickly went into a panic. I held their hand and posted some links for recipes, traditional and non. I’ll keep you posted on how they do.

Not only was this a challenge for them, it was a challenge for me. To come up with a cocktail menu that is kosher for Passover I had to put my thinking cap on.  This is what I’m serving: a white wine and peach sangria, a strawberry margarita, and an apple cinnamon martini.  I should stipulate at this point that I keep kosher during Passover in fairly loose terms. I follow the rules, but I do not feel the need to buy special ingredients that have been blessed by a rabbi just so I can pay twice as much for it. Agave is not a grain or flour, it does not rise; therefor let it be written, the margarita, if made with good simple ingredients, is kosher for Passover. More on the margarita next week.

I’ve told you before my ladies like their drinks sweet. So I always have to have at least one on the menu for them. That’s where the apple cinnamon martini comes in. I started with an idea, Google helped solidify it, and experimentation made it so.

Pass-Over the Martini

Pass-Over the Martini
2 ounces Chopin potato vodka
1/2 ounce apple cinnamon simple syrup*
Pour in a shaker, add ice, and shake hard for 10 seconds.

Pour into a martini glass and add a few drops of angostura bitters.

**Apple cinnamon simple syrup
1 cup Martinelli’s unfiltered apple juice or fresh cider if you can find it
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Heat in the microwave or stove stop and stir until combined. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

This is certainly too sweet for my normal pallet and the bitters help cut the sweetness and bring out the spice of the cinnamon. I’m certain though my ladies are going to enjoy this.

Be sure to see what Meg drank this week.  I can only hope she drank grappa for the two of us.

Here’s to Tasting another Tuesday!

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Toast Tuesday: Soju

12 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

creamsicle, Korea, soju, The Year of Drinking Adventurously, yogurt cocktails

I’ve been in the blogosphere for almost 5 years and today I present you a first.  My first guest post.  Brother C has been drinking along with Meg and I.  We’ve been comparing drinks and swapping cocktails for ages.  Now with my lack of supply, and truthfully, lack of energy or time, I’ve strong armed him into officially drinking in my place this week.

Our guide

Our guide

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Hey Lula, so’d you find you Soju?

A long, long time ago, as Lula and I had dinner with friends at a tapas joint in San Francisco, the conversation turned to “things people consume in other countries.” My guest that evening was J, an Air Force A1C recently back from Osan AB, Korea. They call that a hardship tour. Lula’s guests were horrified by what they heard J describe of the Korean cuisine. I think dinner might have ended prematurely. And we never even talked about soju.

Flashback to two days earlier…

I picked up J at the airport and brought him back to my apartment. Within minutes J’s duffel was open and he was in the kitchen making drinks. He called them “white dogs.” Apparently they are so popular amongst the troops that we keep sitting just south of the 38th Parallel, waiting for Kim-Il Somebody-or-Other to do something stupid. Wow, that was actually two whole Kims ago! How time flies.

Let’s be completely honest here. The basis for this chemistry experiment is the cheap local swill consumed to excess by off-duty twenty-something kids who miss their families and spend their time on duty facing down a cult of personality with nuclear weapons. You know, something just to take the edge off. For cheap. We are not drinking Gangnam-style here.

The ingredients in a white dog basically consist of soju, lemon-lime soda, and Korean yogurt beverage. The last item is probably unfamiliar to most Americans, but like soju, it is a wildly popular beverage in Korea. It is a dairy product, actually more milk than yogurt, commonly sold in packages of small plastic bottles each just 2 or 3 ounces. It is helpful to live near a Korean grocery.

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You’ll have to take my word for it, the yogurt tastes better than it looks. It is available in a number of different flavors, so whether lychee-mango is your style, or you’re a strict traditionalist, there is a breed of white dog just for you.

Any American lemon-lime soda is a perfectly reasonable choice, but while you’re at the Korean grocery picking up yogurt that you’ve never heard of before, you might as well try Chilsung Cider, a Korean lemon-lime soda that you’ve also never heard of before. With apologies to Psy, this is in fact K-Pop.

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The ratio of lemon-lime soda to yogurt is about 3:1, with soju basically added to taste (or effect, if you prefer). You can add a splash of orange juice if you like. Preparation does not necessarily require ice, particularly if the ingredients are pre-chilled. The mixing glass may double as drinkware if you assemble the ingredients in an empty plastic Coke bottle. White dogs are made to travel. Which brings me to first impressions. Many will say that the white dog doesn’t really taste like anything, but to my palate, it is reminiscent of a Creamsicle. Sweet and creamy with notes of citrus.

If you find a recipe for white dogs on the Internet, it is almost certainly (A) lacking in specifics, and (B) in a quantity serving 8. If you want to class it up and drink like an adult, here is how you can make a single serving at a reasonable strength:

White Dog (litter of one)
Stir together chilled ingredients in a double old-fashioned glass:

3 oz Jinro 24 soju
4 oz Chilsung Cider (or Sprite)
1.5 oz Korean yogurt
splash of orange juice (optional)

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Taste-Off: Jinro 24 vs Ty-Ku

Jinro 24 ($8.99/750 ml) is the best-selling spirit brand worldwide, outselling Smirnoff vodka by better than 2:1. Well chilled, as dictated by tradition, it is neutral and nearly flavorless. The nose is your alcohol evaporating. Drink up before it’s gone. 48 proof.

Ty-Ku ($27.99/750 ml) is a Japanese-made super-premium soju that I picked up because it comes in a pretty package that looks like a perfume bottle. (Alas, this is not blue glass, rather a blue plastic shrink-wrapped label on a clear glass bottle.) Unique and suitable for sipping, especially chilled. Just a tease of sweetness, and sake on the palate; the nose has hints of merlot. 40 proof.


 

Thanks for stepping up and carrying the torch for me this week! All I remember from that dinner, all those years ago, was that was my very first sangria.  It was clearly memorable!

Brother C threw in another bonus bit of reading for us.  An interesting article from Slate about Soju.  Worth a gander.    Let’s show him some props y’all.  Thanks for stepping up to the bar for your little sister.

A creamsicle cocktail to kick our week off!  Cheers and here’s another Toast to Tuesday!

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Toast Tuesday: Sake

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, Toast Tuesday

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

cocktails, happy hour, infusion, martini, mojito, sake, The Year of Drinking Adventurously

I’ve had a wonderful week of sake.  The story, the process, and the different types are all too vast for me to summarize in any succinct manner.  I’ll just tell you, sake is yummy.  If you don’t believe me, I’ve got a room full of ladies that’ll tell you I changed some minds.  Our guide in this journey is very passionate about his sake.  I will certainly have to give a little more thought the next time I go out for sushi.

For my monthly Happy Hour at Home, I made cocktails with sake!

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In addition to our cocktails, I had sake for the ladies to try.  Sometime last summer I went to a short sake seminar.  I tried all sorts of sakes and I learned a few things that really stuck in my head.

  1.  They polish the rice before it is fermented.  The more they polish it, the higher grade the sake.  When they polish it, they are removing a certain percentage of the grain to achieve a certain flavor.
  2.   I’m not a huge fan of the unfiltered sake I have tried.  I won’t say I don’t like unfiltered sake, because I am sure there is some I would like.  But so far, not a fan.
Our guide

Our guide

The winner of the sake samples, was my favorite from the sake tasting I went to.  It was a sparkling sake.  If I hadn’t told them it was sake, they would have all thought it was champagne.  It’s beautifully delicate, with a hint of floral sweetness.  That is the pretty blue bottle in the front of the picture with 4 sake bottles.

I made three cocktails.  All were a huge hit, but there is always a clear favorite.  This evening the gold medal went to the Mojito.

Sake Mojito
In an 8 ounce mason jar or rocks glass, muddle
2 sugar cubes
7-10 mint leaves
1 wedge of lime
Fill glass with ice and top with sake (about 4oz).
Stir well and enjoy!

Pineapple Sake-tini
2 oz sake
1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
Splash simple syrup (1/4z)
Few drops Elemakule bitters or Angostura bitters
Shake with ice and serve up.

Cucumber Sake-tini
2 oz sake
1/2 oz cucumber infused vodka*
1/4 oz simple syrup
Shake with ice and serve up.

*I chopped and muddled 1 large cucumber and topped with 8 ounces of vodka. Let the infusion sit in the fridge for 2 days, then strained.
The simple syrup really heightens the flavor of the cucumber.
To kick this martini up a notch, add 1/2 oz Hot Monkey or you favorite pepper infused vodka.

As I sit here, pondering my week of sake, I am enjoying another mojito.  This may be this summer’s drink… that is until the next amazing week of drinks.

Here’s to Toasting a great Tuesday!  Be sure to see what Meg drank.

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Thirsty Thursday goes Tiki

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in cocktails, girlfriends

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

cocktails, coconut cream, Elemakule Tiki Bitters, happy hour, recipe, rum, seasons, tiki, wordpress photochallenge

I hosted Happy Hour at home on Thursday for a bunch of ladies.

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a tiki-tacular good time!
a tiki-tacular good time!
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The evening was so much fun it has been decided this will be a yearly event, if not more often.  I had originally scheduled it during a bitter cold snap, but the day turned out so warm and lovely, we had the patio door open and the fan on.

I seeded a Pandora station and we listened to vintage tiki-type music while discussing cocktails, movies, books, and what the evening’s best dish was (all of it).  I made four cocktails that I had pre-batched and made detailed instructions on what the guests needed to do to keep their glasses full.  This enabled I actually got to enjoy the evening and not just play bartender.

I made the original Mai Tai, Zombie, Black River Punch, and the Tall Blue Drink.  In order for the ladies to consume a little bit of everything, I made the cocktail size a little smaller than normal.  The hit of the evening was the Blue Drink, which ran out first, quickly followed by the Mai Tai.  I have a friend moving this weekend and tomorrow night I’ll be delivering dinner and a wine bottle of Black River Punch.  I’m learning whatever I dislike (sweet) is what the ladies like best.

The Tall Blue Drink is originally from The Great Tiki Drink book, but of course I had to make some modifications. Here is the drink as it was enjoyed at my happy hour.

Lula’s Blue Drink
1 ¼ oz white rum
1 oz coconut syrup
1 oz blue curacao
1 oz pineapple juice
3 oz sour mix
Dash of Elemakule Tiki bitters
Top with coconut La Croix
Garnish with maraschino cherry and umbrella

The original recipe called for the drink to be built in a highball glass, but I used Coco Real in a squeeze bottle.  If you have ever used coconut cream, you know that would have been near impossible.  I made it in a cocktail shaker then poured into the highball and topped with soda.  It made the drink frothy and pretty.

The Mai Tai and Black River punch were my favorites; stronger than the blue drink and much less fruity.  I made one small modification to the Black River Punch with the addition of 3/4 oz pineapple juice.  This was my drink of choice for the evening.

Since we are having a beautiful spring weekend, I have all the windows open and am enjoying the frogs serenade me.  I hope you enjoy your weekend and a little liquid sunshine!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/seasons/

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