Vespermania
This sounds a bit like a bunch of cocktail nerds got out of hand and held a WWF-style brawl. Don't lie, you would totally watch that, wouldn't you? What I actually have for you today, as with many of my drinks, is something born out of curiousity and availability. What was available: a LOT of barrel-aged (pink) vesper (check out my post from 1/5/22 for details). It turns out that when you barrel-age a cocktail, you get... (checks notes) a barrel FULL of cocktail. As someone who infrequently makes the same drink more than a couple times, that is a *lot* of vesper.
Rose Colored Glasses
First of all, happy National Cocktail Day to all my fellow drinkstagrammers and cocktail enthusiasts! I would be remiss if I didn’t post today, of all days, a cocktail (with a bonus mocktail version!) to celebrate. Today I have a very pink drink quite literally served in rose colored glasses, but hopefully you won’t have to wear yours to see what makes this drink delicious [Dad joke alert🤓].
The Real Streets of Cabbagetown
I posted a drink called Cabbagetown (1/18/21) that was named for an area of Toronto, since the drink itself was a Toronto riff. Many people commenting on the drink were expecting actual cabbage in the drink, which made me really happy to know that people think I am bold (?crazy) enough to try such a thing. I mean, it would be on-brand given my love for food-inspired, often savory-leaning concoctions. Yeah, you see where this is going-- I had to do it.
Manda Lavanda
Happy National Margarita Day! As if you needed an excuse to drink a margarita on Taco Tuesday... but if you are looking for a reason, here is a smoky, floral margarita that is definitely not your classic option. First, it brings in a floral-forward gin. I know this may upset some of the margarita purists out there, but it's certainly not the first cocktail to bring these two spirits together. Those floral notes are rounded out with Bitter Bianco, a less bitter, more floral, and much less red Campari. The touch of citrus here plays well with the Cointreau and keeps the juniper in check as a nice subtle background note.
135 Reasons
One of my favorite things about gin (there are many) is just how diverse the category is, especially with the semi-recent revival of more localized gins showcasing the essence--nay, terroir-- of the area. The more gins I try, the more I appreciate their diversity, as well as the importance of pairing the best gin for the job at hand.
Green With Envy
Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m sure your feed is filled with Red, Cliches, and references to fat, matchmaking little angels. This post goes out to anyone not feeling all the Love…or maybe even feeling a bit jealous of all the warm fuzzies Hallmark would make you believe you should be feeling. [Full disclosure: I am a Big Softie and I happily married to my forever Valentine🥰].
Don’t Ass-ume
I love plum wine (umeshu). I always assumed it was made with, well, plums… but it’s actually made ume, which is actually a relative of (but not identical to) the plum most of us are familiar with. The things I learn while posting, amiright? I recently got my hands on an umeshu made with kokuto sugar.
PPP (purple / pea / plum)
Happy Monday y’all! After acorns and spruce trees I felt like something more… indoor? Less woodsy ? It’s a little simpler too, but don’t let that fool you; it’s a darn good gin sour. And it’s really purple so it has that going for it.
Southside of the Forest
Another day, another southside riff because they’re awesome. This one came together because: 1) I received a lovely gin from @spring44distilling (with a cool victory engraving by @rec_etch) that definitely gives “mountain forest” vibes; 2) I attempted to make spruce syrup. I say attempted because spruce tips are really necessary to make a proper syrup and I only had branches. The result still tastes spruce-y but was not near the tree branch mouth slap that I was going for.
La Royale
I interrupt your Fall/brown cocktails for a Very Pink Drink. No fear— in case you still need a reminder of the falling leaves, I have some dried roses in the shot (though they look a bit sadder in the picture than in real life, haha).