Grapefruit Blush Cocktail

In the depths of winter I find I will sometimes go a couple weeks without eating an orange or a grapefruit, and then suddenly the citrus craving will hit hard. Over the past couple days I've binged on clementines and cut up some grapefruit to slip into a salad, and today I decided to extend the citrus trend to late afternoon tipples, too. The same friend who gifted me with maple bitters last year recently gave me an awesome bottle of hibiscus-orange blossom-ginger simple syrup from the Bang Candy Co, and I found it paired quite well with the grapefruit juice I'd just squeezed. A little Cointreau and club soda later, and I was sipping this very easy and tasty cocktail.  It's sweet, tart, juicy, effervescent, and most importantly, makes you briefly forget the dull grey chill awaiting you outdoors. Looking forward to seeing where my current citrus obsession takes me next.

Grapefruit Blush Cocktail
Makes one drink

*4 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
*1 oz hibiscus-orange flower-ginger syrup (ginger simple syrup will work well as a sub)
*2 oz Cointreau
*Club soda
*Sugar & grapefruit zest, for rimming the glass

Mix some sugar and zest together on a plate and run a wedge of grapefruit around the rim of a short tumbler, then place it rim-side down in the sugar. Chill the glass.

Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a shaker filled with ice, then strain into your chilled glass and top with a little club soda.

Eggnog...and Eggnog Ice Cream

Talk about having your cake and eating it too - over the holidays I had a mind to make homemade eggnog AND David Lebovitz's eggnog ice cream...and found I could do both at the same time. When I was reading Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop it struck me that the ice cream's custard base was so extremely similar to most recipes for (cooked) eggnog I'd seen, that if I made a big enough batch, I could have both nog concoctions! 2 cups of the base went into chilled glasses and the other 2, into the ice cream maker: perfectly unctuous, rich eggnoggy deliciousness in both liquid & solid form. I prefer eggnog with black spiced rum but feel free to sub in your alcohol of choice - Lebovitz recommended bourbon & brandy. Sip your nog and eat it too!

Eggnog/Eggnog Ice Cream
Makes a quart of the base


Adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

*1 cup whole milk

*2 cups heavy cream, divided
*Good pinch salt
*2/3 cup sugar

*1/4 cup black-spiced rum (I use Kraken)

*1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

*Pinch cinnamon
*Pinch allspice

*6 organic eggs, divided

*1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine the milk, sugar, salt and one cup cream in a saucepan over medium and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the milk begins to steam. Put the other cup of cream into a bowl and chill well. 

Whisk the egg yolks until the yolks are glossy. Temper the yolks by slowly adding hot milk mix to them, whisking until fully incorporated. Pour the eggy liquid back into the pan and cook, stirring all the while, until it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon – just don't bring to a boil. Pour the mix through a fine mesh sieve into the bowl of chilled cream and add the spices, rum and vanilla. Stir well, then put in the fridge to chill overnight.

When you're ready to churn, use as much of the eggnog base as you would like, reserving any extra for immediate sippin'. To pump up those sipping servings, take about a tablespoon of egg white and a heavy pinch of sugar per serving and whisk together until peaks form, then gently fold the egg whites into the servings. Garnish both liquid and solid servings with freshly grated nutmeg and allspice. 

Old Vermont Cocktail

After enjoying a lovely getaway in Vermont last weekend I decided to nurse my post-vacation malaise with a drink that reminded me of time spent in the state. A friend of mine, Marisa, had gifted me with some maple bitters over the holidays as well as some adorable recipe cards including a gin-based cocktail she named the "Old Vermont", a darkly sweet, woodsy and citrusy tipple. I shook a double order up for me and the husband, and it was a perfect treat to mingle with warm memories. I'm looking forward to making a non-alcoholic cordial recipe also given to me by Marisa as well as concocting other drinks with the maple bitters!

Old Vermont Cocktail
Makes 2 drinks

Recipe courtesy of Marisa

*3 1/2 oz gin
*1 oz grade B maple syrup
*1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
*1/2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
*4 dashes maple bitters
*Ice cubes

Shake all ingredients vigorously and strain into a chilled glass.

My only addendum is to run a spent lemon or orange wedge around the rim of the glasses and dip in some maple sugar!

Masala Chai

I first stumbled onto the idea of homemade masala chai while reading a post on Design*Sponge; I'd indulged in a chai latte from time to time, but never thought of making my own blend. Ultimately I found I preferred a more heavily spiced version than the recipe offered by D*S, but they definitely provided me with the inspiration and framework. I've become quite addicted to my blend over time, especially during the more frigid months - it is so invigorating to inhale the fragrant steam coming off the liquid, and feel the glowing warmth of the spices with every sip. Make yourself a cuppa, set down with a good book, and enjoy!

Cup and saucer from Rachel Kozlowski

Masala Chai
Makes 2 servings

*2 cups water
*6 crushed cardamom pods
*6 cloves
*1/2 inch cube ginger
*1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
*1 inch piece cinnamon stick
*2 black tea bags
*Steamed milk (optional)

Bring the water, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon and ginger to a boil in a pot. Add tea bags and reduce heat to low; simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for another 5-10 minutes. Strain tea, discarding solids. If you want a milky beverage, use a 2-1 chai to milk ratio... I myself prefer the spiced tea alone!

Dark 'N' Stormy

We and the rest of the Eastern seaboard are currently being scrubbed by Sandy so I thought it would be good timing to post a pertinent cocktail, but unfortunately the requisite "Hurricane" proved to be beyond my grasp - I keep a well-stocked bar, but regrettably didn't have any passionfruit pulp on hand.  Imagine that. Instead, I went with one of my all-time favorites, a drink introduced to me a while back by my friend Jessica: the delicious Dark 'N' Stormy. Its a warm, tingly, frolicsome tipple, sure to keep you in good spirits while the rain and winds rail against your shutters. Plus, with power hanging on by a thread, you should really be making use of all that extra ice you bought. Enjoy, and to all my fellow East Coasters in the hurricane's path, stay safe.

Dark 'N' Stormy
Makes one drink

*2 oz dark rum (I like Kraken, or more traditionally, Goslings Black Seal)
*4 oz ginger beer (I prefer Fever Tree)
*Juice of 1/2 lime
*Spangle of allspice

Combine the rum, ginger beer and lime juice in a glass over ice, and sprinkle with a smidge of allspice.

Mango Margarita

I had a cut-up mango on hand; I wanted a margarita. 1+1=2. Done. 

Mango Margarita

Makes one cocktail

*2 oz tequila resposado

*1/4 cup fresh mango pulp (about half a mango, cut up in chunks)

*Juice from one lime

*3/4 oz triple sec

*A couple ice cubes

*Optional: Good coarse salt and chili powder to rim the glass

Cut up about half a fresh mango and puree in a blender - enough to yield about a quarter cup of pulp. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Throw in the freezer to chill a little longer before pouring. You can also sub frozen mango chunks for fresh and nix the ice. Optional rim job: Prepare a small plate with a little bit of salt and chili powder mixed together. Take a spent section of lime and run it around the rim of a cocktail glass to wet it, and then dip the glass rim into the salt mixture. Pour the margarita into the glass when chilled, and enjoy!

Agua de jamaica (Hibiscus Iced Tea)

I can thank my friend Jessica for turning me on to this deep-red, delicious summer quencher, which is a super-simple infusion of dried hibiscus (jamaica) flowers in lightly sugared water, with a squeeze o' lime. There are a few Mexican grocers in my area, so coming across cheap bags of the blossoms isn't hard at all, but you can easily order them online if you can't find them locally. I liken the flavor to floral cranberry juice, so if you're an admirateur of a good tarty pucker like me, you'll want to have a cold jug of this in your fridge at all times. It makes an excellent base for cocktails, too. I've yet to find a good use for the reconstituted blossoms...I've saved them for dotting on top of the drink glasses, frozen them in water for decorative ice cubes, but that's about it. Something about the texture is throwing me off from using them in edible contexts, but I do hate to throw them all away. If you have a good use for them, let me know!

Agua de jamaica
Makes about 5 cups

*5 cups water
*1/2-2/3 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want it to be
*1 heaping cup dried hibiscus (jamaica) blossoms
*1/2 of a small lime, juiced

Combine the water and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the blossoms, cover, remove from heat and let steep for about 20 minutes. Strain well, stir in the lime juice, and chill thoroughly in the fridge.

Blossoming interest

Wrecked Rose Cocktail

An email from terrain popped into my inbox the other day, promising cocktail recipes within, so naturally I swiftly clicked over. The first one that caught my eye was "Wecked Rose", which I initially misread as "Wrecked Rose" - which was less a recipe and more an advertisement for their "Weck" glass jars and various types of overpriced syrups sold at the store. The wistful poetry of my misread stuck with me though, so I decided to concoct my own cocktail to fulfill that name, and am pretty happy with what I tinkered into existence. It's what I'll take on to the porch when I'm musing about the beautifully sad impermanence of my seasonal blossoms.

And yes - it tastes as girly as it looks.

Wrecked Rose
Makes one drink

*2 oz lychee vodka

*10 raspberries, fresh or frozen
*Half a lime, juiced

*1 oz rose water (see note)

Muddle raspberries in a shaker with vodka, rose water and lime juice. Strain into a glass with ice and garnish with a lime slice. You can substitute regular vodka if you don't feel like springing for some lychee business.

Note on 'rose water': I had rose syrup on hand, which I diluted in a solution of about 1 part syrup to 5-6 parts water.

Mulberry Mule

The mulberry tree on my block shades a deep bruised-purple stain that grows wider as foot traffic tramples fallen berries. Before I realized what a boon it was, the tree remained a disgusting obstacle during the month of June, something that I'd usually cross the street to avoid. Last year, however, in a feverish foraging streak I finally approached the tree and its indigo-hued berries with a newly enlightened eye (and left with stained fingers and a happy tongue). Hopefully you're lucky enough to have a mulberry tree near you; if you haven't already, make fast friends with it.

Mulberry Mule
Makes one drink

*10-12 mulberries
*4 oz ginger beer (I love Fever Tree)
*2 oz vodka
*Juice from half a lime (about an ounce)

Put the mulberries in a shaker and muddle well with the vodka and lime juice. Strain into a glass with ice, add ginger beer and lightly stir. This cocktail is so named for its riff on the Moscow Mule.

Jalapeño Margarita

I was rooting through my fruits & veg today for my cache of limes and found one lonely jalapeño tucked in with them, and decided to incorporate it into a margarita. This concoction goes down very smooth, and the lips tingle and swell from the spice sting. An excellent drink and drinking experience; I'll be simmering jalapeños in simple syrup for its cause all summer long.

Jalapeño Margaritas
Makes one drink, with leftover infused syrup

*1/2 cup water
*1/2 cup sugar
*1 jalapeño
*1 lime, juiced (about an ounce of juice)
*1.5 oz tequila resposado (I use El Espolon)
*1/2 oz triple sec

Bring water to a simmer in a small pan and dissolve 1/2 cup of sugar within while bringing to a boil. Reduce back to a simmer and add the sliced jalapeño, seeds and all. Simmer for 10 minutes, strain, and then pop into a small mason jar to cool in the fridge. In a shaker combine the lime juice, tequila, triple sec and 1/2 oz of the infused syrup, and shake with ice. Strain into a glass. Feel free to rim the glass with sugar or salt and garnish with a reserved slice of pepper and lime... I threw my garnish in the drink after photographing, and it got progressively spicier as I neared the bottom of the glass, much to my delight.

Tequila-Thyme Lemonade

While attending some garden event held at terrain a couple summers ago on a particularly sweltering day, I was handed a cupful of tequila-thyme lemonade poured from a large, sweating jug stuffed with lemon slices and bundles of thyme. One sip and I was hooked. When I got home I immediately started tinkering to get the proportions right on my own version, and its been a summer staple ever since. Luckily thyme spreads like wildfire in my garden, so I'm never wanting for the herb.

Tequila-Thyme Lemonade

Makes 2 servings

*2 cups lemonade

*3-4 oz of tequila (I use Espolon resposado because that's usually what I have on hand but you can definitely get away with using cheapo tequila in this)

*1 small bouquet of thyme

*Ice

*Lemon slice

Pour the lemonade and the tequila into a shaker. You could make your own lemonade, but I'm lazy and go with Simply Lemonade, which is delicious and a fine stand-in for fresh. Tie your bouquet of thyme together with a bit of thread and steep in the shaker for 10-15 minutes or so before removing. Strain and pour the drink over ice. You can divide the bouquet between the glasses for presentation's sake if you wish. Garnish with a slice of lemon.