Watermelon Jalapeno Slush ~ a sweet and spicy summer cocktail treat …Read More

Sticking with a Tropical Theme, this week’s drink is Ron Zacapa Ambassador, Robert Gonzales’ take on the classic Mai Tai.

Ingredients:
1 ½ oz Ron Zacapa 23
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz Mandarine Napoléon
¾ oz Velvet Falernum
½ oz Orgeat
¼ oz All Spice Dram
3 Chunks of fresh roasted pineapple, muddled

Directions:
Cut Pineapple in to chunks and roast for 10 – 15 min on 350F. Let cool. Place pineapple chunks … Read more

Until this drink, I’d never had a cocktail made with fresh lychees. Their bumpy shell houses a squishy, gelatinous fruit with a little seed inside that. It tastes like a sweeter more syrupy grape with an exotic fruit twist. Nolet’s Gin sent me a box of lychees and a suggestion for how to use them … a Gimlet made with lychees. How could I resist?

In case you’ve never seen a lychee before (I hadn’t), … Read more

Originating in the 1890s, the Floradora is a fresh cool highball cocktail that still stands tall in the 21st century. The refreshing combo of raspberries, gin, lime and a bite of ginger beer is just right on a summer’s eve. The trick with this drink is to pick a gin that is not overly junipery (yep that’s a word). We like Hendrick’s.

Ingredients:
3 parts gin
1 part fresh lime juice
Ginger beer
Fresh Raspberries… Read more

Ingredients:
3 oz Russian Standard Vodka 
0.5 oz fresh lime juice 
0.5 oz agave nectar 
6 cherry tomatoes 
8 basil leaves 
Kosher salt 
Cracked black pepper

Directions:
Muddle cherry tomatoes and basil with a dash each of salt and pepper.  Add lime agave and Russian Standard Vodka.  Shake vigorously with ice cubes and double strain into a coupe glass rubbed with lime and rimmed with equal parts salt and black pepper.  Garnish with a basil … Read more

Watermelon Mojito …Read More

Layer 1

Ingredients:
½ oz Herradura Silver
½ oz lime juice
½ oz agave syrup
4 strawberries

Layer 2

Ingredients:
1 oz Herradura Silver
½ oz lime juice
½ oz agave syrup

Layer 3

Ingredients:
½ oz Herradura Silver
½ oz lime juice
½ oz agave syrup
12 Blueberries

Garnish:

½ Strawberry
3 Blueberries

Directions:
Combine each set of ingredients in advance as you’ll want to blend these quickly one after another. Blend the ingredients … Read more

Served at Woodward at Ames in Boston, MA

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco
1 oz agave nectar
2 fresh cranberries
1 thin slice jalapeño pepper
1/2 oz lime juice
1 jalapeño, garnish 

Directions:
Muddle jalapeño and cranberries in a highball glass. Combine Tequila Don Julio Blanco, agave nectar, and lime juice into a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake well and strain into rocks glass over ice, muddled jalapeño and cranberries. Garnish with … Read more

Ingredients:
1 ½ parts Effen Vodka
¾ parts lime juice
¾ parts fresh ginger syrup
1 dash bitters
Fever-Tree Ginger Beer
5 Mint leaves

Directions:
Muddle mint in lime and syrup, add to a cocktail shaker with the vodka over ice and shake. Strain and pour into a tall glass with ice and ginger beer. Garnish with mint sprig.

Created by David Nepove. Courtesy of Effen Vodka.

Margaritas are a great way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. But they’re not the only way! Here’s one of my favorite tequila cocktails, the Paloma. This cocktail is a tall, cool and not too sweet. Tequila, lime and grapefruit juice (or soda). So nice on a hot day.

Ingredients:
2 oz tequila (blanco or reposado)
1 oz lime juice
4-5 oz grapefruit juice or soda
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
Build in a tall glass … Read more