Strawberries-N-Cream

At a recent private wine tasting event my friend, Tony Viviano, of  Viviano & Sons Italian Market, introduced me to Fragoli Italian Wild Strawberry Liqueur. This stuff smells like a strawberry shortcake, and I'm quite tempted to pour this sweet stuff over a short stack of pancakes or a waffle on Saturday mornings. Bottled with tiny wild strawberries, this delicious Italian liqueur is great mixed with prosecco, lemonade, or 7-up. But tonight, I stumbled upon a combination so obvious, yet so delightful that I just had to share it with the world. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my latest creation...

Strawberries-N-Cream
In a short ice-filled glass pour 1/2 bottle of good cream soda (I used IBC). To this add 1.5 oz of Fragoli Wild Strawberry and stir. That's it. It is so simple yet so good that I actually exclaimed, "I am a genius!" after the first sip.

Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktation

Sloe Gin Fizz

In the words of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Sloe gin fizzy, do it 'till you're dizzy, give it all you got until you're put out of your misery. With the availability of honest-to-goodness Plymouth Sloe Gin in the US market, it is now possible to make a refreshing Sloe Gin Fizz, without having to resort to artificially-flavored "sloe gin" schnapps. If you can find Plymouth Sloe Gin (I ordered mine from Drink Up New York and it was worth the effort), try one of these on for size...

Sloe Gin Fizz
2.5 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
1/2 egg white*
Shake vigorously without ice, to froth the egg white. Then add ice and shake again to chill. Pour into an ice-filled short glass, garnish with a lemon slice, and top with 2 oz of sparkling water. 

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

*NB: The American Egg Board states: There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of food-borne illness.

Hendrick's Spring

I love Hendrick's Gin. Made in Scotland, it contains rose and cucumber, along with other botanicals, imparting a unique and enticing flavor. Tonight I created a new Spring cocktail using Hendrick's gin and Thatcher's Cucumber (I'll post more about Thatcher's products later. For now, I'll just say that all of their stuff is the shit and you should buy it and try it straight first. You can thank me later.) Anyway, I'm calling my new creation Hendrick's Spring.

Hendrick's Spring
2 oz Hendrick's gin
1 oz Thatcher's Cucumber
4-5 oz tonic (I used Whole Foods 365 Tonic)
1 slice Meyer lemon
6-8 fresh mint leaves

Build over plenty of ice in a lowball glass, placing the mint and lemon slice deep in the glass amid the ice to impart more flavor. Mmmmm, the flavor reminds me of a crisp, sunny Spring day.

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

Jack Rose Cocktail

Tonight I'm revisiting an old friend--the Jack Rose cocktail. I ordered some Laird's Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy from Drink Up New York. This crucial ingredient plus some Fee Brothers grenadine and Meyer lemon juice make a damned tasty Jack Rose--better than any I've ever had before.

Jack Rose Cocktail
2 oz Laird's Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy
1 oz Meyer lemon juice
1/2 oz Fee Bros Grenadine
Shake over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a piece of lemon peel. 


When prepared in this manner and with these ingredients, the Jack Rose cocktail tastes fresh and inviting, with layers of fruit and a hit of tartness that fits perfectly with the transition from Winter to Spring. It's as if my glass is heralding the coming of warmer weather and blooming red and pink flowers. Also, don't forget this weekend we switch back to Daylight Saving Time. Spring forward!

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

Creme Yvette Absinthe Frappe

To celebrate the appearance of Creme Yvette back on the US cocktail scene, I decided to make an absinthe and Creme Yvette frappe. The recipe is simple and consists of 2 oz of a good blanche absinthe (I used La Valote),
one ounce of Creme Yvette, 4 oz of water, and ice shaken and strained into two ice-filled absinthe glasses. One could obviously split the recipe in half for one drink, but what good is drinking alone? The drink is simple, yet refreshing, and is a striking violet-purple hue. Welcome home, Creme Yvette and welcome Spring!

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation 

Judy's Big Orange Cooler Hurricanes

When most people think of Mardi Gras they think of New Orleans, but St. Louis' Mardi Gras celebration is the second largest celebration in the US. In the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday, immediately followed by Ash Wednesday, there is the Soulard Barkus Parade, with the Soulard Mardi Gras parade usually being held on the weekend prior. After spending a number of years traveling down to the Soulard neighborhood by cab with friends to stand out in the cold with tens of thousands of people, drinking $10 Southern Comfort hurricanes (utter blasphemy!), and waiting in endless lines for my turn in the 3' X 2' stench cell, also known as a porta-potty, I finally decided to stop the madness and celebrate at home.

When you're inviting over a significant number of friends it's important to have a solid go-to recipe for making a large batch of genuine Hurricanes. I've taken the basic, true Hurricane cocktail recipe and tweaked it out for large-scale use and to allow usage of standard-sized containers of liquor and juice. I prepare my Hurricanes in the standard round, orange cooler with a spout, and freeze large blocks of ice ahead of time to keep the drink cold inside the cooler throughout the party.

Judy's Big Orange Cooler Hurricanes

Add 2-3 large blocks of ice (you could use a cake pan or bread pan to make these) to your cooler.

1 gallon of no pulp orange juice

1 bottle of Myer's Dark Rum (or other dark rum)

1 bottle of Mount Gay Eclipse Gold Rum (or other gold rum)

1 bottle Bacardi White Rum (or other white rum) 

12 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

10 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

14 oz Monin Passion Fruit syrup

12 oz Monon Grenadine syrup

28 oz cold water

8 oz simple syrup

Stir all of the ingredients inside the cooler to mix, and serve the hurricanes to your guests over ice. 

Be forewarned that the mixture of juices and syrups mask the high alcohol content of these drinks, so be sure that guests know that these hurricanes pack a punch.

Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktation

My NOLA Saint's Superbowl Cocktail Contest Entry--One Saint

As a regular Tales of the Cocktail attendee I was thrilled when I became aware of the chance to enter the Drink Like A Saint cocktail competition. The grand prize is a bunch of free passes to a variety of TOTC events (which has comprised a large portion of my previous years' TOTC budget)! The basis of the contest is for amateur mixologists (that's me!) to create a NOLA Saints-themed cocktail to celebrate their trip to Superbowl XLIV (that's 44 for all of you non-Romans). The contest deadline was noon today, so I emailed my entry to the Times Picayune this morning. Included below is an excerpt, along with the recipe, from my emailed contest entry.

So, without further ado, my creation...

The name of my cocktail entry is One Saint. The name reflects the two main ingredients in the cocktail--Square One Botanical and St. Germain elderflower liqueur.

The recipe is as follows:

1.5 oz Square One Botanical
1 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 oz strongly-brewed jasmine green tea (I used Trader Joe's Jasmine Green tea and brewed it with two tea bags to one cup of hot water.)
1/4 oz Monin Violet syrup

Shake all of the ingredients listed above over ice in a shaker until well-chilled.
Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass, top with 2 oz sparkling water, and garnish with a lemon slice. Add two cocktail straws, sip, and enjoy while watching The NOLA Saints trounce the Colts! GO SAINTS!!!

The rationale for my choice of ingredients is probably readily apparent. I chose to use the St. Germain as it is delicious, has the word "saint" in the name, is a beautiful golden color, and although it is not made in NOLA, I associate it with the city (It's where I first encountered St. Germain at TOTC in 2008). From that basis I found that the floral components of the Square One Botanical, the jasmine green tea, and the Monin violet syrup worked well together to give the drink a summery feel that reminds me of NOLA. I decided to make this more of a long drink and add the sparkling water as I believe that is easier to enjoy while watching the game than a mostly alcohol based cocktail would be. The drink has a nice golden color and the lemon garnish echos this, making it one of the Saint's primary team colors. While some friends say they note a strong guava juice aspect to the drink, others say it reminds them of liquid gummy bears. Either way, most of
the feedback I have received on this creation has been positive.

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation