I Actually Won!

This is just a quick update to let readers know that I won the cocktails.about.com August Bourbon cocktail contest with my Georgia On My Mind cocktail. When I learned that I had actually won I had a bit of a Sally Field moment, exclaiming, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" although in actuality you all just like my drink. Either way, I'll take it!

~Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktation

Georgia on My Mind

Here it is--my very first about.com cocktail contest entry. The theme for August is Bourbon, so I've been working diligently in my kitchen on weekends using the tried and true scientific method to carefully vary individual ingredients in each potential cocktail until I came up with what I believe is a winning combination. I've never been good at naming my creations, so a friend came up with Georgia on My Mind as a nod to the peach flavor.

2 oz Four Roses Bourbon
0.5 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur
1.5 oz Looza peach nectar
4 fresh medium-sized basil leaves
2-3 dashes of Bitter Truth Celery bitters

Muddle the basil in a cocktail shaker and add all of the liquid ingredients. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled short glass and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil. 

Sweet and Spicy Caipirinha

It's a cool late Summer evening and I'm in a spicy mood, due in part to my neighbor's generous donation of  some hot red peppers of unknown lineage. I was asked to make a caipirinha and decided to take this Brazilian favorite in a different direction. The resulting spicy, yet pleasant, decoction, is offered for your enjoyment...

2 oz Leblon Cachaca
1 oz Thatchers Tres Chilis
1/3" ring of a medium-spicy small pepper
Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 larger key lime
1 bar spoon raw sugar
3 strawberries
Muddle key lime, strawberries, and pepper in cocktail shaker with sugar. Add liquid ingredients and ice and shake hard. Strain into ice-filled short glass.

The drink is the color of a sunset and is sweet, spicy, and perfect for a summer night.

Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktation

The Spicy Sanchez

I bought some new tequila at Lukas Liquor on Manchester Rd (for your STL MO readers)...Tequila El Mayor Reposado Then, on the way home from work I bought some kumquats. Tonight I read enviously of a friend enjoying a traditional gin martini, but wasn't in the mood for gin, so I improvised. As a result of this improv session, I now proudly bring you...

The Spicy Sanchez
2 oz Tequila El Mayor Reposado
1 barspoon of Del Maguey Minero Mezcal
1 kumquat
1.5 oz Thatcher's Tres Chilis
1 dash Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
1 barspoon agave syrup

Muddle the kumquat in the bottom of a shaker tin, add ice and all other ingredients. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. There is a sweet, slightly spicy smokiness to this drink that seems to fit well with a humid summer night. The subtle hint of citrus from the kumquat adds nicely to the drink. I'm sure I could play more with this basic recipe and go on tweaking, but I liked it "as is" well enough to want to share.

Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktaition

Mayday

Today is the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, 2010--a great day in my little world. Ahead of me is a 3 day weekend full of food (glorious food!), fantastic beverages, good friends, and good times (along with a little work thrown in for good measure). Tonight I felt inspired to create a new cocktail with the ingredients I have in my refrigerator and behind my bar. I started with some variations on the Caipirinha, which led to this little creation that I call....

Mayday

1.75 oz Square One Botanical

0.5 oz limoncello 

1 tangerine

1 key lime

1 sprig dill

Quarter and muddle the tangerine and key lime along with the dill in a mixing glass. Add limoncello, Square One Botanical, and ice and shake it like you mean business. Dump the entire contents of the shaker into a short glass.  

The drink is very citrusy, summery, and refreshing. I think it is the perfect Summer beverage to sip on a warm day. 

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

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.