Author: BC

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Blended Pina Colada – Virgin

The Story

You can do pina colatas lots of different ways. But if we are doing it non-alcoholic for the kiddos (or the adults) why not have some fun and make it a smoothie version!? This recipe sticks with several key ingredients including chunks of pineapple and coconut milk, while ending up something entirely different from what you’d normally think of with a Pina Colada.

Cheers!

The Recipe

10 oz (bag) Frozen Pineapple Chunks

4 large scoops of vanilla ice cream

1 cup Coconut Milk (can)

½ cup Pineapple Juice (little can is fine)

Garnish with Pineapple Wedge and Maraschino Cherry

Glassware: High Ball glass with a wide straw (or a Hurricane Glass if you have one handy!)

The Build

Add all the ingredients to a blender (you could also use an immersion blender, but I haven’t tried yet)

Divide mixture between two high ball glasses

Garnish with Pineapple and Cherry

Source: Delish.com Virgin Pina Colada

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Shirley Temple – Classic

The Story

This first mocktail is my own recipe (though I’m sure it looks like plenty other recipes out there, as this one is pretty straight forward). Here are the keys to getting it right. Squeeze the lime juice (no bottles!). You can get all you need from one half and use the other half for garnish. Use homemade grenadine. I was converted by Anders Erickson to making this stuff at home. It’s so easy to do, and is nothing like the grenadine you are used to seeing at the market. If you think grenadine is “cherry” you need to try the real stuff (which is pomegranate). Drink as many of these as you like!

Cheers!

The Recipe

2 oz Homemade Grenadine

¼ oz Fresh Lime Juice

Lemon-Lime Soda (I’m a Sprite person)

Garnish with Lime Wedge and Maraschino Cherries (yes, PLURAL)

Glassware: High Ball glass with straw (or a wine glass if you’re fancy!)

The Build

Add ice to the High Ball glass (fill it up)

Pour Grenadine over the ice

Pour Lime Juice over the ice

Add Lemon-Lime Soda until the glass is mostly full (give an inch or so)

Give it a mix to blend the ingredients together

Add additional Lemon-Lime Soda to fill the glass

Garnish with at least 3 cherries on a cocktail pin (mine are tropical birds!) or a toothpick in a pinch

Source: This one is my personal recipe

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The Ramona (TRA Original)

The Story

We’ve spent many hours introducing our daughter to movies we love, from Empire Records to Serendipity. But this drink was created one evening when she was introducing us to one her favorite movies. Namely, “Scott Pilgrim vs the World“. I created this mocktail for her that evening and empowered her to name it. You don’t have to fight the “seven evil exes” to drink this one though! Cheers!

The Recipe

4 oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (do the work, it’s worth it)

¼ oz Passion Fruit Syrup

¼ oz Orgeat

½ oz Cream of Coconut

Garnish with cocktail cherry

Glassware: Low ball

The Build

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake for 15 seconds

Option 1: strain over low ball glass filled with crushed ice

Option 2: double strain into low ball glass with no ice

Garnish with cocktail cherry (or two)

Source: Runaway Anchor Original Recipe

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Greyhound (VR Enabled Cocktail**)

The Story

This is a super simple Spring/Summer cocktail. They key with any cocktail that is mostly juice is to do the hard work of juicing. There are juicers that can handle a grapefruit, but my best practice is just doing it by hand. Don’t use juice from a jug, no matter how “no artificial ingredients added” it says it is!

The Recipe

2 oz Vodka or Gin

4 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice (juicing these sucks, so I use this bottle)

Lemon or Lime for garnish

The Build

Combine everything in a High Ball glass

Add ice and stir 15-30 seconds till chilled

Garnish with Lemon or Lime

Drop in your straw and put on your VR headset

Cheers!

**VR Enabled means you drink this with a straw

Source: MasterClass Greyhound Recipe

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Tom Collins (VR Enabled Cocktail**)

The Story

It’s a classic. It’s easy. And since I discovered Old Tom style Gin, it’s the only way I would drink it. If you aren’t a big fan of the drier forms of gin (read: Beefeater London Dry style) you should definitely try out Old Tom Gin. It’s not a brand, it’s a style. My fav, at the moment, is Hayman’s Old Tom Gin. Stick with freshly squeezed Lemon Juice versus bottled, and you might consider making your own simple syrup as it is super easy to do. Just 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of water. Heat on medium till the sugar is totally dissolved (meaning the liquid is clear). Allow to cool and then put it in a glass container for up to a month in the fridge. I hesitated getting into the syrup making game, but now I’m all in since learning how easy it is to do. I’ll talk about Home-Made Grenadine somewhere down the road (spoiler – that red stuff in the Rose’s bottle is NOT grenadine).

The Recipe

2 oz Old Tom Gin

1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

Top off with Sparkling Water (Lime La Croix is nice)

The Build

Add Lemon Juice to High Ball Glass

Add Simple Syrup

Add Gin

Fill glass to the halfway point with Soda Water

Add ice to fill the glass to the top

Top off with more soda water if needed

Garnish with Lemon Twist and optional Maraschino Cherry

Drop in your straw and put on your VR headset

Cheers!

**VR-Enabled means you should drink this with a straw

Source: Cocktail Explorer

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White Russian (featuring Mr. Black)

The Story

The earliest cocktails that I ordered at bars were Midori Sours and White Russians. Simple builds, not overly “boozy”. And while I don’t make them as much now, I’ve brought the White Russian back entirely because of Mr Black. Using this liqueur (versus kaluha) you save an entire step (no vodka bottle required), and put the coffee first in the cocktail. Simple glass build of equal parts and you’re ready for an evening chilling out. Once my Mr Black goes dry, this cocktail might no longer be a standard, but for now it makes the list.

Cheers!

The Recipe

2 oz Mr Black Coffee Liqueur

2 oz Cream (heavy cream is great!)

The Build

Fill low ball glass with ice cubes

Add Mr Black over the ice

Add cream over the ice (over up-turned spoon if you want to be fancy)

Stir and Drink!

Source: Mr Black Recipe

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Sazerac (Runaway Anchor Style)

The Story

We needed one “neat” cocktail in the standards, and this one is solid. A buddy introduced me to this one just in the past year and it is a great twist on my standard old fashioned. The keys are the ingredients though. No swapping or experimenting with this one. The whiskey must be Rye. The bitters must be Peychauds. The only thing I’d make optional is the absinthe rinse, as the anise flavor would ruin this cocktail for many people. I use a small spray bottle to mist my glass with the absinthe versus rinse, which is the traditional way to do it. This one is a year round treat.

Cheers!

The Recipe

1 Sugar Cube

2-5 dashes Peychauds Bitters (I do 5)

2 oz Rye Whiskey

Rinse glass with Absinthe

The Build

Prep the Glass: add absinthe to low ball and swirl around to coat the inside

Prep the Glass: discard (or drink) the excess absinthe (spray bottle is another way to coat)

Prep the Glass: place coated low ball in the freezer while building cocktail to chill

Add sugar to a Mixing Glass and soak with bitters

Muddle the sugar with muddler (or bar spoon)

Add Whiskey and fill Glass half full of ice cubes

Stir for 15-30 seconds

Strain the drink into the prepared low ball glass

Express lemon oil over drink and drop peel into glass

Source: this one is my version based on several different recipes

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Rusty Nail

The Story

Most people know me as a scotch drinker. When I first tried it, I did not like it a all. I learned that was mostly because I was drinking cheap stuff. Once I was introduced to high quality brands (Lagavulin is still my fav), I discovered the joy of sipping a Scotch Neat over the course of an hour or so. Now when I introduce people to scotch I use the Rusty Nail. This cocktail is as simple as it gets, just scotch and drambuie. The drambuie is sweet and mellows the scotch out. You still get the distinct scotch flavor, but the additional sweetness takes off some of the burn and pushes the peat into the background. So if you’re new to Scotch, try this one out!

Cheers!

The Recipe

2 oz Blended Scotch Whisky

1 oz Drambuie

1 lemon peel (garnish)

The Build

Add everything to a mixing glass, half fill with ice cubes

Mix for 30 seconds

Strain into a low ball glass over a large ice cube

Release lemon oil over the drink, and add the peal for garnish

SOURCE: Anders Erickson Rusty Nail Recipe

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Whiskey Sour

The Story

This is another “anybody can make this cocktail” option. This was the first “complex” cocktail I made that also turned into a showpiece. I say “complex” because it requires quality ingredients and careful attention to the steps. There are two keys to this cocktail. First, always use fresh lemon. I know juicing isn’t convenient, but canned lemon juice will make a bad cocktail. Second, be very careful during the “dry shake” portion of shaking. The key to a shaker (any style) is the cold will hold the shaker together. Without the cold, the shaker will try and expand while shaking, and I have a few experiences with blowing the seal and splattering my kitchen with cocktail ingredients. So pay attention when you dry shake!

Cheers!

The Recipe

1½ oz Bourbon

¾ oz Lemon Juice (fresh)

½ oz Simple Syrup (rich demerara if you have it)

½ oz Egg White (one egg, usually)

3 drops Angostura Bitters (garnish)

The Build

Dry shake all ingredient (minus bitters) for 20 seconds

Add ice to shaker and shake 20 seconds

Double Strain into low ball glass with fresh ice cubes

After the foam settles, Drip 3 drops of bitters on top of the cocktail

Source: Anders Erickson Whiskey Sour Recipe

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Old Fashioned (Runaway Anchor Style)

The Story

This is my go-to cocktail during the colder months of the year. It’s easy to have all the ingredients on hand, and it’s fun to play around with whiskey. You can even go with a Rum version if you like. This recipe is my own slight tweak that pushes the orange to the front of the cocktail. It’s especially good for those just getting into whiskey drinking, as the orange can take a bit of the edge off of the drink. Still to strong? Bump the simple to 0.5oz.

Cheers!

The Recipe

2 oz Bourbon Whiskey

¼ oz Simple Syrup (1:1 water to sugar – make your own!)

Fresh Orange Chunk

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

2 dashes of Orange Bitters

Orange Peel (garnish)

The Build

Add all ingredients to the Mixing Glass (including piece of fresh orange, don’t muddle it)

Fill Glass half full of Ice Cubes

Stir with bar spoon for 20-30 seconds

Put large cube in low ball glass

Strain cocktail over the large cube

Garnish with slice of orange and luxardo cherry

Source: this one is my version based on several different recipes