Author: JL

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Spiced Cranberry Margarita

The Story

Most cocktail drinkers enjoy a Margarita from time to time. This classic cocktail is a mixture of tequila, triple sec, and lime. One of the great “three ingredient cocktails” out there. We recommend Reposado Tequila versus Blanco in the majority of use cases. Also, you can ramp up your triple sec game with Cointreau (and branded triple sec). This recipe swaps out triple sec for Grand Marnier. If you take the plunge on the bottle, don’t worry, there are many ways to enjoy Grand Marnier, including drinking it on the rocks or even straight up in a chilled glass!

We hope you enjoy this Margarita riff that adds Cranberry Juice (unsweetened, as we add the sugar in the recipe), and a fun optional garnish that is well worth the effort!

Cheers!!

The Recipe

2 oz Reposado Tequila

½ oz Grand Marnier

1 oz Unsweetened Cranberry Juice

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Cinnamon Syrup

The Build

Add all ingredients to a Cocktail Shaker

Add ice and shake 10-15 seconds until chilled

Pour cocktail over ice into a lowball glass

Garnish: Cinnamon Stick/Orange slice

Alternate Garnish: BOOZY CRANBERRIES!!

Heat ½ cup water, ½ cup sugar and 1 or 2 cinnamon sticks in a saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Add fresh cranberries to cover the water in one layer. Heat until most of the cranberries have popped to pop. Let cool. Strain the syrup into a container and use in building the cocktail. Transfer cranberries to a container and add 2 oz Tequila and let sit overnight in the refrigerator. Top your margarita with a spoonful of cranberries.

Source: google search for margarita riffs (original content lost…)

Posted on

You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out

The Story

Becherovka is an herbal liqueur from the Czech Republic, full of holiday spice flavor. This Christmas themed cocktail (named for a scene from “A Christmas Story”) is credited to Mathias Simonis and published in Imbibe magazine in 2011 (source). Thanks to @anatomyofadrink on Threads for boosting it recently.

The Recipe

2 oz Aged Rum (Plantation 5 year)

½ oz Benedictine

½ oz Becherovka

¼ oz Cinnamon Syrup

3 dashes Angostura bitters

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

In sauce pan combine 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup water on low heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Turn off heat.

In another sauce pan, over medium heat, toast 5 cinnamon sticks, making sure to toast both sides, until you smell the spice. Remove from heat.

Add the cinnamon sticks to the simple syrup and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Strain into bottle. Keeps 2-3 weeks in the fridge.

The Build

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.

Stir until chilled.

Strain into a lowball glass over a large ice cube.

Garnish with a twist of orange peel.