Category: cocktails

2 oz Cognac or Brandy

¾ oz Dry Curacao or Orange Liqueur

¾ oz Lemon Juice

1 tsp Demerara Syrup

Garnish: sugared rim (optional)

August 2, 2024December 1, 2024

All all ingredients to a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds

Double strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass (no ice)

Source: Steve the Bartender Sidecar Recipe

Jack Rose

This cocktail was featured on our first menu in Spring 2023. While some might think it is named after the character’s from the movie Titanic, this cocktail is actually quite old, dating back to the turn of the century. This is a simple THREE INGREDIENT COCKTAIL, so it’s great for beginners. Any Apple Brandy will do for your base, and remember to fresh squeeze whichever juice you decide to use (we like lemon).

For the Grendadine, in the past we would have argued to make your own, as it is very easy to do on the stove (basically pomegranate and sugar), but we got a hold of a couple bottles of Anders Erickson’s Grenadine, and it is AWESOME! So we recommend giving it a try. Here’s the LINK to get a bottle of your very own. And NEVER use Rose’s Grenadine again!

Doubling up again for large coupe (cut in half for a nick and nora)

3 oz Apple Jack (or other Apple Brandy)

1½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice (or Lime Juice)

1 oz Anders Erickson Grenadine

March 28, 2024December 1, 2024

Add all ingredients to a shake

Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds

Double strain into a chilled coupe glass

Source: Anders Erickson Jack Rose Recipe (slightly modified)

The Final Say

If you enjoy a “Last Word” but can’t find Green Chartreuse, we highly recommend this cocktail as an alternative. We modified the original recipe a fair amount, so you might need to as well. The Violete can quickly overpower the drink, so experiment and start lighter. And stick with a mild gin like Plymouth or Old Tom.

Cheers!

1 oz Plymouth Gin

1 oz Maraschino Liqueur

1 oz Fresh Lime Juice

¾ oz Creme de Violete

March 26, 2024December 1, 2024

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake for 10 seconds

Double strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass

Source: Can’t recall the original source, but the ratios were modified by BC

Cadbury Creme Egg Cocktail

Ok. This one is ridiculous. That is not a secret. But while searching for “Easter Cocktails” this thing was impossible not to come across. There were several different options. This one did not require melting chocolate on a stove, so it seemed more accessible. It looks complicated, but it really isn’t when you get into the recipe.

Don’t use chocolate syrup!! You need the thickness of a recently melted chocolate to get the smooth garnish on the outside of the glass. Trust me, I tried the shortcut on a different cocktail, and it was a giant mess!! 10 seconds burst, stir, and do it again till it’s melted.

It’s a sweet monster, so brace yourself. But it’s also a showstopper if you’re having a gathering this holiday weekend. Cheers!

This recipe is for TWO COCKTAILS!!

¼ cup Milk Chocolate (for melting and grating)

3 tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk

¾ cup Half and Half

2½ oz Creme de Cocoa

1½ oz Vodka

Yellow and Red Food Coloring

Top with Seltzer

March 14, 2024December 1, 2024

Melt Chocolate in the microwave 10 seconds at a time, stirring between (took us 40 seconds to melt it all)

Coat the edges of two coupe glasses with melted chocolate. Shake glass to prevent drip. Transfer glass to freezer

In a bowl, mix one drop of yellow food coloring with sweetened condensed milk

Stir until yellow. Add a tiny dash of red to the mixture and stir until orange

Pull glass out of freezer and add half of the mixture to the bottom of each glass

In a cocktail shaker, add creme de cocoa, vodka, and half and half

Add ice and shake for 10 seconds

Double strain mixture into each glass, leaving roughly an inch for seltzer and garnish

Top glass with seltzer and grate chocolate across the top

Garnish with half of a Cadbury Creme Egg, skewered on a cocktail pin (don’t poke it, spin it)

Source: Delish Cadbury Creme Egg Cocktail Recipe

Ginger Locks

No St Patrick’s Day would be complete without a ginger ale or ginger beer based drink. This one requires a very specific whiskey. Red Locks is a Minnesota made Irish whiskey, and it’s worth checking out if you can find it. For locals it’s easy to snag, so go grab a bottle this weekend and try out this Irish cocktail! It’s worth noting that Red Locks is a milder Irish whiskey, if you’re used to drinking Jameson. But a good smooth.

Local should stop by Kierans Pub in Minneapolis, if you get a chance, where the GingerLocks was invented, and is always on the menu!! Cheers!

2 oz Red Locks Irish Whiskey

1 oz Ginger Ale

Garnish with lime wedge

March 12, 2024July 2, 2024

Fill Collins glass with ice

Add whiskey and top off with Ginger Ale

Garnish with Lime wedge

Source: Red Locks GingerLocks recipe

Our first MiniMenu for St Patrick’s Day!!

We’ve updated our “menu list” to include a sneak peak of an upcoming Patreon Perk: Mini Menus! This one is for St. Patrick’s Day. More will come in the future, and starting in May it will be for Patreon Members Only.

We also updated our “Standards” menu, and made it “The Keepers“, listing our favorite cocktails and mocktails from past seasonal menus and cocktail parties in general. Enjoy!

March 12, 2024December 1, 2024

Midori Sour

One of the first cocktail I ever had over twenty years ago was the Midori Sour. It’s an often teased drink, but for this St Patrick’s Day, let’s give it a shot.

Here’s the key to a good Midori Sour, do not, I repeat, DO NOT use “sweet and sour mix”. One shot of midori and two shot of that does not a good cocktail make! You have to juice a lemon and a lime to get a good drink here, so do the work!

The vodka shot is extra, if you want a little extra kick in your melon flavored drink. I don’t make them often anymore, but the taste brings me back, and perhaps it might be the same way for you. Cheers!

1½ oz Midori Melon Liqueur

1 oz Vodka

½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice

½ oz Fresh Lime Juice

3 oz Club Soda (or lemon lime soda if you want it sweeter)

Here’s a link for a hand juicer, if you don’t have one.

March 12, 2024December 1, 2024

Add all ingredients (but soda) to a highball or collins glass filled with ice (build in glass!!)

Stir for 20 seconds to combine the elements

Top off with Club Soda and stir again to mix

Source: Delish Midori Sour Recipe

Grace O’Malley

On the hunt for an interesting cocktail based in Irish Whiskey, the name of this one jumped right off the digital page. We were intrigued by the combination of Irish whiskey with coffee liqueur. Adding orgeat, a tiki staple, was eyebrow raising, and then just tossing lemon in at the end? We were skeptical.

The outcome is a very interesting cocktail. Almost a St Patrick’s Tiki Drink. All the flavors have somehow combined into something new, which we love about cocktails. So, if you are looking for an interesting way to add some Jameson to your Saint Patrick’s Day (or any day), check this one out! Plus, as it requires a straw to drink, it’s VR Enabled!!! Cheers!

1½ oz Irish Whiskey (Jameson)

1 oz Coffee Liqueur (we used Tia Maria)

¾ oz Orgeat

½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

March 10, 2024December 1, 2024

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds

Strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice

Source: The Tasting Panel cocktail recipe

White Russian (featuring Mr. Black)

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.

Cheers!

2 oz Mr Black Coffee Liqueur

2 oz Cream (heavy cream is great!)