The Pink Llama (White Rum with Rhubarb Simple Syrup, Grapefruit, and Rosemary)

(from http://theviewfromthegreatisland.blogspot.com: It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere Fridays) 

This is the drink that inspired Joef's homemade, fruit-based simple syrup craze (the originators call it a Spring Fling, but we've renamed it)! Once you start, the possibilities are endless! This one uses rhubarb for the simple syrup, and is then combined with grapefruit juice. This is maybe the best drink he's ever made - it's so refreshing, light, and, I might add, rather complex flavor-wise. Enjoy!

To make the simple syrup:
2 cups white sugar
2 cups water
2 large stalks rhubarb, chopped

Bring to a soft boil, and bLoil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash the rhubarb as it softens. Remove from heat and strain out the pulp, then return the liquid to a medium boil. Reduce the liquid for about 10 minutes, stirring to ensure it doesn't burn.

To make the drink:
2 oz fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice (1 grapefruit=about 5 oz)
1 sprig rosemary
2 oz rhubarb simple syrup

2 oz Cachaça (white rum works)

Ice

Remove the rosemary leaves from their stem and place in a cocktail shaker. Add just a splash of grapefruit juice, and muddle together. Add the remaining ingredients and shake. Pour over ice, and serve with a sprig of rosemary. Ahh!

Bourbon Old-Fashioned with Cherry-Orange Simple Syrup

It's a new twist on an Old-Fashioned! Har!

When it comes to our kitchen, Joef is our drinks, desserts, and spice guy (I really wanted that alliteration to work...). This weekend, he made two amazing drinks, experimenting with making his own naturally-flavored, fruit-based simple syrups. This one he made up on his own, after we had something similar at a restaurant in San Francisco, Agricole. The simple syrup takes a little time, but is easy...you might even call it simple...and it really gives a ton of flavor to the drink. Delicious!

To make the simple syrup (makes about 2.5 cups):
2 cups turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
2 cups water
15-20 pitted Rainier cherries
1 navel orange, peeled

Combine all the ingredients together in a small/medium pot, and bring to soft boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, mashing the fruit as it softens, and stirring.

Remove the mixture from the heat and strain out the fruit pulp (it's delicious, btw!). Return the remaining liquid to a medium boil for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. (Reduce the liquid while making sure it doesn't burn.)

Remove from heat and allow to cool. (This makes much more simple syrup than you need for one drink - you can save it for a bit, and use it in other drinks, or in fizzy water to make frobscottle!)

To make the Old Fashioned:
2 parts bourbon to 1 part simple syrup (if you like it sweeter, you can do 1:1)
Ice

Stir and enjoy!

Blueberry Bounce and Blueberry Bounce Mojito

Two recipes in one today! You may recall our Raspberry Bounce experiment from www.cottagesmallholder.com. Well, we couldn't get enough of making our own liqueurs, so Joef (he's the drink master) adapted the recipe for blueberries. I liked this even better than the raspberry. The only differences in this recipe besides the fruit are that we mashed up the blueberries, used sugar in the raw instead of white sugar, and we didn't have to let it sit as long. All good things, I think. Plus, how beautiful is that color?! Plus, blueberry bounce mojitos!

BLUEBERRY BOUNCE
300g fresh blueberries
350g sugar in the raw
1.5 liters (or more) of medium quality vodka (don’t be tempted to go for the cheapest)
Sterilized 2-liter bottle

Wash blueberries. Mash blueberries. Place berries in the large bottle, squeezing the berries through the neck of the bottle.

Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with vodka to 2-3cm from the top.

Shake it up a little, then leave it in a dark place, shaking every now and then, for about two weeks (shorter timeframe than its raspberry cousin).

What will you do with your blueberry bounce, you might ask. The answer is, make a million of these "mojitos", because they are delicious:

BLUEBERRY BOUNCE MOJITO
2.5 shots blueberry bounce
8-10 fresh mint leaves
juice from 1/2 small lemon
Tonic water
Dash bitters
Ice

Squeeze half a lemon into a tumbler glass. Add mint leaves. Muddle/bruise. Add blueberry bounce. Add ice. Top with tonic to fill glass, or to taste. Add a couple dashes bitters. Stir. Drink and enjoy!

Raspberry Bounce

From www.cottagesmallholder.com: "Fiona’s Patent Raspberry Vodka Recipe"

I didn't think we'd have the patience for this one, but we made it. Three-plus months of waiting from the day we made this to actually be able to try it. Worth it! 

Joef got the idea from family members who made cherry bounce, and, as he is wont to do, decided to improvise. Not only does this make a sweet, yummy liqueur, it also is just fun to watch the process and have something in the cupboard you can check in on every month or so. The change in the color of the vodka is, as one might imagine, particularly dramatic.

Here's the recipe we used (can you tell it's British?):

300g of unfrozen raspberries
350g of white granulated sugar
1.5 liters (or more) of medium quality vodka (don’t be tempted to go for the cheapest)
Sterilized 2-liter bottle

Wash raspberries and discard any bruised/bad fruit. Place raspberries in the large, sterilized bottle, squeezing the berries through the neck of the bottle.

Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with vodka to 2-3cm from the top.

The fun part: shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer - at least three months. Then, enjoy the fruits - HAR! - of your labor!

Habanero Pina Coladas

Remember Joef's spicy birthday dinner over a month ago? Remember my mention of habanero pina coladas? Yeah, that's how behind I am on my posts. Well, there's nothing wrong with pina coladas in the middle of December, is there?

I know what you're thinking. Joef's penchant for spice has gone too far. There's no way this could be good. But let me tell you, this kid knows how to make a mixed drink, and he gets full credit for this one. And the citrus-y heat of the habanero is a great complement to pineapple and coconut.

It's a little deceptive at first - you expect sweet, and get heat. And believe me, it's hot. But it's also unique, creative, and really good.

The first step is to infuse rum with habaneros, which takes about two days. So plan ahead!

HABANERO RUM
750mL-1L Cachaca (type of Brazilian rum)
4 habaneros, tops cut off

Drop the habaneros into the bottle of rum. Let sit for 2 days. Remove the habaneros.

PINA COLADA
For one drink: in a cocktail shaker, mix two parts rum with 3 parts pineapple juice. Add about 2 tbsp cream of coconut, or to taste. Shake with ice and pour into a small glass. Enjoy!

Infusions: Arancello and Limecello

One of the nicest memories from our honeymoon in Italy a couple of years back is of sitting on our private roof deck in Vernazza, sipping locally-made limoncello. Fruit liqueurs and aperitifs are apparently de rigeur (my, what a lot of French words for a post about another country) in Italy - we found them everywhere, and all kinds - strawberry, lime, orange - and they were just perfect for sitting back in the late afternoon and taking everything in. They are inherently summery - sweet, best served chilled, and just...fun.

Joef is somewhat of a mixmaster...no, mixologist, that's it. He understands the ways drinks come together and is great at concoctions. He can taste a delicious mixed drink at a restaurant, then go make it from scratch at home. So, recently he decided to take a crack at making our own fruit liqueurs. He did an arancello and - something we'd never see before - limecello. They took patience - the peeling/grating of the fruit, letting it sit for weeks and checking it daily, adding sugar and letting it sit again - and the patience paid off. So delicious and fun. Now we have fruit liqueur of our very own, and can be tranported back to Vernazza - well, almost - any time we want. Here's how he did it:

ARANCELLO:
Peels from 10 oranges (with as little of the white stuff as possible)
1 liter vodka
Combine, and let sit in a cool, dry, dark place for two weeks. After two weeks, remove the orange peels, and add simple syrup:
2 cups water

15 spoonfuls of white sugar

(Combine water and sugar in a small pot over medium heat, and stir until dissolved. Reduce the mixture to about 1 1/2-3/4 cup.) Allow to cool before adding to vodka. Allow to sit for another week, then refrigerate and enjoy!

LIMECELLO:
Same instructions, but grate the peels of 10 limes.

See? We're back!

Mulled Wine

Joef made pretty much the best mulled wine we've ever had tonight. Yeah, it's the middle of May - not quite mulled wine season, but it's been raining for about five days straight, and we needed some relief from the damp.

This is sweet, spicy, strong, soothing - everything you want in mulled wine. There are a good number of ingredients, but it doesn't take long to make, and it's worth it. The vanilla really made it. It was just perfectly balanced.

1 small orange, sliced thinly into discs
8 cloves, whole
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise
5 cardamom seeds, whole
3 peppercorns, whole
2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
750 mL dry/spicy red wine (we used Crianza, but others would work)
1/4 cup cognac (substitute: brandy)
1/4 cup sugar in the raw
1 cheesecloth
String

Place all the spices - cloves, vanilla bean, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon - on top of the cheesecloth, and tie the corners of the cloth together with the string to form a closed pouch - like a teabag! Place all ingredients into a small pot and heat on medium-low for about 10-15 minutes until hot. Do not boil.

Strain liquid through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Ladle into glasses and enjoy!

Frozen Mint Juleps

(adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

Attention all: I LOVE this drink! Joef made a great mint julep last year for the Kentucky Derby, and this one - for me, at least - and this year he topped it. It's probably a little sweeter and mintier, and the frozen/blended factor was a nice change of pace. If you wanted to go more traditional, you could probably use the same recipe and just not blend the ingredients with ice at the end, instead just adding ice cubes. In any case - fantastic!

For one pitcher:
3/4 cup sugar in the raw
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped, plus additional sprigs for garnish
1 cup bourbon (we used Noah's Mill - soooo good, and as Joef would like me to note, 57%)
3 cups ice

In a small pot, heat water and sugar over medium-low, stirring until sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat. Add mint and set aside to cool.

When mixture has cooled, strain out the mint leaves with a fine mesh strainer. This is your syrup.

In a blender, combine ice, syrup, and bourbon. Blend until smooth. Serve with mint garnish and it's off to the races!