Drink recipes: El presidente

The El Presidente is a fresh, fruity, and delicious tropical cocktail that’s perfect for any gathering, get-together, or party. It’s light, summery flavors are sweet and refreshing and will surely be enjoyed by all!

You’ll Need:

2 oz light rum – to have a fun variation on this recipe, try different flavored rums; I’m personally a big fan of Parrot Bay’s passion fruit flavored rum

1/2 oz fresh or refrigerated lime juice (fresh is better)

1/2 oz pineapple juice

dash of grenadine

1 cherry

1 pineapple slice

1 lime slice

To Make:

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and shake well for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop a cherry in and garnish the edge of the glass with the pineapple and lime slice. Serve immediately.

Drink recipes: Singapore sling – Part 5

The Singapore Sling was created by Ngiam Tong Boon for the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The exact year is in dispute, the hotel claiming that it was prior to 1910 but some sources quoting 1913 or even as late as 1915. In the 1930’s, the recipe had actually fallen in to disuse and was forgotten but from the collective memories of some former bartenders and some old papers it was recreated as best as possible. No one can of course be sure that the recipe used by the hotel nowadays is precisely the same as the original but it is as follows:

1 1/2 oz of gin

1/2 oz of Heering cherry brandy

1/4 oz of Cointreau

1/4 oz of Benedictine

4 oz of pineapple juice

1/2 oz of lime juice

1/3 oz of Grenadine

Dash of angostura bitters

The ingredients should be shaken with ice then poured in to a long glass full of ice and served with a cherry and a slice of pineapple.

That is the official hotel recipe but there have of course been a great many variations practised over the years. A whole host of ingredients have been added – or indeed omitted – in the endless quest for improvement. Cold soda water is a frequent addition, as is sweet and sour. The type of cherry brandy used is much varied. The omitted ingredients include almost all but the gin in one recipe or another but what we have to be careful of here is that if the contents of the cocktail are altered so radically, surely however appealing and enjoyable the end result may be, it at some stage ceases to warrant the labelling, “Singapore Sling?”

Regardless of which recipe you prefer for this flavoursome and refreshing drink, take the time to savour and enjoy it – the cost of making or buying it alone demands such respect.

Drink recipes: Margarita – Part 5

I am not much of a drinker and do not drink very much or very often but I really do like a good frozen margarita once in a while. They make margaritas with almost every fruit imaginable and I don’t think I have every really had a bad one. One of my favorite restaurants makes really good mararita and they use peaches, mangos, blackberrie, blueberries, rasberries, strawberries you name it. One thing nice with this recipe you can have your touch of alcohol and also get a healthy dose of the antioxidents that your body needs from the pomegrante juice. I think pomegranate juice is one of my favorites but boy it is more expensive by the gallon than George W Bush and Mr Richard Cheney’s over priced gasoline. If I had just one one thousandth of the money they have made with this gas situation, I could have a whole grove of pomegrante trees and enjoy all the pomegranate juice I could possibly drink. Ocean Spray makes a Cran-Pomegranate juice that I love but I don’t buy it very often because it is to darned expensive. I really do not understand why pomegranate juice is so expensive but like Doris Day used to sing “Whatever Will Be Will Be”.

Like I said I do like a good regular or frozen margarita and this is one of the best I have had in a long time. The pomegrante juice with the orange liquer jus gives it a very refreshing and different taste that I really like. Try one and see what you think. I am pretty sure that you will think this is a pretty good combination.

SCARLET MARGARITAS

4 cups crushed ice

1 cup pomegranate juice

1/2 cup orange liquer

1/2 cup good tequilla (I usually use Cuervo Gold but sometimes I use Patron)

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice.

lime wedges

Coarse salt

fresh lime slices

Process the first five ingredients in a food processor until frothy.

Rub the rims of six glasses very good with the lime wedges and then dip the glases in the coarse salt. Pour the mararitas evenly into the prepared galsses and garnish with the fresh lime wedges. Serve immediately while cold and slushy. Some people use a couple tablespoons of pomegranate seeds but I like it better without the seeds.

Thsi is one of my favorite cocktails and even though I don’t drink them very often, I really do enjoy them when I do get off the wagon for a little treat. I feel like even though these have alcohol in them, the antioxidents from the pomegrante juice make it not so bad. If you enjoy an occasional cocktail, this is a good one.

Drink recipes: Cosmopolitan – Part 6

Cosmopolitan is today’s most favorite and most well known cocktail.It tastes delicious and if you love Canberra juice you are going to love it.

The origin of this drink is somewhat unknown .There are several theories related to its creation.Some people believe that it was created by Cheryl Cook 1985 while others believe the recipe is based on absolut Citron.

Well the primary alcohol in it is vodka yet it is served in a martini glass and that too without ice.As it contains Canberra juice it tastes very clear.

For making cosmopolitan we will need:

4 parts of vodka

1/2 part of cointreau

1/2 part of fresh lime juice

3 parts of Canberra juice

Mix all the ingredients with ice and then serve it in a martini glass.Garnih it with a slice of lemon.

You can make 2 variations also.You can replace cointreau with triple sec and lime juice with sour mix…..enjoy!

Drink recipes: Gimlet – Part 4

What is a Gimlet? Traditionally speaking a gimlet is a tart, yet sweet, alcoholic concoction created of the clear spirit gin and lime juice. A Gimlet at its most basic contains only these two ingredients. However, over the years many variations have evolved from the Vodka Gimlet to the Fuzzy Gimlet and even the Tequila Gimlet and beyond. All of these alcoholic variants, and more, retain the spirit of simplicity and ease that makes a gimlet one of the staples of bars around the world.

What are the ingredients for a Gimlet? For a single serving Gimlet you will need:

2 ounces of gin

1/2 ounce of lime juice

lime wedge for garnish

ice

Pour the gin and lime over ice and stir. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wedge. Some Gimlet traditionalists prefer to strain the gimlet before pouring it into the glass, while others prefer it “dirty” and don’t mind any residual lime clouding. In modern times, vodka is often substituted for gin.

Where did the Gimlet come from? Historically, the Gimlet is thought to be a creation of the British Royal Navy around the late 1800’s when Britain mandated daily lime juice rations to every sailor to help fight off a scurvy outbreak. Scurvy is caused by Vitamin C deficiency. Previously, the British Royal Navy had used lemon juice with higher scurvy fighting properties. However, due to heavy lobbying by British lime growers in the West Indies, the British Royal Navy switched to the daily lime juice ration, which only had about 1/4 of the same scurvy, battling properties. So, the scurvy continued and the British became known as Limeys.

Why is a Gimlet called a Gimlet? There are two historical theories. One relates to the tool that is similar to a corkscrew, and named a gimlet. This tool was reportedly distributed with the lime juice barrels to sailors so they could bore holes in the barrels and access the juice. The second theory involves Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette who retired as the British Royal Navy Surgeon General in the early 1900’s. Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette is said to have introduced his fellow sailors to their anti-scurvy ration of lime juice by mixing it with gin to make it more palatable. In his honor, sailors named the drink the Gimlette, and through time the name has been shortened to Gimlet.

The Gimlet remains a popular hit today. Here are some modern variations on the Gimlet to try.

What are the ingredients of a Cherry Gimlet? You will need:

1 1/2 ounces vodka or gin

1 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce cherry liquor

maraschino cherry

ice

Combine the cherry liquor, your choice of gin or vodka, and lime juice in a cocktail glass over ice. Lightly stir until colors blend and garnish with a floating maraschino cherry.

What are the ingredients of a Fuzzy Gimlet? You will need:

2 ounces gin or vodka

1/2 ounce lime juice

3 1/2 ounces of carbonated lemon lime beverage

lime wedge

ice

Add gin (or vodka), and lime juice in shaker filled with ice, and shake well. Pour into a highball glass half filled with sprite. Garnish with the lime wedge.

What are the ingredients for a Tequila Gimlet? You will need:

1 ounce lemon juice

1/4 ounce lime juice

2 ounces white tequila

lemon wedge

ice

Place lemon juice, lime juice and white tequila in a shaker with two ice cubes. Shake and strain. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Drink recipes: Cosmopolitan – Part 3

Cosmopolitan or Cosmo, a pretty in pink cocktail displaying its sophistication (if not yours) in a chilled martini glass, belongs to the light and fruity vodka-martini family. These drinks became popular at poolside gatherings and brunches in the early seventies as flavored vodkas hit the market. They really took off in the mid eighties as Absolute and its flavor varieties arrived in the states. Who invented this cocktail remains a mystery. Many people mention Cheryl Cook, a South Beach bartender in the mid eighties. Some say it originated in the northeast. Tony Cechini in his recent book “Cosmopolitan: a Bartender’s Life” lays claim to the recipe. We do know that it has been a favorite of such diverse pop icons as Oprah Winfrey, Hunter S. Thompson and all those gals from Sex in the City

Let’s make one. This recipe is for one five ounce cocktail.

Equipment

1 five ounce chilled martini glass

1 cocktail shaker

1 bar strainer

1 twenty-one or older thirsty consumer of adult beverages

Ingredients

2 ounces of Citrus Vodka (don’t cheap out, drink better and drink less)

ounce of Cointreau

ounce of fresh lime juice

ounce of cranberry juice

1 twist of orange

Ice

Process

Fill the shaker with ice. Add all above ingredients to shaker except the twist of orange. Close the shaker and shake vigorously until a mist of ice forms on the outside of the shaker. Take the orange twist and with the inside {the white part) aimed at the inside rim of the glass circle the interior, and drop in. This leaves a light spray of orange oil that is part of the flavor of the drink and the twist doubles as a garnish. Use the strainer to keep the ice out of the drink and pour into the chilled martini glass.

Tips

I prefer to use a Boston style shaker setup. This consists of an unenclosed tin shaker and a clear sixteen ounce pint glass. The glass should fit snuggly into the tin and can be separated by catching the edge of the tin on the counter or bar. It just adds to the show to see the pink cocktail slide in and out of the glass as you shake it. Mixology is fun to flair with whether at home or as a profession. If so inclined a few simple dance steps can be added to the shaking vigorously part but don’t hurt yourself.

If you want a softer drink add more cranberry juice. Some people prefer this drink with equal parts of vodka, cranberry and cointreau. The most important thing is what you want. Don’t be afraid to tell the bartender that you prefer it red not pink. Triple Sec can be substituted for cointreau but it lowers the drink quality.

This drink is great for patio parties, poolside gatherings, brunches, lunches and just plain ole cocktail hour. Be cosmopolitan if only for a few moments at a time.

Use a cranberry cocktail style juice.

Cocktail recipes: Vodka mules – Part 2

An aptly named cocktail, the vodka mule. After a few of these you really do feel as if you’ve been kicked in the head… by a mule! It’s a fantastic drink, all the same, and is best enjoyed before dinner or before a night out. This is one cocktail I find better suited to cooler weather and makes a perfect ‘winter warmer’.

If you want a completely different taste sensation for those cooler nights, try warming the vodka gently by putting the bottle in a container of boiling water for a few minutes. Don’t leave it in there for too long or you risk the alcohol evaporating and we wouldn’t want that!

I have experimented substituting the lime juice and wedge with an orange and, on another occasion, a lemon. With each substitute this drink tastes different and if you like your specific cocktail but enjoy a variety too, this drink will offer that. Personally, my favourite combination of the ‘winter’ vodka mule is with orange juice (freshly squeezed, of course) and an orange wedge to garnish.

For the summer version, I use a lime and fill the glass completely with crushed ice.

The ingredients for your winter vodka mule go something like this:

One part warmed vodka

Dash orange juice

Ginger Beer

Orange wedge

Pinch of crushed ginger

Ice cubes

To put it all together you want to start with a warmed high ball glass and fill a 1/3 of it with ice cubes. Then add the vodka over the ice and add a dash of freshly squeezed orange juice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with the orange wedge. To finish, drop a pinch of ginger on the top and voila! A ‘winter’ vodka mule.

To put together the summer version, try this:

One part chilled vodka

Dash lime/lemon juice

Ginger Beer

Lime or lemon wedge

Crushed ice

Fill your chilled high ball glass with crushed ice and pour the vodka over the ice. Add a dash or lime or lemon juice and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime or lemon wedge and enjoy!

A personal tip: Try not to sip too much vodka while making this drink, ditto the ginger beer, as you may well run the risk of not having enough of either ingredient to finish the cocktail. And we definitely don’t want that.

Drink recipes: Bloody Mary – Part 7

Bloody Mary a standard Saturday morning necessity for the three day weekend, great way to start a brunch and something to stay away from if tomatoes are a not for you. Its counterpart the Virgin Mary is just as robustly delightful without the alcohol if you need to abstain. Unlike most of the history surrounding the origin of drink recipes every one seems to agree that this one was created by Fernand Petiot at Harry’s American Bar in Paris France in the early 1920’s. The story goes that Harry started out with equal parts of tomato juice and vodka, but spiced up the recipe with Worcestershire, black and red pepper and just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for his New York customers when he returned to America.

Equipment

One Tall 12 to 16 ounce glass

Bar spoon or teaspoon to stir with

Ingredients

One 12 ounce can of V-8 or Tomato Juice

teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

teaspoon of basil chopped finely

1/8 teaspoon of celery salt (tiny dash)

1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt (tiny dash)

teaspoon of fresh lime juice

teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper

Tabasco to taste or leave it out if hot is not your thing.

2 ounces of premium vodka

Celery stalk for garnish and stirring

Ice

Building Mary

Fill the glass of the way full of ice

Add enough juice to cover the ice

Add all ingredients except vodka and celery

Add vodka

Stir lightly

Add celery stalk

Top off with remaining juice

Enjoy

Tips

This versatile recipe can be augmented to taste.

Add a little horseradish and serve it strained in an oversized martini glass with peeled boiled shrimp for a real shrimp cocktail.

Add a little clam juice and it becomes a Bloody Caesar

Add a little bullion and it becomes a Bloody Bull

Though celery seems to be the status quo as a garnish use your imagination

Stuffed Green Olives

Pickled green beans, the extra long Japanese style look cool

Spicy dilled pickle spears

Carrot Sticks

And on and on

Hear are a couple of websites for more info on Mary and a lot of recipe ideas

http:///www.cocktailtimes.com/ vodka/bloodymary/shtml

Here’s one dedicated solely to the Bloody Mary

http://www.drinksmix.com

Guide to low

Low-carb Alcoholic Beverages

As a former steakhouse owner, I kept a Lo Carb Cocktail book behind the bar for my diet conscious customers.

Here are a few of their favorite Lo-Carb drinks:

Jack Daniel’s and Coke Cocktail Recipe

Use diet Coke only to make this a zero carb cocktail

Low Carb Sangria Recipe

Ingredients:

1 bottle Almaden Cabernet Sauvignon

1 bottle diet Orange soda

Put ice into a glass. Fill half the glass with red wine. Add the orange soda to fill.

1g per serving

ZERO Carb Cocktail Recipe

This is a fruity cocktail

Ingredients:

1 shot vodka

1 shot rum

2.5 shots diet orange soda

2.5 shots diet lemon-lime soda

Long Island Iced Tea Recipe

1/4oz gin

1/4oz rum

1/4oz vodka

1/4oz tequila

1/4oz triple sec

1oz sugar-free sour mix

Squirt of diet Coke

Pour all into a shaker with ice and shake briefly.

Serve into a tall glass with lots of ice

The item here with carbs is the triple sec. Triple sec is an orange flavored liqueur. Triple sec has 12.5g of carbs per oz. you are only using a quarter of an ounce so your carb count on this portion is 3.1g you can lower that to 2.5g if you substitute the triple sec with Curacao, also an orange flavored liqueur, and has only 10g of carbs per oz.

Orange Mango Rum Cocktail

This is a sugar free cocktail

1 oz of rum into a tall glass with ice. Add in Sparkling Ice’s Orange Mango to fill up.

Add a paper umbrella and you are all set

Zero Carb Tropical Mango Cocktail

3 shots Diet Mango Tropical Minute Maid

1/3 shot Bacardi 151 Rum

1/2 shot Bacardi Rum

1/4 tsp orange extract

1/8 tsp lime juice

Pour all ingredients into a tall collins glass filled it with ice, stir well.

Vodka Collins Cocktail Recipe

2oz vodka

1/2 oz lemon juice

1 tsp Splenda

carbonated water

Pour the vodka, lemon juice and Splenda into a shaker with ice, strain into a ice filled Collins glass. Top it off with carbonated water. Add a slice of lemon on the rim for garnish.

Vodka is zero carbs, as is Splenda and water. The lemon juice is the only ingredient with carbs, 1.2g for the 1/2oz.

Recipes: Mexican shrimp cocktail

This traditional recipe for a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail is exactly what Mexican food cooking is all about, colorful displays of fresh-tasting food with flavorful, robust ingredients.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Makes about 4 servings

1 lb. Large shrimp, deveined, peeled

2 T. Lime juice

Salt & pepper

1 t. Tabasco or to taste

1 1/2 c. Clamato

1/2 c. Cucumber, chopped

2 Avacados, peeled and chopped

2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1/4 c. Cilantro, chopped fine

2 Celery stalks, chopped fine

c. Onion, minced

1 T. Horseradish

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lime quartered

Boil shrimp until pink and drain. Squirt with lime juice, salt and pepper. Put the shrimp in the refrigerator and allow to cool. In a bowl, mix rest of ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. To serve, place the shrimp in soup mug or if you have them ,shrimp cocktail glasses. Spoon the cocktail sauce over the top. Serve with your favorite crackers and a piece of the quartered lime.

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