Today we’ve got the “Blue Lady.” First Wednesday of the month and we’ve got a new drink demo video. For the recipe and my full review over on youtube.
Tag: sweet ‘n’ sour
Trade Winds
Well as long as we still have a full month of summer, let’s keep the tropical drinks flowing!
The Trade Winds is a wonderfully aromatic cocktail with citrus and raspberry notes. It has a dark and mysterious burgundy color with an inviting lemon twist within. The drink starts sweet, moves to a tart raspberry, then finishes with a sour brandy flavor. A great sweeter drink and well balanced it’s easy to recommend as a light starter.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Alcohol Taste Rating: 6.5/10
Trade Winds
3/4 oz Light Rum
3/4 oz Brandy (Apricot Brandy Used)
3/4 oz Raspberry Liqueur
1 oz OJ
2 oz Sweet/Sour
Lemon Twist
Shake and strain liquid ingredients into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Wall Street Wizard and .44 Magnum
Well this was supposed to be a 2 for 1 tuesday, but I’m not getting around to the post until after midnight, so now it’s just two drinks without the snappy title. So today we’ve got two interesting cocktails, one much better than the other.
First up is the “Wall Street Wizard,” which is straight alcohol stirred and strained for a great emerald look. Unfortunately that’s about all the drink has going for it. It has an earthy citrus aroma, but so much of the midori flavor is lost with the other alcohols. It starts with a hard curacao bite and finishes with equally hard gin flavor. It’s not one I recommend very much as it’s a tough one to drink, unless you’re looking for something VERY different:
Overall Rating: 3.5-4/10
Alc. Rating: 9/10
Wall Street Wizard
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Light Rum (Gold Used)
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1/2 oz Midori
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
So next up we’ve got something much better. The “.44 Magnum” is a powerful mix that doesn’t quite taste as powerful as the ingredients at work here. The topping of 7Up/Sprite makes for a citrus fizz aroma and start to the drink. Mid pallete is a sweet/sour rum, followed by a Jamaican dark rum finish with a hit of pineapple. Due to the less than appealing color and presentation in this drink, an opaque tiki glass would probably be better than the listed “bucket glass” in my recipe book.
Overall Rating 7/10
Alc. Rating 6.5/10
.44 Magnum
1/2 oz Light Rum (Gold Used)
1/2 oz Dark Rum
1/2 oz Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Triple Sec (or Cointreau)
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1 1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
Sprite
Shake all but sprite with ice. Strain into an iced tumbler (or tiki glass). Top with sprite.
Sidecar Royale
Today we’ve got a classy cocktail with a solid flavor. The Sidecar Royale has a classic sandy color with citrus and herbal aromas. It starts on a mildly sweet note, moves to a sweet brandy taste, then finishes with an earthy herbal and brandy bite. If you have or can find some Benedictine you might want to give this one a try. The original recipe calls for either brandy or cognac, but in my bar all I have is flavored brandies. I figured Apricot would fit this drink quite well (and it did). Although a more pure brandy would have the same flavor profile as my mix.
Overall Rating: 7.5-8/10
Alc. Rating: 6/10
Make it Again? Yes. Worth trying with cognac
Sidecar Royale
1 oz Brandy (or cognac)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Benedictine
1 1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
(Optional Rim with sugar)
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
American Graffiti
Do you live dangerously? Well you might want to start, by downing this powerful cocktail. The American Graffiti is a summery tropical drink with a lot of flavor without a harsh punch (taste wise). The main aroma builds from pineapple and sweet/sour and its bright red color is reminiscent of the Red Demon cocktail. The drink starts off very smooth and then hits the back of your palette with a mild and full bodied rum. Considering the amount of alcohol present, I am surprised it doesn’t have more of a harsh kick. I imagine this is thanks to the mix of sloe gin and roses lime to build a fruity citrus into the mix.
My only concern with the original recipie is that it calls for both “light rum” and “rum.” Because the first rum is specifically light, but the second is unspecified, I decided Bacardi Gold would be a nice balanced choice. I do wonder how Some Captain Original Spiced would change this drink. Even a flavored rum would be a good choice (something like mango or coconut). Either way though it’s a very solid drink with a great open end for variations.
Alcohol Taste Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating 8/10
Make it again? Yes. Try flavor variations too!
American Graffiti Cocktail
1 1/4 oz Light Rum
3/4 oz Rum (Bacardi Gold Used)
1/2 oz Sloe Gin
1/2 oz Southern Comfort
1/4 oz Rose’s Lime Juice
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
Shake and strain all ingredients into an iced tumbler. Garnish with an Orange slice and a Cherry.
Midorable Cocktail
Is the name a little cheesy? Yes, but don’t blame me this time (it’s not an original).
The Midorable is a radiant green cocktail with a slight foam on top so it doesn’t require a garnish. It has a mild melon aroma which is very inviting. The flavor begins with a little banana, moves it’s way to the melon, and the finishes just a little sour. A sweeter variation might be worth a try (replace lime juice with simple syrup).
Alcohol Rating: 6.5-7/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 (could use 1/4 more of each ingredient to fill glass, the sour isn’t for everyone)
Make it Again? Yes. Possible Menu item
Midorable
1 oz Midori
3/4 oz Banana Liqueur (For less bite use Creme de Banana)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Sweet/Sour
Shake and Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Blue Marlin
A cast into the Atlantic catches you a “Blue Marlin!”
With it’s citrusy aroma, and brilliant blue color you know this one is a catch!
Ok so nautical puns aside this is an interesting and powerful drink. The Blue Marlin Cocktail features a sugar rim and feels very tropical. Unfortunately the taste doesn’t quite come up to par with the classy appearance. I feel the drink is very lacking in a more well rounded taste palette. Of course I do prefer sweeter drinks, so it might just be me.
That being said the addition of the sugar rim, really helps make the drink manageable. It’s not very sweet in the first place, so having that extra bit on your lips redeems the cocktail a bit. Also I did need to substitute a little citron vodka into the mix which may have thrown things off a little bit.
Either way the Blue Marlin is a great drink in terms of presentation, but the taste isn’t for everyone.
Alcohol Taste Rating: 6-7/10
Overall Taste Rating: 5/10
Make it Again? Maybe. Try again with all citron rum, or variation with more juice
Blue Marlin
2 oz Citron Rum (1/2 citron vodka, 1/2 light rum used)
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
Lemon Wedge and Sugar (for rim)
Orange Twist (or orange blossom)
Rum lemon wedge around edge and rim with sugar. Shake and strain rum, curacao, and sweet/sour with ice. Strain into prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with Orange Twist.
Southern Belle (Mocktail)
With so many heavy hitting drinks on the blog here, I decided it was about time to post a drink that someone of any age can enjoy. The “Southern Belle” is a refreshing minty drink right in time for a warm spring. The fresh mint builds an aromatic start with a traditional taste of ginger ale. As it reaches the back of your taste palette you’ll get more of the sweet mint flavor (especially if you grab a mint leaf as you sip).
This is a great one for all ages, and perfect for sitting in the afternoon sun.
Alcohol Rating: N/A
Overall Rating: 9/10
Make it again? Yes.
Southern Belle (Mocktail)
3-5 Mint Leaves
1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Ginger Ale
Mint Spring
Muddle sweet/sour/ mint leaves, and simple syrup together in a rocks glass. Add ice and top with ginger ale. Garnish with a mint spring.
*For an alcoholic version you may want to add in 1.5 oz of bourbon.
Pedro’s Blue Island
Did I really think I’d be wearing shorts in April? Nope, but in case where you live it didn’t get unseasonably warm this weekend, here’s a tropical themed delight to at least fool your brain that you’re on the beach. Pedro’s Blue Island is a drink I’ve built based on the traditional Pedro Collins. With a light lemony upper drink (similar to lemonade) and a smoother tropical end toward the bottom, this one is worth making even if it’s not terrible warm out.
This drink features my new favorite ingredient (pineapple rum) and my old one (Dekuyper’s Island Punch Pucker).
Alcohol Rating 2-3/10
Overall Rating 9/10
Make it Again? Yes! Already on the Menu
Pedro’s Blue Island
2 oz Sweet/Sour
1.5 oz Pineapple (or Coconut) Rum
1/2 oz Island Punch Pucker
Club SodaLemon Wedge
Straight build sweet/sour, rum, and pucker in an iced Collins Glass, stir, add club soda. Garnish with lemon wedge.
Sparkling Sweet Apple Sour
Today’s cocktail is a great afternoon sipper! A modern twist on the traditional Whiskey Sour, the Sparkling Sweet Apple, adds just enough new flavor to make the classic drink more interesting. Citrus in its aroma, and a light sweet and sour taste makes this drink easy to recommend, even if you don’t really like whiskey.
Alcohol Rating: 3-4/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Make again? Yes! (Available on the Current Menu v4.5)
Sparkling Sweet Apple Sour
1 ¼ oz Blended Whiskey (Canadian Club used)
¾ oz Sour Apple Pucker
2 oz sweet/sour
7UP/sprite
Lemon Wedge
Shake and strain all but sprite and lemon into a sour or cocktail glass. Splash sprite and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Medium Of Mixology 