Tag Archives: orange

Top 10 Cocktail Garnishes, Ranked

Cocktails / April 26, 2017 / 3 Comments.

We’re about to get to the important business of ranking cocktail garnishes. But first, a few ground rules.

Rule #1: We’re talking about edible cocktail garnishes. We can debate the relative merits of cocktail umbrellas and those little plastic animals/choking hazards in your scorpion bowl another day.

Rule #2: If it’s on your spice rack, it doesn’t count. Sorry, salt and cinnamon rims.

Rule #3: No novelty garnishes. Because it’s clearly unfair to make fruit and vegetables compete against cheeseburgers.

Now let’s do this.

10. Celery
I guess you can stir your drink with it? Other than that, it tastes bad and it physically gets in the way of drinking the Bloody Mary you desperately need. Awful garnish.

9. Orange
Orange slices are for children’s soccer games, not cocktails.

8. Onion
I don’t understand why cocktail onions exist, but I’m willing to learn.

7. Lemon
Lemons, perhaps the most common drink garnish, are way overrated. Have you ever been truly excited there was a lemon in your drink? No.

6. Pineapple
A pineapple garnish means you’re at a tiki bar with some big, colorful, tropical drink in front of you. Nice work.

5. Cucumber
A wheel of cucumber on the rim of your drink instantly makes you 46% more classy. It’s science.

4. Cherry
Maraschino cherries are delicious. It’s like a free dessert with your drink.

3. Mint
What makes mojitos and mint juleps so great? Booze, yeah, but also mint. It gives the drink a unique flavor and it looks all cool and leafy.

2. Olive
We salute you, person who decided to plunk some olives in a glass of booze and call it a martini.

1. Lime
Coronas, cosmos, margaritas, mojitos, vodka-sodas, gin-and-tonics, rum-and-cokes… Lime makes so many drinks better, which is why we’re crowning it America’s Top Garnish.

Her Shot: Booze Infused Holiday Candy

Her Shot / December 18, 2016 / No Comments.

The holidays are a time to indulge. Diets are long forgotten. Second helpings are never questioned. If you aren’t over eating and over drinking- kudos to you for the self restraint. For those of you with less self control (like us), we have booze infused holiday candy for you to try:

Candy Cane Tequila. Has anyone ever received a package of candy canes without at least one being broken? We think it’s physically impossible for every single one to be in tact. We have a great way to repurpose those poor, sad, broken candy canes. Crush ten mini ones up and throw them into a cup of blanco tequila. Stir, cap it and shake vigorously. The broken canes will infuse in about a day. The finished product is bright pink (just make sure to strain out the candy gunk at the bottom). We recommend spiking your hot cocoa with this or just take it as a shot and chase with some chocolate.

Gingerbread Peep Vodka. Peeps aren’t just for Easter anymore. Now the company is making freakin’ adorable Gingerbread people peeps. Grab three gingerpeeps, pour 1 cup of vodka into a cup and rip those lil peeps to shreds. Mash with a spoon or give it a good shake. After 24 hours, the peeps turn into marshmallow mush. Strain the shiz out to get the finish product: a beautiful chocolate brown liquid. With a sweet taste and a healthy bite, this concoction would taste great mixed with Baileys, eggnog or even milk.

Chocolate Orange Rum. What’s more satisfying than cracking one of those foil-wrapped chocolate oranges? Throwing those slices into a jar of spiced rum. Shake it every so often to help the flavors meld. After 24 hours of waiting, we promise you won’t be disappointed. The chocolate flavor comes through in a smooth, warm way that’s not overly sweet. This one is fine on the rocks, or add a splash of soda.

Gummy Christmas Tree Pisco. Chuck five green Christmas trees into one cup of pisco and five red into another. Stir vigorously to yield a nice, baby pink and bright green colored piscos. The flavor is delicately sweet without being overpowering. It makes for a festive take on a pisco sour!

Ribbon Candy Bourbon. We recommend the cinnamon flavor for this recipe. You only need two or three pieces to dissolve in a cup a bourbon. This one requires almost no waiting time. The ribbon candy dissolved almost immediately, especially if you break it up into smaller pieces. With a taste of spiced bourbon and a hint of cinnamon, this will tickle all the way down. Its aroma is strong but the taste is subtler than you think. Try it with a twist of citrus.

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Cocktail Corner: Orange is the New Black

Cocktail Corner / June 17, 2016 / No Comments.

Let’s be honest, orange isn’t everyone’s favorite color. It is, however when it comes to the Netflix hit original series, Orange is the New Black, which is premiering its third season today. Yes -TODAY. So whether you’ve been planning a premiere party for weeks, or are scrambling to put something together, these show inspired cocktails will make your viewing party the one to beat. Binge the entire season in one night, don’t worry, we won’t judge.

Vause Is Back:

2 oz Partida Reposado Tequila
½ oz agave nectar
¾ oz fresh lime juice
½ oz mango puree
2 jalapeno disc/slices

In shaker, muddle 1 jalapeño disc with agave nectar. Add ingredients into shaker and shake over ice. Strain over ice, garnish with jalapeño disc floating on top.

Big Boo’s Brew:

4 oz. fresh orange juice
1 oz. *honey syrup (1:1)
Sapporo Premium Light
2 -3 dashes orange bitters

In a tall cocktail glass add orange juice and honey syrup, top with Sapporo beer and orange bitters. Stir gently with bar spoon and garnish with orange slice.

*honey syrup: in a small pot over medium heat, combine 1 c. honey and 1 c. water and stir lightly until dissolved

Pennsatucky’s Penance

1 oz. Amaro Lucano
½ oz gin
½ oz Aperol
2 ½ oz Passion Fruit Juice

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain in to a Hurricane glass filled with ice.

For My Dandelion

2 oz Amarula Cream
3 oz pure mango juice
¼ teaspoon de-seeded and chopped red chili
Dried mango slivers

Combine the Amarula, pure mango juice and chopped red chili in a cocktail shaker, blender or sealed container and shake well. Pour over crushed ice into a high-ball glass and garnish with dried mango slivers.

Vee’s Demise:

1 ½ G’Vine Floraison Gin
½ oz Agave nectar or simple syrup
½ oz Blood orange juice or puree
1 oz Fresh pineapple juice
¾ oz Fresh lime juice
1 oz Brut Champagne
5 Tarragon leaves

Put the Champagne in a martini glass. Put the rest of the ingredients in a shaker, add ice, shake and serve in the martini glass with the Champagne. Garnish with a skewered blueberry, raspberry, gooseberry and a tarragon sprig.

Baby Daddy Bennet

1 ½ oz Diplomatico Rum Reserva Exclusiva
¾ oz orange liqueur
¾ oz lemon juice

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with, shake and strain into a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass.

Recipe & Gif

Her Shot: DIY Mimosa Bar

Her Shot / May 12, 2016 / No Comments.

With summer quickly approaching and the sun coming out to play, it’s time again for backyard parties and weekends of cocktail canoodling. What better way to kick off a summer Sunday than with a twist on a brunch time classic: Mimosas. And who doesn’t like a bottomless boozy brunch with more than just the original orange juice mimosa? So get ready to become the hottest new DIY bartender with your own Mimosa Bar. Here is a step by step of how to do it and do it right:

What you will need:

Bubbles: 1 bottle usually makes around 8 mimosas, so depending on the size of your party make sure to grab enough bottles of cava, prosecco, or champagne. Make sure they are cold and stored in an ice bucket.
Water: Club soda for a non-alcoholic version is always a good idea as well as water to refresh your guests.
Ice and Ice bucket: The ice bucket ensures that the bubbles are always chilled.
Garnishes: Add some flare to the glasses with a sugar rim. Use sliced fruit to rim the glass before dipping in sugar then use the same fruit slice to add garnish. Try fruits like strawberries, oranges, raspberries, blackberries or blueberries. For a different taste try carrot strings with a carrot-orange mimosa.
Juice: The juice for the mimosa bar makes the drink. You don’t have to stick to class orange juice, add some fun summer fruits like pineapple, pomegranate, blackberry, or grapefruit juices.
Glasses: Champagne glasses are always fun to use because you are using sparkling booze and this makes it feel like a celebration, but using a variety of shapes and sizes can add to a fun quirky style to the bar.
Juice Glasses and Labels: I put the juice in clear bottles so the juice color could be brought to life adding pops of color to the gathering.
Table Decor: Whether you want a tropical tiki bar feel or a classic backyard party you can customize your mimosa bar with any style of décor think chalkboard labels, flowers, candy, or beach toys and fake sand.

Ingredients by the numbers:

2 bottles of chilled champagne, cava, or prosecco
1 bottle of club soda for non-alcoholic version
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 cup of carrot strings
2 cups of orange, blackberry, pomegranate, pineapple, grapefruit, and carrot/orange juice
Sugar for rimming the glasses
Ice for ice bucket

Now DIY:

Set up table with decor, juice, rimmed glasses, garnishes, ice bucket, and champagne
Fill champagne glasses half way with juice
Top off with champagne and garnish

Yields: 16 servings

Cheers!

Recipe & Gif

Brews Worthy Of The Final Four

Featured Story / March 29, 2016 / No Comments.

The Final Four teams in the Men’s NCAA March Madness Tournament face off this Saturday. It would be a disgrace to their hard work and perseverance if we didn’t honor the athletes by drinking beers from their homelands. To make it a little easier for you, we’ve compiled a short list of our favorite brews that hail from the Final Four states:

Game 1: Oklahoma Sooners v. Villanova Wildcats
Settle in for another Buddy Hield showcase. While this is sure to be a close game, and anything can happen in March (even though it will technically be April), all eyes will be on the Sooners’ guard. If you’re Team Buddy, keep an eye out for 405 Brewing. They’re a small shop in Norman, OK with some quality beers to choose from. Our favorite? Trae PA. It’s a pale ale with notes of mango and pineapple that compliment the hops.

If you’re more of a Wildcat, reach for one of the many offerings from Ardmore, PA’s Tired Hands. Keeping on the pale ale theme, we’re recommending their Hop Hands brew. It has notes of tangelo, kiwi, grapefruit and honeysuckle. You’ll be a winner whether your team wins or not.

Game 2: North Carolina Tar Heels v. Syracuse Orange
In an amazing twist of fate, the 10-seed Orange have worked their way onto the big stage. If you’re a fan of the underdogs Middle Ages Brewing Co. in Syracuse, NY has just what you need. We’re partial to their Dragonslayer Imperial Stout. Besides having a perfect name for the occasion, it’s also got that hoppy chocolate taste that we love.

If Carolina Blue is more your color, you won’t have to go far to satisfy your appetite. Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill, NC has a flavorful and diverse catalogue to choose from. If you’re looking for something heavy, we suggest the Oatmeal Porter with hints of molasses and chocolate as your pre-game pour.

Whichever beer you choose, you’re in for a good time this Saturday.

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Cocktail Corner: Creamsicle Day

Cocktail Corner / August 14, 2015 / No Comments.

Today’s Cocktail Corner is devoted to a very special member of the citrus family: the orange. What would our lives be without this delicious, tangy fruit? OJ for breakfast is always a must, and when you’re under the weather, your best bet is to chug an entire carton of this pulpy potion. But what makes an orange-flavored anything really pop? The addition of a vanilla component of course – vanilla ice cream to be more specific. And alas, we have created a creamsicle. From here, there’s only one way to go, and that’s to start pouring the booze:

Coconut Creamsicle Margarita: (1 serving)

2 oz. grand marnier
2 oz. orange juice
5 oz. silver tequila
1 oz. lime juice
1 oz. coconut water
1 oz. light coconut milk
1 oz. simple syrup
unsweetened shredded & toasted coconut (to rim glass)
orange and lime slices (for garnish)

First, rim your glass with coconut and fill with ice. Combine grand marnier, orange juice, tequila, lime juice, coconut water, coconut milk and simple syrup in an ice filled shaker and shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Pour into your glass and garnish with citrus wedges.

Recipe found on howsweeteats.com

Spiked Creamsicle Shake: (1 serving)

½ cup orange sherbet
½ cup vanilla bean ice cream
2 oz. vodka
¼ cup milk, if needed
¼ cup heavy whipping cream

In a blender, pulse together all ingredients except the whipping cream. Put whipping cream in a bowl and use an electric mixer until the cream has created soft peaks. Pour the shake into a tall glass and top with whipped cream.

Recipe found on setthetableblog.com

Orange Sherbet Float: (1 serving)

Orange sherbet
Champagne

Put a few scoops of orange sherbet in a large glass and top with champagne. Enjoy.

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Tequila Takes on Flavors of Fall

Cocktails / October 4, 2014 / No Comments.

Tequila is traditionally thought of as a summertime spirit. On any sizzling summer day, there’s nothing more refreshing than a tangy mojito or frozen margarita. Still, now that we have entered autumn, we’ve come to think that tequila should also be considered a transitional beverage. Without a tropical twist, tequila can actually compliment many flavors of fall. So with today being National Taco Day, we urge you to celebrate by pairing your tacos with these tasty recipes for seasonal tequila treats.

Apple Cider Margarita (1 serving)

5 oz. apple cider
1 oz. grand marnier
1 oz. tequila
splash of triple sec

Mix together all the ingredients and serve over ice. This cocktail rendition has quite a sweet sip, so combine yours with a savory taco selection such as Acorn Squash Tacos with Avocado.

Orange Salted Caramel Margarita (1 serving)

1 ½ oz. tequila
1 ½ oz. orange juice
1 oz. salted caramel sauce
½ oz. triple sec
½ oz. lime juice

Rim a chilled margarita glass by dipping it in some salted caramel sauce then in a combo of salt and sugar. Combine all the ingredients in an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake for at least 30 seconds. Pour into ice-filled glasses and enjoy. If you’re wondering what to pair with this drink, go for these more-than-basic Pumpkin Spice Tacos.

Blackberry Thyme Margarita (1 serving)

9 blackberries, divided
1 ½ small sprigs of fresh thyme
½ cup crushed ice
2 ½ tbsp. tequila
2 tbsp. simple syrup
juice of half a lime
½ tbsp. orange liqueur (i.e. triple sec)
2 tbsp. sparkling water

Blend 7 of the berries together with the thyme leaves. Pulse to puree until smooth. Strain the mixture into a bowl (press on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible). Combine the puree, ice, tequila, simple syrup, lime juice, orange liqueur and sparkling water in a blender. Blend until smooth and well mixed.

Pour into a glass and garnish with the remaining berries and/or additional thyme. Try this cocktail with Chorizo-Yam Tacos with Lime-marinated onions—you won’t be sorry.

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3 Delicious Creamsicle Cocktails

Cocktails / August 14, 2014 / No Comments.

Popsicles are one of the most popular frozen treats ever, but it’s the Popsicle’s cousin that gets us really psyched in the freezer aisle at the grocery store: the Creamsicle. Creamsicles are a magical combo of vanilla ice cream and orange popsicle and they definitely deserve their own holiday.

Oh wait, they do have their own holiday…and it’s today!

To celebrate National Creamsicle Day, we put together a few Creamsicle-flavored cocktails for you to make today. Heck, eat a Creamsicle while you drink a Creamsicle cocktail – you deserve it.

Coconut Creamsicle Cocktail

This Coconut Creamsicle Cocktail adds an interesting coconut twist to the classic Creamsicle taste. Also, if you are vegan or just like to pretend you are, this recipe is for you because it’s totally dairy-free.

Fill a mason jar (or any glass) with ice
Pour in 1 1/2 oz. coconut rum
Fill the glass 3/4 of the way to the top with orange juice. Stir well to combine.
Float So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk on top of the drink and enjoy!

Creamsicle Margarita

Creamsicles and margaritas basically define summer, so when they join forces in this Creamsicle Margarita, you really can’t find a better cocktail to sip on your back porch on a warm summer evening.

First, you’re going to make vanilla-infused salt. Slice 1 vanilla bean open lengthwise and then cut the bean into quarters, crosswise. Place the vanilla bean in a small glass jar and cover with 3/4 cup coarse sea salt. Cover the jar and shake well. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before rimming the margarita glasses.
Pour some of the salt onto a small plate. Wet the rim of the margarita glass, then dip it in the salt, turning the glass so that the rim is covered in vanilla salt. Fill the glass with ice.
In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, add 1 1/2 oz. tequila, 1/2 oz. lime juice, 1/2 oz. triple sec, 2 Tbsp. marmalade, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract. Cover and shake until the shaker is chilly and frosted over.
Strain into the prepared margarita glass and garnish with some lime and orange slices. Serve immediately.

Orange Creamsicle Cocktail

One of the best parts of indulging in a Creamsicle is the fact that it’s frozen, so we couldn’t wrap up this article without one recipe that requires a blender and ice cream. Say hello to your new favorite grownup dessert!

Put your large glass in the freezer at least 15 minutes before preparing the cocktail.
Combine 2 oz. vodka, 1/2 oz. triple sec, 4 oz. orange juice, 3/4 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/4 cup orange sherbet and 2 ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth.
Fill the chilled glass 3/4 full and top off the glass with orange soda.
Garnish with orange slices and cherries.

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Summertime Spirits Debuting this Season

Our Stories / July 6, 2014 / No Comments.

As we dive deeper into the depths of the summer season, we know we’re not the only ones loving those long beach days, the warm breezes, and the never-ending sunlight. But with the heat comes a need to quench your thirst, and what better way to do so than with a cocktail that both compliments and cools. Experiment with this summer’s newest alcohol releases, complete with every fruity flavor from coconut to apple.

It’s not called sweet summertime for nothing, and UV vodka encapsulates that exact mood with their new flavor, UV Sugar Crush. With a tropical and candy-like taste, UV Sugar Crush was inspired by retro candies to appeal to an every day sweet tooth. Having an aroma of bubblegum mixed with an array of fruit, this launch is one you definitely don’t want to miss.

What’s fruit without a little kick? Three Olives vodka takes a traditional fruity spirit and adds some spice with their new Jacked Apple flavor. Combining the essence of both red apple and cinnamon, this vodka is ideal for when you’re winding down after one of many scorching summer days. At only $21 per 750-ml bottle, there’s no excuse not to take a taste of this bold blend.

If you’re into sipping something a little sweeter, give Hawaiian-based Kai Vodka a try. Specializing in rice-based spirits, the brand has introduced several unique tastes to the U.S. market for about $24.99 a bottle. Lemongrass, Lychee, Ginger, Coconut—these flavors will enhance any if not all of your summer cocktails. Don’t fill like being a bartender? Go at it alone and knock back a Kai Vodka shot to take your taste buds on a trip.

We all know that margaritas are a summer staple, especially if made with premium tequila like Patrón. This season, the world’s best-selling tequila has finally crafted a triple sec to help you master your marg making skills. At 80 proof, Patrón Citronge has the subtle aroma of orange with a slightly sweet aftertaste, and at $20 a bottle, we think this new addition added to Patrón’s traditional tequila will make for an epic combination.

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