June 09, 2016 at 11:17PM
Nightcap. A little something I call a California Sunset. #cocktail #mixology
June 09, 2016 at 11:17PM
Tag: tequila
Cocktail of the Week: Tequila Sunrise
I know, I know that looks nothing like a Tequila Sunrise… I guess my homemade grenadine isn’t think enough? So instead of sinking to the bottom it suffused into the drink? When I first poured it in it looked right, maybe I just waited too long before taking the picture? So, let’s call this a Los Angeles Tequila Sunrise? Nice and muddy looking through all that smog! Anyway, Tequila Sunrises are perfect summer drinks. Also, perfect morning drinks but you didn’t hear that from me! To the cocktail!
Tequila Sunrise
- 3 oz. orange juice
- 1 1/2 oz. tequila
- 1/2 oz. grenadine
Pour the orange juice and tequila into an ice filled collins glass. Slowly pour grenadine into mix, the weight of the grenadine (should) make it sink to the bottom leaving some rather lovely red/pink trails through the orange juice. Garnish with a orange wedge.
Again, mine doesn’t look quite as it should. But, it did taste lovely. The acidity of the oj, the sweet tartness of the grenadine and the sharp alcoholic taste of tequila. Ah, what a delicious cocktail! As I said at the beginning. Enjoy for breakfast or as an aperitif before dinner! If you have a poolside or ocean side view even better! Enjoy the summer it’s going to get too hot soon!
EDIT: I think I figured out why my Tequila Sunrise looked so muddy. I transposed the figures for tequila and orange juice… Leaving me with a very boozy but not very bright cocktail.
Cocktail of the Week: Honeydew Margarita
Have you noticed anything different at your local grocery store? Specifically, in the produce aisle? Most of the stone fruit is gone, as is the citrus, and there are now a lot of apples and pears and if you were lucky for about a two-three week span the place was overrun with melons. So many melons! Watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydews, casabas, muskmelons! We have a friend who had been growing their own melons in a private garden plot and had more than he could handle himself and so gifted us some. More than we could normally eat before they went bad and so D and I went looking for alternative uses for melons. Cocktails immediately came to mind, and that is how this post ended up here today.
Honeydew Margarita
- 2 ounces honeydew juice
- 1 1/2 oz tequila
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake. Strain over ice into glasses with either a salt or sugar rim (I used a mixture of sugar and chili powder to rim these glasses.)
Wow! Wow! Wow! I’m a big fan of honeydew on it’s own but mix it with some tequila and lime juice and you’ve got yourself an amazing cocktail. The Honeydew takes center stage making the margarita sweet with only a hint of sour provided by the lime and almost no alcohol taste. Really refreshing. I’m sad I only found out about these now as there won’t be any melons in the fall or winter and margaritas aren’t really seasonal or appropriate again until spring… If you do happen to find a honeydew in the supermarket in the next couple of days though, grab it!
Cocktail of the Week: Cucumber Jalapeno Margaritas
This probably would have been more appropriate last week. But, I’m not really big on Cinco de Mayo and margaritas are a great cocktail for any time of the year. D found this recipe and has been begging me to try it for a while now. I have to admit the mix of jalapenos and cucumbers had me intrigued… So, this weekend I made sure I had all the ingredients and go to work!
Cucumber Jalapeno Margaritas
- 4 oz. tequila
- 1 lime
- 1 lemon
- small cucumber
- jalapeno simple syrup (see below)
Juice the lemon, lime, and cucumber. Cool the liquid in the refrigerator. Combine juice, tequila, and syrup in a large pitcher with ice. slices of cucumbers and jalapeno may be added as garnish. Serve in salt rimmed cups (margarita, martini, or whatever glasses you happen to have lying around.)
Jalapeno Simple Syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 jalapeno
Slice the jalapeno, removing seeds. Put water, sugar, and jalapeno slices into a pot. Boil the water on medium until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about ten minutes with pot covered. Drain liquid through a fine mesh colander. Cool completely.
P.S. – if you don’t have a juicer getting liquid out of the cucumber could be a problem. I chopped it up and threw it in to the food processor and blended it into a rough paste and then put the puree into cheesecloth and squeezed the liquid out. Seemed to get the job down.
This was a surprisingly good take on the traditional margarita. D says it might just be here favorite variation so far. Her exact words were, “A plus and five gold stars.” That’s quite the endorsement and I’m inclined to agree with her. I think I like the traditional margarita a little more but this is certainly my favorite twist on the drink. The jalapeno syrup brings the heat and the cucumber brings the cool. It’s a lovely combination.