Drink Matron

Tag: bourbon

  • Easy Camping Cocktails for Memorial Day

    Easy Camping Cocktails for Memorial Day

    It’s Memorial Day weekend, and for many of you that means it’s the first big camping holiday of the year. When I think of camping, it’s drinking that comes to my mind. While beer is most definitely the easiest way to imbibe while enjoying the great outdoors, there are plenty of mixers that are perfectly simple and even easy to pack. If you only have room for one bottle, that’s okay! Muddling, shaking, straining, and garnishing aren’t always necessary when you have the right combinations.

    Beergarita

    The most complicated drink on our list, the beergarita is perfect for those of you who are looking for a different take on the standard margarita. Plus, maybe those beer lovers at your campground will enjoy it. If you don’t have a blender, you can always mix this on the rocks, it’s just as nice, maybe even better.

    Ingredients:

    1 oz gold tequila
    1 oz triple sec
    1 oz lime juice
    12 oz bottle Corona® lager

    Mix all ingredients except the lager in a blender with ice. Pour into a large pilsner/pint glass, then add the Corona (which should be chilled) over the top. Garnish with a slice of lime, and serve.

    Cuba Libre

    Sometimes I think they named the Cuba Libre because “rum and coke” doesn’t sound as nice.

    Ingredients:

    1 part rum*
    1 part cola

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    *Whiskey is a good alternative.

    Dark N’ Stormy

    Ginger beer is so refreshing, and rum relaxing, that the combination may put you in a vacation mode immediately.

    Ingredients:

    1 part dark rum
    1 part ginger beer

    Pour ginger beer in a cup over ice. Add rum. Mix with your straw as you drink, slowly combining rum and ginger beer to create the best taste.

    Screwdriver

    You probably packed orange juice for breakfast anyway.

    Ingredients:

    1 part vodka
    1 part orange juice

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    Greyhound

    If you don’t have orange juice, you probably have grapefruit juice.

    Ingredients:

    2 parts vodka
    1 part grapefruit juice

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    Gimlet

    This is one that you probably should garnish. Cut up a lime and toss a few slices in.

    Ingredients:

    2 parts gin*
    1 part lime juice

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    *Alternatively, vodka can be used.

    Gin and Ginger

    Since you’ve got that ginger beer already…

    Ingredients:

    2 parts gin
    1 part ginger beer

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    Whiskey Sour

    Nice and refreshing.

    Ingredients:

    2 parts whiskey
    1 part sour mix

    Combine in a cup over ice.

    Bourbon Sweet Tea

    In the afternoon, nothing is better than sitting around the picnic table having a nice refreshing sweet tea. Why not liquor it up?

    Ingredients:

    2 parts bourbon
    2 part flavored sweet tea

    Combine bourbon and your choice of flavored sweet tea in a cup over ice. If you’re garnishing, garnish with lemon.

    Foodie extra

    Smoreos

    A new take on an old classic. Recipe courtesy of Andi Ponkey.

    Ingredients:

    Irish Cream
    Marshmallows
    Oreos

    Dip marshmallows in Irish cream before roasting. Instead of graham crackers, place the marshmallow between two sides of an Oreo.

  • Cocktails for Pecan Pie Day!

    It’s National Pecan Pie Day and we are ready with cocktails!  There are so many variations of Pecan Pie Martinis and other drinks, so I thought I’d bring you a few that I’ve found that I think sound and look absolutely decadent. Enjoy!

    Pecan Pie Martini

    Recipe from Daydreamer Desserts (click here for some really great pics of this drink).

    For the Garnish

    • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
    • 1/2 ounce praline pecan liqueur
    • 2 pecan halves

    Pour the praline pecan liqueur into a shallow plate. Dip the rims of the martini glasses into the the plate with the pecan liqueur then dip them into the plate with the turbinado sugar. Place one pecan half in each of the martini glasses.

    For the Martini

    • 2 ounces Praline pecan liqueur
    • 1.5 ounces caramel cream liqueur
    • 1.5 ounces bourbon
    • .5 ounce Torani caramel syrup
    • 1 ounce heavy cream

    Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add all liquid ingredients into the cocktail shaker, and shake for 20-30 seconds. Pour into prepared martini glasses.

    Butter Pecan

    • 1 oz hazelnut liqueur
    • 2 lg Tbsp of vanilla ice cream
    • 5 pecans

    Pour hazelnut liqueur into a double cocktail glass and add ice cream. Top with pecans.

    More pecan pie cocktails

    The Martini Diva’s Pecan Pie Martini

    EHow Pecan Rum Cocktail

     

     

  • Bourbon Heritage Month

    In order to celebrate Bourbon as America’s “Native Spirit,” in 2007 congress passed a unanimous vote calling for September to be Bourbon Heritage Month. Four years later, September is still bourbon’s month to shine, especially in its home state of Kentucky.

    In addition to the 20th Annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail received new highway signs marking its significant landmarks this month, and bartenders are breaking out their very best (and tastiest) bourbon cocktails.

    So if you’re wondering what to drink (and how to drink it) this month, go with bourbon. Straight up, on the rocks, or mixed in a cocktail, it’s the best way to celebrate America’s “Native Spirit.”

  • Devil’s Cut: The Devil Gets His Due

    Recently, bourbon and whiskey makers have been trying to come up with ways to flip whiskey making on its side.  The newest contender is Jim Beam’s Devil’s Cut.

    Devil’s Cut is a play on the term “The Angel’s Share,” the portion of whiskey that evaporates from the barrel during the aging process.  The Devil’s Cut, as dubbed by the folks at Jim Beam, is the portion of the whiskey that soaks into the wood of the barrel during the aging process.  It’s the Devil’s Cut that makes whiskey barrels so desirable for aging other alcohol – that bit of whiskey that seeps out and flavors whatever is aging in the barrel.

    The Devil’s Cut is extracted using a process called “barrel sweating.” A portion of water is put in the barrel and then shaken and rolled to agitate the whiskey out and mix into the water.  Then, a “proprietary” process is used to develop an appropriate balance of bourbon in the water over a period of time.  The mixture is then combined with six-year-old bourbon to create Devil’s Cut Bourbon.

    Since this whiskey has been embedded in oak barrels for who knows how long, you can expect a strong oaky flavor (or as Gary Vaynerchuk would say, the Oak Monster) with a sweet, spicy undertone (cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, etc.).

    The big addition to Devil’s Cut from regular White Label Jim Beam is an aftertaste that goes on for miles.  Each sip will stay with you to the next, and beyond.