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It has been a crazy week, and we ready to enjoy a cocktail or two with you. First, it is time to get back to talking about Bar Basics. Two weeks ago we shared our homemade Sour Mix, and this week we are going to talk about simple syrup. This is a bar basic that is a must, as most cocktail recipes include a little sweetener, which is normally some simple syrup. We like to take it a step further by using a ”rich simple syrup”.
Rich simple syrup adds a subtle sweetness and texture to your cocktail. It is made by using a 2:1 ratio (sugar:water). We prefer to use an unrefined sugar, which also adds a nice amber color to the finished syrup. As well we have found that using the ratio of 2:1, made the syrup last longer. We do add a teaspoon of vodka to aid in some “natural preserving”. Vodka is perfect to use as it has a clean taste, and will not interfere with the taste of your cocktails. Just don’t add to your breakfast tea or you really will be tea tottling. If, you opt not to use the vodka as a preservative, your syrup will last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Using the vodka made the syrup last about 2 months; well, that is how long it lasted in our fridge.
About a month ago, a bottle of Hendricks Gin, along with a cocktail book dedicated to gin only cocktails, showed up on our doorstep. Breaking it open seemed appropriate as most cocktails involving gin also involve a little simple syrup. Keep in mind, a cocktail has three basic components: sweet, acidic, and alcohol. Sweet being the simple syrup. This lovely spring cocktail is made with Hendricks, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and lemon bitters. We loved how the juniper overtones from the gin played with the tangy lemon. Very refreshing. Very addictive. Hello Spring!
Recipe: Rich Simple Syrup
2 cups unrefined sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vodka
In a saucepan add the sugar and water. Stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves; about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool. Add vodka, and stir. Bottle and put into the refrigerator until ready to use.
In a shaker add a handful of ice, the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup. Shake. Strain into a glass. Top with the bitter lemon. Garnish with a lemon slice. Serve. Drink.
Not sure about you but we are really happy that it is Friday; it has been a week. To kick off the weekend we are going to talk about Bar Basics, items that your home bar should have. The first item we want to talk about is the Sour Mix. Sour mix is basically equal parts citrus and simple syrup. It is a little sweet and a lot of sour, but, when mixed with the right spirit it creates a fantastic cocktail.
Sours are often thought of as lazy day drinks, think puckery citrus cocktails, margaritas and daiquiris; traditional “vintage” cocktails. The first time we were reintroduced to these traditional sour drinks was with the daiquiri which is a rather sultry drink and especially nice on a hot summer night. Another timeless sour drink is the whiskey sour, and it is perfect served any time of the year. Sours are straightforward and not complicated. You basically need a base spirit, sour mix and an egg white (this is optional).
Most pre-made sour mixes are full of sugar as well as preservatives. After trying a few different sour mixes, we decided to venture into the kitchen to make our own. We tried this recipe a few times using equal parts lemon and lime as well as using kumquats (just imagine juicing all those little guys), it was good but not sour enough. The last few times we used oranges, particularly Seville oranges, and the recipe came out perfect. Slightly sweet and not overly sour, just enough to cut through the sugar. Your homemade sour mix will last for a week in the fridge. If, you don’t plan on using within the week, add a teaspoon of vodka to help preserve the freshness. Warning it is so good it probably won’t last the entire week.
Recipe: Homemade Sour Mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh citrus juice: I used 4 limes, 1 meyer lemon and 3 seville oranges
In a medium saucepan over low heat, add all of the ingredients. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Strain to remove any pulp. Pour into a sterile bottom. Keep in the fridge until ready to use. Makes almost 2 cups.
In a cocktail shaker add all of the ingredients except for the orange wedge and cherry, in the order listed. Shake. Pour into a cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with the orange peel and cherry. Serve. Drink.
Here is a little video from our spirit loving partner, Liquor.com, on how to make a Whiskey Sour.
Happy Friday! Happy weekend! This is going to be a down and dirty post; probably the shortest I have ever written. I have a pile of paperwork that I am dying to get off of my desk before I turn 45! As well, I promised you a great non-alcoholic cocktail for the weekend, and I am delivering.
We have a few friends who are now pregnant, and I thought it would be fun to create some cocktail recipes to have on-hand for when they come over. Right? I, mean, it isn’t fair that we are all sipping pretty drinks, and they have a boring glass of water or frizzy fruit water from the store.
This recipe is made using my new favorite simple syrup from the Morris Kitchen, the Preserved Meyer Lemon syrup (no, I am not working for them … just loving the product). I have been making cocktails and baking with it like crazy. It is insanely good. As well I have been playing with Tomr’s Handcrafted Tonic and am really enjoying the clean taste that it adds to a simple cocktail. If you cannot find it, use your favorite tonic, just skip the bubbly water. We do use bubbly water, only because we make it at home, using the Penguin. If, you don’t make your own, use club soda with the Tomr’s. To make the cocktail more fun, I, added rosemary and some insanely delicious cocktail cherries (they are worth the price). It is really that simple. Really.
Rub the rim of a cocktail glass with the rosemary. Then remove about 2 inches of the rosemary from the bottom of the sprig, to make a little stem. Thread three cherries onto the stem. Mix rest of the ingredients together in the glass. Garnish with the rosemary. Serve. Drink.
I have been trying to write a post for the past couple days. One that would reflect on 2011 and wrap it up tightly; something special to share with each of you. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I cannot seem to get them on paper so to speak. I think I need to continue reflexing these last few hours; absorb the rest of the minutes and then breath.
In the meantime, I am going to share the last post of 2011 with you all. Something slightly sweet, and slightly tangy. Festive and bubbly. Worth making and toasting a new year with the ones you love.
We spent most of this month drinking bottles of champagne. Oh MY, does that make it sound as if we have a problem? We were playing around (i.e.. developing recipes) with assorted alcohol and champagne for a champagne cocktail series that Maggie is hosting this week and decided to make a few extras to share with you. All the champagne cocktails were favorites but this one we really took a liking too.
Aperol – are you familiar with it? If not, here is a little history on a favorite around our house. Aperol is an Italian aperitif that was created in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers in Padova, Italy. It is known for it’s signature orange color and bittersweet taste. I love how the tang lingers on the back of my tongue. The recipe for Aperol has not changed since the early days; it is still made with a select list of ingredients including sweet and bitter oranges and other herbs and roots. As well it is still a secret recipe! I love that, in the early days, it was being marketed as a liqueur for folks interested in keeping lean and fit thanks to the low alcohol content. Today it is a classic aperitif that is enjoyed by many, including us.
We usually enjoy Aperol on ice with a wedge or twist of orange, while cooking dinner or on a hot summer day. This time we decided to play around with using it in cocktails. The champagne added a nice sweetness to the bittersweet taste, and the bubbles were just plain fun. It kind of reminded us of a bubbly Negroni. I am pretty sure this will be served as a pre-dinner drink at many of our upcoming cocktail parties!
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin
We wish each of you a safe New Years Eve and a New Year filled with Joy!
Denise & Lenny
Recipe: Aperol Champagne Cocktail
1 oz aperol
champagne
lime swirl, for garnish
In a champagne glass add the aperol. Top off with champagne. Garnish with a lime swirl. Serve. Drink.
We cannot think of a better time to give a really special gift, than during the holidays. Maggie, over at Eat Boutique has gorgeous holiday gift boxes, and there is something for everyone on your list. We are huge fans! How about a marshmallow gift box for that sweet niece or nephew. Or a New England gift box for that friend who is homesick for the NE. Going to visit family or friends over the holidays, surprise them by sending ahead a Holiday Mornings gift box.
It has been way too long, since we have featured a give-away. We love giving gifts, and want to give you one of Maggie’s gorgeous gift boxes. The cocktail box we are going to share with one lucky reader is all about making gorgeous cocktails at home.
We love making cocktails at home! The key to a really fantastic drink, is by using great ingredients, such as homemade bitters, syrups, and dusting sugars. Eat Boutique is giving us their Homemade Cocktail Gift Box, to share with one of you. Not only is the packaging gorgeous, but the ingredients are really special. For instance you will get a chance to enjoy Scrappy’s Bitters. Their flavors are exotic …. celery, rootbeer, lavender, chocolate, as well as some traditional flavors. We have yet to try, but have heard amazing things about Scrappy! You will also receive some Lemonbird and Morris Kitchen simple syrups, that will take your cocktail from exotic to warm and spicy. The holidays are meant for a little bling, and cocktail bling is very fun. Didi Davis Food makes special sugars that rim a cocktail glass beautifully.
We cannot wait to share this with one of you! Simply leave a comment on this post answering this dying to know question:
What is your favorite holiday cocktail to make at home? Share the Recipe, and we will feature it during one of our Cocktail Hours!
Hurry though; you need to leave a comment by 11:59 PM (PST) on December 17, 2011. We will announce the winner on the 18th of December, after we read through them all, and pick the one that makes us very thirsty.
The gift box will be shipped directly from Eat Boutique. Due to the nature of this product, this giveaway is only open to residents of the continental USA. Be sure you enter a valid email address, because if your name is drawn and I can’t get a hold of you within 48 hours, I will choose an alternate winner.
Want some Extra Chances of Winning? In addition to the main comment, leave a separate comment for each bonus entry:
Follow @chezus and tweet the following: I just entered to win a Homemade Cocktail Gift Box from @eatboutique and @chezus! Enter here:
Like Chez Us on FaceBook! Come back here and tell us you did (we do check – smiles)
Like Eat Boutique on FaceBook! Come back here and tell us you did!
Photos were styled and photographed by Maggie Battista and Heidi Murphy. + White Loft Studio.
Apricots have finally shown their smiley red cheeks at our neighborhood market, and we have been enjoying often. I am really hoping they still around for a bit as I have some great ideas that I want to try out. Just one of them happened to be this cocktail, The Helen.
We named this cocktail after my grandmother Helen, as it was her small but humble apricot tree that made me fall in love over and over every summer. My sister and I use to run around the back yard, making up stories and playing for hours. I remember spring time days, when the blossoms would gently scent the back yard. A quick run under the tree would stop my tiny feet in their tracks, so I could inhale the perfumed air. I loved that smell, and to this day, it grabs me whenever it may be floating by. I anxiously use to wait until that first “perfectly” orange apricot arrived, just waiting for me to pluck it off the branch and stuff it into my tiny mouth, nibbling away, rolling the pit between my teeth; savoring every last fiber. They were so perfect, still warm from the sun kissing it’s flesh, still slightly firm from barely just turning orange and sweet like nectar.
My grandmother never made cocktails out of the apricots nor did she feed us Rye; there there was an occasional shot of brandy or apricot schnapps to cure what ailed us. Instead she made delicious jam out of the bounty of apricots, which to this day, I still miss. It was so fresh that I would sneak it by the spoonful. I am sure if she was still here with us, we could talk her into joining us for a Helen, and that she would enjoy every sweet sip just as I enjoyed that first bite every summer.
Do you have a favorite cocktail using Apricots?
Recipe: Helen
* serves two
2 apricots, cut in half and pitted
4 ounces rye
2 tablespoons simple syrup
1/4 lemon juiced
1 tablespoon thyme
crushed ice
apricot for garnish
triple sec
In a blender add the apricots and 2 ounces of the rye. Blend until smooth. Set a sieve over a bowl and strain the apricot mixture; just to remove some of the pulp from the puree. Put the thyme into a shaker and gently muddle just to slightly bruise the herb; then add a handful of ice, the apricot puree, 2 ounces of rye, lemon juice and the simple syrup. Give a couple generous shakes, the outside of the shaker will begin to ice a bit. Stain into 2 cocktail glasses add a floater of triple sec and garnish with a slice of apricot. Serve. Drink.
YEAH! We are trying to get on a regular schedule to start posting cocktails for happy hour every Friday. We missed a couple weeks due to a fun littleroad trip we took. Don’t fear; we cocktail-ed while away!
Summer in San Francisco has settled in, which means foggy days or as we like to call it “June Gloom”. We both associate summer with sunshine, and miss it terribly once it shows it’s ugly face here in the city. After all, isn’t summer meant to be half dressed, drenched in glistening sweat beads, sitting on the back porch or a stoup, sipping a cool cocktail. Instead, we are usually bundled up in pea coats and cable knit sweaters, drinking hot-toddys!
Our first summer together in SF – 4th of July (we were so young)
We have had enough of it, and will be bringing back a little sunshine to the back porch this week with “sunshine”. Sunshine is made with limoncello, St. Germain and a little tonic. We are fans of St. Germain, it is slightly floral, and little sugary sweet; great in a cocktail such as this or even on it’s own, when you want a little pick-me-up. An amazing compliment to a tart limoncello. The tonic, just adds some fun bubbles! Sunshine is really sweet, as in gushy cute sweet; like slowly sipping summertime!
Fill a glass with a couple ice cubes; our slim glasses fit 4 small ice cubes. Pour in 2 ounces of limoncello, fill the glass with tonic, leaving about 1/2″ from the top; pour a st. germain floater on top. Garnish with a lemon swirl. Serve. Drink.
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