Tootsie Roll Shot

TOOTSIE ROLL SHOT

Happy 2018 everyone! We start off the year with a shot I made with a friend of mine! Well, we actually made three different versions of it (keep reading) because quite frankly, so many variations exists of this shooter!

Before we dwell upon this shot, I was busy working through Christmas and New Year's Eve, so yeah, that took its toll. Luckily my family escaped up north (my wife's family lives there) for the holiday season.

That being said, this shot is called the Tootsie Roll. A candy exists by the same name. Three different versions were made based on the recipes I found online. I tried to look up pretty consistent ones and here are the TOP3 versions:

• 1.5 cl kahlua OR creme de cacao (dark if you have it!)
• 1.5 cl orange juice
• 1.5 cl vodka

- Build in a shot glass and shoot!

OR

• 1.5 cl kahlua
• 1.5 cl creme de cacao (dark preferred)
• 1.5 cl hazelnut liqueur (frangelico)

Quick shake with ice and strain into a shot glass.

So what ended up happening was us (me & friend) making all three versions. Our ranking:

1. creme de cacao + oj + vodka
2. kahlua + oj + vodka
3. kahlua + cacao + hazelnut shaken

For me personally, the cacao version tasted kinda like cointreau, amazingly enough!

Italian Sunset

ITALIAN SUNSET

Hey everyone! If Tequila Sunrises are getting boring (like 15 years ago :D), here's a fun little twist on it. I introduce you to the Italian Sunset. Based on the Italian almond liqueur (DiSaronno), this cocktail is to the sweeter side. Let's take a look:

• 6 cl amaretto
• pulp-free quality orange juice
• club soda
• grenadine
• (garnish)

I actually made two versions of it, in one using OJ that had pulp in it just to see why it was originally mentioned that specifically pulp-free should be used. Fair enough, the result looks better, with no chips of fruit sticking on the side of the glass after you've drunk some of it.

Anyhow, using a bit larger glass than normally, fill it with crushed ice. Add in the amaretto, carefully pour in the OJ and then top it with slub soda. Drizzle some grenadine to create the sunset effect, add a straw but don't stir it! Garnish if you please (I used a twist) and enjoy.

Since the amaretto lays at the bottom, it is sweet. Using the straw and going the up-down motion will help enjoy this cocktail way more better, getting all layers of flavors (since the cocktail should layer in three separate...layers :D)

Blood and Sand part deux

BLOOD AND SAND

REVISITED

"The bull is not the beast! Look at the crowd! That is the real beast!"

- Garabato, Blood and Sand (1922)

So here we are revisiting an old cocktail buddy of ours, which I made roughly 5½ years ago, the Blood and Sand - cocktail. As we can clearly see from back then, I made a piss-poor job with it. But I've come wiser ever since :D Now using proper ingredients and more know-how, let's see how a GOOD Blood and Sand is done!

• 2 cl scotch (I used JW 12yo black, for my upcoming video I will try the Balvenie 12yo)
• 2 cl heering cherry brandy
• 2 cl sweet vermouth
• 2 cl (blood)orange juice, fresh

Shake everything with ice, strain and garnish with an orange peel. So after five years now and using proper vermouth, proper scotch, proper orange juice and proper cherry brandy, what do you think of the results? A proper cocktail. Mild-ish, sweet with distinct cherry flavor to it. At least a thousand times better than back then :D The best part? Change the scotch to something else (non-smoky!) and let the twist make wonders to your drink.

Jäger Sour

JÄGER SOUR

Here's yet another sour - styled cocktail, now from Jägermeister's official site. The Jäger Sour. Just like the Averna Sour I made with my colleague or the Drambuie Sour, here's a similar drink that incorporates orange juice.

• 50 ml Jägermeister
• 25 ml orange juice
• 12.5 ml lemon juice
• 12.5 ml simple syrup 1:1
• 1 egg white

Shake everything with ice (a bit longer) and strain into your prechilled, ½ with ice filled tumbler. Garnish optional, but a lemon slice/peel would look nice. So I had to use clementine juice, because my local shop ran out of oranges :D but nonetheless, this drink was absolutely wonderful! The Jäger's aroma, the freshness, the balance. All there.

Moreover, I used MANIFEST to make another drink with the exactly same recipe just to figure out the differences. It had so much more of an oompf to it, but it was good too. Not quite AS good, but still delicious.

This is a kick-ass cocktail, hands down!

Campari-OJ

CAMPARI-OJ

A classic

Hello and a HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE 2017! Another year has passed (right under our noses! :D) and to Celebrate this I thought of making one of the great classics of all time, the Campari-OJ!

Just as the Screwdriver, since this cocktail only has two ingredients the mixer does matter. Quality quality quality!

• 4 cl Campari
• OJ (quality)
• orange slice/wedge/twist as garnish

Or simply 1:2 ratios (Campari & OJ)

Build in a short tumbler filled with ice, garnish and serve. For me...I mean, the more I drink this the more I like it! Campari is not an entry-level liqueur due to its bitter taste but the OJ works magic here. One could argue "acquired taste" when it comes to this drink, but even now, as the ice melts a little and the Campari mixes in with the OJ, this cocktail becomes tight!

I wish everyone a happy New Year 2017! May it be filled with excellent cocktails, love and joy!

Screwdriver p.2

SCREWDRIVER

The IBA version

Evening!

I present you with probably one of the most entry-level classics of all time, the Screwdriver. A fancy name for a "vodka-orange juice" or "vodka-OJ", there's a lot more to it than what you would think! First, ratios. Don't make an "Orange juice - vodka". The drink is not supposed to be a mug with a dash of vodka and filled with OJ. Secondly, use quality orange juice! I can not stress this fact enough! IF you use a cheap OJ, your Screwdriver will turn out shit. I mean, the OJ makes two-thirds of the drink, so why not use the best money can buy?

So, how to make a proper Screwdriver as per IBA:

• 5 cl vodka (don't bother using the most expensive but don't settle for the cheapest)
• 10 cl quality orange juice
• orange slice/wedge/twist to garnish

Build in a small tumbler filled with ice, garnish and serve. Now, as I don't require people to measure their orange juice exactly to be 10cl, a healthy ratio 1:2 (vodka/OJ) or even 1:1 is good. Moreover, if you insist on making this a bigger ("longer) drink, at least invest in quality orange juice :)

Actually, now that I think of it, I made this one before!! Wait...it's true! Check

this

one out.

See? In 2012 I made this using 1:3 ratios. I've gotten a lot wiser since that but still, even four years back I insisted on quality juice :D

Well played, me, well played.

Drambuie Sour

DRAMBUIE SOUR

Fresh magic in a glass

Hey everyone!

Today's special is a cocktail called Drambuie Sour. The recipe I got from a restaurant/bar called August von Trappe, located just by the rapids in Tampere. The idea here was the following: I wanted to see how bartenders use Drambuie in a cocktail, which isn't a Rusty Nail (as seen before). Since not many bars stock this liqueur, it was only right that I kind of challenge the staff to create magic out of it. In my sincerest opinion, that time they succeeded BUT not without mentioning that when I first ordered "A Drambuie - based cocktail, can't be a RN.", the bartender was rather insecure and couldn't come up with anything. I told her that it didn't really matter what she would make and that she can "fulfill any cocktail fantasies she has" with this liqueur. Alas, she asked her senior to help her out and together they made this. The Drambuie Sour:

• 4 cl Drambuie
• 4 cl fresh orange juice
• 3 cl fresh lemon juice
• 1 cl simple syrup
• 2 ds each orange and angostura bitters
• 1 egg white

Dry shake everything, add ice, shake again and double strain into a large-ish tumbler half filled with ice. Garnish with a orange twist.

Fresh, not too sweet and with a great orange - aroma to it. A steady egg white foam, good body. The aftertaste is a bit bitter (egg white). Just amazing.

I hope that the first bartender gets inspiration off of this and in the future keeps making great cocktails!

Mother's Day Special / Green Goblet / Orange Fury

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

Mother's Day Special for...you know...

The weekend is here and I am perfectly late for this Mother's Day Special! Then again, this cocktail needn't to be for any specific occasion as long as we're celebrating!

Last Sunday was our national Mother's Day and I wanted to make a drink for my wife. In addition to the cake I baked (and card I made), I wanted to make a cocktail that is both luxurious and sweet enough (she prefers sweeter drinks over sour/bitter ones). Well sparkling wine is thus an easy component. For the others I decided to go red and hence:

• 2.5 cl wild strawberry liqueur
• 2.5 cl creme de cassis
• 1 small-ish strawberry muddled
• (dash lime juice)
• sparkling wine
• orange zest for garnish

What I did was put the four first ingredients in a small cup and let them "soak" for ~ day. Truth to be told, this I could've left out and I doubt it would've made such a huge difference. Stir them quickly with ice and strain into a champagne flute. With the sparkling wine be careful since it reacts with sugary components thus foaming a lot. Finally garnish with a orange zest and give to your loved ones.

GREEN GOBLET

Just experi...I knew what I was doing, trust me!

So I had almost half a pint of freshly squeezed orange juice at my disposal. I really wanted to make a few cocktails using said stuff so I went to my liquor cabinet and randomly with extreme precision and knowledge picked a few extra bottles to whip up this Green Goblet (name courtesy by my co-worker! :D)

• 6 cl freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 cl absolut pears
• 2 cl melon liqueur
• 1 cl maliby
• 2 maraschino cherries for garnish

Shake all except the cherries with ice, double strain and drop the cherries last. The Green Goblet works as a good dessert drink. It is soft, has a distinctive melon-pear bite to it with coconut flavors following to the end.

ORANGE FURY

Another wild exp-, cocktail made with determination

Here we have the second one, called Orange Fury (again, name courtesy by my co-worker!) Let's face it, two green drinks would be such a shame. Using the miniature bottle(s) I found, this is more suitable as an aperitif:

• 6 cl freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 cl absolut ruby red (grapefruit vodka)
• 2 cl maraschino liqueur
• bitters for garnish + orange zest (flamed)

Shake the three first ingredients with ice, strain into a coupe, drop a few dashes of bitters on top of the drink and garnish with a flamed orange zest. Serve.

This cocktail is quite different than its green counterpart, Similarly soft but much more bitter, it has more "oompf" to it. The essential oils from the orange peel work wonderfully in this drink. Also, I liked the bitters floating on top giving this Fury its kick.

 

Jupiter One

JUPITER ONE

Greetings and another cocktail coming right up! Today I present you a drink I made yesterday; the Jupiter One. The result is kind of controversial, at least in my opinion. Well, to be honest, I use the term garbage in, garbage out and say I could've made this one better, but I tell you what happened with this very soon. Making one is very simple, though:

• 2 tsp Parfait Amour
• 2 tsp orange juice (prefer freshly squeezed)
• 2 cl dry vermouth
• 2 cl gin
• a strip of lemon zest, for garnishing

Except for the lemon strip, combine the ingredients in a shaker and rock on with a lot of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish and serve.

So back to the term I used before. Although I had a proper orange of which I squeezed the juice, the quality of the orange was horrendous. I realized this right after I cut it in half. Also, the vermouth I've been used probably wasn't top tier at the moment. Vermouth, as any wine, doesn't stay good if kept in room temperature for longer times. I know mine has been...for quite a while now.

But let's try to judge this cocktail nonetheless. The color is muddy, a hint of a white peachiness is visible. The nose is quite pleasant, must've been the mix of parfait amour and that splash of orange juice. In the palate it was strongly gin-aromatic/spicy, a soft vanilla and as an aftertaste hints of (bad) orange (juice). Alas, I give this this cocktail only a 2/5 but if given time it becomes a 3/5. With proper ingredients probably even higher.

Dutch Sunrise

DUTCH SUNRISE

Good evening ladies and gents! Tonight I present you with a cocktail I wanted to try out for a long time now. I found it from here. But before I get to the cocktail, I just want to share a little story how it all went down:

I've been enjoying a few days of vacation. Luckily so, because today was my appointment donating blood (I do it every two months), I met good friends of mine, had coffee with one and with the other I had a whiskey tasting as per my resolution I made. It's always more fun to taste whiskeys with friends than alone.

Nonetheless, I got home and got tipsy enjoyed my time with my wife watching a documentary about Hercule Poirot. I had a beer and afterwards made this cocktail. Sadly, it didn't live up to its standards. To make a Dutch Sunrise, you need:

• 2.5 cl Passoã
• two orange wedges + one rind to decorate
• weizen beer (wheat beer), but only a little

Take a tumbler, fill it with ice, add in the Passoã, squeeze the juice from the oranges and carefully top the drink with your wheat beer (pour it over the ice so it doesn't interfere with the liqueur). Add a few straws and the rind for decoration and voilá!

...And that's about it then. I was rather disappointed with this cocktail. The drink had an intriguing taste to it but the Passoã dominates the drink way too much. At its best, it's only mediocre (as I've said from another cocktail I can't remember quite now).

Visually it is quite nice. You have the "sunrise" effect but as a whole, this cocktail doesn't cut to the big boys' league. I wouldn't recommend it, really.

The Forgotten Pearl

THE FORGOTTEN PEARL

"These pearls make you forget the troubles of yesterday."

A cheesy-ass quote I just made up starts my newest post! Welcome aboard gents and hold fast, it's going to be a long ride to the unknown...

...just kidding. The story behind this cocktail goes somewhat like this: I go to the grocery store with my wife and her sister I see some passion fruits and I decide I want to make a cocktail using them. In addition, the coaster you see (has a bit of an "earthy" feel to it and fits absolutely perfectly with the kitchen table) was given to me by a good friend of mine. "It has to have rum in it" I thought. Also some exotic fruit of some kind (besides the passion fruit). The Forgotten Pearl was born:

• 2 cl aged rum
• 2 cl gran marnier
• 2 cl martini bianco (sweet clear vermouth)
• 4 cl pineapple juice
• 4 cl orange juice (I used freshly squeezed)
• 1-2 dashes angostura bitters
• 2 passion fruits (for the actual cocktail only 1½ is used, the rest ½ is used for garnish)
• 1 bar spoon D.O.M benedictine "float"

First spoon pearls from the 1½ passion fruit in the shaker. Add the juices and alcohols except for the benedictine. Add ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish by scooping the ½ passion fruit left over. Finally add a bar spoon of your herbal liqueur onto the drink. Enjoy.

Quite the drink I say! It has a velvety smooth texture, it is plenty of notes of citrus, the "roundness" from the rum and the complexity from the vermouth/gran marnier. Especially towards the end I could experience an ocean of herbal-like tastes, which made this cocktail...just wonderful.

San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO

♫ For those who come to San Francisco

Summer will be a love-in there ♪

- Scott McKenzie, San Francisco,  1967

Summertime is here meaning only one thing. Summery, colorful and fruity cocktails! A true classic from a few decades past here is the San Francisco. Easily made and enjoyed with sheer happiness!

• 2 cl vodka
• 2 cl cremé de bananes
• orange juice
• 1 cl grenadine

In a high ball glass, build up the ingredients in the given order and finally pour the grenadine (slowly) on the drink creating given effect. Garnish with e.g. a strawberry, orange slice/wedge, lemon, cherry or any combination of those mentioned. Pop a straw in that drink and avot!

Looks pretty much like the Tequila Sunrise but tastes completely different. A solid good fruity combo this is! Easily picked up the banana flavors. I must admit though, I used orange-mango juice but that didn't slow me down! Tasted still excellent.

Tiki cocktail

TIKI COCKTAIL

Hola! Wow did I excel myself today! Not only did I sent a job application to a store close-by, I celebrated this by finally making a Tiki Cocktail. I figured out this cocktail was a mixture of a Mai Tai and a Zombie Cocktail and a Planter's Punch. One of the craziest things I've done regarding cocktails. A lot of work, a lot of sweat but the result...Hoo-rah!

First things first. You need a pineapple. I used a large pineapple that could hold more than a pint of liquid inside. I used this as a guideline since I didn't have a pineapple corer. Then, in a mixing glass I had:

• 4 cl white rum
• 4 cl aged dark rum
• 2 cl cointreau
• 2 cl cognac
• 3 tablespoons of pineapple pulp
• juice of ½ a lime

Added crushed ice and shook it. Before straining the content in my now hollow pineapple, I added some crushed ice inside it. Strained my mixture into the pineapple, then added

• 8 cl orange juice (quality)
• 8 cl pineapple juice (quality)
• 3 dashes of angostura bitters on top
• a pineapple leaf (yeah I know the top looked kinda bad)
• a cocktail cherry

Stirred the whole thing a bit, added straws and enjoyed.

Visually, well, heh, you can't really beat that. The cocktail wasn't as sweet, the opposite, a bit sour. The cognac's smoothness could be distinguished and overall it had gentle fruitiness. This is a strong cocktail, don't let it fool you. Or maybe my pineapple was just that large...go figure. :)

Melon Ball cocktail

MELON BALL COCKTAIL

Prepping for summer! Another Midori based cocktail at your hands! Fair enough, this isn't quite the "wow-amazing" - type of cocktail. But let's see how it's made:

• 2.5 cl Midori
• 2.5 cl vodka
• orange juice / pineapplejuice
• honeydew melon for garnish

Build in a highball glass with ice, give it a gentle stir and garnish. Finally I could use my melon baller for this! About the OJ/pineapple juice. According to some ancient recipes, it was always made with OJ but somehow during the years it had been substituted with pineapple juice. Or vice versa. Anyhow, I used OJ. 

Not a superb cocktail. Nothing special in this one. The color was a yellow-ish with a slight green hue at the bottom. Tastewise, kind of meh. Had I used pineapple juice instead, I could've notched this cocktail up a bit, even using a different glass might've helped. I mean, shaking the ingredients and straining into a martini glass could've made a difference...we will...never know....

Summa summarum, a slight disappointment this one was.

Midori Splice

MIDORI SPLICE

Booaaaah!! Luxury at hand! Well, almost, but fair enough, let's get busy with the Midori Splice! History goes Splice was some sort of ice-cream-brand in Down Under (mate) so yeah, let's just make an alcoholic version of it! Before getting into the details, though, I must say I now understand why the Piña Colada is totally famous. Pineapples + cream = profit! But enough of that, let's break down the Midori Splice!

• 3 cl Midori (melon liquer)
• 3 cl Malibu (I used coconut rum from DeKuyper)
• 9 cl Pineapple juice
• 3 cl fresh cream
• a maraschino cherry

In a tall, ice filled high ball glass, build the cocktail in the given order and finally layer the cream on top. Add the cherry and enjoy.

A few words I will say about this cocktail. First of all, a truly fruity drink, the creamy-pineapple mixture was yum, so good! As I got further down the drink, the pure alcoholic content was a tad strong and not quite appealing per se. A straw or a bit of stirring would be recommended for an overall more pleasant drink. Now it felt like drinking mixers first, then the alcohol. To be honest, the first time after I drank the first two layers, I mixed the alcohols together and then added another layer of pineapple juice + cream just to enjoy this again :)

The Midori Splice, I like it!

Mimosa

MIMOSA

Good morning everyone! I've had a small-ish break from cocktail creating but after the Finnish May Day celebration I believe it is more than correct to post a hair of the dog - style cocktail for each and everyone to enjoy. I give you the Mimosa (a close relative of the Buck's Fizz):

• one part orange juice (only use premium quality!)
• one part champagne (brut sparkling wine)

First pour in the OJ, then top it off with your choice of sparkling wine. Stirring is recommended, for the sake of this picture it wasn't stirred.

Fruity, dry-ish, refreshing! I don't think this cocktail even needs any garnish, given it is created after a party, so fiddling with fruits isn't necessary at all! Then again, at brunch a strawberry would compliment this drink wonderfully.

As I mentioned earlier about the relationship with the Buck's Fizz. Where this one is equal amounts of OJ and sparkling wine, the Buck's Fizz is two parts OJ to one part sparkling wine, making an even more lighter drink. Either way, excellency guaranteed with this one.

Team Ding Dong

TEAM DING DONG

Today I created a cocktail requested by a colleague of mine! Introducing the Team Ding Dong! (no, I did not make this name up :D) When I first looked at the ingredients list, I started wondering whether the cloud berry jam would work with whiskey. Surprisingly though, it did!

• 3 teaspoons cloud berry jam 
• 1 cl lemon juice (fresh)
• 1 cl orange juice (fresh)
• 1 cl simple syrup
• 4 cl Jameson Irish Whiskey

Add everything in a cocktail shaker, put in ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into a chilled champagne glass. (Editor's note: Preferably a coupe glass, the flute did not work). Garnish with an orange twist.

As mentioned in my previous chapter, before I discuss the taste of this cocktail, the champagne flute was a poor decision for this cocktail. I had trouble straining the cloud berry jam "pulp" into the narrow glass, causing a bit of a mess. A coupe would've done a much better job + the garnish would've looked better.

That said, the taste. Marvellous! Easily spotted the whiskey, which was at the same time sweet and sour. The jam gave this drink its well-deserved body and even with 3 tea spoons of it, it wasn't overpowering at all. It gave...and exciting side note to this cocktail. A good cocktail made better with the right choice of glass!

Bronx

BRONX

Introducing this cocktail with other words than the Wikipedia would be futile:

"The Bronx Cocktail is essentially a perfect martini with orange juice added."

Fair enough. So a "perfect" martini/manhattan/etc. is equal amounts of sweet AND dry vermouth in the drink. Excluding the cocktail garnish (one kumquat cut in half), here is the Bronx:

• 3 cl gin
• 1.5 cl sweet vermouth
• 1 cl dry vermouth
• 1.5 cl orange juice

Add everything in the cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a chilled cocktail/martini glass. The kumquat decoration was wholly my idea, something yellow-ish and pretty to the side doesn't hurt this cocktail at all.

Unlike the dry martini, the sweet vermouth does not really work here. It has that Negroni/Americano - style bitterness which overpowers the rest of the cocktail. I could barely taste anything else than the sweet vermouth. This is definitely not one of my favorite cocktails. I'd rather have a dry martini instead.

The Passionate Benedict

THE PASSIONATE BENEDICT

Hello again! Here is a cocktail requested by my wife I personally ended up liking a lot. I call it the Passionate Benedict. I had to make her something new and on the sweeter side. Thanks to my good friend, who brought me a bottle of Passoã, I realized now was my chance. This version seen in the picture was my first try and with a small tweak here are the ingredients:

• 4 cl Passoa
• 1 cl D.O.M Benedictine herbal liquor
• 1 cl peach schnapps
• 6 cl orange/mango/passion juice
• lime wedge for garnish

The first time I had the ingredient amounts as follows: 4/2/2/8 but it ended up being a bit too much for the glass.

Simply fantastic. Even with only 1 cl of D.O.M, the herbal notes are still clearly tastable. The peach schnapps and Passoã give a nice exotic taste and the orange juice (in the picture it was a mix of orange/mango juice) lengthens the cocktail well. Not to mention how beautiful this cocktail is!

Although I say this from a cocktail I created on the spur of the moment, this was an excellent cocktail indeed!

Blood and Sand

BLOOD AND SAND

This cocktail's history goes all the way back to the 1920's. It was named for Rudolph Valentino's 1922 bullfighter movie Blood and Sand (wiki'ed it, deal with it). I've heard some wild rumors of this cocktail and according to different sources the ingredients/measures vary a bit too. Maybe it's one of those "find the best proportions yourself" - kind of things, but this is how I rolled this cocktail:

• 3 cl Scotch
• 3 cl Blood orange juice
• 2 cl Sweet Red Vermouth
• 2 cl Cherry brandy (the original recipe calls for Cherry Heering, which I don't have, so I used De Kuyper Cherry brandy instead)
• a flamed orange zest

Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, fill it with ice and shake it! Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and flame up an orange zest, go around the glass's rims with it (having released the essential oils in the drink) and drop it in the drink. 

 This drink was...okay. Using scotch in a mixed drink wasn't really something I've used to do, and the cherry brandy's taste did overwhelm this cocktail a little bit. Also, the blood orange juice was well hidden. Overall, a slight disappointment as far as I am concerned. Next time I definitely have to use Cherry Heering or as some recipes mention, orange juice instead of blood orange juice. Go figure.