Electric Relaxation

ELECTRIC RELAXATION

Two versions as per the interwubs

Evening! Here's a drink suggested by a fellow cocktail-lover, the Electric Relaxation. It's a tight drink altogether and depending on one's source (I had to look it up from the internet), you might have a slight variation available:

• 3 cl cognac (1 fl oz)
• 4.5 cl triple sec (1.5 fl oz)
• pineapple or apple juice (13 cl / 4 - 4.5 fl oz)

Easily made, just build the drink into a high ball glass with ice. I had to use a bit larger glass to fit all in :D Also remember to use premium juices (as well as the alcohols) so you'll have premium results. This means at least for the apple version to use a cloudy non-concentrate juice.

Most recipes call for pineapple juice exclusively. A few internet results might yield the use of apple juice and to be honest, I liked the version better! It was more refreshing if compared to its "original" counterpart. Still heavily triple sec-y with steady cognac - flavors in the aftertaste, the Electric Relaxation takes you to places :D

Piña Colada

PIÑA COLADA

A Piña Colada (without the garnish)

Good morning everyone! Today I made a cocktail...well, it certainly has made its way to the mainstream but this is the second (!) time I've had one (the first time was back in 2006 in Cologne when I was an au pair)! (and immediately made two versions of it :D)

For us Finns at least (if someone knows better, do correct me!), the Piña Colada is a cocktail you've had abroad during happy hours and then expect to have the same drink "back home". Honestly speaking, sure, every now and then a person asks me at work "can I get a Piña Colada?" The problem arises when you look at the ingredients of this now-classic tiki cocktail. Let's take a look. The recipe was acquired from THE BONNEVILLE COLLECTION: TIKI COCKTAILS.

• 6 cl rum
• 6 cl pineapple juice
• 2 cl creamed coconut
• 2.5 cl half & half (a mixture of half cream, half milk)
• (tiki garnish)

Both the pineapple juice/coconut stuff is something that doesn't hold for many days. I believe the Piña Colada is one of those cocktails you can't really get from Finland...well perhaps in Helsinki during summer time from one specific/certain cocktail bar. Stocking the above mentioned products is not worth their price when you might have 1 request/week. So better just make these at home.

The Bonneville recipe used Appleton 12yo for their rum of choice. I made two version; in the first one I did as per recipe and the other one with Malibu (coconut flavored caribbean rum). The reason for this was a request by a person who isn't allowed to buy strong spirits yet and Malibu being 21% ABV, so perfect for this occasion.

Shake the ingredients with ice, strain into a proper glass (tiki/hurricane, large-ish wine goblet) and garnish. I didn't have any pineapple or proper tiki garnish for that matter, so I left those out.

I have got to say, when I made the two versions, the Malibu one tasted better! It had that Piña Colada feel to it; the Appleton 12yo version tasted...well, not only more boozy but as if it lacked body. Were I to make this cocktail again, I would totally use Malibu. Otherwise the measures were great; the cocktail was creamy and pineappl-y :)

Some recipes use a blender but to heck with those.

French Martini

FRENCH MARTINI

Oui!

Bonjour! A modern classic, the French Martini.

I remember the first time I had this cocktail. In 2014, Watchbar near the Bremen railway station had a small add on their tables (as I had a few drinks with my wife) and dauym, I decided to order this. IT was awesome!

Fast forward to early...2016...? My best friend got a bottle of Chambord. Wait...there's a little receipt book with the packaging? And it has the French Martini on it? IT was awesome!

Fast forward to 2016 summer. I finally get my shit together and buy some pineapple juice. I make the French Martini. IT was awesome!

• 2 cl Chambord
• 4 cl vodka
• 6 cl pineapple juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish and serve. (traditionally with blackberries or raspberries, I had neither so I dropped a few blueberries into the drink :D)

Even with its more "lady"-like atmosphere to it, this is genuinely a very nice cocktail. No wonder it's considered a modern classic. You can taste the exotic bouquet of the chambord and combined with the pineapple juice they make an excellent pair! In some recipes the ratios may (and will) vary. I consider this a solid one, nonetheless. 

Veracruzana

Veracruzana

Hello again and good evening! It's been quite a while since my last post, but have no fear, another great cocktail is here! I present to you the Veracruzana!

I start by saying this drink has tequila in it. Personally I'm not the greatest fan of said alcohol and quite frankly, I don't think the Margarita is really that good of a cocktail. Of course the tequila brand will make a difference and those that aren't 100% agave = shit. So if you happen to make a tequila cocktail out of "blue agave" or "fresh agave", but it isn't 100% agave, don't be surprised if that drink didn't taste as good as you might've expected.

Anyhow, for the Veracruzana I did have 100% agave and with fresh fruit in the drink...what could go wrong?

• 60 ml tequila (100% agave)
• 22.5 ml agave syrup
• 30 ml lime juice (fresh)
• 4 chunks of pineapple
• 2 basil leaves
• pineapple/basil for garnish

First, muddle the pineapple and basil leaves in the cocktail shaker. Add the rest and shake with plenty of ice. Strain into your tumbler and garnish with a pineapple slice/basil sprig.

This was a very pleasant surprise for me! Fresh in both taste and aroma (the wonderful basil aroma coming up your nose when you take a sip from the drink), it's also visually aesthetic. I got to say, it's a very refreshing summer-ish cocktail that gets my approval, 4½/5!

Mango Pineapple Vodka (infused vodka)

MANGO PINEAPPLE VODKA

Howdy ho you cocktail loving creatures of the night! As part of my infused vodka series I am hereby proceeding with my second bottling! Forget everything I mentioned about the "Plum Pudding Vodka" behind the link! Instead, I did a rather fruity mix! A Mango Pineapple Vodka! Before we proceed to the basics, here's a rather "style-ish" picture of my earlier Spiced Pear Vodka infusion I strained into my Loki bottle:

Oh yea check out that scrub!

So to make some Mango Pineapple Vodka you will naturally need:

A good sized, ripe-ish pineapple...

A mango, rinsed, brushed and towel-dried...

A vanilla pod! (I fu**ing looooooove vanilla!)

And finally a standard bottle of vodka (700ml). Again, don't spend your money on "top-tier" vodkas that have been filtered over a million times through who-knows-what but also don't make the mistake of buying the cheapest booze-like vodka out there. That said, my choice (Smirnoff) is a good and reliable choice for infusions.

So now that we have our ingredients ready, let's get to work! OH and don't forget your mason jar!

Cut your mango into chunks!

Split open the vanilla pod lengthwise and stick it right in there!

Add your chunks of pineapple!

Pour in the vodka! Avot!

Close the jar and let it rest for about ~2 weeks in a dry, dark place (pun intended). Give it a shake/stir every day or so and taste it after a few days. When you start to like the concoction, go ahead and strain/bottle it!

I shall bottle this into my "Thor" bottle as said, in a couple of weeks time. :)

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.

Watermelon Whip

WATERMELON WHIP

(Two versions of it)

Good evening again! Here is a cocktail I quickly summed up for my wife, is easy to make and tastes delicious! I call it the Watermelon Whip.

• 2-3 lime wedges
• 2 cl cointreau OR aged rum
• 2 cl watermelon liqueur
• pineapple juice

First squeeze in the lime wedges, add some ice and add the alcohols. As you can see in the pictures, on the right version I poured the watermelon liqueur last. Apparently it didn't sink and mix with the juice (which was nice). Top it off with some pineapple juice, add a few straws and if wanted a lime wheel/wedge as a garnish. Done!

This was an excellent drink. I used a smaller glass on purpose; if you have a bigger glass, just double the ingredients and you should be fine. The watermelon liqueur (which I haven't used before) worked well with the rest of the ingredients and even when I substituted the cointreau with aged rum, the drink didn't lose its initial "touch". The rum + pineapple did work together quite nicely!

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. :)

Pineapple Tequila

PINEAPPLE TEQUILA

As promised, the Pineapple Tequila! I had a little "accident" with my first bottle, that is when I put it (=forgot) in the oven for a disinfection I ended up with a melt cap as seen in the picture:

Yeah, that sucked majorly and to add insult to injury, this happened during Easter so I couldn't even get myself another bottle! After the holidays I got TWO bottles and instead of using the oven I just washed them in hot water and let to cool off.

After this procedure I used a coffee filter to strain the excess vanilla seeds off the liquid...

...and double strained it afterwards to get a clearer product.

What do you know, it turned out OKAY!

Here I let my inspiration flow freely; silver tequila is usually drunk with lemon + salt, golden tequila with orange + cinnamon so how could one have this? I got an idea...

...a slice of grapefruit + vanilla sugar!

It was awesome. Scent was extremely pineapple-y and taste-wise I could clearly taste the flavors of this fruit. Combined with the sweet/sourness from the grapefruit and sugar...

'Nuff said.

Creating Pineapple Tequila part 2

THE PRODUCT

Here it is, the product in its making! It's been three days now since I bottled up my pineapple tequila! Next weekend (at least when I have a day off) I'll strain the tequila into a sterilized glass bottle and use the pineapples in a dessert with bourbon vanilla ice cream. I might even heat up the fruit just to show I care.

I'll report more when the "product" is bottled and ready to serve!

Creating Pineapple Tequila part 1

THE PLAN

The title might give away the fact that today I'm making my own Pineapple tequila! I got the recipe from a cocktail book I own but as for getting the ingredients it was rather iffy for a long time;

• 1 liter of silver tequila (I'm using 0.7 liters)
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 large pineapple
• 1 vanilla pod

 Sterilise a big jar by rinsing it first and then putting it in the over (about 100ᴼ celsius/~212F) for some 20 minutes. Let it cool off completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pineapple (cut into chunks and so on). 

In a jug mix the tequila with the brown sugar until it has dissolved. Pour it in the jar with the vanilla pod (which you have cut in half and scraped the vanilla seeds), add the pineapple chunks and let it agitate for about a week. Later on you can use the pineapple chunks for a warm dessert or so!

Keep in mind I need about a week before I can give you any results how I succeeded with this task. Don't worry, I'll post pictures and describe you with all of the valuable information you need as soon as possible!

Stay strong!

¡Ándele!

Singapore Sling

THE SINGAPORE SLING 

This is the Singapore Sling. One of the "legendary" cocktails, which according to history books, was invented  at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel in Singapore around 1915.

Personally, I had many expectations regarding this drink. Not only did this cocktail have many ingredients to work with but just figuring out how it would taste like...was totally worth it.

Ingredients as follows:

• 40ml (8 parts) Gin
• 20ml (4 parts) Heering Cherry Liqueur (cherry brandy)
• 5ml (1 part) Cointreau
• 5ml (1 part) DOM Bénédictine
• 10ml (2 parts) Grenadine
• 80ml (16 parts) Pineapple juice
• 30ml (6 parts) Fresh lemon juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

I slipped a few times. I used De Kuyper Cherry Liquer instead of Heering's. Also, I didn't have a hurricane glass at my disposal (I don't feel I need them for a long time; there are only a few drinks that employ it, otherwise they're just more (useless) glassware at home) so I used one of my bigger high ball glasses and I must admit it fit just perfectly. Thirdly, I didn't want to buy a whole pineapple so I decorated the drink with a good slice of lemon and of course the maraschino cherry.

Tastewise, it was amazing. Extremely fruity, a bit cherry candy-ish; I could hardly taste the alcohol in this one. Would I make this one again? Totally. Would I order this at a bar? No. Mainly because the price would be so horribly expensive in places they know how to actually make one of these.