Hey! Here's another great example how different flavors work magic with coffee and resemble, in this case, a truly iconic Finnish candy. The Fazerina. Based on the chocolate that carries the same name, the Fazerina has a orangy-chocolat-y taste to it and when you combine it with coffee and & cream? Nice.
2 cl cointreau
2 cl creme de cacao (white)
coffee
loosely whipped cream
(garnish)
To a well pre-heated glass, add the liqueurs and coffee, stir gently and carefully layer the whipped cream on top. Garnish if liked. Serve.
I actually went so far that I used both the white and dark creme de cacao's to see if there's a real difference or not. Given one does not make marginal errors with measuring...let's put it diplomatically this way; with the white liqueur the cointreau shines a bit more (in a positive way) :D
That said, the Fazerina is an excellent coffee-based drink!
Hey everyone! Exciting things and let us go "back to basics" with another classy high ball - cocktail, the Cointreau Fizz! As you might have noticed, I made this one in 2013 (!) May (as per link above), this time I took a more "professional" way to it, if you may. Pretty much everything has stayed the same, except now with a tad less alcohol (due to national regulations). Let's take a look:
4 cl Cointreau
½ lime, the juice
5-10cl+ soda water
seasonal garnishes, berries, fruit, whatever you prefer
In a large-ish wine goblet, build this cocktail; add the ice, then the lime juice, cointreau and finally top the cocktail with soda water. Garnish and serve.
Just like four years ago, this cocktail is refreshing! The lime juice cuts the edge of the sweet liqueur and with the fruits/berries you get so much freshness. Albeit being a totally summer drink, the Cointreau Fizz works magic even during winter.
I also made this using a colleague's Cointreau Blood Orange, adding more tartness to the drink. I still preferred the original concoction better.
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
Winter is still here to embrace yourselves! This cocktail's recipe was introduced to me by a guest, who made it during the Christmas season. Even with Xmas gone (and no "name" for it), I liked the recipe and decided to make it as well! Mainly available in Finland (?) due to one of its main ingredients:
Stir the first three ingredients with ice, strain into an OF - glass, top it off with tonic water and garnish. Add a straw and you're ready to go!
This cocktail is sweet. Using a longer stir with ice is highly recommendable before pouring it into the glass. Spiciness, orang-y flavors and with a good bitter-ish aftertaste I really enjoyed this cocktail. The best part being, for the winter season it fits like a glove.
Hey everyone! Today's special is called the Irish Trash Can. This drink was actually a request by a reader and I decided to pull it off. In two weeks time I'll make this as a video with a good friend of mine but for the picture I wanted to make it myself.
So...the Irish Trash Can. A big bunch of everything.
1.5 cl gin
1.5 cl vodka
1.5 cl light rum
1.5 cl peach schnapps
1.5 cl triple sec
1.5 cl blue curacao
1 can of red bull
Add all ingredients (except for the red bull) in a big glass filled with ice, stir gently, crack open the energy drink and add it into the glass (see picture).
Some call for using a straw and drink it as fast as possible...okay that will get you wasted fast. I had the patience to assess the drink (:D) and sip it slowly. This drink tastes candy-ish! The peach flavor comes forth nicely and the "can" is otherwise very "balanced". It's a sweet drink (literally). If you have the ingredients and the glasses for it, this'll make a "fun" house party drink!
Hello everyone! Here's a very refreshing drink, initially asked by a customer (do something citrus-y) and I thought of summoning something up for them. It turned out to be so good I figured "hey this makes one helluva drink!" Since this doesn't have a proper name yet, it is called a "Gingerhassle". Yeah, that'll do :D.
½ lime's juice
2 cl cointreau
2 cl gin
ginger beer, to top
On a highball glass filled with ice, press the juice of ½ a lime onto it. Add the alcohols and top the whole thing up with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel, add a straw and there you go!
It is both fresh with good notes of citrus, orange and ginger. The lime juice cuts the tight gingery notes and the gin I used (a london dry style) was more in the background. Nonetheless, an excellent drink this was!
Damn you Jeffrey Morgenthaler! Damn you to hell! This is so delicious! :D
The video from where it all started from:
Wow. So...using Jägermeister in a margarita style of cocktail? Who would've thought of that?! Just watch the clip and enjoy :D
I decided to make this drink as well. Most people don't like Jägermeister for its...nature, but those in doubt, try this one out!
4 cl Jägermeister
2 cl cointreau
2 cl lime juice
1 cl 2:1 simple syrup (two parts sugar, one part water)
Shake with ice, strain and garnish with a lime wheel.
I had my doubts as well, but this cocktail proved me wrong. It is absolutely dandy like candy. In the future, if someone comes to me and says "Eww jägermeister, gross!" I'll say to them "FUCK YOU TRY A JÄGERITA AND YOU'LL LOVE THIS SHIT!"
...this cocktail is that good. You can count on that.
Hello everyone! It's Cocktail Monday (I just made that one up, but it seemed fitting at the moment :D) and two weeks left of my mammothnine weeks of combined summer/paternity holiday. It's always fun to make classic drinks and this one belongs to the family. I present you the White Lady. Now, different sources will give you different ratios of how much ingredients you should have in this cocktail (not to mention IBA's "official" ratios). In addition to that, the Finnish alcohol laws prohibit using more than 4 cl of raw alcohol per drink (with exceptions), so what we'll have is two following ratios. The Finnish bar ratio and the one I used (for that little extra oompf and love):
1:1:1 ratio = 2 cl gin, cointreau, lemon juice (Finnish version) AND this version
4.5 cl gin
2 cl cointreau
2 cl lemon juice
Some sources will also imply the use of egg white, but it is not necessary. Should you use it, remember to dry shake before adding ice.
So what you want to do is add the ingredients to the shaker, add ice and shake it like you mean it! Strain into your (at this point it is safe to assume the cocktail ware is well chilled before use) cocktail glass and garnish. You could either use a lemon twist or a stemmed cocktail cherry; it adds nice aesthetics (albeit not being opposite colors). Serve.
I liked it! With the (more added) gin it wasn't as sweet, had that bite to it and of course the beauty of it, using your favorite gin this cocktail has a lot of potential to suit one's taste!
A good and jolly evening to each and everyone! Tonight I made a classic I should've done ages ago! I introduce you to the Cosmopolitan. But before we got to the core basics of this classic, a bit of history if you don't mind.
I've post-poned the making of this cocktail for a long time. Probably the biggest reason being the fact that I have actually made this before, a few years back but wasn't really satisfied with the result. It could've been the lack of my artisanship, poor recipe (I get to that soon) or both. Moreover, this cocktail uses a very small amount of cranberry juice in it and a whole carton of it for the sake of an amount less of a standard type shot, I felt justified of "not-making-this" cocktail.
Nonetheless, I have grabbed the bull by its horn and here we are. No excuses, just cocktails!
Oh and regarding the recipe. Keep in mind that the one I just represents only one version of the Cosmo. There are literally countless amount of different versions of this cocktail (I went through a lot before going for this one) and let's be honest here. There are good ones and there are bad ones out there but there is no "right" one. But basically, this is a "pimped out" Kamikaze, if you so gently put it. I remember the first time I made this I used the rule "one shot of everything (2.5 cl / 1½ fl oz)."
4.5 cl (citron) vodka (I used absolut citron)
3 cl cointreau
1.5 cl fresh lime juice
~1.5 cl cranberry juice
READ THE UPDATE WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH THE ORIGINAL TEXT
The cranberry juice is mainly used for the color but it has a tart taste to it as well. Vodka for the power and lime juice to even out the sweetness of cointreau. Again, where I work I would make it differently, with more cranberry juice and less liquor (silly laws).
Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice, shake hard and double-strain into your chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with either a lime or if feeling "uuh adventurous", take a zest of orange, light it up and rim the glass with it/twist the essential oils of it into your drink & drop it in (as seen in the picture).
Result? A gorgeous cocktail with a lovely orange aroma to it. But...the unlimited versions of the Cosmo has made me doubt myself to the point that I ask myself "How should a Cosmo taste like?" I've tasted quite a few ones (the most horrible being in Estonia where they used booze instead of vodka oh my the memories!) and I'm still not convinced.
Feel free to comment a recipe you prefer and I might as well make it. I seriously feel torn here!
And now that we're at it, I had the opportunity to meet my god-daughter today and that KICKED ASS! CHEERS TO THAT! :)
UPDATE 26.01.2016
THIS is the shit!
So here's an update. A WELL-DESERVED update on this now-modern classic! FINALLY a recipe I can stand behind to! Robert Hess from Small Screen Network made this cocktail and given, with the recipe he provided...THIS is a good Cosmopolitan!
4.5 cl Absolut Citron (or any citron-flavored vodka)
"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.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I actually should've posted this some days ago but laziness got into me so I kind of postponed this until the dark hours some call "midnight". Nonetheless, here is a very interesting cocktail based on gin but tastes just like grapefruit. I introduce you to the Pegu Club Cocktail. I could link all kinds of wiki articles regarding the history of this cocktail, but apparently this is a very traditional/well-known cocktail in...Latin America was it? Moreover, there's one rather "special" ingredient that you might look for in order to make it:
5 cl gin
2 cl triple sec
1 cl fresh lime juice
2 dashes orange bitters
1 dash angostura bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I wanted to use my rather less-used tulip-glass (just for fun's sake) but a small coupe would've done the trick more nicely. As for the garnish, the "traditional" garnish is a peel grapefruit or so (to implement the taste of it) but a lime slice/wedge will do the trick.
But I got to say, it does taste like grapefruit! It's a rather interesting mixture this Pegu Club Cocktail. Also for those not fond of gin, I doubt you would have problems drinking this. I give it a solid +1!
Merry Christmas everyone! I'm back with my wife from Germany, where we spent Christmas with my sister, my brother and his family. It was a good holiday, no, it was an amazing holiday for us. Now that the celebrations are "over", it's time to start a the upcoming New Year's with a blazing shooter! I introduce you to the well-known B-52!
1/3 shot Kahluá (coffee liqueur)
1/3 shot Baileys (cream liqueur)
1/3 shot Gran Marnier (triple sec)
(matches and fire safety)
Layer the ingredients as mentioned (coffee, cream, triple sec) and optionally light the shooter on fire. You can either use a short straw or just blow out the fire and then shoot!
Regrettably, this cocktail...has really more hype than flavor. I...just couldn't get much out of this! It's a pretty shooter nonetheless and if you're feel like blazing up a few drinks, consider this OR the Kiki.
“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
- Dr. Seuss
Hello again dear readers!
My thoughts of coffee cocktails has been brewing (tee-hee) for a long time now. I've read about them a lot as well as any alcoholic beverage that is enjoyed warm/hot. The promo pictures are so delicious looking I've always wanted to make one myself (here's a good example of one). The only problem I've found with these kind of drinks is that 90% of the time they look exactly the same; it's black/brown and a float of loosely whipped cream on top. Maybe some chocolate sprinkles or powdered cocoa on top. So making a dozen of different flavored coffee cocktails wouldn't make sense per se; I'd have a dozen similar looking pictures.
So the only thing where I can make an actual difference is
Choose a different kind of glass
Choose "unorthodox" garnishes (that still apply for the drink overall)
At work we make various warm cocktails. During the holiday season we sell plenty of glögi, both with and without alcohol. Irish coffees and peppermint hot chocolates and all of those are ordered on a rather regular basis as well. Figures since it's cold outside and people like to drink warm drinks (coffee) in Finland, so why not combine both?
Anyhow, one of the more known coffee cocktails is the Monte Cristo coffee. I actually saw a colleague of mine do this in a wine goblet and it really hit me; "Why not?" Having had a rough weekend at work (long hours in consecutive days) I really wanted to do this and see how it goes down as a coffee drink:
2.5 cl Kahluá (coffee liqueur)
2.5 cl Cointreau (triple sec)
hot coffee
loosely whipped cream
First warm up the glass. Pour in the liquors, add the coffee and finally with the help of a spoon gently pour the loosely whipped cream on top to create a float. Serve.
In our bar we use 2:2cl respectively (regulations) and some recipes in the wonderland we call internet call for 3 cl kahluá/1.5 cl cointreau (gran marnier) for a more coffee-tasting experience. Given, that would've probably worked a tad better; although this cocktail tasted great, the orange flavors did overwhelm the coffee aromas a little bit.
Either way, I've really warmed up (tee-hee) for these kind of drinks! Coffee cocktails, I salute you!
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!
Good evening again ladies and gentlemen! It's time for this week's cocktail!
The Margarita. This is the cocktail everyone's heard if not in the actual world, then in numerous movies to say the least. Essentially a Sidecar with tequila instead of brandy, I've always had a rather love-hate relationship regarding this drink. The love being, I mean, it's a Margarita. I've hardly ever made one in my life and it's one of those cocktails you just got to make or at least drink once in your life time.
The hate that the few time's I've made it, they've turned out crappy. Or maybe because I'm not the greatest fan of tequila, or the tequila brand I've used is poor (you wouldn't know how rare it is to find quality tequila in Finland) or that the frigging salt rim ruins everything for me.
I've decided to meet my demons by creating two variations of the classic Margarita; the one on the left is a home-based cocktail and the one on the right is the one (usually) served in Finland (alcohol-regulations).
First, the home based variation:
4.5 cl quality tequila (read this if you want to know more about tequilas)
2 cl triple sec (I used cointreau)
4.5 cl fresh sour mix (1:1 ratio fresh lime juice and simple syrup ie. ~2 cl both)
CHECK THE UPDATED VERSION FROM BELOW!
The second is the more common (Finnish) version:
2 cl blanco tequila
2 cl triple sec (usually cointreau though)
2 cl lime/lemon juice
Both recipes, shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or if at home, you can use a tumbler with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and of course if you prefer, the salt rim; I let the video do the talking for me (it's really educational as well!)
Since I'm more of the sugar-tooth type, I totally liked the home based more. I think the whole existence of that horrible salt rim has given me great traumas over the Margarita. Should I ever make a Margarita to my friends (at home)...I would totally go with the first version. Hands down. If you prefer a more zingy/sourer version, go with the second.
Here's a Margarita that I made today, a good ~2½ years later! I will still stress the fact when making these drinks (or ordering at a bar) that
FORGET any pre-mix stuff! It is SHIT.
Makesure the tequila is 100% de agave! Otherwise you are stuck with SHIT.
The drink is as good as its worst ingredient!
When we have these on the table, here's a solid recipe, it's a bit tweaked since the first time I made it:
6 cl 100% de agave blanco tequila
2 cl cointreau
2 cl fresh lime juice
(1 cl agave syrup)
Agave syrup rounds up the drink nicely + smoothens its. I used it in this version and I will say it worked just nicely! But it is up to you if you prefer a more zzziinggg in your Margarita!
Nothing tells the story more vividly than this cocktail. But alas, the action even Between the Sheets can not out-win its cousin, the Sidecar. For me, the B.t.S is a altered version of the Sidecar. Also easily modified to create layers of flavors, the B.t.S has potential but this time it didn't quite cut it.
2.5 cl white rum
2.5 cl brandy (or cognac)
2.5 cl lemon juice
2.5 cl triple sec
Shake everything with ice and (double)strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon/lime twist. Like a sidecar, but more complex in flavor. Personally, this cocktail was OK, but with some fine tuning I could probably make a better version of it later on...
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 aMai Tai and a Zombie Cocktailand 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. :)
Today we're going presidential style! Straight from Cuba, I introduce you the El Presidente! I realized a while back that "hey, I actually have the ingredients to make this!" so I gave it a try. But unlike the "original" recipe, I slightly modified it making it an excellent cocktail:
4.5 cl white rum (I used aged rum)
1.5 cl triple sec
2 cl dry vermouth
dash of grenadine
orange/lemon twist for decoration
Stir the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Decorate and serve.
Two points. One, a beautiful amber-ish color in this one. Really impressive. Secondly, the taste. Since I didn't use white rum (even aged one) but instead I used a rum a good bro brought me, Aniversario Pampero, an aged dark rum. This combined with the others gave this cocktail its much deserved complexity. Its first taste has a tad of super sweetness but quickly evolves into spices and a pleasant orangy zang. The rum compliments the overall taste. The cocktail finishes slightly bitter strong.
In its essence, the Presidente does not fail me. It's a complex cocktail. It's a good cocktail.
Here we have one of those "epic" cocktails (such as the Singapore Sling). The famous Long Island Ice Tea. I made one of these back in the days with poor(er) success than now. I've gotten wiser from those years. And my equipment has gotten better. To be honest, this cocktail isn't really that hard to pull of, the amount of liquors might just scare some before anything has happened yet! So let's begin:
1.5 cl tequila
1.5 cl vodka
1.5 cl rum (white)
1.5 cl cointreau
1.5 cl gin
2.5 cl lemon juice
3.0 cl simple syrup
cola
Except for the cola, add everything in your cocktail shaker, put some ice in it and shake vigorously. Strain into a tom collins (high ball) glass filled with ice and top it off with cola. A lemon wedge/slice for garnish + a few straws do the rest. As you can see from the picture, the alcohols are on the bottom, the cola on top of it and the general color is similar that of a ice tea (peach).
I can't remember much from my early years, but this one knocks my socks right off my feet! Albeit being a potent mixture, I can barely taste the alcohol in this one. In addition, it does taste like ice tea!
If you feel like doing something special with the items in your bar cabinet, this is definitely the one.
Another perfect summer drink that has been tested already! Introducing the Cointreau Fizz. A perfect mix of both sweet and sour, getting a bottle of Cointreau just for these is worth the trouble!
5 cl Cointreau (triple sec)
half a lime
10 cl club soda (carbonated water [not mineral water])
Cut the lime half into four pieces and muddle them in the glass. Then fill the glass with crushed ice, pour in the Cointreau and soda. Give the drink a few gentle stirs so the ingredients properly mix and top the cocktail with more ice, if needed. Add a straw and if you want to garnish this, a lime wedge will do just fine.
I didn't have a soda streamer so I had to get myself a bottle of fancy-ass carbonated water...you could substitute it with mineral water (pellegrino for instance), but the cocktail will soak in flavors from it. Thus if all able, prefer club soda.
