Holiday Punch Recipes

Don't know if this will tickle anyone's RSS feeds as I've been dormant for so long, but I do like having a place for cocktail recipes and thoughts, so I might revive this just a little. Here are some Holiday punch recipes I considered and 2 that I tried:

Winter Spice Sangria This was the hit of Christmas Day on the beach. I doubled the recipe, but easily could have quadrupled it. I left the fruit soaking overnight and that actually might have been a bit much, 4-6 hours would probably be plenty. Would also experiment with different fizzy waters and champagne.

NOLET’S Silver Gin Pink Peppercorn Rosé Spritz Admittedly, I did not use Nolet's, but family favorite Tanqueray. Couldn't find pink peppercorn in time, so used mixed peppercorns and tried to use mostly the pink. This was also a hit on Christmas Eve. I'd like to rework the peppercorn syrup, but overall this worked well and I'd make it again. I made large ice cubes with cranberries and rosemary sprigs (leaving the sprigs sticking out of the cube) and everyone loved that touch.

Recipe's I did not try, but were under consideration: 

BACARDÍ Friendsgiving Rum PunchSparkling Cranberry Rosemary PunchChristmas Punch from the Greenhouse Tavernx

Friday Cocktail - Leap Year

The Bissextile Beverage - WSJ.com
There really is no other cocktail to consider today. The leap year calls for:

2oz Gin
1/2oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2oz Gran Marnier
a dash of lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with lemon peel.

I mentioned a new twist to the Friday Cocktail in an earlier post. I'm going to try posting the recipe on Friday. I'll try to select recipes I've never had before. Then I'll try it out and any variations over the weekend. I'll post again next week with some thoughts, and likely pictures.

Cheers

Gin(ny) in the bottle

Gin(ny) in the bottle, originally uploaded by shpankme.

For Chip, who's a big fan of Hendrick's.

Friday Cocktail for Friday the 13th - Corpse Reviver

DSCF1721, originally uploaded by Lokis world.

Wanted to share something a little ghoulish for Friday the 13th. The Corpse Reviver shown here is the darker cocktail in the back. There are at least 3 radically different Corpse Reviver recipe's, but this is regarded as the original created by Frank Meier at the Ritz Bar, Paris, in the 1920s.

Corpse Reviver #1
1 oz brandy
2/3 oz sweet vermouth - Vya highly recommended, I think it makes the drink
2/3 oz Calvados or Applejack

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The lighter cocktail is the Dubonnet Cocktail. If you like gin martinis with a twist over vodka and/or olives, this is heavenly.

Dubonnet Cocktail
1 1/2 oz Dubonnet
1 1/2 oz Gin

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Dubonnet is an aromatic wine, so it's in the vermouth family, but it is very light and crisp, with a little sweetness to it. I like olives, but I've always preferred my martini's with a twist. Now that I've found Dubonnet, I'll have this instead everytime at home. Dubonnet is not very expensive. I think I picked up my 750ml bottle for about $12. Store it in the fridge with your other vermouths.

So, you might be asking, why 2 cocktails, and what's with the eyeball. Well, the photo is from the recent Decadent Sunday party we hosted with the theme of surrealism. The "glasses" are actually a salt and pepper shaker set, sans caps. The eyes were printed on sticker paper and stuck on the caddy. The afternoon was filled with classic cocktails, mostly from when the surrealists were peaking (between WWI and WWII), though these both date to the 20s. We also played a number of surrealist games.

One of the games had us making poetry using opposites. Each person wrote a sentence at the top of the page, then passed it to someone else. The second person wrote a sentence with an opposite meaning, then folded the paper so the first sentence was not visible and passed the paper again. After a while, we'd decide the round was over and read the complete "poems." I paired these drinks with this game because of the opposite natures of the colors of the drinks.

I'll post more of the recipes and photos from this afternoon in future Friday Cocktail posts. If you want to check out some of the photos, the participants started a flickr group: http://flickr.com/groups/decadentsundays to share our photos. They're a little out of order, and I haven't added my shots from Surreal Sunday yet, but Loki has several and I have to thank him for this shot.

Cheers!

Friday Cocktail - French 75

French 75, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

I've been wanting to make some champagne cocktails for a while now and last night we cracked open a bottle to give it a go. The French 75 was by far my favorite and will be in the repetoir.

3/4 oz Gin (I've become partial to Plymouth's)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Sugar Syrup
Champagne

Place Maraschino cherry in champagne flute. Mix first 3 ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into champagne flute and top with champagne.

Cheers!

Friday Cocktail - Pink Lady

pinklady1, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

Although I blogged the Ramos Gin Fiz first, this was my first cocktail I every made using egg whites. A wonderful classic cocktail that I will certainly make again.

Friday Cocktail - Cherry Drop

Cherry Drop, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

Similar to a lemon drop but with Kirshwasser to give it a cherry flavor. Late post due to friday hookey. We took the day off and went cable waterskiing. No boats, just a cable drive overhead. Awesome!

Friday Cocktail - Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon with Whistle Swizzle Stick, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

I just walked across campus to and from a stats seminar and it's so gorgeous out. I can't wait to get home this evening and hit the beach for a dip in our gorgeous blue water. So, until then I'll post the Blue Lagoon Cocktail. I haven't found too many blue drinks that are really worth it, but this is one of the better one's I've tried. I might try this next time with less or no simple syrup.

Cheers!

Ramos Gin Fiz

Ramos Gin Fiz, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

A New Orleans institution that I never tried before I moved. Unlike any cocktail I've ever had before and well worth the effort. The second cocktail in my New Orleans Themed Decadent Sunday.

Decadent Sunday's were hatched when I spent a Sunday at the end of February making and tasting new cocktails in the afternoon. I figured the only thing that would make this better would be to add a few friends and let them make the drinks some of the time. Now we have a small group rotating the hosting duties, but I started with the first Decadent Sunday at the end of March. I chose a New Orleans theme and made 5 of the myriad of New Orleans cocktails. More from the event can be found at my decadent sunday photo collection.

Cheers!

Cocktail of the Week: Angel Face Martini

Angel Face Martini, originally uploaded by Experiment 33.

I recently added applejack to the bar and am enjoying the results. Click the picture for the recipe.

Cheers!