Paper Airplane Martini

A little paper airplane won't hurt you, now will it?
LOL, better be careful with these, they are strong and yummy, and taste like one more!

I had this cocktail first at the Amaro Bistro in Bothell, but apparently the Paper Airplane cocktail was invented about 10 years ago by a famous NY bartender, Sam Ross.  It's said to "take the math out of mixing"- from the easy 4 equal measures.  Kind of a whiskey sour with a wonderful herbal complexity of the amaro.

Makes 1 big martini
Ingredients

1 ounce bourbon or rye whiskey (I used Bullet Rye)

1 ounce Nonino amaro (bittersweet Italian liqueur)

1 ounce Aperol (bitter orange Italian aperitif)

1 ounce fresh lemon juice

As you can see below, I squeezed two meyer lemons and got 2 ounces of juice, therefore, it was easy to add 2 ounces of each of the other ingredients (magic potions) to make a batch for two. 

In a shaker filled with ice, add all the ingredients and shake, shake, shake.  Strain into martini glasses and enjoy!

Note: On first taste, my hubby said "it's pretty bitter", which is from the two types of amaro.  Mixed with the whiskey and lemon juice it is the right amount of sweet, tart and bitter (and booze).  On second taste, he said "it's totally fine".
I agree, a paper airplane is totally fine.

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St Germain Manhattan

Tis the season to be jolly, right?

I've been a little remiss lately and it has been a couple months since I last posted.  You know, sometimes has a way of getting in the way of things we like to do.  We all get busy, but always remember to do the things that give you joy.  LOL, that is blogging and making cocktails for friends and family too.  This is the perfect time of the year to do that.

Manhattan's are always yummy, but this one has a great "light" twist by using dry vermouth and St. Germain.  I highly recommend this one.  I intend to make some more of these, but I am going to have to head to the liquor store to pick up my single most favorite liqueur of all time, St. Germain.

Have a safe and fun New Year's. I wish you health, happiness and joy in 2018.

Makes 1 (but easy to double)
Ingredients

2 parts Bourbon
1 part St. Germain (elder flower liqueur)
1/2 part dry vermouth (or dry white wine works too)
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnish with maraschino cherry or orange twist and serve over ice, or straight up in a martini glass.  This is a strong drink... so I like the way the ice mellows it.

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Blood & Sand Cocktail

An intense cocktail, not for the faint of heart.

Our server at Din Tai Fung (a fantastic world wide restaurant chain known for their dumplings) cautioned my hubby that this one was one of the stronger cocktails.  Did he still want it?
Yes, yes he did. 

Makes 1
Ingredients

1 oz. scotch

3⁄4 oz. Cherry Heering liqueur

3⁄4 oz. sweet vermouth

3⁄4 oz. fresh orange juice

Pour all the ingredients into an ice filled shaker.  Shake, shake, shake.  Strain into a glass, garnish with some orange peel, or a little slice of orange.  Serve at once.

Yummy.

Strong.

Here's a copy of the drink menu at Din Tai Fung that night.  Taking a picture of the drink menu is one of my favorite ways to take note of some interesting cocktails.  I need to make that Taiwan Sunset soon.

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Honeydew Caipirissima

 A nod to the Olympics in Rio with a cocktail!

Brazil is well know for a cocktail called the caipirinha made with cachaça.

Hmmm, I am fresh out of cachaça. 
Which happens to be a booze made out of sugar cane juice, sounds nice actually, but hard to find.

Therefore, I am making this Caipirissima as it calls for good ole rum which I happen to have plenty of.  Part of this traditional cocktail always includes muddling some fruit and limes (always)..  We have plenty, plenty, plenty of fresh blackberries right now, so that's what I planned to use... except, I had this honeydew cut up and ready to go, so that's what I used.

Feel free to try this same technique with other seasonal fruit.  I also think that frozen (and thawed) fruit would work nicely for muddling too!
I'd liked it so much I am going to try it with fresh blackberries real soon!

Top it off with club soda if you'd like something to sip in larger quantities.

Serves 1 (I doubled it... because that is nice!)

Ingredients

3/4 ounce simple syrup (about a tablespoon), I used lemon 
1/2 cup of fresh honeydew
1/2 a lime, juiced 
2 ounces white rum (I used Bacardi Lemon for added tang)

In a cocktail shaker, press and mix the simple syrup, fruit and lime with a muddler or wooden spoon trying to get the maximum of fruit juice out of the fruit. Add the rum and some ice. Shake hard and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.  Garnish with a wedge of lime.

You may need a strainer like this one as the chunks of fruit kind of jam up your regular cocktail shaker.

Also, you could easily strain into a martini glass and drink it that way!

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Hawaiian Dream Cocktail (or martini)

I was waiting to share this cocktail when the sun started shining again.
But then again, who needs a bright, dreamy cocktail more on a cloudy day?
Yes, you do.  You need a day to dream about soft sand beaches, swaying palm trees and the warm breezes of Hawaii.

I never even went to Hawaii until my early 30's, and at time, I'd been to about a dozen foreign countries but never thought I should spend my vacation dollars on something, so... ordinary.  My point was, I can go to Greece or Mexico so much cheaper than Hawaii, why not go exotic???
Until I went... then everything about the place made me smitten with it.  The people all smiley and speak your language, the lushness of the greenery, the mountains, the beaches, the palm trees, the air (even the air over there is amazing)  you know the currency and it's in your country.  Something to be proud of for sure.
Nowadays, we like to get there every year... God willing and all that.

I've written dozens of recipes and travel posts about Hawaii, many of them are consistently in my Top 10, every day. They include:

Mai Tai's for a crowd
Best Mai Tai on Kauai
Mama's Fish House- Maui
Hana Banana Macadamia Crisp
Mama's Tomato Ginger Soup
Pina Colada's for a crowd

Makes 1 
Ingredients

1 oz. creme de banana, or banana schnapps
1 oz. Malibu Coconut rum
1 oz golden rum
1-2 oz pineapple juice

Mix all together and pour over ice.  Find every kind of garnish that shouts Hawaii and serve at once.  Repeat as needed.

Optional, you can pour this over an ice filled shaker and strain into a martini glass too.  You decide 

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Limoncello Martini

Essentially most classic martinis are 100% chilled booze.  

You know that, right?
A classic vodka martini is nothing more than vodka (with a "wave over" of vermouth), chilled over ice and strained. Olives optional.
So, honestly, this Limoncello martini has less alcohol.
LOL, albeit, not much less. 
High octane for sure, be careful. 

Don't have any Limoncello?  Go ahead and make some!  My recipe is here! 

Makes 2
Ingredients

2 shots Limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur)
2 shots of vodka
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice, if desired

Add to an ice filled shaker... shake, shake, shake... shake some more.  I recommend this one frosty with small bits of ice.

Perfect for a summer day... or summer-like as it's still early May here.

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"Essence" Orange Ginger Martini

Essence of ginger, and orange together in perfect harmony.  Spicy, refreshing and delicious, I recommend that you get some ginger liqueur if you don't have some. 

This one is for a friend, he knows who he is. 

You can see below, my orange is a little worse for the wear, however it was still very juicy and flavorful!  You could also use bottled orange juice too

Makes 2
Ingredients

1 jigger ginger liquor

2 jigger Vodka

1 1/2 jigger orange juice

A splash of ginger ale
A splash of Grand Marnier

Add ingredients to an ice filled martini shaker. Shake, shake, shake and then strain into a chilled martini glass.

Poor little orange.  Don't worry, we gave it a good send off.

Sour Cherry Pie Martini

Well, I missed Pi (3-14-16) day, it's the day every food blogger in town posts a pie recipe.
Except me.
I'm just too busy these days for all that mid week baking stuff.  
However, this recipe is easier than pie, and tastes just as yummy.

First thing out of taste tester's mouth (that cute guy of mine) "Ahhh, that tastes better than pie!"
Have I mentioned that his favorite pie is cherry?
Ultimate compliment.

Later on, I whipped up a bigger batch to take to a tea party with my mom and sisters (What?  What do you take to a tea party?... maybe you should come to one of our parties!  LOL)

This tastes strong, but I did keep reminding the others who were sampling, that it was "half juice".  Plus, you won't have to worry about scurvy or gout if you have one of these.   Hahaha!

NOTE-  A jigger is about a 2oz measure, but you could use a 1/4 cup measuring cup too.

Makes 2 big martinis
Ingredients

1 jigger of lime
2 jiggers of sour cherry juice (Trader Joe's or Knudsen's are good ones)
2 jiggers of vodka
1 jigger of triple sec

In an ice filled shaker, add all the ingredients.  Shake, shake, shake and strain into martini glasses.
You could garnish with a cherry, or a wheel of lime, but really... it tastes so good, you don't really need a garnish.

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Desert Sage Martini

What... A... Week.
Yours?
To top it all off, hearing today that this winter is the WETTEST on record in Seattle makes me dream of summery climates.  Like Arizona...  like a desert with sage and cacti, and sunshine.  So I felt this cocktail was appropriate to post today.  Sunny, bright, delicious.
Kick off your weekend and make sure to put on sunny disposition. 

We had this at Tango restaurant on Capitol Hill in Seattle a couple weeks ago; great food, great drinks, this place focuses on tapas and other Spanish specialties.  This cocktail was unusual and delightful, served over ice with an orange twist, but strained and served straight up is great too! 

Sage simple syrup is easy to make, but you do need fresh sage to do it.  I think it makes the cocktail... just gives it a great flavor nuance. 

The original cocktail listed lemon juice, but I had some really great, tangy oranges, so I used orange juice instead as I like ginger and orange together.  You could do lemon, or even a bit of both.  
 

(that little jar on the left is filled with sage simple syrup)

Makes 1
Ingredients

1 jigger Bulletin Bourbon
1/2 jigger Ginger liqueur
1/2 jigger Sage simple syrup (5-6 fresh sage leaves, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar)
1 jigger Lemon juice, or Orange juice
Dash of Orange bitters
Dash of Angostura bitters
Orange peel, twist 

First,

Make the sage simple syrup by adding the fresh sage into a saucepan with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.  Bring to a boil and then turn done to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Have a taste (careful, it's super hot!) and you should taste the earthy sage taste.  Never fear, this flavor is awesome when mixed with the rest of the ingredients. Remove from heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes.

Mix the ingredients as listed above(except the orange peel twist) in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake, shake, shake. Strain into a martini glass, twist the orange peel over the drink to release the oils, and serve at once. 

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