Recipe 1 vanilla bean 2 cups of sugar 1 cup of water Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar until it’s fully dissolved (should be clear). Turn off the heat. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the beans into the syrup. Cut the bean into a couple…
Green Chartreuse. You may have heard of the color chartreuse (this was super popular in the fashion world a couple years back), but did you know the color actually got its name from this liqueur? Chartreuse has its roots back to 1737 (the color reference came in 1884) and is…
151 rum, passionfruit, orange, lime, bitters, absinthe
Orgeat, pronounced OR-ZHA (soft ‘zh’ sound), is not as fancy as it sounds. It’s a key ingredient in the classic Mai Tai, but really is pretty much just almond milk in syrup form. Now, before you go racing off trying to dump sugar into your carton of almond milk, be…
rum, sugar, bitters
Frangelico was actually one of the very first liqueurs I ever owned. When I first got interested in cocktails my senior year of college, I threw a couple cocktail parties for my friends, loading up my ‘bar’ with a few very calculated purchases (getting cocktail ingredients was a HUGE investment for…
I picked up this Plantation Stiggin’s Fancy Pineapple Rum recently and it’s seriously one of the best bottles ever. In a market where Bacardi/Malibu offer rums in every flavor under the moon (“wolf berry,” “horned coconut,” “arctic grape”), the category of flavored rums has become intimately linked to these sugary…
rum, lime, sugar
Cachaça. The first time I heard of cachaça was from a Brazilian at a bar, and of course in the context of what else but the caipirinha. The second time I heard of cachaça was from another Brazilian, this time in college on campus, again in the context of a caipirinha.…
gin, sweet vermouth, Bruto Americano
Remy Martin VSOP Cognac. I bought this in the early days of the homebar while searching for a cognac to fill the collection and admittedly haven’t ventured away (though I really want to get my hands on another bottle given how much I enjoy brandies!). Cognac is basically a grape-based…
rum, lime, sugar
Tanqueray London Dry Gin. This is my favorite gin. It’s my go-to gin at home for mixing up a cocktail, AND I can always count on it being available at any dive bar (my default dive bar drink is a gin&tonic…hard to mess that one up right?) I find Tanqueray…
rums, juices, spices, danger
St. George Absinthe Verte. For almost a century, absinthe has been surrounded by a shroud of mystery due to its ban for supposed hallucinogenic properties. When the ban was finally lifted in 2007, St. George Distillery in Alameda CA released the first legal American absinthe, which had been in the…
Aperol, the lighter, fruitier, less bitter cousin of the more well-known Campari. Have you heard of the Aperol Spritz? If so, that’s living proof that the company’s humongous marketing efforts are paying off. Aperol has invested heavily in advertising over the past half century, with their first commercial launched in…
overproof white Jamaican rum, grapefruit soda, lime
Sloe Gin. What is sloe gin, what does it taste like, and how do you use it? As the name suggests, sloe gin is actually a liqueur made from gin that is macerated (aka soaked in alcohol to draw out the flavors of the fruit) with sloe berries and a…
rums, allspice, lime, Angostura
Ok, let’s talk vodka. Specifically, this Kirkland vodka from Costco. 2 things: 1- I am OBSESSED with Costco. 2- Not so obsessed with vodka. End result? This is my go-to vodka on the rare occasion when I need a neutral (aka flavorless) spirit. It’s super smooth and for about $15…
gin, maraschino, creme de violette, lemon
El Dorado 12 Year Rum. Rum, a spirit that doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as it deserves. I’ve recently found myself on the rum obsession train, and there’s very strong reason for that! Check out the Rum Series series to learn more about rum in detail. Starting with the…
rum, lemon, passionfruit
St. George Distillery in Alameda California was my first venture into small-operation craft distilling (back when it was still Hangar One)….I don’t think I even knew what a distillery was before my visit/tour at St. George! As such, there’s a very fond place in my heart for this amazing operation,…