Herbal Summer Lemonade

This lemonade recipe is actually not one of my own.  Someone I know tried it last spring at a food show up in Cleveland, and I had a lot of fun adding an alcoholic twist to it.  I haven't attempted to figure out the ratios of liquor to make a large batch, but it's delicious with or without, and leaving it non-alcoholic makes it appropriate for gatherings with kids, too.

To make the lemonade

Yield:  About 2.5 gallons

Build:

24 oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice

24 oz POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

4 cups sugar*

144 oz Cold water

Add:

4 oz Fresh Dill

4 oz Fresh Mint

4 oz Fresh Basil

2 oz Fresh Rosemary 

Let steep to desired strength**.

* I've discovered that dissolving the sugar in the lemon and pomegranate juices before adding the water seems to work best to dissolve it as entirely as possible.  After that, I add the water, stir to blend, and add the herbs.

** Personally, I think about 24 hours is perfect, though you can generally start serving it after just a few hours of steeping, and you're not going to want the herbs in there much past a day and a half or so.

Alcoholic Version:

Method: Build

Glassware: 10oz Collins

Garnish: Edible orchid bloom

Ingredients:

1 oz Hendricks gin

.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur

Add ice, fill with steeped herbal lemonade, and garnish.   

More Tequilador: Jalisco Mule

When I was working on the Tequilador recipe competition I actually came up with three recipes and debated between which to submit.  This one is a twist on the Moscow Mule...the name of course coming from the region of tequila.

 Jalisco Mule
Glass: Pint glass
Method: Shake and Strain
Garnish: Juiced half-lime shell

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Tequilador Silver tequila
.5 oz St-Germain liqueur
.5 oz Ginger syrup (I used Monin's)
.25 oz Simple syrup
1 oz Fresh-squeezed lime juice

Build ingredients in mixing glass and shake with ice.  Strain into a pint glass filled with clean ice, top with club soda, and garnish with a juiced half-lime shell.

Athena's Council

There's no real back story to this cocktail...just that I got something in my head that I wanted to do a drink with sage.  Blackberry is a natural companion to sage, and I went from there.  The name started as "Wise Council" (which "sage advice" means, of course), and with all the goddess names in my cocktails, it seems as though Athena decided She wanted this one ;-)  I can't blame Her, as it's pretty delicious.

Athena's Council (a.k.a. Sage Advice)
Glass:  Large Cocktail
Method:  Muddle, Shake and Double Strain
Garnish:  Burned sage leaf

Muddle:
3 ea Blackberries
3 ea Sage leaves
.75 oz Agave Nectar (I used Monin's)

Add:
1.5 oz Sauza Hornitos Plata tequila
.5 oz St-Germain liqueur
1 oz Fresh Lemon juice

Shake with ice and double strain into cocktail glass. Burn a sage leaf to garnish.

Siren's Song

Okay...working on this whole "making up for lost time" thing, and posting my second blog this week!  This came around when I decided that me not particularly caring for spiced rum meant that I needed to practice mixing with it.  People who like spiced rum seem to have approved of the result (and so do I, actually...I surprisingly enjoyed it thoroughly).  

The name for this one came around when I decided it needed to match the cocktail and be simultaneously feminine (it uses elderflower liqueur) and nautical (Sailor Jerry rum), with a little bit of evil implied.  Apparently that was an appropriate thought, because the first person who ordered it told the server "You need to tell your manager that this one needs to come with a warning!  It could be dangerous!"  Perfect!

Siren's Song
Method: Shake and Strain
Glassware: Large cocktail
Garnish: Dash of cinnamon

Ingredients:
1 oz Sailor Jerry spiced rum
.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
2 oz Fresh squeezed orange juice (seriously...using oranges makes all the difference)
.25 oz Simple syrup
3 dashes Regan's orange bitters

Add all ingredients to mixing glass and shake well with ice.  Strain into glass and garnish with a dash of cinnamon.  Enjoy!

For anybody unfamiliar with the Sirens (most known and remembered through Homer's Odyssey): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren