Saucy Madam

This is the perfect drink for these early season sunny days filled with outdoor chores and spring cleaning. Basil is a wonderful aromatic and herbaceous element to keep your nose engaged just as much as your taste buds!

Ingredients

Equipment: muddler, shaker, strainer, champagne flute

1½ oz Lillet Blanc

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

4 basil leaves, plus 1 leaf for garnish

Sparkling wine

Instructions

Combine basil leaves and fresh lemon in shaker tin. Muddle gently, and then top with Lillet Blanc. Shake for 20 seconds and strain into champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a basil leaf. Cheers!

Gingerberry

Blueberries make wonderful additions to cocktails, especially ones with rum. In this particular recipe, feel free to use fresh or frozen depending on the season, availability or whatever you have in your house at the time.

Ingredients

Equipment: muddler, shaker, strainer, old fashioned glass

8-12 blueberries plus 2-4 for garnish

1 tablespoon demerara sugar

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

2 oz Zaya rum or similar

Ginger ale to top

Instructions

Combine blueberries and sugar in shaker tin. Muddle gently until berry skins are all broken and sugar begins to dissolve. Add rum and lemon juice and top with ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain into old fashioned glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger ale and garnish with blueberries. Cheers!

Hurricane

There’s something so enjoyable about Hurricanes. There are so many variations but my favorite will always be the classic. A note about the passion fruit element – if you can find fresh passion fruit, the best way to bring in the flavor would be to make a syrup with equal parts sugar and fruit cooked over low flame for 15-20 minutes, then strain out the solids. If that isn’t an option, you can usually find some delicious passion fruit nectar in the fresh juice section of your grocery store and it works perfectly as well.

Ingredients

Equipment: Shaker, strainer, hurricane glass or highball

2 oz dark rum

1 oz passion fruit syrup/nectar

1 oz fresh lemon juice

slice of lemon and maraschino cherry for garnish

Instructions

Combine rum, passion fruit syrup or nectar and fresh lemon in shaker with ice. Strain into hurricane glass or highball over fresh ice and garnish with slice of lemon and cherry. Cheers!

Morning Bouquet

Perfect as a breakfast or brunch cocktail, this drink goes with basically any breakfast flavor you can throw at it. I’m a huge fan of biscuits and gravy and this cuts right through the really rich flavors. Sauce is more of an egg person and this complements egg dishes wonderfully.

Ingredients

Equipment: highball glass, cocktail spoon

1 oz crème de violette

1 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur

½ oz fresh lime juice

4 oz sparkling wine

Wedge of lime for garnish

Instructions

Fill glass with ice. Pour in crème de violette, St. Germain and lime juice. Stir with cocktail spoon for 10 seconds and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with wedge of lime. Cheers!

3-2-1 Caddy Margarita

With the changing of the seasons making it rain ALL the time up here in the Seattle area, we’ve been taking every nice day we can as an excuse to invite friends over, play outside and drink margaritas. This recipe isn’t fancy. Its what I use to make a boat load of margaritas and have them all taste uniformly delicious. The 3-2-1 ratio is (in my opinion) key to the perfectly balanced margarita.

Ingredients

Equipment: small plate, old fashioned glasses, shaker, strainer

Kosher salt for rimming

Lime wedges for rimming and garnish

1½ oz blanco tequila (Milagro is the house go to around here)

1 oz Grand Marnier

½ oz fresh lime juice

Instructions

Dump salt onto small plate. Wipe rim of glass with lime wedge and dip rim into salt. In shaker tin, combine tequila, Grand Marnier and lime juice with ice. Shake for 20 seconds and strain into rimmed glass over fresh ice. Cheers!

Jamaican Derby

I love mint juleps. I love the tradition behind them, I love the glasses. Most of all I love the taste. This is a tropical twist on the classic drink of the Kentucky Derby and I’m extremely excited to share this. Enjoy everyone!

Ingredients

Equipment: shaker, strainer, muddler, old fashioned glass

1 slice mango

4 mint leaves

1 tsp demerara sugar

¾ oz lemon

2 oz bourbon

Sprig of mint for garnish

Instructions

In shaker tin, muddle mango, mint and sugar gently until juice is expelled. Add lemon and bourbon and top with ice. Shake for 15-20 seconds and strain into old fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Cheers!

Scandinavian Vacation

To finish our papaya adventure, we’re going into the land of gin. Definitely look for something on the drier side but really whatever your favorite is will work. All about those botanicals!

Ingredients

Equipment: muddler, shaker, strainer, white wine glass

2 slices of papaya

½ tsp demerara sugar

4 dashes Scrappy’s aromatic bitters

1½ oz gin

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

3 oz soda water

Slice of papaya for garnish

Instructions

In shaker tin, combine 2 slices fresh papaya with sugar and bitters. Muddle until juice is expelled then add gin and lemon. Shake vigorously for 25 seconds and strain into wine glass. Top with soda water and garnish with slice of papaya. Cheers!

Vero’s Boardwalk

Today’s papaya adventure is taking us to the land of rum! I like to use Zaya rum in my tropical cocktails but feel free to use any sort of aged rum you like or have on hand. Dark rum would also work but when I tried it in an attempt to find a rum papaya cocktail, it produced something a little too sweet for the palates of my guinea pigs (thanks guys).

Ingredients

Equipment: muddler, shaker, strainer, tiki mug or mason jar or Collins glass

2 slices of papaya

3 dashes Scrappy’s orange bitters

2 oz aged rum

1 oz fresh pineapple juice

½ oz fresh lemon juice

Soda water to top

Twist of lemon for garnish

Instructions

In shaker tin, muddle papaya and bitters until juice is expelled from fruit. Add rum, pineapple juice and lemon. Top with ice and shake for 20-25 seconds. Strain into glass over fresh ice, top with soda water and garnish with a twist of lemon. Cheers!

San Felipe Cantina

Papayas are a delicious and fantastic fruit for you. It has all sorts of antioxidants and a tropical taste that makes you feel like sticking your toes in the sand and catching a wave. Over the next few days we’re going to explore a couple cocktails with them as the shining star. For a few reasons, one, I want a vacation. Two, I would really like to try a few different spirit bases. Thanks for coming along on the adventure!

Ingredients

Equipment: muddler, shaker, strainer, old fashioned glass or Collins glass

1 slice of fresh papaya (no seeds!)

½ oz agave nectar or honey

3 dashes Scrappy’s grapefruit bitters

1½ oz tequila

½ oz Averna amaro

½ oz pineapple juice

¾ oz fresh lime juice

slice of papaya to garnish

Instructions

In shaker tin, combine slice of papaya, agave or honey, and bitters. Muddle gently to release mango juice. Add tequila, amaro, pineapple juice, and lime juice and top with ice. Shake for 20 seconds and strain into glass over fresh ice. Cheers!

Brandy Alexander

John Lennon’s favorite drink! In my life, it was the first dessert drink I’d ever had, contemplated or seen. At a restaurant in McCall, Idaho, to be specific. There isn’t any agreed upon origin of it but its been around since at least the early 1900’s. Make sure you grate some fresh nutmeg on top, it makes all the difference!

Ingredients

Equipment: shaker, strainer, chilled coupe or martini glass, microplaner

1½ oz heavy cream

1½ oz crème de cacao (or chocolate liqueur)

1½ oz cognac

Nutmeg for garnish

Instructions

Combine cream, crème de cacao and cognac in shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 20-25 seconds and strain into chilled coupe or martini glass. Top with fresh grated nutmeg. Cheers!