bourbon smash

Since the last post, it’s been crazy busy but I didn’t stop making drinks!

Here we have a Bourbon Smash:

2 oz borbon (I used Knob Creek)
4 wedges of lemon
2/4 oz simple syrup
Small handful of mint (and some for garnish)
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

1. Add all ingredients in the shaker and muddle
2. Add ice and shake vigorously, strain into glass
3. Add cracked ice and garnish

mint julep

I’m still waiting for the day it becomes warm enough again so I can sit on the porch while sipping on my Mint Julep… maybe next week. This drink is meant to be strong and boozy so one can enjoy the drink for a longer period of time than regular cocktails.

2 1/2 oz. bourbon
1/4 oz. simple syrup
1 white sugar cube
Handful of mint

1. Add all ingredients into a glass/julep cup and muddle
2. Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir
3. Garnish with a sprig of mint

three seasons

Another hot day in Los Angeles yesterday, and since Pimm’s is my new thing, I made Three Seasons.
According to the “Bartender’s Choice” App (mentioned here), you are meant to make Pimm’s Cup with strawberries. I personally haven’t had ones with strawberries in them so I didn’t bother with my last one, and I substituted the strawberries with raspberries for this Three Seasons.

1 oz. Pimm’s No.1
1 oz. Gin
1 wedge lemon
1 wedge lime
1 wedge orange
A few pieces of raspberries
3 slices (English) cucumber
Small handful of mint
Sprite

(This looked yummy as is even before muddling!)

1. Pour Pimm’s and gin, and add lemon, lime, orange, mint, cucumber and raspberries in a glass.
2. Muddle everything.
3. Add ice and top with Sprite.
4. Garnish.

Once again, I used Persian cucumber. You probably won’t find me using English cucumber but it is recommended that you use English ones.
On another note, I should probably invest in tall glasses and stop drinking from a mixing glass…

east side cocktail

2 oz. gin
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
3 slices (English) cucumber
Small handful of mint

1. Add all ingredients to shaker
2. Muddle everything and add ice
3. Shake hard and strain into a cocktail glass
4. Garnish with a thin slice of cucumber (but I used mint)

Do you see a trend here? Yes, yet another drink with mint, cucumber and lime juice… you can’t blame me though. I long for summer. I think I’m done carrying coats and scarves for when I come home in the evening – LA, please stay warm til fall!

pimm’s cup

After being cold for the last few months, it was finally hot in Los Angeles today. 29C and sunny outside… this brought back my cravings for a Pimm’s Cup. Luckily, I was able to pick up a bottle of Pimm’s No.1 at a liquor store in downtown (because it’s not something you find everywhere) and made myself a glass of Pimm’s Cup while pretending it was still warm and summer-y at 9pm.

2 oz. Pimm’s No.1
1 wedge lemon
1 wedge lime
1 wedge orange
3 slices (English) cucumber
Small handful of mint
Sprite

1. Pour Pimm’s and throw lemon, lime, orange, mint and cucumber in a glass.
2. Muddle everything.
3. Add ice and top with Sprite.
4. Garnish with mint and cucumber.

Again, I used Persian cucumber instead of English cucumber so the number of slices differed, but all good. It was still as delicious as I remembered. This is *the* perfect summer daytime drink to sip on while spectating sports or BBQ-ing outside. Supposedly, this is the official drink of Wimbledon and I can totally see why!

mixed-berry mojito

(Sorry, please excuse the terrible lighting in my kitchen.)

I had purchased a bunch of frozen berries for making smoothie, so I decided to make a mojito. As you may have noticed… mojito is pretty much the only cocktail I could say I’m pretty good at making. The whole process is basically the same as the Grapefruit Mojito recipe I posted previously, except with berries and not grapefruit. doh!

2 oz. white rum
1 oz. lime juice
1-2 tsp granulated sugar
Frozen berries (I used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries & blueberries; a few of each)
Handful of mint
Sprite

1. Throw mint leaves, lime juice and granulated sugar into a glass.
2. Muddle; add frozen berries and muddle lightly
3. Add rum + ice.
4. Top off with Sprite.
5. Garnish with mint leaves (and more berries if you like).

tip: preserving mint

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I love all things mint.
I wish I had a balcony where I can plant my own mint, but I don’t. I’m also sick of battling fruit flies so I do not wish to have a plant indoors either. So the next best thing was for me to preserve store-bought raw herbs for as long as possible.
This is a trick I got from a Japanese recipe site, which showed how to preserve shiso leaves. It works for mint too.

1. Get a short glass/bowl and pour around 1/2 in. of water.
2. Place mint so the bottom of the stems are touching the water.
3. Put the whole thing in a ziplock bag and store it in the fridge.

This helps the mint last for 1-2 weeks without it drying or changing color. Mine’s been there for more than 2 weeks now and they’re still bright green, but make sure to change water once in a while!

grapefruit mojito

Oh, mojito. How I love thee.
Mojito is the #1 drink that I make, because I love all things mint.
I got a hold of a grapefruit to make some grapefruit guacamole, so I decided to make myself a drink while I was waiting to leave.

2 oz. white rum
1 oz. lime juice
1/4 grapefruit (skin removed)
1-2 tsp granulated sugar
handful of mint (go crazy! I would!)
Sprite

1. Throw mint leaves, lime juice and granulated sugar into a glass.
2. Muddle; add grapefruit and muddle lightly
3. Add rum + ice.
4. Top off with Sprite.
5. Garnish with mint leaves.

I prefer using Sprite over 7UP or sparkling water. Yes, the “right” way of making it would be to use sparkling/soda water, but my logic is: Sprite already has sugar/sweetener and lemon flavor in it already, so why must I add more sugar?

old maid

Since I decided to build my own home bar not too long ago, I’ve been itching to test out new cocktails. With the help of my newly acquired iPhone app, “Bartender’s Choice” (developed by the guys at Milk & Honey bar in New York City), I was able to look up cocktail specs with ingredients I had at home.

Old Maid

2 oz. gin
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (1 sugar : 1 water)
3 slices of cucumber
a few pieces of mint

1. Add all ingredients to a shaker and muddle
2. Add ice and shake hard
3. Strain into glass over ice.
4. Garnish with a few slices of cucumber and mint

It was recommended that I used English cucumbers for cocktails because Persian cucumbers (the kind I always buy) tend to have a slightly bitter flavor, however, I used Persian cucumber this time around because I had some in my fridge. Despite using a different kind of cucumber, I still enjoyed the cocktail. I served this to two friends at a dinner that same night – they loved it too.
I can’t wait til it’s warmer! Old Maid is definitely one of those drinks you want to keep sipping on on a hot summer’s day, along with mojito and Pimm’s cup. Mmm…