rosé aperol citrus punch

Aperol is so pleasingly, and slightly alarmingly vivid orange. When mixed, the nearly nuclear glow mellows and it colours cocktails a lovely peachy-orange. Its flavour is more subtle that its neon colour - orangy and herbaceous and slightly bitter. It’s fairly low alcohol too, so it’s the perfect choice for the day drinker. And these are very much for the day drinker - they should really be consumed on a porch or a patio or in a hammock or another similarly loungy, sunny, outdoors location.

I swapped out the typical prosecco of the aperol spritz for a cheerful sparkling rosé and added a lot of tart lime and grapefruit and just a little bit of sweetness to balance it all out. I love a tart drink, so I kept the sugar pretty low, but taste it and adjust to suit yourself. You can also top up the punch with a bit of seltzer in order to dial in the booziness level you desire.  

rosé aperol citrus punch

• ½ cup aperol

• 3 grapefruits, juiced

• 3 limes, juiced

• 2-3 ounces simple syrup*

• 1 bottle sparkling rosé

Combine everything but the rosé in a large pitcher or a punch bowl. Stir to combine well. Top with rosé and serve over lots of ice with a grapefruit wedge.

• Simple syrup: combine equal parts sugar and water and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Let cool and keep refrigerated.

pear & rosemary bourbon cocktail

A lot of fall and winter cocktails and drinks seem to track toward the soporific - either really rich and creamy, like eggnog and or the warm and cosy like hot toddies, mulled wine and boozy hot chocolates. I’m not opposed to these drinks - they are all amazing in the right context (like when you can take a long afternoon nap directly afterward) but they can be a little overwhelming sometimes. I wanted to make an autumnal cocktail that didn’t feel quite so coma-inducing.

This cocktail has all kinds of fall flavour - crisp pears, earthy-malty whiskey, savoury rosemary and a bit of tart lemon to pep everything up. It’s cosy and soothing, but not sleep inducing. You could even have one before dinner if you are celebrating Thanksgiving today. It won’t take up to much room, so you can still have turkey, stuffing and pie. Happy Thanksgiving!

pear & rosemary cocktail:

• ⅓ cup pear juice or nectar

• 2 sprigs rosemary (plus a few for garnish)

• ⅓ cup sugar

• ⅓ cup water

• ½ a medium pear, roughly chopped (save the other half to slice for garnish)

• 4 ounces bourbon/ Tennessee whiskey

• 2 ounces lemon juice

• soda water

Combine pear juice, 2 sprigs rosemary, sugar, water and chopped pear in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain out solids. Chill in the fridge until cool.

Combine pear and rosemary syrup with lemon juice and whiskey, stir to combine. Serve between 4 glasses and top them up with a splash of soda water. Serve garnished with a sprig of rosemary and a slice of pear.

boozy (or not) mint lemonade

Summer is in full swing, it’s going at full tilt, it's turned up to 11 and it’s hot. All I want to do is lie in a hammock, at a lake, but I don’t have a hammock or a lake particularly handy. Instead I have reoriented my whole life around finding and consuming cool drinks. My main motivation, my primary reason for being is cool drinks. Life has become a just a series of obstacles between me and my next cool drink. Lemonade is the quintessential, the platonic, the ur-summertime quaff. This sweet-tart minty lemonade is even more refreshing, even more summery and cooling than the standard version. 

You can feel perfectly free to booze this up or not. Just about anything you have handy would be delightful, vodka, gin or especially tequila turn this into a very fortifying little cocktail in a hurry.

boozy (or not) mint lemonade:

• ½ cup sugar

• 3 cups water

• 1 large bunch mint, about 2 cups

• 1 cup lemon juice

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Add ½ the mint and lightly crush with a wooden spoon. Set aside to cool.

Stir together lemon juice, cooled syrup and most remaining mint (leaving a few stems for garnish if you like). Serve ice cold, with mint for garnish, with or without a spirit boost. Do your best to find a hammock.

grapefruit & gin slush

I love a slushy drink, like a blended margarita or a julep. They are so festive and vacationy and they have just a hint of childish nostalgia for slurpees. But I always feel like they are a bit too much bother with all that blending, and I get anxious that I won’t get the slushy texture right. This one comes together with a perfect slushiness and the tart grapefruit goes wonderfully with herbaceous gin.

Make sure to peel the grapefruit really well, otherwise you will be chewing on a lot of roughage with your cocktail.

grapefruit & gin slush:

• 2 cups grapefruit sorbet
• 1 pink grapefruit
• 4 ounces gin

Peel grapefruit, removing as much with pith as possible. Roughly chop and freeze in a zip-top bag until frozen solid.

Combine sorbet, frozen grapefruit and gin in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Serves 4.

amaretto & sour cherry sour

I hate maraschino cherries. They are too sweet and rubbery and I can't understand why anyone would ever use them as a cocktail garnish. I recently found a way better cherry garnish: sour cherries in light syrup. They come in a jar and they don't have a very sweet syrup, so the cherries retain some tartness and still taste like actually cherries, instead of nasty, gummy sugar balls. I have also used them in pies and as a cake filling, mixed with some other fresh fruit and they are always delicious. 

In these cocktails, I used the juice the cherries are packed in, as well as the cherries for garnish. The tartness from the cherries and lemon is perfect against the near cloying sweetness of amaretto. Excellent for a festive cocktail party or for ringing in the new year. You can easily multiply the recipe to make a pitcher for a bigger crowd (or a thirstier crowd). 

amaretto sour cherry sour

serves 4

• 4 ounces amaretto 
• 2 ounces lemon juice 
• 3 ounces sour cherry juice
• 5 dashes bitters
• sour cherries for garnish 

Shake everything but the cherries in a cocktail shaker with ice and pour into four glasses with an ice cube in each. Garnish with a skewer of cherries. 

Cheers!

pineapple chili margaritas

I get nervous around those big stemmed margarita glasses. They are awkward and top heavy. I can barely drink a cup of tea, stone cold sober, without spilling a generous amount all over myself. I don't own much white clothing. Add tequila and (ideally) some drowsy, sunny catnapping and a heavy, tippy glass into this equation and I am invariably going to make a mess. It's not a super dignified look. Obviously, you should serve these margaritas however you like, but I think they are best in a sturdy and unprecious tumbler. No unnecessary stemware stress. 

This pineapple margarita is summer in a glass. Tart and sweet sunny yellow pineapple, acid lime juice with just enough sugar to take the edge off the pucker, with tequila and chili for bite. 

Tajin is a delicious Mexican spice blend with chili, salt and lime. It's really good sprinkled on sliced cucumbers, pineapples, mangoes...pretty much any kind of fruit. It's quite sour so if you do use it for the rims, so be judicious at first.

pineapple chili margaritas:

serves 4

• 2 cups frozen pineapple 
• 1 cup ice 
• 4 ounces tequila 
• 2 ounces triple sec
• juice from 2 limes 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• pinch of chili flakes
• tajin spice, or salt for the rim 

Run a wedge of lime around the rims of four glasses and then dip them into a shallow dish of tajin spice or salt. 

In a blender, combine pineapple, ice tequila, triple sec, lime juice, chili and sugar and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust sugar, lime juice and tequila to your desired levels of sweetness/tartness/booziness. 

Drink in a hammock, if you are particularly confident about your ability to not spill.