Cocktails and Mixed Drinks

I’ve recently been playing with some adult beverage recipes, and I thought some of my more successful attempts would make a great blog post. I’m covering three of my personal favorite cocktail recipes today!

Each cocktail utilizes a different spirit, including champagne, whiskey, and rum, and all have a sweet and sour flavor profile that are delightfully refreshing. One is a classic version of a rum drink that I recently discovered, one is a tweaked version of a traditional brunch cocktail made to suit my personal taste, and the third is something that (to my knowledge) I invented.

So let’s dive into these drinks, because I’m getting thirsty! The first is my tweaked version of a mimosa. I’ve always found the classic orange juice and champagne cocktail too sour. I developed a seasonal winter version that adds cranberry juice to mellow the sourness and turns the drink a festive pink color perfect for Christmas, New Year’s, or even Valentine’s Day.

Cranberry Orange Mimosa

Ingredients:

1 c. orange juice
1 ½ c. cranberry juice
1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine
Whole cranberries
Skewers

Directions:

Combine orange juice and cranberry juice in air-tight container.
Make garnish by skewering 3-4 cranberries.
Add skewer to glass, fill 2/3 full with juice mixture, and fill rest of glass with champagne (always open champagne with top pointed away from self and others).
Enjoy!

This next cocktail came about when I pondered the delectable love-child of a Jameson and soda and a mojito. I’ve always made Jameson, Sprite, and lime drinks (like a Jameson and ginger, except I hate ginger ale). Then I had some mint on-hand, and I decided to combine the method of making a mojito with my Jameson and Sprite. The result is delicious. Now if only I could think of a name for it.

Irish Mojito? Jamesito? (Name pending, submit your suggestions!)

Ingredients:

½ lime
3 mint leaves
½ tsp. sugar
1.5 oz. Jameson
Sprite or Sprite Zero

Directions:

Remove slice from half a lime and set aside for garnish. Squeeze rest of lime half through strainer into glass.
Add mint leaves and sugar and muddle.
When mint is well macerated, fill glass with ice, add Jameson, and fill rest of glass with Sprite (flavored seltzer would also work).
Slit lime slice and set on the rim of the glass for garnish.
Enjoy!

The last cocktail of the day is a pretty traditional recipe. I recently discovered that I love a good rum sunset (I think I made it a few weeks ago on a brunch stream on twitch). I just wanted to share this recipe if you’ve never made one. One change I made is rather than garnishing with lime or orange, I went with mint so I can smell the mint while the citrus flavors pass over my taste buds. Also, if using a dark rum, increase the amount of orange juice in your base mix just for color.

Rum Sunset

Ingredients:

1 ½ c. orange juice
½ c. rum
Grenadine (homemade recommended)
Mint leaves (for garnish)

Directions:

Combine orange juice and rum in air-tight container.
Fill glass with ice, then pour mostly full with juice mixture.
Drizzle grenadine down side of glass slowly so it settles at the bottom.
Garnish with 2-3 mint leaves.

Ah, yes. “Homemade recommended,” meaning it takes a few minutes the night before to whip up a batch of your own grenadine. Don’t worry, it’s super-easy, and literally three ingredients. Trust me, if I can exercise the patience to make it at home (since patience is one of my weakest traits), then so can you. Also, the neon-red color of store-bought grenadine seems more than a little sketch to me.

Grenadine

Ingredients:

1 c. pomegranate juice
2 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Combine pomegranate juice and sugar in saucepan over low-medium heat (3.5/10).
Reduce liquid by about half, stirring occasionally.
Place syrup in air-tight container and cool completely.
Add lemon juice and store grenadine up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

So now you have three new super-simple cocktail recipes that you can crank out for your next big event. Friends and family will think your handiwork looks fancy and must have taken so much time, and you can bask in the glory knowing it took five minutes to put these recipes together in batches.

I hope you enjoy trying out some new cocktail recipes at home. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.