Sip

Last winter I had posted about my basic Gin & Tonic with finger lime, but wanted to bring back the classic summer approach to a Gin and Tonic.  When using the best ingredients this drink tastes like some of my more involved recipes – but with just a few ingredients you will be good to go.  We love this cocktail for our pool side happy hours.  It is easy to whip up but impressive to look at and even more delicious to sip!

Gin & Tonic

• 2 oz Bloom gin
• Fever Tree tonic
• edible flowers
• grapefruit wedge

1. Add gin to an ice filled cocktail glass and give a few good stirs until chilled.
2. Lightly squeeze a grapefuit wedge then cover with ice.
3. Top with tonic and stir until combined.
4. Garnish with edible flowers.
5. Bottoms up!

* For the real deal, be sure to stop by Coqueta when you are in SF!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo we are mixing up Fun Drink Friday to Tipsy Tuesday (ok that was a stretch… Toast to Tuesday!? whatever.).  I whipped up some cucumber tequila a few weeks ago (infused tequila with persian cucumbers for a couple of weeks then strained) and haven’t been sure what to make with it… enter – the Cucumber Rose Margarita… as pleasant for your eyes as it is your tastebuds.

Cucumber Rose Margarita

• 3 oz cucumber infused tequila
• 2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz Grand Marnier
• 1 oz rose water

1. Combine above ingredients in an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake until icy.
2. Strain into an ice filled glass (be sure to rim with lime juice/salt if you are so inclined).
3. Garnish with dried rosebuds, cucumber spears and/or jalapeño slices.

* For a spicy spin either muddle some jalapeño in the bottom of the cocktail shaker or let soak for an hour or so in the cucumber infused tequila.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

For more Cinco de Mayo menu inspiration click here!

I’ve had this gorgeous cocktail from Waiting on Martha pinned on my Pintrest board for years but have yet to getting around to making it.  But now that I’ve been in a “grapefruit for breakfast” kick, I had a couple extras lying around and decided to (finally) whip this up!

Bruleed Grapefruit & Gin Cocktail

recipe via Waiting on Martha

• 2 grapefruits, halved
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

• 2 oz gin
• 4 oz bruleed grapefruit juice (1 large grapefruit = 4 oz of juice)
• 1 oz club soda
• spritz of lime juice
• sprig of thyme

1. Place grapefruit halves (fruit side up) on a cookie sheet.
2. Sprinkle with sugars (I eye balled this, sprinkling closer to a couple teaspoon of sugar on each rather than a tablespoon).
3. Broil in oven for about 10 minutes or until the sugar begins to caramelize.
4. Remove from oven and let cool.
5. Combine ice, gin and grapefruit juice and stir until cold.
6. Strain into a glass and top with club soda, spritz of lime and spring of thyme.

* this could also be great over ice!

For Taylor’s 22nd birthday we had the most amazing meal at Cut in Las Vegas.  One of the highlights of that meal was this delicious cocktail made of cucumber/tequila cocktail, so I jotted down the basic ingredients in my phone with the hopes of recreating it when I got home. 4 years later and I finally got around to the task… and boy was it worth the wait.

Cut Cucumber Cocktail 

serves 1

• 1 persian cucumber
• 5 basil leaves
• juice of one lime
• 3 oz high quality tequila
• 1 tsp agave (possibly more)

1. Slice cucumber and transfer it to a cocktail shaker.
2. Muddle cucumber with lime juice, agave and basil leaves until cucumbers are fully broken down and the juices have released.
3. Add tequila and ice and shake until cold.
4. Strain into a martini glass (or in a low ball glass with a cucumber ice cube) and enjoy!

 I was looking for something surprising, fun and festive to whip up for Easter Sunday cocktails.  When I came across this recipe on Camille Styles, I knew I needed to give it a try.  The fennel and celery juice gives an unexpected twist to the tart grapefruit juice, and if you can get past the fact green juice is being poured into your adult beverage, you will find out it’s worth the risk!

Fennel Grapefruit Cocktail

recipe via Camille Styles

1. Wash and dry the fennel and celery and slice into 2-3 inch pieces.
2. Juice the veggies and add the juice to a large pitcher.
3. Add the grapefruit juice, grapefruit soda, vodka and about 10-15 drops of bitters. Stir to combine.
4. Fill glasses with ice and pour vodka grapefruit mixture.
5. Top with fennel fronds and grapefruit peel and serve.

* This recipe was doubled, so I separated the vegetable juice from the grapefruit vodka mixture in different pitchers (adding half and half to each glass) – if the pictures are confusing you 🙂