Today I wanted to share some amazing cocktails from Food & Wine magazine. These would be so much fun to serve as a specialty cocktail at a wedding. With restauranteurs focusing on cocktail menus as much as dinner menus, wedding cocktails have to catch up. Offering a few fun drinks can be a great way to add a little variety to the common bar drinks and surprise and delight your guests. I really like how these four recipes offer something sweet, something salty, something sour and a non-alcoholic option. Great selection
Above: Porch Crawler
from Frankie's Sputino
5 cherries, pitted plus 1 cherry for garnish
3 mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish
1 hot chile, such as serrano, halved and seeded
Ice
2 ounces white rum
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce Simple Syrup
2 ounces chilled club soda
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the 5 pitted cherries, mint leaves and chile. Add ice and the rum, lemon juice and Simple Syrup; shake well. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass, stir in the club sda and garnish with a cherry and a mint sprig.
Silver Monk
from Mayahuel, NYC
2 cucumber slices, plus 1 cucumber spear for garnish
8 mint leaves
Pinch of salt
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
Ice
2 ounces blanco tequila
3/4 ounce yellow Chartreuese
1 ounce fresh lime juice
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber slices with 7 of the mint leaves, the salt and the Simple Syrup. Add ice and the tequila, chartreuese and lime juice and shake well. Fine strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the cucumber spear and remaining mint leaf.
Almond-Fennel Cooler
from Slanted Door, San Francisco
3/4 ounce orgeat (almond flavored syrup)
3/4 ounce Fennel Syrup (recipe follows)
Ice
6 ounces chilled club soda
1 fennel frond for garnish
In a collins glass, combine the orgeat, Fennel Syrup and fresh lemon juice and stir well. Add ice. Stir in the chilled club soda and garnish with the fennel frond.
Fennel Syrup: In a spice grinder, coarsley grind 1 tablespoon fennel seeds. In a small saucepan, combine the ground fennel seeds with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Pour the fennel liquid into a jar through a fine strainer. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, cover and shake gently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refridgerate the fennel syrup for up to 1 month. Makes about 12 ounces.
Tea Thyme
From Kathy Casey Food Studios-Liquid Kitchen
Tea Vodka
12 ounces vodka
1 English Breakfast tea bag
Cocktail
2 thyme sprigs
Ice
1 1/2 ounces Tea Vodka
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey mixed with 2 teaspoons of water
1. Make the Tea Vodka. In a jar, combine the vodka with the English Breakfast tea bag. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, then discard the tea bag. Makes 12 ounces, keeps for one month, stored at room temperature.
2. Make the cocktail. In a cocktail shaker, lightly muddle 1 of the thyme sprigs. Add ice and the tea Vodka, lemon juice and honey syrup and shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass or coupe and garnish with the remaining thyme sprig.
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