Those of you who were fans of the Summer Cocktail Series Aaron and I did last summer should check out my guest post on Bourbon and Boots today! I share recipes for three delish, seasonal cocktails that you can use to impress your Thanksgiving guests!
What happens when you make a melon salad and have a bunch of watermelon pulp/juice leftover? Cocktail time! This cocktail is adapted from Mrs. Lilien’s Cocktail Swatchbook – which you should all purchase immediately. This drink is just the boozy, cocktail version of my mint and melon salad.
Ingredients
1 jar watermelon pulp/juice (or 4 cups cubed watermelon)
1/2 cup – 1 cup mint-infused simple syrup
juice from 4 limes
8 mint leaves
1 cup tequila
ice
In a blender, combine watermelon, 1/2 cup simple syrup, lime juice, mint leaves and tequila and blend for a few seconds until combined and frothy. Fill blender to top with ice and blend until smooth. Taste, adding more simple syrup if desired. Fun fact: this drink fizzes naturally. What? How? I don’t know! Just garnish with a mint sprig and DRINK UP.
A refreshing bourbon drink, can you believe it? This drink is so good, when you finish you’ll be tempted to HULK SMASH EVERYTHING AROUND YOU until someone serves you another.
I’m pretty sure that’s how it got its name. Pretty sure.
Also, I should note, this recipe is Aaron’s cocktail specialty. I’m giving him credit since he has the golden touch when it comes to internet fame.
The Whiskey Smash
Ingredients
8-10 mint leaves (plus more for garnish and simple syrup)
2 lemon slices, halved
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz mint-infused simple syrup*
1 oz whiskey or bourbon
crushed ice
*We made mint-infused simple syrup the same way we did rosemary-infused simple syrup, which you can read about here. We just tossed in 5 or 6 mint leaves.
Muddle lemon slices and mint leaves in a glass. Fill glass with crushed ice, then add lemon juice, whiskey and simple syrup. Cover with a shaker and shake well with ice, returning to glass when drink is mixed. Garnish with a mint sprig and/or lemon slice.
So delicious, I named it after myself. Just kidding. Sorta.
But seriously, BEST COCKTAIL EVER. I used a homemade rosemary-infused simple syrup in this drink, which is easy to make and can be saved and refrigerated for a few days if you have any leftover (I didn’t).
Frozen Rosemary Lemonade
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (about 2-3 inches long)
4 lemons, peeled and seeded
4 oz citron vodka
ice
For rosemary-infused simple syrup:
In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When the sugar is dissolved, add one rosemary sprig to mixture and continue to bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Allow to boil until mixture becomes a syrup (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool.
For lemonade:
In a blender, combine lemons, leaves from the other rosemary sprig, 4 oz rosemary-infused simple syrup and 4 oz citron vodka. Fill the blender the rest of the way up with ice and blend until smooth. Now’s the fun part. Taste your lemonade and add more syrup, lemons, vodka or rosemary as you see fit. (Full disclosure: I always end up adding ALL the simple syrup and 2 more ounces of vodka. Because I like my drinks sweet and boozy. Just like my men! How you make yours is completely up to you.)
Serve in mason jars, garnished with lemon slice or rosemary sprig for extra cuteness.
You heard me! I love anything coconut scented or flavored (Coconut M&Ms are all that is good and right in the world.) so of course I had to figure out a way to make a delicious, classic cocktail THAT MUCH MORE DELISH. For those of you who aren’t Team Coco like I am, the addition of coconut sparkling water adds only a subtle coconut flavor that doesn’t change the body of the drink, as say, coconut cream would.
Coconut Mojito
Ingredients for 2 drinks:
1/4 cup sugar
25-30 mint leaves
2 limes, cut into wedges
4 oz white rum
Coconut La Croix
ice
Combine sugar, 8-10 mint leaves and a squeeze of lime juice (just a little!) in a blender and pulse until combined. Move to a small dish. Dip glasses in lime juice then mint sugar to rim. (I place the glasses in the fridge for 1-2 minutes to set the sugar.) Place 8-10 mint leaves and a lime wedge in each glass and muddle to release mint oils. Add remaining lime wedges and 1 Tbsp of mint sugar to each glass and muddle to release lime juices. Fill glasses with ice. Pour 2 oz of white rum in each and top with Coconut La Croix. Mix well and add more mint sugar to taste. Garnish with a sprig of mint or lime wedge.
It’s hot, y’all. Real hot. And my favorite way to beat the heat is with a cocktail, amiright? So Aaron has agreed to be my man model for the Official Rosemary on the TV Summer Cocktail Series. Beginning now and continuing till I don’t feel like doing it anymore, I’ll be serving up an ice cold cocktail recipe every week. Let’s begin, shall we?
This saucy senorita is perfect if you’re a margarita drinker looking to spread your wingspan a bit. It’s light and refreshing and probably the smoothest tequila drink I’ve ever had.
La Paloma
3 oz. grapefruit soda
juice of half a lime
margarita salt
Rim a glass with lime juice and dip in margarita salt. I used this lime-flavored margarita salt from Williams-Sonoma. If you don’t like salt on the rim of your drinks (I normally don’t), mix a pinch of salt into your drink. Trust. The salt is essential to this drink.
Fill glass with ice and mix tequila and lime juice. Top with grapefruit soda. I used San Pellegrino Pompelmo, but Izze would also work and maybe add a bit more color. I think the Mexican soda brand Jarritos also makes a grapefruit soda. Top with a lime slice and enjoy!
rosemary on the tv 