Category Archives: Cocktails

Drink of the Week: Tiki-la Zombie

Posted on October 31, 2014 | Leave a comment

Both tiki drinks and zombies have been, um, on the brain lately. Tiki cocktails because I’m writing about their resurgence in my Calgary Herald column next week; zombies because season 5 of The Walking Dead just started (also, zombies have taken over our neighbourhood in the run up to Oct. 31). So, today being Halloween and all, I thought I would combine the two forces. Behold: a tiki zombie cocktail made with tequila (not rum). Hence the name.

Drink this Halloween cocktail too fast and you might get a brain freeze.

Drink this Halloween cocktail too fast and you might get a brain freeze.

Really, this drink is just a glorified tequila sunrise (it’s actually tastier than that, with bonus lime and mint, and agave syrup instead of grenadine). I chose it because it came up as a “Day of the Dead” cocktail in a Google search and it’s the right colour (orange). Oddly, it didn’t have a name, but when I put it in the awesome $1.50 Dollarama skeleton mug and added the garnish, it took on the appearance of a tequila tiki drink. So, Tiki-la Zombie.

Wanted: a mini umbrella and a swirly straw.

Wanted: a mini umbrella and a swirly straw.

Tiki-la Zombie

  • 2 oz Cazadores tequila
  • 2 oz blood orange juice
  • 1/2 oz lime juice
  • 1/2 oz agave syrup
  • 8 mint leaves

Method: Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake with ice and then strain into a skeleton mug. Garnish with a mint sprig atop an orange wheel.

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Drink of the Week: French 68

Posted on October 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Bar C in Calgary makes great cocktails and this week they’re shaking them for charity. Since Tuesday, the 17th Avenue eatery and cocktail lounge has been donating the proceeds from sales of a daily featured cocktail to a local charity chosen by the customer from six options: Making Changes, The Mustard Seed, Inn from the Cold, Calgary Humane Society, CUPS, and Big Brothers & Big Sisters Calgary.

Why the generous heart? It’s Bar C’s second anniversary and the restaurant wants to thank Calgarians for their patronage while at the same time giving back to the community. Cocktails for Charity is the result.

Today’s featured cocktail is a French 68, a bubbly sip rendered delicious by the mingling of sweet blood orange syrup with bitter Campari and savoury Hendricks Gin. Three dashes of lavender bitters finish the drink with a floral flourish. Enjoy, and remember to savour this one as you toast the weekend and — if you’re imbibing at Bar C — the charity of your choice.

Today's featured drink during Cocktails for Charity week at Bar C is the bubbly French 68.

Today’s Cocktails for Charity featured drink at Bar C is the bubbly French 68.

French 68

  • 100 mL prosecco
  • 1 oz blood orange syrup*
  • 1/2 oz Campari
  • 1 oz Hendricks Gin
  • 3 dashes Scrappy’s lavender bitters

Method: Chill martini glass. Pour syrup, Campari, and Hendricks gin into shaker over ice. Shake and strain into glass. Top with prosecco. Finish with Scrappy’s bitters. Garnish with a lemon twist.

*Blood Orange Syrup

  • 1/3 L of blood orange purée
  • 1-1/4 cups sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups water
  • 8 sprigs rosemary

Method: Remove rosemary leaves from stalk and chop finely. Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add rosemary. Simmer until sugar well dissolved. Remove from heat and add blood orange purée.

— Recipes courtesy Bar C

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Drink of the Week: Cranberry Jalapeño Margarita

Posted on October 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

Since it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada I figured it would be fun to incorporate a holiday ingredient such as cranberries into a cocktail. I googled “cranberry sauce in cocktails” and stumbled upon this gem from Mint/820, a bar in cocktail-crazed Portland, Ore.: the Cranberry Jalapeño Margarita. It promised to be a tarter, prettier, more festive version of one of my favourite cocktails.

Hold the gravy and save room for the cranberry margarita "sauce."

Hold the gravy and save room for the cranberry margarita “sauce.”

Since I didn’t have a fresh jalapeño on hand I improvised with some jalapeño pepper jelly. And without lemons — like the recipe called for — I used fresh mandarin orange juice, as I thought it would pair nicely with the cranberry sauce. The ratios were also a bit wonky, calling for 2-1/2 oz of tequila but only 1/4 oz of Cointreau, for example, so I adjusted them according to my palate. I also added an egg white as I am currently loving how they smooth out and bind sour cocktails.

The result is a delicious twist on a margarita that’s tart, just spicy enough, and sweet from orange juice and cranberry sauce rather than simple syrup (true, there’s a touch of agave syrup as well). I also love the colour — it’s perfect for a fall day, turkey or no.

That's a fresh-cranberry-atop-an-orange-slice garnish. Very festive!

That’s a fresh-cranberry-atop-an-orange-slice garnish. Very festive!

Cranberry Jalapeño Margarita

  • 2 oz Patron Reposado
  • 3/4 oz Cointreau
  • 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 oz fresh mandarin orange juice
  • 1 barspoon agave syrup
  • 1/2 oz cranberry sauce
  • 1/2 oz jalapeño pepper jelly
  • 1/2 oz egg white

Method: Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously to dissolve the cranberry sauce and jelly, then strain into a margarita glass filled with crushed ice (there will be bits of cranberry and pepper seeds from the jelly that get through, but it adds a nice texture). Garnish with a single cranberry atop an orange slice.

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