Category Archives: Cocktails

Drink of the Week: Zujito

What to you get when you take the rum out of a mojito and replace it with Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka? A Zujito, of course. A bottle of Zubrowka polish vodka (the one with the grass in the bottle) has been sitting in my liquor cabinet for some months now, waiting for me to try it. Ditto the mint growing in a container in the backyard.

Since the folks from Your Brand Integrated Marketing Communications, who represent Zubrowka in Canada, were kind enough to send recipes with the vodka, I quickly zeroed in on the Zujito and mixed one for myself and a friend. Our consensus: two thumbs up.

We agreed it’s the perfect patio drink: refreshing, with a good balance of tart and sweet and just a hint of mint. Perhaps the vodka has something to do with it? It contains bison grass extract, which gives it a pale olive colour and smooth, velvety mouthfeel. I likened the Zujito to “adult limeade” while my friend described it as “mojito meets margarita.”

I took some liberties and adjusted the recipe, which originally called for 3 oz of vodka (holy triple!!!), 1.5 oz of lime juice and no club soda. I think my version is pretty delish and hope you’ll agree.

Zujito

  • 2 oz Zubrowka
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 3/4 oz simple syrup
  • 8-12 mint leaves
  • Top club soda
  • Garnish with a lemon wedge and sprig of mint

Muddle mint and sugar syrup in a Collins glass over crushed ice. Add Zubrowka and lime juice and churn with a bar spoon. Add more crushed ice then top to taste with club soda. Garnish with a lemon wedge and sprig of mint.

Drink of Stampede Week 2: Iceberg

Baby, it’s hot outside, and the final weekend of the Calgary Stampede calls for something as fun and refreshing as it is alcoholic: an Iceberg. My version, though, is somewhat more civilized. Instead of dumping lemon slush into a cold beer, I made lemonade popsicles to dip in. The result: two treats.

  1. A lemony freezie with beer notes.
  2. A gold lager with sweet chunks of frozen lemonade.

It’s a win-win.

The Iceberg: a refreshing treat that solves the age-old question, “What should I order, a beer or a popsicle?”

Iceberg

  • Cold beer (I used Phillip’s Phoenix Gold Lager)
  • Lemon or lime slush (I made lemonade popsicles with blueberries added for flavour and colour)

Pour beer into a glass, dunk popsicle in, serve. Eat some of the beer-dipped popsicle, or let it melt into your beer adding extra chill and a nice lemony flavour. Yeehaw!

Drink of Stampede Week: the Daisy Duke

If there’s a drink that captures mischief in a glass, it’s the Daisy Duke. It also has an appropriately provocative name, which makes it a perfect cocktail to down liberally this year during the Calgary Stampede Centennial.

She’s flirty and fun, and will get you hammered in a hurry. Meet Daisy Duke.

Now, I’m normally not a bourbon girl, but I have to say that Maker’s Mark might just convert me. It smells of molasses and and tastes lovely on its own (that is to say, smooth and rich). When you mix it with tart lemon juice, and add grenadine for sweetness and a racy red colour, the Daisy Duke is born. This sip is also strong, an important consideration when choosing a Calgary Stampede cocktail. Yes, one Daisy Duke will get you half way to Hazzard County, if you know what I mean. One word: Yahoo!

Daisy Duke

  • 2 oz Maker’s Mark bourbon whiskey
  • 1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz grenadine syrup
  • Lemon wedge garnish

Shake all ingedients with ice then strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge and Giddy Up!