Category Archives: Cocktails

Drink of the Week: Income Tax cocktail

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 comment

If you’re like me and your taxes are filed, you’re doing the happy dance tonight. I realize the deadline is Monday, but do you really want that hanging over your head all weekend? No, better to “get ‘er done” today and toast your effort with an Income Tax cocktail.

Here's a cocktail you'll want to spend your return on.

Yes, such a drink really exists. I drank one last weekend at Crowbar, Calgary’s pop-up cocktail lounge (more on that in an upcoming Calgary Herald column). What’s even more intriguing? This isn’t a drink that was created just for the event; it’s a cocktail that’s been around for a century. I can see why: it’s basically a martini sweetened by a bit of orange juice, and spiced with a couple dashes of Angostura bitters. It’s strong, yes, but that’s a good thing whether you’re celebrating a big return, or drowning your sorrows over all the money you owe the Feds. So drink up!

Income Tax Cocktail

  • 1-1/2 oz Beefeater gin
  • 3/4 oz dry vermouth
  • 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
  • 3/4 oz orange juice
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Orange curl garnish

Shake ingredients with ice then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange curl.

— Recipe courtesy Wade Sirois, Crowbar

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Drink of the Week: Mojito

Posted on April 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Ever since I wrote a mint cocktails story for Easter, I’ve had the refreshing spring herb on my mind. So, I popped in to Mercato today and grabbed a bunch, then I stopped off at Zyn on my way home for a bottle of Mount Gay Eclipse Silver and voila! I had the makings for a mojito.

Spring, in a glass. I heart mmmminty mojitos.

I tried my first mojito at an all-inclusive resort years ago and got hooked. I love the way mint completes this cocktail. It would be good with just rum, sugar and lime juice, but add mint and enjoy another level of complexity. It’s no wonder Cuba quickly nabbed the mojito as its national cocktail and, incidentally, Ernest Hemingway couldn’t drink enough of them.

The secret to a good mojito is the muddling. Some bartenders will utterly pulverize the mint (I had the misfortune of sampling my first and last blended mojito in Mexico last month. Truly, it was awful), but that’s overkill. Bruise it just enough to release the oils and you’re gold. Enjoy!

Mojito

  • 12 fresh mint leaves
  • 1-1/2 oz light rum
  • 1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 3/4 oz simple syrup*
  • Top with soda water
  • Mint sprig and lime wedge garnish

Lightly muddle mint in the base of a Collins glass. Add rum, lime juice and simple syrup. Half fill the glass with crushed ice, then stir with a bar spoon to bring up the mint. Add more crushed ice and stir again. Top with soda water, stir again and serve with a straw to avoid mint-tooth.

*To make simple syrup, heat equal parts sugar and water in a sauce pan until sugar is dissolved. Cool and refrigerate.

— Recipe adapted from Cocktails Made Easy by Simon Difford

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Drink of the Week: Pimm’s & Ginger

Posted on April 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have a confession. I never knew of the existence of the amber-hued and delicious elixer known as Pimm’s No. 1 until Mike Burns of The Ranche Restaurant in Calgary made a Pimm’s No. 1 Cup cocktail for a Spirited Calgary wedding cocktail column that I wrote last year. The drink is basically a Pimm’s mojito, where you muddle fruit and mint with Pimm’s — a spiced, gin-based liqueur — then top with ginger ale and 7-Up. I fell in love with the drink and bought a bottle of Pimm’s.

Coincidentally, my husband had travelled to Africa shortly before my Pimm’s cocktail discovery and he drank quite a lots of Pimm’s mixed with ginger ale while there (Pimm’s is kind of a big deal anywhere the Brits have left their mark; except for Canada, evidently). Since it’s a bit of work to chop and muddle fruit, and to always have soft drinks and mint on hand to make a Pimm’s cup, we decided a Pimm’s & Ginger is an almost-equally-as-refreshing, and tasty, spring sip. It’s also a lot easier to whip together for happy hour, or anytime — the Pimm’s motto is ‘It’s Pimm’s O’Clock!’. I like it.

Let's make Pimm's No. 1 popular in Canada, people! Try it. You'll love.

Pimm’s & Ginger

  • 1-1/2 oz Pimm’s No. 1
  • 4-1/2 oz ginger ale (or ginger beer)
  • Wedge of lemon
  • Slice of cucumber

Build the drink over ice in a Collins glass and garnish with a lemon wedge and cucumber slice.

— Recipe adapted from Spittoon.biz

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