Tag Archives: cocktail

Drink of the Week: Vodka Sour

I think I mentioned before I am totally into sours. And so the love affair continues. I’ve blogged about a Tequila Sour and an Apricot Lady Sour. This week: a Vodka Sour.

The bitters make this drink.

I received a bottle of Luksusowa gluten-free potato vodka in the mail recently, which promted me to give this clear spirit another go. Truthfully, I’d been a bit vodka’d out, what with all the flavoured vodka martinis that were hugely popular when I first started writing about cocktails in 2010. But the Luksusowa, though rather flavourless as most vodkas are, is smooth. And it mixes gloriously with the other ingedients in this drink.

This Vodka Sour is all smooth lemony goodness. It would be nice with just the first three ingredients, but the bitters give it an edge and the egg white makes a smooth vodka even smoother.

Vodka Sour

2 oz Luksusowa vodka

1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 oz simple syrup*

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1/2 fresh egg white

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

*Make simple syrup by combining equal parts sugar and water and heating in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Cool and refrigerate.

— Recipe adapted from Cocktails Made Easy by Simon Difford

Drink of the Week: Apple Breeze

Don’t be put off by the name. Though it sounds girly, the Apple Breeze packs a nice rum punch, softened by apple and cranberry juices. There’s also tart lemon juice; a perfect foil to the sweet apricot brandy liqueur, which adds warmth on a -22C evening.

Sip and start dreaming of warmer climes.

I used Havana Club rum because I’ve been dreaming about a Caribbean escape all freezing week long. Since Cuba was on the brain, I served my Apple Breeze in a Communist propoganda highball glass from Vietnam. I think it works. This drink will warm you up while vicariously transporting you somewhere — anywhere — sunny and sandy.

Apple Breeze

2 oz Havana Club light rum

1/2 oz Bols apricot brandy liqueur

1-1/2 oz apple juice

1-1/2 oz white cranberry juice

1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp simple syrup*

Apple wedge garnish

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Garnish with an apple wedge.

*To make simple syrup combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool and refrigerate for up to one month.

— Recipe adapted from Cocktails Made Easy by Simon Difford

Drink of the Week: The Great Hall Classic

This week has been all about Jasper, so why not end the week with a warm apres ski cocktail from the Emerald Lounge at the Jasper Park Lodge? I gratefully sipped this drink next to a roaring fire after a morning ski at Marmot Basin and an afternoon snowshoe at Pyramid Lake. It helped thaw my toes and fill my cheeks with that rosy apres glow. Here’s to more winter family adventures followed by warm sips next to a fireplace!

This warm apres ski cocktail will bring a rosy glow to your cheeks.

The Great Hall Classic

1-1/2 oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

1 oz espresso (or really strong coffee)

Steamed milk

Sugar, to taste

Build drink in a coffee mug and top with steamed milk. Add sugar to taste.

— Recipe courtesy Emerald Lounge at the Jasper Park Lodge