Tag Archives: Drink of the Week

Drink of the Week: Brandy Sangria

Posted on February 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

This week’s cocktail is rather tropical for February in Calgary, but I just couldn’t help myself. I attended a media tasting at a new resto-lounge called The Yellow Nectarine (a.k.a TYN Lounge) and sampled this delicious drink.

Thanks to the brandy, this summery sipper warms you up on a cold winter’s night.

The star ingredient is the brandy, which goes nicely with the white wine and fresh fruit juices. If you’re craving a patio sipper mid-winter, this’ll do nicely.

Brandy Sangria

1 oz brandy

2 oz pineapple juice

2 oz orange juice

1 oz lime juice

2 oz white wine

Lemon and lime wedge garnish

Fill a wine glass with ice and add the ingredients in the order listed above. Garnish with a lemon and lime wedge, stir and serve.

— Recipe courtesy TYN Lounge

As its name suggests, The Yellow Nectarine specializes in food and drinks made with nectarines or nectarine syrup. Their signature cocktail is a Nectarini, which you can read about in one of my upcoming Calgary Herald Spirited Calgary cocktail columns. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of what it looks like. Cheers!

Sippin' on my Nectarini at TYN. As Blake said, 'It's not a drink I'll be mixing up on the guy's ski weekend."

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Drink of the Week: Vodka Sour

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 1 comment

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

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Drink of the Week: Apple Breeze

Posted on January 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

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

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