We were blown away.  This margarita is wonderful.

All you need to do to make the lavender honey syrup is steep some lavender in boiling water (just like tea) for a 5-10  minutes.  Let the water cool.  Strain the lavender out and heat up the water again.  When it’s good and hot, stir in an equal about of honey (we get our honey from a vendor at Findlay market who keeps bees up in Ohio).  Whisk well until blended.  Put it in the fridge for a couple days to infuse a bit.

Then combine these ingridents:
2 oz. tequila (we use Cuervo Gold)
1 oz. lavender infused honey syrup
1/4 oz. cointreau (we use Patron Cintronge)
1/2 oz. lime juice – usually about half a lime.

It keeps the tequila taste,, the Patron offers a bit of heat, the lavender cools it and the honey gives a full bodied mouth feel.

2 oz gin
1 oz honey syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice

We’ve been using Tanqueray, but tried a new (and much cheaper) gin called New Amsterdam that’s not so junipery.  I think it works a bit better in this cocktail, but maybe not.  I’m still tasting.

Alicia – not a gin drinker – has really taken to this. Like the gin-based Pimm’s Cup, it’s great during the summer. We like that it uses honey syrup (1 part honey stirred into 1 part near boiling water) which we have sometimes infused with lavender from our herb garden. It’s heaven on a summer night on your patio.

This is a pretty good summer time cocktail and went over well at a recent tapas party I attended.  It’s also easy to make, but don’t skip the garnishes.

Fill a highball glass with ice, pour in 1.5 oz of Pimm’s No. 1, fill the rest with 7-UP.  Put a long cucumber spear down one side of the glass, then an apple slice on top.

Ummm.

“Hi Howard, mate I am so sorry that this info is getting to you rather late but there are a number of stories surrounding the myth of the Margarita. The one I told on the show revolves around the Carlos Herrera at Rancho La Gloria who developed the drink for a young Ziegfeld Follies starlet, Marjorie King that was allergic to other alcohols and only drank tequila.  As this was not considered very ladylike in 1935, she asked him to come up with a cocktail that had tequila as the main ingredient. So Carlos added sweet for her voice, lime to match her green dress and he shook it up like she would shake it up on the dance-floor then rimmed a glass with salt to symbolize the halo over this angel head and gave it the Spanish derivation of her name, Margarita.
I’m glad last night was a success, I hope the Pimms night is just as good.  Let me know if I can help out in any way you can also email me on xxxxx.  Cheers!”

1 1/2 oz Tequila – we’ll use Cuervo Gold
1 oz triple sec – we use Patrone’s Citronge
3/4 oz fresh lime juice

This is a bit dryer that what most people expect a Margarita.  The Citronge also adds a bit of fire as compared with Cointreau or Grand Marnier – but we like it.  We used bottle lime juice and the taste just wasn’t as fresh or bright as it needed to be.  Alicia tried it once with sweetened lime juice (Rose’s makes a good one) and it was more in line with what people would expect, but I’ll stand by the recipe above.  Don’t forget to rim your glass with Kosher salt.

from Alicia & Howard McEwen, CFA

¾ oz Orange Juice

¾ oz Scotch

¾ oz Sweet Vermouth

¾ oz Cherry Heering Cherry Liqueur

Shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This was scheduled to be the February 08 cocktail.  However a good friend passed away the Saturday before the event so we canceled it.  However, this will be the one we serve in April.  My God is this a good drink.  Alicia declared at first sip that it bumped off the Pomegranate Manhattan as her favorite.

It does have a very sensual and sexy feel to it.  Very romantic.  Try it for anniversaries or night outs.

Scott Sargent who sold us our Kia sent me the following email that I think is the best testament to the Blood and Sand.

The Blood and Sand is the best drink that I have ever tried.  My wife and I had a date night on Saturday and went to GameWorks/ Jaxs down at Newport on the Levee for drinks and dinner.  With technology today I was able to find the recipe for Blood and Sand on my Blackberry and had the bartender make me one.  In result of this after dinner we had a little down time before our next engagement and we ran to the Party Source across the street and got everything I needed to make it at home.

from Alicia & Howard McEwen, CFA

1 ½ oz Brandy

1 oz Triple Sec/Orange liqueur (we used Patron’s Citronge)

½ lemon juice

Shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Flame an orange peel on the drink.

To flame an orange peel, cut a quarter size peel off the orange. Hold the orange skin side down over a lit match. Flex the orange peel. This will bend the orange peel releasing oils that are lit by the match. The droplets should fall into the drink.

This was served at the January 08 Cocktail Experience.  This is an old drink that not many people order.  My goal in starting these events was to teach myself and others about rarely ordered cocktails.  This was the first mostly unheard of one.  It went over well.  The theatrics of the flaming orange peel helped too.

from Alicia McEwen, MS

1 oz vodka
1 oz raspberry liqueur
2 oz fresh pineapple juice

This was served at the December 08 Cocktail Experience.  A girly drink yes, but this went over well with some very manly men I drank it with.  It’s sooo 1990s, but who cares.  They’s good…especially in the summer time on a deck about 6:30 with a setting sun.

]]> http://www.howardmcewen.com/2009/03/05/french-martini/feed/ 0 http://www.howardmcewen.com/2009/03/05/vodka-martini/ http://www.howardmcewen.com/2009/03/05/vodka-martini/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:51:58 +0000 admin http://www.howardmcewen.com/?p=72 Vodka Martini

from Howard McEwen, CFA

2 oz Vodka

1 oz Dry (French) Vermouth

1 Olive

Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

We served this at the December 08 Cocktail Experience.  Trust be told – I can’t stand this.  Gin Martini even less.  There doesn’t seem to be much complexity.  I just love my brown liquors.  Our bottle of Vodka stays chilled and mostly full in our freezer.

from Alicia McEwen, MS

1.5 oz Bourbon

1.5 oz Pomegranate juice

1 teaspoon cherry syrup

3 dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake well. Garnish with three cherries.

Served at the November 08 Cocktail Experience.  This is our traditional bedtime cocktail.  Easy to make.  Helps you sleep.  Good for digestion.  And the pomegranate is a cancer fighter so I guess you can call it a health drink.