Signature Drink Club : Watermelon Cocktail

Happy Fourth of July! As I finish up a little office work and prepare to spend the holiday with friends + family, I knew it would be the perfect time for a Signature Drink Club post - and what would be more fun + appropriate than a Watermelon Cocktail, courtesy of Drink of the Week.

4th of July Watermelon Cocktail

Ingredients

• 7 1/2 pounds seedless watermelon, rind removed, fruit cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 teaspoons superfine sugar
• 8 ounces silver tequila
• 12 basil leaves
• 12 mint leaves
• 2.5 ounces Cointreau
• 6 cups ice

Directions

• Make watermelon ice cubes by putting 24 pieces of cubed watermelon on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
• Freeze for one hour, covered.
• Take the rest of the watermelon plus the sugar and puree until smooth.
• Strain into a bowl.
• Put the tequila, basil and mint in a pitcher and muddle.
• Stir in Cointreau and watermelon puree.
• Pour mixture into cocktail shaker with ice and mix for each cocktail.
• Put watermelon ice cubes in a glass and pour cocktail in.
• Garnish with herb sprigs and enjoy!

Signature Drink Club : The Melagrana

Wow...I am not proud to admit it but I've dropped the ball with my Signature Drink Club. It's been almost 8 months since an entry, and it's not because I've been out sampling all the featured drinks! Lauren Daversa Events has truly been blessed with being busy. No complaints here, however, the fun little ideas I used to be able to write about morning, noon and night have certainly suffered.

So great news...I've just discovered a new member of the club that will make up for the long absence: The Melagrana courtesy of Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria. Here is why I like this drink: one of the main ingredients is prosecco, and I just so happen to be prosecco's biggest fan. And then for a little twist, the drink features yuzu juice, Pama pomegranate liqueur and a splash of Tanqueray. Right on! Absolutely perfect for a signature drink. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Serious Eats

Signature Drink Club : French Lavender Lemonade

There is no mistaking it, summer is here. The sun is beaming, the days are long and weekends are filled with BBQ-s and pool parties. So how can you make your party stand out? Well read on, my friend because this month's entry in the signature drink club is your answer.

Cool off and refresh with a glass of French Lavender Lemonade, a fabulous summer drink courtesy of the San Ysidro Ranch by way of Design*Sponge. The lavender soothes and refreshes on a hot day, while the vodka, well we all know what that stuff does! Enjoy...

Ingredients

• 1.5oz Vodka
  
• 1.5oz Lillet Blanc
  
• 1oz Lavender Syrup (recipe below)
  
• 1oz Lemon Juice
  
• 2oz Chilled Soda Water
  
• French Lavender Flower for Garnish

Directions

Mix first four ingredients with spoon, pour over ice, add chilled soda water and garnish with lavender flower (or lemon wedges if you can’t find fresh organic lavender).

Lavender Syrup

• Add equal parts sugar and water to a medium saucepan and bring to boil.
  
• Add fresh organic French lavender to taste (or 1/2 cup dried food grade lavender for every 4 cups water/4 cups sugar) and boil for one minute over medium/high heat.
  
• Remove from heat and let steep for an hour.

Signature Drink Club : Korbel Irish Kiss Cocktail

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, which is quietly approaching, March's signature drink celebrates a non-beer related recipe. Introducing the Korbel Irish Kiss Cocktail!

Ingredients

4 oz Korbel California Brut Champagne

1 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur

Serve in a green sugar-rimmed champagne flute

Directions

Mix the champagne and Midori together and pour (pretty simple!)

To make sugar rim: add 2 drops of green food coloring to 1/2 cup sugar

Mix well

Rub glass rim with lime and dip in green sugar mixture

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Signature Drink Club : Evan's Rose & Mekong Martini

OMG, the last time I posted to the Signature Drink Club was October...Ooops! Busy, busy, busy is all I can say in my defense. But the wait is worth it because February is going to get two, that's right, two new members. Both yummy concoctions hail from Bong Su Restaurant & Lounge in San Fran where they serve up two amazing martinis that would bring the pizazz to any event.

EVAN’S ROSE MARTINI

Ingredients
4 to 5 oz of coarsely chopped cucumber, which has been seeded and diced
1 ¾ oz Black Peppercorn infused vodka (recipe below)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 oz Almond Syrup
1/2 oz Siroppe de Rose (Rose Syrup)
Candied rose petal for garnish

Directions
Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice.
Strain and serve up, garnished with a candied rose petal.

BONUS - Black peppercorn infused vodka
Use 2 cups vodka to 1 tsp. crushed black peppercorns.
Combine vodka and flavoring in a jar, or vodka bottle and store at room temperature for at least 2 days before using.
Strain before using and return vodka to container.





MEKONG MARTINI

Ingredients
1/2 oz. Chopped cilantro
2 Slices of jalapeño (¼ inch thick)
1 ¾ oz Gin
Juice of whole lemon
¾ oz Simple syrup (recipe below)

Directions
Shake all ingredients vigorously (not muddled) with ice and strain through fine mesh sieve.
Serve up in a martini glass.

BONUS - Simple syrup
In a medium saucepan, combine one cup white sugar and one cup water.
Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.
Allow to cool.

PS - simple syrups are great to infuse

Signature Drink Club : Butternut & Falernum

Living in South Florida, I no longer experience the change of seasons I grew up with in New England. It's funny, I used to wonder why people would actually make a pilgrimage to view the leaves changing color. Now I understand. With this theme in mind, I am going to pay homage to the welcoming of the new season by highlighting a drink I've read a lot about but have yet to taste. The Butternut & Falernum at Tailor, located in my hometown - the one and only NYC, is all the rage. The drink combines rum, brown butter, juiced and reduced butternut squash, and falernum—a cane-sugar-based liqueur and has hints of almond, clove and lime. WOW! But the directions do not end here. Next, the mixture is shaken with ice and sprinkled with nutmeg. This drink would be amazing as a signature cocktail for a fall dinner party. It is different, seasonal and based on all the praise in the press and the patrons of Tailor, it is delicious.

Ingredients
• 2 oz. Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum
• 3/4 oz. John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur
• Grated fresh nutmeg to garnish

• 2 oz. Butternut Squash Jus from an 8lb butternut squash
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons brown butter

Instructions
• Make approximately 16 oz. of butternut squash jus by juicing the squash.
• Simmer juice to reduce by one third, add 5 tablespoons of brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
• Add 5 tablespoons of brown butter to the juice and refrigerate overnight.
• Pass through a sieve to remove the butter solids.
• Into a cocktail mixer pour 2 oz. of butternut squash and add the remaining ingredients except nutmeg.
• Shake and strain into a double rocks glass 3/4 filled with fresh ice cubes.
• Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Receipe courtesy of New York Magazine
Photo courtesy of Jeff Gurwin

Signature Drink Club: Honey Deuce

The Honey Deuce was created by Nick Mautone, Grey Goose's Master Mixologist and NYC Restaurateur, to serve as the official cocktail of the 2009 US Open Tennis Championship.

The cocktail is a great mix of simple flavors and is perfectly refreshing. It is also up for interpretation and opens up nicely with a variety of Chambord substitutes with a suggested blackberry cordial or cherry brandy being two of the many amazing possibilities. You may also be tempted to skip the melon ball garnish, but it is the perfect finishing touch and almost necessary.

Honey Deuce
by way of About.Com

Ingredients
•1 1/4 parts Grey Goose Vodka
•fresh squeezed lemonade
•1/2 part Chambord or premium raspberry liqueur
•crushed ice
•honeydew melon balls for garnish

Preparation
•Fill chilled highball glass with crushed ice and add GREY GOOSE Vodka.
•Top with lemonade to just below the rim and then add Chambord.
•Garnish with honeydew melon balls.

Photo and recipe courtesy of About.Com

Signature Drink Club: Vodka Press

All of a sudden it hit me today when I was reading Yum Sugar that I have missed three months worth of signature drinks. I will try to make up for that, but you can't just pick any drink to be a member of the Signature Drink Club. What would be worse than mixing a cocktail to find out it's crap? This will not be the case with July's signature drink, the vodka press. It's neither too sweet or too strong but rather meets in the middle to form the prefect refreshing mix. In a vodka press, vodka is diluted with both a club soda or tonic and Sprite.

Vodka Press
by way of Extra Tasty

Ingredients
1.5 ounces vodka
1 part club soda or tonic
1 part Sprite or other lemon lime soda
lime garnish, optional

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add vodka, soda/tonic, and sprite and garnish with a lime.

Photo courtesy of Yum Sugar

Signature Drink Club: Blueberry Mojito

A fun blog to read is Wedding Cabaret. There is always something different posted, and today it is a recipe for a Blueberry Mojito.  I've never tasted a blueberry mojito. But after reading about it and imagining the fresh, sweet blueberries mixed with clean-zing of fresh mint, I think it is a drink I might like to try once.  Who knows, it has the makings to be the most refreshing, delicious cocktail!  Perfect for the Signature Drink Club as it's a combination I have not come across...yet.

Blueberry Mojito

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz light rum
- 1/4 oz fresh lime juice
- 8 mint leaves
- 8 fresh blueberries
- 1 tsp sugar
- Club soda
Garnish: lime slice and mint sprig

Muddle mint leaves with sugar in a mixing glass. Add light rum, lime juice to shake with ice. Pour into a tall glass. Drop blueberries and club soda. Garnish with lime slice and mint sprig.

Photo Courtesy of Cocktail Times

Signature Drink Of The Month: Pisco Sour

Distilled from grapes, pisco is produced in Chile and Peru's wine regions. The pisco sour delicately balances a creamy, frothy, limey drink with a grape brandy. Don't be fooled, this cocktail has a bit of bite to it. Perfect for an outdoor reception, the pisco sour will surprise your guest's tastes especially when served up in a martini glass.

Ingredients

1/4 cup (2 oz.) pisco (see notes)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon pasteurized egg whites

Preparation

In a blender, whirl 3 ice cubes, pisco, sugar, fresh lime juice, and egg whites. Whirl until smooth (you'll no longer hear the ice cracking against the side of the blender) and serve straight up in a martini glass with a dash of aromatic bitters and a wedge of lime.

Photo Courtesy of Leigh Beisch

Signature Drink Of The Month: Wayne's "French 75"

I previously posted about the French 75 for a different twist on a champagne toast so I was hesitant to post a similar cocktail, however. Recently, I sampled Wayne's "French 75" and decided to break that little rule. Wayne's "French 75" it the perfect cocktail for January's Libation of the Month! The warmth from the brandy is ideal during the cold weather, and the champagne is a light and unique pairing that works. Definitely a sipping cocktail, and don't skimp on the ingredients. Wayne's "French 75" is at its best when made with high-quality ingredients. Enjoy!!

Wayne's "French 75"

Ingredients
-3 tablespoons brandy
-1 tablespoon orange liqueur
-Crushed ice cubes
-1 lemon wedge
-1 small lemon rind twist
-1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling wine

Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients in a cocktail shaker or martini shaker. Cover with lid, and shake 30 seconds or until thoroughly chilled. Remove lid, and strain into a martini glass. Squeeze juice from lemon wedge into glass; rub lemon rind twist around rim, and drop into glass. Add Champagne to brandy mixture, and serve immediately.

Signature Drink Of The Month: Lemongrass Mojito

I was introduced to the Lemongrass Mojito while I was watching an episode of My Fair Wedding. This is truly, a gem of a drink! Simply put, it is a Mojito with a lemongrass zing but not as sweet.

The Culinary Media Network, very cool website, has a fabulous recipe for a Lemongrass Champagne Mojito. This is a great option for a signature drink at any event. Inspired by the classic mojito, subtle and elegant touches such as organic lemongrass and vanilla add a twist to this classic, and Champagne delivers a class of luxury, akin to 'tasting the stars'. Savor this cocktail over a mountain of crushed ice made from spring water. The recipe is VERY detailed. Don't let this frighten you. The drink is worth it!


Photo & Cocktail courtesy of Culinary Media Network

Signature Drink Of The Month - The Universe: A Strange Cosmic Cocktail

I came across this recipie for a cocktail called The Universe. Not only does this drink taste yummy and look fabulous but its history is just as delicious.

First introduced to the world at the legendary Studio 54, the Universe won First Prize in the the 1978 U.S. Bartenders Guild Annual Competition. And no wonder. Its beguiling mix of tropical juices and slightly nutty finish are certain to wake up your palate. Fair warning: the Universe is so delicious, make sure you have enough ingredients when your guests ask for one or two more. (But don’t worry . . . the alcohol content is relatively low!)

One sip of this cocktail will rock your universe!

The recipe:
1/2 ounces Midori melon liqueur
1/2 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce Dumante pistachio liqueur
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
Shake for 30 seconds in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Photo courtesey of Science of Drink
Cocktail courtesey of Cocktail Buzz