Archives for June 2016

Using Matcha in Cocktails and the Magnificent Seven

June 29, 2016 by Natalie Leave a Comment

This week I played around with using Matcha in a cocktail. It is a type of powdered green tea that is produced primarily in Japan from specially grown and ground shaded tea leaves. It can be used to make an antixoidant rich green tea, or in recipes for smoothies, I love to bake with it, and it is an interesting ingredient to use in cocktails.

There are a lot of plus sides to working with Matcha health wise.

It creates energy, plus is calming thanks to amino acids.
It is a powerhouse of antioxidants.
Aids in weight loss.
Helps increase focus and concentration.
Supports skin health by reducing inflammation and free radicals that accelerate skin aging.

While this is all great and awesome I have to be honest, I thought it would just be delicious in drink form. From here I thought about all other ingredients that would pair well with it. Cocktail creation for me is kind of like baking, you figure out your flavor profile and what ingredients you would like to be working with and then you adhere to a recipe as your format for building.

One of my favorite drinks of all time is the Pina Colada, because Pina Coladas, am I right? I used this as a template and inspiration for my cocktail. You can get as creative as you want when you are inventing a new drink but referencing classics and understanding proportions and ratios is key. I decided to name my drink The Magnnificent Seven. The title is from a country western movie made in 1960 that is based off a Japanese film called The Seven Samurai. There also happens to be 7 ingredients in this drink. Lucky me!

The Magnificent Seven

1 1/2 oz. Aged Rum (I used El Dorado 5 year)
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
3/4 oz. Coconut Cream (2:1 Coconut Milk & Coconut Cream)
3/8 Orgeat (almond milk syrup)
3/8 Cacao (Tempus Fugit makes a lovely dark Creme de Cacao)
1/2 tsp Matcha Green Tea Powder

Add all your ingrdients to a blender pitcher, add ice and blend. Pour into a large glass like a highball, hurricane, or tiki mug. Garnish with a slice of pineapple, pineapple leaves, and always a parasol.

Summer Cherry Fix

June 25, 2016 by Natalie Leave a Comment

Summer Cherry Fix with Rum, lemon, sugar, and cherries.

My favorite thing about the warm months is going to the local farmers market. I suffer all winter long moping down uninspiring dark grocery store aisles for lackluster produce, and then April comes. The sun starts to shine, my mouth waters at the site of plump fresh berries, stalks of rhubarb, and crunchy kale. At last! I grab my french market tote, run down to Grove Street and fill it with all the fresh herbs, fruit, and veggies it can carry.

Seasonality is SO important to me. It provides me with the inspiration I need when I’m developing cocktails for menus, or just having fun at home. This past Thursday I saw the most magnificent cherries: sweet, sour, dark, red. You name it, they had it. I had to have them all, and so the Summer Cherry Fix was born.

A fix is a sour served down on crushed ice. Any seasonal fruit can be muddled in glass before adding your undiluted, dry shaken cocktail. I made this with Rum but any spirit of your choice works too. This is super easy to make at home, and is refreshing, juicy, and tart!

Cherries from the Grove Street Farmers Market in Jersey City, NJ.

Summer Cherry Fix

2 oz. White Rum
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
About 6 cherries

Take about 5 cherries, pit and half them and place them in the bottom of your double rocks glass. In your tin build the rest of your ingredients, dry shake. Pour a splash of your mixed cocktail ontop of the cherries in your double rocks glass. Muddle the cherries, and fill the glass with crushed ice. After you have added the ice, pour the mixed cocktail in your tin right over it. This will give you the desired layered effect. Garnish with a lemon wedge, cherry, and a dusting of freshly ground nutmeg.

Sip and Enjoy. Cheers!

Women & Whiskies Event

June 22, 2016 by Natalie Leave a Comment

Last week I had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented and inspiring ladies. I collaborated with Women & Whiskies + Love & Victory to put together a wonderful summer cocktail party featuring drinks with Glen Grant Scotch, Forty Creek Whisky, and Wild Turkey Bourbon. Beautiful flower arrangements graced every table thanks to RoseHip Floral, and 50+ women mingled over sips of elegant whiskey cocktails in the sundrenched garden of Tuffet in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I can’t thank everyone who was involved or all the lovely women who attended enough, you all truly made that night as special as it was. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Each and every one of you is the reason why I love what I do. Can’t everyday be a garden party with whiskey, friends and edible flower garnishes?

I’ve included recipes for all the cocktails that I made for the party incase you’d like to recreate them at home.

Photos are a collaboration with Love & Victory shot by Kerry Ann Stokes

Pretty in Pink

1 oz Glen Grant Scotch
1 oz Aperol
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz hibiscus tea syrup
sparkling wine
edible flower garnish

In your shaker add lemon juice, hibiscus tea syrup, Scotch, and Aperol. Shake with ice and strain into a wine glass, top with sparkling wine, stir, and garnish with an edible flower.

To make Hibiscus Tea Syrup, steep 2 Hibiscus tea bags in 1 cup water for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of sugar, and stir. Let cool, stirring periodically to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate.