Arsenic Lace

Cocktails

Smoky Cinnamon Apple Cider Margaritas

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After the week I had I definitely need a drink! I’m so happy to team up with Teroforma for this post to talk about one of their newest collections 1pt. 1pt is a collection of infusion blends and kits for alcohol and spirits. I’ve used the 1pt Master Kit to create these Smoky Cinnamon Apple Cider Margaritas and I’ll show you how easy it is to use and how wonderful the end result can be.

Whether you’re an experienced bartender or an at home enthusiast the 1pt Master Kit is a must-have. It comes with a beautiful high-durability lab glass infusion bottle that infuses 375 ml of liquid (half of a standard bottle of spirits). There’s a stainless steel infusion basket that holds the infusion blends which makes infusing so much easier. No mess and no fine straining! You also get a reusable, gold-finish, stainless steel tasting straw so that you can taste-test during the infusion process. The kit also includes a simple instruction guide, 7 blends variety pack and some cocktail suggestions to start you off in the right direction.

I knew I wanted to make apple cider margaritas this month and thought the cinnamon infusion would be a great addition to this cocktail. Using the infusion kit is super simple. The first step is putting your infusion blend into the infusion basket. It clips right back into the top of the bottle with a little push and then you pour your spirit directly into the bottle. Let the infusion sit for 6 hours or to taste. Of course with your fancy gold straw! 😉

Smoky Cinnamon Apple Cider Margarita, serves one

1 oz. cinnamon infused tequila

1 oz. mezcal

1 1/2 oz. apple cider

1/2 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. agave nectar

First, rim your glassware with an equal part mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Add all of your ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a double rocks glass over ice and garnish with a slice of apple, lime wedge, rosemary sprig and a cinnamon stick.

These smoky cinnamon apple cider margaritas were even better than I imagined. Cinnamon goes so well with tequila and I really love the smokiness the mezcal provides the drink. If you want the drink the be less sweet than swap out the agave nectar for some Cointreau. The 1pt infusion kit was so simple to use and really streamlined the whole infusion process. I love that you only infuse a half a bottle of spirit and that I don’t have to fine strain. It makes the whole process more simple but most importantly delivers consistent results. If you want to try any of the Teroforma 1pt collection products you can use “arseniclace10″ when you checkout for 10% off orders over $20, valid through January 31, 2018 on Teroforma.com. Cheers and happy infusing! xo

Entertaining Notes with Chopin Vodka

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Hello everyone! Recently I was an interviewed about entertaining notes with Chopin Vodka. I’m putting my Halloween decorations aside and decking out my bar cart in all pink (that’s not hard) and featuring their limited edition pink bottle to raise awareness for breast cancer. Every October since 2011 Chopin has released the pink bottle and part of the proceeds are donated to breast cancer research. To date, Chopin has donated $70,000 in support of this important cause.

The only thing I love more than drinking is drinking with a cause. I was really happy to team up with Chopin to raise awareness about this matter. Both Chopin and I are committed to realizing a world without breast cancer and we hope you are too. Did you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month? It’s an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. Here are just a few of the ways you can help women in need from the National Breast Cancer Website:

  1. Sign up for this free breast health care guide here
  2. Share your story of how you or a loved one have been affected by breast cancer
  3. Host an in-person or virtual fundraiser
  4. Make a one-time or ongoing donation
  5. Share educational content on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest

Please spread the word and help in any way you can. Head here to read my entertaining notes with Chopin Vodka and to see more photos of my pink bar cart for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you or anyone you know has been affected by breast cancer I would love to hear about it in the comments below. The only way we can help each other is by sharing our stories, educating one another, early detection and supporting one another. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Cheers to stopping breast cancer! xo

 

The Art of the Bar Cart + Giveaway

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I’ve read many blogs over the years, some of which inspired me to start my own blog. One of those blogs is Ashley Rose Conway’s Craft + Cocktails. Ashley has come out with a new book The Art of the Bar Cart and it is just as inspiring! She collaborated with design director and party planning expert Vanessa Dina to share some really fantastic tips for styling your home bar cart.

The Art of the Bar Cart features 20 different styled bar setups themed around spirits, personal style, and seasonal occasions. The book includes easy tips to re-create each look as well as recipes for the perfect drinks to pair with each bar cart. It is a gorgeously photographed guide for inspiring any reader to make a décor statement, and a drink to serve alongside. Sounds perfect for me, right? So perfect, I want to give you a copy!

I love this book so much because it’s such a good reference for styling tips and recipes. There really is a bar cart for everyone. That rum cart is practically my exact bar cart already! The Art of the Bar Cart shows you how to curate the perfect bar cart, essentials, and the ideal recipe to whip up alongside it. This is the perfect book for home entertaining and it couldn’t come at a more perfect time of the year. Holiday season!

I will definitely be using this book as a resource whenever I’m looking to spruce up my bar cart. I’ve even been using my credenza as a second bar station in my living room too. Do you have a designated bar area in your home? If you don’t its time to get one! Good luck and enter below.

From Art of the Bar Cart by Vanessa Dina, photographs by Antonis Achilleos, Text + Recipes by Ashley Rose Conway (Chronicle Books, 2017)

Black Cherry Autumn Spritz

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I’m really excited to team up with Bai again to inspire your Fall cocktail creations. I love their products because they are super low in calories and sugar (only 5 calories & 1 gram of sugar per serving) and are filled with antioxidant goodness. Using their sparkling antioxidant infusions is great for making highballs and any cocktail you want to add a little fizz to. I’ve created the Black Cherry Autumn Spritz with their Bolivia Black Cherry option that goes perfectly with red wine for a Fall spin on a popular Summer beverage….

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Elderflower Concord Grape Cocktail

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Concord grapes are a true sign of fall. With thick, sour skins and a luscious, sweet interior, they’re harvested in September through late October. When I see them at the market I know exactly what I’m making — an Enzoni! If you’re not familiar with this drink it is a citrusy and fruity Negroni variation invented by Vincenzo Errico of Milk and Honey in NYC c. 2003. You can use any grape but my favorite is the Concord due to its rich flavor and vibrant hue. I’ve replaced the sugar with elderflower liqueur for a slightly more floral take for this Elderflower Concord Grape Cocktail….

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Fall Spice Syrup + Old Fashioned

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Fall-Spice-Syrup-Old-Fashioned

I couldn’t have planned this post any better because today it finally feels like Fall. The windows are open, there’s a beautiful breeze coming in and it’s a most wonderful 66 degrees out there. Time for an old fashioned, right? 😉 I had an idea to make a Fall spiced syrup that you can use a number of ways all throughout the cold months. My favorite way to use it is in an old fashioned, but you can use it in a daiquiri, a fix, or even your coffee. Use it in any cocktail that calls for simple syrup by merely swapping it out and making your drinks a little more Fall appropriate….

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Fig + Vanilla Sidecar

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Bonjour everyone! If you’re reading this, I’m probably touching down in France right about now. To celebrate my trip to France with Pierre Ferrand, I’ve made a delicious variation on one of my favorite Cognac classics and have come up with a Fig + Vanilla Sidecar. Like most classic cocktails, the exact origin of this drink remains slightly unclear. The first recipe appeared in 1922, in Harry MacElhone’s “Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails” and Robert Vermeire’s “Cocktails and How to Mix Them”. In MacElhone’s book, he cites the inventor as Pat MacGarry, a popular bartender at the Buck’s Club in London, but later cites himself. Vermiere states that it was MacGarry as well. I’m putting my money on Pat MacGarry!…

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Tropical Rosé Sangria

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I’m holding on to Summer for dear life over here. I already see people posting fall cocktails, and drinking pumpkin spice lattes. While I love fall and all the delicious flavors it brings, I’m a summer girl, and it’s so hard to say goodbye. Luckily, this year I will be a bi-coastal blogger. When it’s cold and dreary here, I will still be creating warm weather appropriate drinks for Palm Springs Style, another blog that I contribute to. Dreaming of warm weather will be a little easier this Winter and hopefully, I can arrange a jaunt back to my favorite little city sometime in the new year. It’s Labor Day Weekend and I hope you have something fun planned. I’ve whipped up this fruity sangria recipe to make sure we send Summer off in style. Unlike classic sangria made with red wine, orange juice, and orange liqueur, this Tropical Rosé Sangria recipe is lighter, fruitier, with a tropical and sweet finish.


Tropical Rosé Sangria, serves 4-6

1 bottle of rosé

1/2 cup cognac or brandy

1/4 cup Giffard passionfruit liqueur

1 cup fresh pineapple juice

strawberries

kiwis

mango

lime

pineapple

Slice your strawberries, kiwis, mango, lime wheels and pineapple, then place in a bowl or pitcher.

Add pineapple juice, cognac, passionfruit liqueur, and rosé. Stir and then cover, let steep in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, add ice and pour into glasses.

I think this is my favorite sangria recipe that I have ever had. Swapping the orange liqueur out for passionfruit liqueur was a last minute decision but a brilliant idea. I’m so happy I did it! If you’re not familiar with Giffard, they make a range of delicious liqueurs for using in cocktails. The Crème de Fruits de la Passion (Passionfruit) was released in the U.S this past Spring. I highly recommend picking up a bottle and trying some of their other varieties of liqueurs that are available. Using fresh pineapple juice instead of the classic orange in this sangria recipe really made the tropical element come to life and complemented the fresh fruit and rosé.

Sangria is so easy to make and that’s why it’s great for large parties or gatherings. This recipe is so good you might not want to share it though. Enjoy your last big weekend of Summer and if you decide to make this recipe, chime in on the comments and let me know how it turns out! Cheers everyone! xo

Frozen Cantaloupe Daiquiri

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With the end of Summer just a month away I had an itch to make a frozen drink. What’s more fun than a frozen drink? Drinking one out of fruit, right? I have drunk many piña coladas out of a pineapple and was trying to brainstorm what other fruits I could possibly turn into a serving vessel. Watermelon has had its fair share of the spotlight this summer with being the perfect addition and vessel for frosé. While I was perusing the produce at my local market last week I spotted a cantaloupe and I knew this fruit was THE ONE. When perfectly ripe it is juicy, sweet and has a floral aroma which sounds perfect to pair with rum. My mind went directly to the daiquiri which is a classic and simple drink but can be completely transformed with the addition of some fresh fruit. So I present to you a Frozen Cantaloupe Daiquiri!


Frozen Cantaloupe Daiquiri, serves 1

1 1/2 oz. rum (I used Plantation Dark)

3/4 oz. rich simple syrup (cane or demerara sugar)

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

1 cup of fresh cantaloupe

Cut your cantaloupe evenly into two and scoop out the seeds in center. Carefully scoop out the insides of the fruit and reserve the shells as your serving vessels. You can freeze the shells and the fruit beforehand. Using frozen fruit in drinks or smoothie bowls yields a better and more slushy consistency.

Add all your ingredients to your blender pitcher and blend with a cup of ice. Pour into a cantaloupe shell and garnish with a mint spring and a slice of lime.

This Frozen Cantaloupe Daiquiri is super fruity, refreshing, and so simple to make. I used dark rum in this cocktail because I thought the flavors would mesh well with the richness of the demerara simple syrup and floral aromas of the cantaloupe. Frozen recipes sometimes need to be reworked because of how much water content they have. I like to cut the citrus in half and up the sugar to compensate for all the dilution. Using a richer sugar for your simple syrup, like demerara or cane, instead of plain white sugar also helps to combat an over diluted and tasteless frozen drink. I hope these tips help you next time you’re making frozen daiquiris at home. I’m super excited about how this frozen drink in a fruit cup turned out. I hope you try this recipe at home and if you do don’t forget to chime in on the comments below. Cheers everyone! xo

8 Cocktails for National Rum Day

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Rum is delicious and by far my favorite spirit. Not just because I have a sweet tooth, but because it is such a versatile category. It is made in so many different countries, which means depending on where it’s from will dictate what it tastes like. For National Rum Day I wanted to go over a brief history of the spirit, characteristics, and of course how it can be used in cocktails.


Brief History

Rum is a spirit distilled from the fermented juice of sugarcane, sugarcane syrup, sugarcane molasses, or other sugarcane by-products. Sugarcane was introduced to the New World by European explorers starting with Christopher Columbus, and the invention of rum — or at least the fermented “wash” it’s distilled from — is thought to have occurred by accident. Basically, the molasses, which had been considered a useless waste product of the sugar refining process, was observed expelling bubbles when left to mingle with the warm, humid tropical air. Sugar manufacturers rightly identified this phenomenon as fermentation: wild, airborne yeasts were getting at the sugar content left in the molasses and releasing carbon dioxide. They knew that with those bubbles came alcohol, too, and it wasn’t long before fermented molasses became the basis for a distilled spirit, which we now know as rum.

Rum is distilled at less than 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof) and bottled at no less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof), maybe except for some flavored ones which are less. The legal definition of rum tends to vary from country to country, so establishing a strict definition that applies to all rum from everywhere is impossible. What’s consistent, though, is that rum is always made from molasses, sugarcane juice, or other cane by-products. Factors that influence rum style is source of sugar, yeast type, length of fermantation, type of still, type of barrel, time in barrel, and strength of rum at distillation or bottling.


Rum Styles

  • White/Light/Silver: Light bodied, crisp, and subtle in flavor, these rums are highly mixable. They marry very well with fruit flavors, so they’re excellent for daiquiris and piña coladas. A common misconception about white rum is that it’s unaged. White rum is aged in oak barrels for a short period of time to smooth out the flavors; it’s then charcoal filtered to remove color.
  • Gold: Medium bodied and a little stronger in flavor than light rums, gold rums are aged in oak barrels. Like light rums, they mix well into fruity cocktails.
  • Dark/Black: Full-bodied, with rich caramel flavors, these rums are usually pot-stilled and aged for long periods. Used in tiki preparations such as the Mai Tai, the best of these rums are also sippable on their own, neat or on ice.
  • Rhum agricole: Full-bodied rums, made from sugarcane juice instead of molasses. As with molasses-based rum, agricoles range the color spectrum, from white to gold to dark. Agricoles are often funky and have floral and vegetal aromas and flavors.
  • Cachaça: This is called the rum of Brazil. The major difference between cachaça and common rum is in the juice. Most rum is distilled from sugarcane juice that has been processed into molasses, which has a higher sugar content. This makes cachaça have a more grassy, herbaceous flavor than its relative.

Other types are Navy Rum which is the kind formerly given to members of the British Navy. It’s usually proofed at 50% ABV or higher. Overproof rums refer to those with an ABV over standard value, usually 60% ABV (120 proof) or higher.

I’ve rounded up some of my favorite cocktails that I have created to get you inspired to drink rum on this most special holiday! 😉

Pineapple Old Fashioned– Plantation pineapple rum, campari, allspice, and macadamia nut orgeat.

Frozen Passionfruit Daiquiri– White rum, Jamaican rum, lime juice, honey, passionfruit syrup, and tiki bitters.

Frozen Caribbean Coffee– Jamaican Rum, coffee liqueur, coconut, cold brew, and coffee gelato.

Piña Colada Popsicles– Coconut milk, coconut cream, dark rum, pineapple juice, and lime zest.

Coconut Guava Daiquiri– Dark rum, lime juice, coconut milk, simple syrup, and fresh guava.

Boozy Matcha Latte– White Rum, almond milk, matcha, orgeat, and coconut whipped cream.

Dark ‘N Stormy Popsicles– Gosling’s rum, ginger beer, fresh ginger syrup, lime juice, and lime wheels.

Mango Mai Tai– Jamaican Rum, curaçao, orgeat, lime juice, and fresh mango.

I hope you all get to enjoy your National Rum Day. What will you be doing today to celebrate? Is there a rum cocktail that’s your favorite? Let me know in the comments below. Happy sipping! xo