Arsenic Lace

Wild Turkey

Cinnamon Apple Whiskey Sour

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I’m so excited to share a recipe from my friend Kristy Gardner’s brand spanking new book called Cooking with Cocktails. This cookbook gives the phrase “happy hour” a whole new meaning because every recipe is made with wine, beer, or spirits, and that is A OK with me! I couldn’t imagine that any of you would disagree. As I was looking over the book, the Cinnamon Apple Whiskey Sour caught my eye. It’s been rather cold and snowy here and there’s no better cure for the winter blues than some warm spices, sweet fresh apples, and a bottle of bourbon.

Her recipe doesn’t call for egg whites but rather includes a “Tipsy Tip” to add them if you’re feeling adventurous. We’re adventurous here, and I love a good traditional sour with that delightful froth on top! I played around with the recipe and adapted it to my own taste. Kristy encouranges you to break the rules and be inventive in the kitchen, as do I, so let’s “pop the cork and see what happens!”


Cinnamon Apple Whiskey Sour, serves one

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 apple, cored and thinly sliced

White of one egg

2 oz. bourbon (I used Wild Turkey)

3/4 oz. simple syrup

3/4 oz. lemon juice

Dash of angostura bitters

Dry apple cider to top

Rosemary

Prepare your simple syrup (1:1) and your cinnamon sugar and set aside. Crack your egg and seperate it, dumping it into the larger side of your shaker tin. When you’re making drinks with dairy or egg white, you want to keep them seperate from your citrus until the moment you are ready to shake.

In the smaller side of your shaker tin add the bourbon, simple syrup, lemon, and angostura bitters. Add the smaller tin to the larger tin and dry shake to incorporate the egg into the rest of the ingredients. Open your tin, add ice, and shake again. Strain into the glassware of your choice. Top with apple cider. Take your apple slices and dip them into the cinnamon sugar mixture and spear with rosemary as the garnish for your drink.

Hope you enjoy this delicious variation on the classic whiskey sour. Make sure you grab your own copy of Cooking with Cocktails to try more recipes just like this one. Kristy also blogs over at She Eats, so check her out over there as well for more ideas about making fresh, seasonal and locally sourced meals and drinks.

Summer Sandia Cocktail

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All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.

All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.

This Sunday is National Pina Colada Day, and what better way to celebrate with some Rum, pineapple juice, and coconut cream.

It has been the official drink of Puerto Rico since 1978 but its origins are much older. The modern Pina Colada depends on coconut cream being used as an ingredient, which doesnt appear until 1948 when Don Ramon Lopez Irizarry creates the well-known Coco Lopez product. This is where, like most cocktails, the trail gets a little bit muddy. The Pina Colada has had its share of claimants and accounts of similar drinks that date back to the 17th century.

The first actual written instance of Pina Colada attached to a cocktail dates back to 1922 in Travel Magazine. It descibes a drink with fresh pineapple juice, lime, sugar, ice, and Bacardi Rum. This is what we now like to call a Pineapple Daiquiri, which I enjoy on my shifts at Dutch Kills quite frequently.

A few bartenders have quarreled over the rights to the drink:

  • The Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where long-serving bartender, Ramón “Monchito” Marrero Perez claims to have created the drink on August 16, 1954, utilizing the recently released Coco López cream of coconut.
  • Ricardo García, another bartender at the Caribe, who claims to have come up with the recipe as a work-around during the coconut cutters’ union strike of 1954. It sucks when a co-worker trys to take credit for your drink, doesnt it?
  • Ramón Portas Mingot’s 1963 story stating that he came up with the drink while working at the Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan.

I want to thank all of them, as we may never know, just like the Mai Tai battle of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic (I vote for Don). Let’s celebrate the history of this drink in all of its frosty, fruity, deliciousness glory with a variation of our own. I’m celebraing with my cocktail the Summer Sandia which I created for Women & Whiskies. I know what you’re thinking, a whiskey colada? I’m here to change your mind with this American Whiskey spin on the classic Pina Colada.

All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.

All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.

Summer Sandia

1 ½ oz. Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
½ oz. Absinthe
1 ½ oz. Pineapple Juice
1 ½ oz. Coconut Cream (equal parts coconut cream and coconut milk)
7 watermelon cubes
Fresh Mint
Crushed Ice

Add pineapple juice to your mixing tin with 5 watermelon cubes and a handful of mint leaves, and muddle. Add the rest of your ingredients, dry shake, and strain into your serving vessel. Add crushed ice and garnish with watermelon and a mint sprig.

All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.

All photos courtesy of Mady Popelka for Women & Whiskies. Glassware by Easy Tiger Co.