Mixology Monday

November’s Mixology Monday has come and gone and we’re talking brunch cocktails.  From the Caribbean to the Far East, an egg, maple syrup, French Toast, coffee and bananas – all in a glass, (well, actually several glasses).  That’s enough for the yammering, let’s get to the cocktails:

First up is the Caribbean Milk Punch from Brennan’s by way of Frederic of the CocktailVirgin Blog. According to Frederic: “The punch has a split spirit base of a funky Caribbean rum complemented by a half part of Bourbon. Moreover, unlike the other milk punches that call for a decent amount of whole milk (sometimes half and half) and are served over ice in a large glass, this one smooths over the balance by using a smaller amount of rather rich heavy cream and served in a cocktail coupe.”  This cocktail could elevate any brunch to new heights!

Second up are two from the BoozeNerds, Christa and Shaun: the Brighter Later and Grandma’s French Toast. Both cocktails have a touch of fruit with bitterness and complexity.  It appears they can do serious brunch in Seattle!

Next up is the Breakfast in America from Adam, a.k.a. MrMuddle.  He got my attention with Coffee Pecan Bitters – one of my favorites.  He also throws in cinnamon maple simple and Tennessee Whiskey, then amps up the cinnamon with Becherovka, adds a little herbal Benedictine and plops in an egg.  This can seriously perk up brunch and help you endure that one cousin…

Next is the Bombay Sour, a snazzy looking cocktail from Katie at the GarnishBlog.  Inspired by  Black Cloud’s Saffron Mango Bitters, this drink features rum, mango, Greek yogurt, lemon and the aforementioned bitters.  This strikes me as a smoothy run amuck! I like!!

Chris Hatch brings us the Café Banana cocktail.  Jamaican rum, Giffard Banane, and New Orleans Coffee Bitters.  Rum, banana and coffee.  Sounds like a brunch I can get behind!

Lastly, our contribution is two drinks: Mango Peach Sangria and the nearly zero proof Full Sail.

Thanks to everyone who participated and especially to Frederic who keeps the party going! 

Until next month;

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

It’s Mixology Monday CXIII and we’re happy to be hosting!  The theme we chose is “Bacon, Eggs and Booze” ’cause nothing makes a holiday brunch taste better than amazing cocktails.  For this theme, we have 2 offerings: a sangria and a zero proof cocktail, (or nearly zero proof), for the kids.

Mango Peach Sangria

Yes. November in San Antonio. It’s 75 degrees and the trees are green!

I particularly like this sangria.  It is surprisingly dry and fruity.  With frozen fruit available year round, it makes a perfect brunch libation for the holidays.  Plus, you can back off on the peach liqueur if you want to lower the ABV.  Be sure to use a rosé with an ABV >13%, otherwise you can make it too sweet.  We used Sacha Lichine single blend.

Makes 4 Glasses

Time: 2:15

• 12 oz. mango junks, fresh or frozen
• 12 oz. sliced peaches, fresh or frozen
• 1 bottle dry rosé
• 1 cup peach liqueur, such as Sterrings
• 1/2 cup simple syrup
• handful of fresh mint leaves – optional

1. Combine all ingredients, except the mint leaves, in a large, lidded  pitcher, bottle or jar.
2. Shake the bottle and refrigerate for 2-4 hours
3. 1 hour before serving, give the mint leaves a smack in your hand and add them to the sangria.
4. Serve cold in fancy glasses!

Full Sail

Kids love special drinks as much as adults.  Especially if it’s made just for them.  The carbonated coconut water is a bit over the top, but once again, with a little effort the kids feel really special.  I used an an iSi Whipper and a CO2 charge since my siphon is full of water.  You can also put still coconut water in the shaker with the rest of the ingredients and then top the glass with a dash of plain carbonated water.

If you use falernum, it has an ABV of 10% so your finished drink will have an ABV of ½%.  If that’s too high, substitute the easy ginger lime syrup below.

 Easy Ginger Lime Syrup

Makes 1 Cup

Time: 15 minutes

• 1 Cup Fresh lime juice
• 1 Cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger or 4 oz crushed ginger
• 2 Whole cloves
• 2 Allspice berries
• 1/4 tsp. Ground nutmeg
• 1 Cup Sugar

1. Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. When the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Allow to cool slightly
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids
5. Store syrup in refrigerator.  Will keep about a week.

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

Well, it’s autumn, with falling temperatures and falling leaves, kiddos and costumes and far too many treats. Looming are the next set of holidays, the serious ones complete with feasts, gifts, parties and gatherings of family and friends. One perennial problem is: what to do with guests the morning after, or the morning of, or the morning before? Well, you get the idea. Think BRUNCH.

You could take them out, (expensive), but brunch food is easy, so fire up the cook top and make some bacon and eggs, or whatever appeals to you on Pinterest! But, remember the Law of the Universe: “A brunch without booze is just a sad, late breakfast!” So, the theme for Mixology Monday CXIII is Bacon, Eggs and Booze. There are a lot of brunch cocktails. A search of “brunch cocktails” yields over 43 million hits on Google. But I have confidence that the Mixology Monday crowd can craft some amazing cocktails to dazzle their gang. I have only one limiting rule in this month’s theme: enter at least one cocktail that does not have champagne.  Beyond that, ready, set, create!

Here’s how to play:

• Find or create a cocktail that elevates brunch to new heights.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the drink on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
• Be sure to include the Mixology Monday logo in your post, and links back to Mixology Monday and Doc Elliott’s Mixology. Once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Submissions are due by Monday, November 21st. Notify me of your submission by commenting with a link below, or send me a link on Twitter @docscocktails with the hashtag #MxMo.

So this leaves us 2 weeks to concoct some amazing brunch libations! Once again, the submissions are due midnight of November 21st. Midnight can be whatever time zone you’re in and I will accept late entries.

Thanks again to Frederic Yarm of the CocktailVirgin blog for allowing us to host this month and for keeping Mixology Mondays entertaining and inspiring.