Welcome to dapperQ’s very second ever What’s Hip to Sip, where we give you recipes for amazing cocktails and mocktails to get you through the season. This year, we consulted with an actual expert (not just Google) to bring you some lip smacking, dapper dranks that will make 007 seem like a swirly armature. So, without further ado, we introduce Allison Contreras, Brand Ambassador for TuB gin & Peach St. Distillery: Take it away…
Who doesn’t love some hot bourbon cider? Or a good coconut-horchata, add some rum and Fernet…Presto! You’re an instant hit at any social gathering. I’m pretty sure that this is how I won over my girlfriend’s friends. Well, besides the obvious wit and charm.
These few cocktails can easily be turned into mocktails…
“Cider slumber-party”
4-5 cinnamon sticks
1 piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 star anise (You can always skip the anise, if you aren’t into it.)
1 whole apple cut into slices
1 tsp. of crushed black pepper
6 whole cloves
6-8 pieces of sage
Rind of a half of lemon
1 gallon of locally made cider (if available…other brands of apple cider tend to have more sugar/additives)
1 750ml bottle of Bulleit Bourbon
(Bulleit is the perfect price point and rounds out the flavor for this cocktail.)
Mix apple cider, bourbon, sage, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a boil. Cut the apple into slices and put the cloves into apple slices. Zest 1/2 of a lemon. Add the apple slices and lemon zest to the pot and let simmer, covered for 20 min. Keep on low heat all night to keep warm. Serve in your favorite coffee mug with an apple slice and enjoy.
“Call me Copperfield”
3oz *coconut-horchata (see recipe below)
1oz Goslings Black Seal rum
.50 Fernet Branca (if you have ever been to a cocktail barm you know what this is and as much as you want to keep your hands off of it, you can’t and you shouldn’t. But, if you are one of the rare breeds that are clueless about Fernet, get with the program. Fernet is a bitter Italian digestif. ‘Nuff said. More questions? Check out Wikipedia.
Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin. Shake and strain over ice into a Collins glass. Garnish with a pinch of cinnamon. (My girlfriend says that it’s magical and drinks scotch…So, I’m pretty sure that I’m a magician.)
“Flight of the Concord”
2 oz TuB gin
1/3 Fernet Branca
.75 oz *Concord grape black-pepper syrup (see recipe below)
.50 oz fresh lime juice
.50 oz fresh pineapple juice
2-3 Thai basil leaves
Muddle 2-3 Thai basil leaves with 3/4oz of concord black pepper syrup. Combine lime juice,pineapple juice and TuB gin in a shaker tin. Shake ingredients. Strain over ice with a *Hawthorn strainer splash of soda water and add about 1/3 Fernet Branca float on top. Garnish with Thai basil leaf.
“Tequila Old-Fashioned”
(This is my take on a traditional Old-fashioned. What can I say? I love my tequila!)
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
2 dashes of Angostura orange bitters or any other orange bitters
.25 oz Agave nectar
2.25 Don Julio Anejo or if you don’t like the bourbony depth of an Anejo, try Corralejo Reposado
Put all ingredients in a *mixing glass* with ice and stir with a *cocktail spoon* for 30 sec. until the cocktail is chilled and diluted. Pour over distilled *block ice* and spritz a piece of the orange over the cocktail, using only the oils from the oil peel.
“Dark & Stormy”
2 oz. White rum
.50 fresh lime
Top with ginger beer*
Build ingredients in a cocktail shaker
Shake and strain over ice in a Collins glass
* Coconut-Horchata Recipe
4 cans of coconut milk
2 cups of sugar
4-5 cinnamon sticks
1.5 cups of water
1 cup of long grain rice
1 cup of unsalted almonds
Bring two cans of coconut milk, 4-5 cinnamon sticks, 2 cups of sugar and 1.5 cups of water to a boil. Wait until sugar is dissolved and let simmer for about 15 min. on low heat. Put 1 cup of rice in a heat resistant bowl. Pour coconut mixture over rice. over and refrigerate overnight. Remove cinnamon sticks and pour mixture of rice and coconut into a food processor. Add 1 cup of almonds to the food processor. Blend rice until it almost turns into grains of sand. Put mixture back into a pot, add the remaining 2 cans of coconut milk and cinnamon sticks. If mixture is too thick, add 1 cup of water to thin out the syrup. Let this simmer on low heat for about 20-25 min. After mixture has simmered, double strain with a fine strainer or cheese cloth. Put mixture in the refrigerator or a freezer for about 15-20 min, depending on how cold your devices are….and your party is ready to go. *Regardless if you are using this as a mocktail or a cocktail, make sure to always shake with ice for about 15sec. to water down the cocktail/mocktail…If you’re making a mocktail out of this, double the recipe and use 6 oz. of horchata.
*Concord Black-Pepper Syrup Recipe
1 pkg. concord grapes
1- 2 tsp. cracked black pepper
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add package of concord grapes and let simmer for about 15min. After grapes have simmered, press the grapes with a large wooden spoon to bring out the inside of the grape. Add cracked black pepper and continue to let simmer, on low heat, for about 15 min. Strain with a fine strainer or cheese cloth and let cool in the for about an hour in the refrigerator or for about 20min. in the freezer.
*Ginger beer recipe
80 oz. water
1 cup of minced ginger
2 oz light brown sugar
1 oz fresh lime juice
Boil water. Turn off heat. Add minced ginger and cover, allowing to infuse, for 1 hr. Strain mixture through a fine strainer. Once ginger is strained, add citrus and sugar. Stir. Bottle and store in refrigerator. (I always use the flip top glass bottles from Ikea.) Makes 77oz.
*If you need cocktail making supplies and want to be fancy about it to really impress your people at social gatherings, check out www.cocktailkingdom.com.*
About the author: Who doesn’t love a lesbian with a mustache?!? Allison Contreras is a Pittsburgh based boozehound and liquid designer. She currently serves as the Brand Ambassador for TuB gin & Peach St. Distillery, which gives money back to the queer community. You can also catch her slinging at Bar Marco in the strip district.
