Check out my recipes for 7 Delicious Creative Albuquerque cocktails over at NewsCastic, taking inspiration from the likes of Breaking Bad and the mighty Rio Grande. Special thanks to the story’s sponsor (and awesome Albuquerque bar), Apothecary Lounge.
Galliano is a very unique, very….yellow….Italian liqueur that’s most famous as the central ingredient of the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail.
The liqueur itself is an herbal and vanilla tasting drink that’s pretty high in alcohol (for a liqueur), much like Chartreuse. This is not something you’d likely drink on it’s own, but in the cocktail below, it adds some great depth (otherwise it’d just be a Screwdriver). After sipping Galliano on its own, I realized that it would taste great with just a splash into 2 1/2 of gin, stirred and served like a martini.
Either way, this is a classic, tasty, great liqueur to have in your home bar.
Harvey Wallbanger
One of my first reviews at Simple Cocktails was some genever, and as a gin lover, I didn’t really know how to process it, because while gin developed from genever, genever tastes nothing like gin. Since that initial taste of genever I’ve been told that Bols Genever is the standard of quality for genever, and I finally picked up a bottle.
I’m going to repeat myself once more: the flavor of genever is nothing like gin. I would venture to say it’s unlike all other base spirits out there, but it most closely resembles scotch. Bols’ genever is malty, rich, and tasty, but I would suggest you avoid many gin cocktails and try it in more traditional scotch cocktails, or just serve it neat or in an Old Fashioned. Here’s a genever version of the Rob Roy cocktail:
Amsterdam Sunshine
Willa is an Illinois wheat vodka, a relatively new product with a very limited reach right now. Willa is a certified organic craft vodka in beautiful bottle with a long, slender neck. Vodka is a busy spirits category and Willa has labeled itself as an active lifestyle vodka – according to their website: “…[the creators] expressed their desire for a organic, lower calorie, clean tasting spirit.”
I found Willa very pleasant to drink on the rocks, and because it’s 70 proof (as opposed to “normal” 80-proof vodka), it’s a lighter vodka in both flavor and alcohol. My vodka tasting expert is Mrs. Simple Cocktails, who loves Grey Goose (another wheat vodka). She said that while Willa tastes good, it loses some flavor it it’s light-ness. After 2 dirty martinis with Willa, she said the alcohol effect was noticeably lower, too.
Willa will run you about $30 a bottle, and because it’s lighter, I found it a good fit for warm-weather outdoor drinking, like in a Bloody Mary at brunch, or in a fruity punch at a garden party. Try it in this refreshing cocktail with crushed ice:
Vodka Swizzle
Because we keep it classy at Simple Cocktails, the arrival of St. Patrick’s Day is more a reason to turn our drinking attention on the products of Ireland briefly, and less of a reason to dye things green and drink terrible beer.
Last year I gave you a few good ideas for simple St. Paddy’s drinks, and this year I focus on one of my favorites: the Caramel Guinness. Try this beer cocktail out for St. Patrick’s Day (or any day that calls for a great drink!):
Caramel Guinness
The Americano is a cocktail that’s over 100 years old, a bitter and cool Italian drink that is the very first cocktail that was ordered in a James Bond novel (Casino Royale, 1953). It’s a simple recipe and a refreshing soda that’s great to drink outside on a warm day, and is very low-alcohol. Here’s the recipe:
Americano
As far as I can tell, the Journalist cocktail was invented sometime around 1930, and appeared in the Savoy Cocktail book at that time. It’s a dry, crisp, refreshing drink with some pretty decent complexity to it. Try this one out:
Journalist
Genius Gin is from Austin, Texas, a first product from a fairly new distillery. I got the opportunity to grab a bottle, and I’ve spent several weeks trying to get my head around it. Here’s what I think.
The botanicals in Genius include juniper (of course), cardamom, coriander, lime peel, lime leaf, and lavender. The last three ingredients take the taste of Genius is the direction of New American Gins like Aviation, Dry Fly, or Prairie, not a bitey, traditional London Dry like Tanqueray, Beefeater, or even Crater Lake. Genius Gin is a touch sweet, mild, and fruity, and because of this, the more common gin cocktails don’t work so great with it. I tried a martini and gin and tonic, and Genius’ mildness made it vanish with the stronger, more bitter vermouth or tonic.
Because I have spent a while with my bottle of Genius, and I have found some cocktails that work really well with it. Try these out:
Pink Gin
Austin Spritzer (by Greg Mays)
There are several cocktails I’ve run across that use the Negroni formula, which is 1:1:1 of vermouth, liquor, and amaro. There’s the Boulevardier, which uses bourbon, or the Old Pal, which gets rye in the mix. Well, here’s another take on that 1:1:1 mix that uses a different amaro (and one I’m pretty fond of): Cynar. Give it a name based on the Italian toast “cin cin,” (pronounced chin chin) and guzzle it down!
Cin-Cyn
Licor 43 is a liqueur (sweetened liquor) from Spain that’s celebrating it’s 90th anniversary this year. It has a very good vanilla-and-spice flavor that makes this a very good choice for a liqueur in your home bar, since it goes well with lots of mixers, from vodka to rum, coffee, caramel, or even a rich, dark beer (like a stout).
Here are some cocktails I tried with Licor 43, including their “Mini Beer” shot:
43 & V (by Greg Mays)
Mini Beer
