Grandma's BOURBON, HIBISCUS and ROSEWATER "TEA" Cocktail

You could always tell when my Grandma Effie's "tea" had a kick, you could hear the ice cubes clinking around her china cup as she sipped. I kinda always wanted to try that tea, it sure made Grandma happy, but Mom said it was grown-up tea and always shoved something less potent towards me.
Well, I'm all grown up now, Mom.

Grandma's BOURBON, HIBISCUS and ROSEWATER "TEA"
INGREDIENTS 2 Oz. Bourbon 2 Oz. Wild Hibiscus Tea 1 Tsp. Orange Juice Concentrate 1 Oz. Rose Hibiscus Syrup Ice
Garnish: Hibiscus Flower
Tools: Cocktail Shaker, Hawthorne Strainer
Glass: Tea Cup
DIRECTIONS: Brew the Hibiscus Tea, strong, and allow to cool. Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake and until chilled. Strain into a teacup with a few ice cubes in it, garnish and serve.
Grandma's tea was usually just orange pekoe with a couple of fingers of bourbon, so why the rose and hibiscus? Because my grandma always smelled like rosewater, and the wallpaper in her house had giant hibiscus flowers all over it.
MAKES A GREAT HOT TODDY TOO Yes, you can do this hot, it just happened to be an 80 degree day in December here in Tucson when I made this, I wasn't going with a hot toddy! Just don't cool the tea and leave out shaking and straining, which is primarily to strain out any ice shards anyway.
Cheers to you, Grandma Effie, I sure hope there's bourbon up there!

     
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TEA COCKTAILS, Hot and Cold

Long before I ever called myself The Martini Diva I was adding booze to my tea. One of my favorite combinations was Grand Marnier in Good Earth's spiced orange tea. I was also fond of flavored vodkas and rums with flavored teas, both iced and hot.

I've even made HOMEMADE TEA INFUSED VODKA by simply dropping 6 to 8 tea bags into one bottle of decent vodka. You allow this to steep for about 18 hours, strain and you're ready to go. If you want sweet tea vodka, simply add simple syrup to taste. You can also add spices, herbs and citrus zest as well as berries and fruits though you'll need to infuse those longer depending on what you've added.
Tea is a great way to add a little creativity to your craft cocktails. You can make a tea infused simple syrup to use in your tea or use it as a cocktail mixer, either hot as a toddy or mixed cold. There's a world of possibilities considering all the flavored teas out there.
And it's always fun to serve a cocktail in a teacup, that's how my Granny used to have a nip of bourbon in her tea.
TEA COCKTAILS    Butterfly Pea Flower Tea & Elderflower Gin & Tonic  Chai Tea Martini Citrus Spiced Hot Toddy Grandma's Bourbon Hibiscus "Tea" Hibiscus Heart Fizz Hot Cranberry Orange Tea Punch Long Island Iced Tea Mint Green Tea Gin & Tonic Panic Button Martini Purgatory Punch Stormborn Cocktail Wild Hibiscus Tea Infused Gin & Tonic
You can also add a bit of booze to a classic Arnold Palmer:

International Tea Day is December 15th, Iced Tea Day is June 10th, British National Tea Day and National Tea Day are both April 21st, National Hot Tea Day is January 12th and January is National Hot Tea Month.

Updated 12-2025

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GINGERBREAD LATTE COCKTAIL

Lately it seems like gingerbread is surpassing pumpkin for the latest trending holiday flavor profile. I don't have a problem with that because I love gingerbread, and have created many Gingerbread Cocktails for past Christmas seasons.

I also love Coffee Cocktails and often pour a little of my Homemade Gingerbread Liqueur* into my evening cup of coffee for a quick coffee gingerbread tipple. Why I neglected to make an "official" coffee and gingerbread cocktail until now eludes me, but this drink recipe should solve that issue once and for all.

The

GINGERBREAD LATTE

COCKTAIL

INGREDIENTS 

2 Oz. Gingerbread Liqueur

(Recipe for Homemade Gingerbread Liqueur.)

1/2 Oz. Coffee Liqueur

(I used my favorite, Branca's Caffè Borghetti)

2 Oz. Coffee

2 Oz. Half &Half

Ice

Garnish: Gingerbread Cookie

Tools: Cocktail Shaker

Glass: Mini Milk Bottle or Rocks Glass

DIRECTIONS

Chill glass in the freezer.

Shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker until chilled then strain into the chilled glass.

Garnish and serve.

National Gingerbread Latte Day it is December 15th.

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The AMBROSIA COCKTAIL, A Drink Fit for the Gods

In ancient Greece ambrosia was considered the food of the Gods, and nectar was the drink of the Gods. Today Ambrosia is a fruit salad made up of mixed fruits, particularly orange slices, cocktail cherries and pineapple with whipped cream and/or cream cheese, coconut, marshmallows and sometimes nuts.

It's a Southern culinary favorite that originated around the mid 1800's, around the time fruits like coconut and pineapple, previously considered exotic, became more readily available in the U.S. The earliest print reference to Ambrosia is from an 1867 cookbook by Maria Massey Barringer called Dixie Cookery: or How I Managed My Table for Twelve Years.

There is an Ambrosia cocktail floating around that employs cognac, Calvados and lemon juice, but I'm going for the classic taste of that fluffy, sweet fruit salad so well loved by Americans. Primarily because that is what most of us associate with ambrosia.

It never hurts to appeal to the masses, right?

The

AMBROSIA

COCKTAIL

A Drink Fit for the Gods

INGREDIENTS

2 Oz. Dark Rum

1 Oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

3 Oz. Fresh Orange Juice

3 Oz. Fresh Pineapple Juice

2 Tablespoons Coconut Cream

1-1/2 Oz. Heavy Cream

Splash of Homemade Grenadine

Garnish: Coconut Flake Rim, Mini Marshmallows, Luxardo Cherry

Tools: Cocktail Shaker, Bar Spoon

Glass: Hurricane

DIRECTIONS 

Dip the glass rim in some coconut cream then into coconut flakes, chill the glass in the freezer.

Add all the ingredients except the Grenadine to your cocktail shaker and shake until well chilled. Fill the glass with ice then pour in the cocktail. Gently float the Grenadine over the back of a spoon over the top, garnish and serve.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

National Ambrosia Day is December 12th.

  

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KOSHER COCKTAILS

Yes, Kosher Cocktails. What, you think there's no drinking in the Hebrew culture? Well, think again. My Jewish friends love a good cocktail and, for those who follow the laws of kashrut (keep kosher) I always try to include a kosher drink in my party bar menu.
I may be a shiksa but I am also a good hostess who prefers every guest of mine be accommodated. Because I'm a shiksa though, my kitchen is not kosher so, technically speaking, the actual cocktails I serve in my home might not be for strict Orthodox practitioners. My Hebrew friends are not Orthodox so I'm able to mix up some cheer for them during their High Holidays and on Shabbat.
KOSHER COCKTAILS 
KOSHER SPRITZER-TINI
PASSOVER COCKTAILS
ROSH HASHANAH COCKTAIL
L'Chayim!
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POPULAR PROHIBITION ERA COCKTAILS

Every 5th of December the entire cocktail world celebrates the end of Prohibition and the 21st Amendment to the Constitution which repealed the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act. 

1919 to 1933 was a dark era in the history of drinking in America, but it was also a time that gave meteoric rise to the modern day cocktail. Why? Because, despite the efforts of the temperance movement to eradicate booze from America's landscape, Prohibition instead fueled in Americans a love for cocktails and gave drinking alcohol glamour and sexiness by making it taboo.
Speakeasies sprang up all over the major cities in the United States serving "bathtub gin", bootleg whiskey and smuggled rums, most of which were pretty low quality and bad tasting, if not outright dangerous to drink. To make the low quality spirits palatable to their scofflaw patrons, bartenders would mix them with all nature of fruit juice, mixers and bitters to hide the bad taste of the booze. Their success is evident in the number for bespoke drinks that survived the dark ages of alcohol to live on in bars and cocktail parties right up to today's revival of vintage libations.    If you've never tried these cocktails, today is the day to give them some happy hour honor. Below you will find the classic recipes, as well as some some of my signature adaptations, for some of the survivors of those 13 years of a hoped for, but not accomplished, dry America.    Happy Repeal Day and may you Party Like It's 1933 Again!  

POPULAR PROHIBITION ERA COCKTAILS   Spiced Lavender BEES KNEES   The CLOVER CLUB    The CORPSE REVIVER (Lives Again)   TERRI'S CHERRY 65 inspired by the FRENCH 75   GIN RICKEY Created by bartender George Williamson, per popular customer Joe Rickey's instructions, at Shoemaker's, in Washington D.C. during a particularly brutal heat wave in 1883. The Rickey was originally made with rye whiskey.   2 Oz. Gin Fresh Lime Juice Seltzer Water Optional: Splash of Simple Syrup  Mix ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice.   HANKY PANKY Created by Ada Coleman at the American Bar in The Savoy in 1925.   1-1/2 Oz. Gin 1-1/2 Oz. Sweet Vermouth 2 Dashes Fernet Branca Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, strain into a chilled glass, express an orange twist over the top.   The LAST WORD The first mention of this popular Prohibition cocktail comes from a 1916 Detroit Athletic Club menu.   3/4 Oz. Gin 3/4 Oz. Chartreuse 3/4 Oz. Maraschino Liqueur 3/4 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice Shake with ice, strain into a child cocktail glass.   The MARY PICKFORD Created for actress Mary Pickford at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in the 1920s.   2 Oz. White Rum 2 Oz. Pineapple Juice 1 Tsp. Maraschino Liqueur 1 Tsp. Grenadine Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with a cocktail cherry.   The PINK LADY  
The RYE RACKETEER inspired by the SCOFFLAW    The SIDECAR    The WARD 8 According to Robert Vermiere this is a cocktail named after Boston, a city divided into 8 wards.   1-1/2 Oz. Rye Whiskey 3/4 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice 3/4 Oz. Fresh Orange Juice 1/4 Oz. Grenadine Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass. Add an ice cube and a splash of sparkling water.  
The WHITE LADY When Harry Craddock of The Savoy took a cocktail named the Delilah and replaced the creme de menthe with orange liqueur the White Lady was born.  

 

   

    Updated 12-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

PEPPERMINT LATTE COCKTAIL RECIPE

Here's a perfect cocktail for cold weather and the holiday season. It's got all your winter favorites in one glass; hot coffee, chocolate and peppermint plus, yay, booze!

Merry, Merry whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year.

The PEPPERMINT LATTÈ COCKTAIL
INGREDIENTS  1 Oz. Caffè Borghetti Espresso Coffee Liqueur 1/2 Oz. DeKuyper Dark Créme de Cacao 1/2 Oz. Peppermint Schnapps 4 Oz. Hot Coffee
Garnish: Plain or Espresso Whipped Cream*, Dusting of Instant Espresso Powder and a Chocolate Candy Cane
Glass: Coffee Mug
DIRECTIONS Add the ingredients to a coffee mug, stir, garnish and serve.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS: 

* My recipe for the Espresso Whipped Cream can be found on this Fernet Mocha Frappé Shake Cocktail.
* Yes, you can make it a cold cocktail too. Just shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker, strain, garnish and serve in an Old Fashioned glass instead of a mug.
National Peppermint Lattè Day is December 3rd.


Updated 12-2025 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY