MY DARLING CLEMENTINI - An Edible Calundula Flower and Citrus Cocktail

  

MY DARLING CLEMENTINI COCKTAIL     INGREDIENTS 1-1/2 Oz. Limoncello 1/2 Oz. Triple Sec 2 Oz. Fresh Clementine Orange Juice 1 Tsp. Calendula Simple Syrup (* Recipe Below) Dash of Orange Bitters     Garnish: Long Clementine Twist, Edible Calendula Petals     Tools: Juicer, Vegetable Peeler, Cocktail Shaker     Glass: Cocktail (Martini)     DIRECTIONS Make the Calundula Simple Syrup and juice the Clementines. Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until well chilled. Stain into the chilled cocktail glass, garnish with the Clemetine twist, a Calundula flower and a few extra Calundula petals. Serve and enjoy on a beautiful spring evening.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS

 Edible flowers are a beautiful way to garnish a cocktail but they can also a great way to flavor one as well. Every spring I grow organic, edible flowers for creating spring and summer cocktail recipes and Calendulas are always the most robust of my plantings. When I recently picked up a huge bag of Clementine oranges from the local farmers market the first thing I decided to make was a floral cocktail featuring these beautiful, bright yellow flowers. When I got home I grabbed my juicer, my garden shears and also my bottle of homemade limoncello liqueur* and some triple sec to round out the citrus base and got to mixing up a new drink recipe. Calundula petals have a spicy taste of pepper with a little touch of tang and bitterness which not only brought in floral notes but added the quality of a few drops of bitters so I not only garnished the cocktail with a Calendula blossom I also infused the simple syrup with some of the petals to bring in that peppery zing.   
* CALENDULA SIMPLE SYRUP RECIPE     Ingredients: 2 C. Turbinado or Demerara Sugar 1 C. Water Petals from 3 Calundula Flowers     Directions: Add the petals to a non-reactive bowl and set aside. Heat the sugar and water on medium while stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Pour this immediately over the petals and allow to infuse until completely cooled. Strain into a sterile, lidded glass jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. If the syrup crystallizes you can heat it up to remove the sugar crystals.   NATIONAL CLEMENTINE DAY IS FEBRUARY 15th.
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The PAN GALACTIC GARGLE BLASTER Cocktail for Earthlings

 According to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is "like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick." It was invented by the ex-president of the Universe, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and is said to be the "Best Drink in Existence." Beeblebrox himself advised "never drink more than two Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters unless you are a thirty ton mega elephant with bronchial pneumonia".    Though it cannot be truly replicated on Earth I had to give it the old Arthur Dent try. It was an interesting experience as I attempted to substitute earthly ingredients for galactic ones and still come up with a good cocktail recipe that an earthling could enjoy.   Both versions are below with my human interpretation annotated with my reasons for my substitutions.   The PAN GALACTIC GARGLE BLASTER    NON EARTHLY MIXING INSTRUCTIONS (directly from the book): "Take the juice from one bottle of Ol' Janx Spirit. Pour into it one measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V (Oh, that Santraginean seawater! Oh, those Santraginean fish!) Allow three cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin to melt into the mixture (it must be properly iced or the benzene is lost). Allow four litres of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through it, in memory of all those happy hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia. Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qualactin Hypermint extract, redolent of all the heady odours of the dark Qualactin Zones, subtle, sweet and mystic. Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian Suns deep into the heart of the drink. Sprinkle Zamphuor. Add an olive. Drink... but... very carefully..."  

EARTHLY  RECONSTRUCTION INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS

1. First, drape your towel over your shoulder!*
2. Take 1 ounce of Juice from a bottle of Hayman's Old Tom Gin. (I figured Ol' Janx might be much like our Old Tom Gin, once gone from Earth and now revived.)
3. Pour in 4 ounces of Cucumber Flavored Soda Water. (I'm pretty sure Santraginean seawater tastes a lot like this because soda has a lot of sodium aka salt and cucumber because it works well with gin and mint.)
4. Add 3 Large Ice Cubes to a chilled cocktail glass.
5. Add in 3 ounces of ice cold Hendrick's Gin. (These two were my thoughts on how to recreate the Arcturan Mega-gin.)
6. Add a straw at this point and blow bubbles into the drink. (Easiest way I could think of to inject your own marsh gas and has the added benefit of stirring the cocktail.)
7. Pour 1/4 ounce of Green Creme de Menthe over the back of a silver barspoon. (If there's anything close to a float of Qualactin Hypermint extract on earth, this is it.)
8. Drop in 1 Sugar Cube Soaked in 4 drops of Scrappy's Firewater Tincture. (I'll bet these bitters are at least as exotic and fiery as any old Algolian Suntiger teeth.)
9. Sprinkle on a dusting of Zaatar Spice. (Well, it's the only earthly spice blend that starts with a "Z"!)
10. Slide in a strip of cucumber. (Sorry, an actual olive mixed with that creme de menthe made me gag.)
11. Enjoy your drink and DON'T PANIC, one or two of these aren't "the alcoholic equivalent to a mugging; expensive and bad for the head." 

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

  * “A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.” ― Douglas Adams   PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

The CHURCHILL COCKTAIL

I neither want it nor need it, but I should think it pretty hazardous to interfere with the ineradicable habit of a lifetime. ~ Winston Churchill
CHURCHILL'S LIFELONG LOVE OF DRINKING Much is said of Winston Churchill's drinking habits. It is acknowledged, by himself and others, he had a great fondness for drink. Whether he was an alcoholic or not is still up for debate, but his passion for spirits is not. He was so fond of alcohol that it added greatly to his debt and at one time he owed his wine merchant the equivalent of $75,000. His doctor even wrote him a prescription for alcohol when he visited the United States during Prohibition.  

  Originally a brandy and soda drinker, Churchill took to drinking scotch as a young man in India and South Africa, "The water being unfit to drink, one had to add whisky and, by dint of careful application I learned to like it."  As a result his daily tipple was a nip of Johnnie Walker Red with a goodly amount of water, something his children called a "Papa Cocktail".  

  Scotch was just one of his favorite spirits, he was also fond of claret, hock, brandy and his beloved Pol Roger Champagne. I could not live without Champagne. In victory I deserve it. In defeat I need it. ~ Winston Churchill  

Churchill also enjoyed Plymouth gin, though he did not personally care for vermouth, thus the Churchill Martini is basically a glass of cold gin. 

I would like to observe the vermouth from across the room while I drink my martini. ~ Winston Churchill   REGARDING THE CHURCHILL COCKTAIL The recipe was first printed in Esquire in September 1939, nine months before Churchill became Prime Minister. Created at the American Bar in the Savoy hotel in London by bartender Joe Gilmore in honor of Winston Churchill, the Churchill Cocktail is a scotch variation of a Manhattan (traditionally made with rye whiskey), or like a Rob Roy with the addition of lime juice and Cointreau.   It a fairly citrus forward drink with a bit of smokiness from the scotch. There is no mention whether Churchill ever enjoyed this particular drink, even though he was a patron of the American Bar throughout most of his life.  

  The CHURCHILL COCKTAIL   INGREDIENTS 1-1/2 Oz Johnnie Walker Scotch (I used JW Black, my preferred JW Scotch) 1/2 Oz Fresh Lime Juice 1/2 Oz Sweet Vermouth 1/2 Oz Cointreau   Garnish: Lime Twist   Tools: Bar Spoon   Glass: Cocktail or Coupe   DIRECTIONS Stir ingredients together with ice, strain into a chilled glass then garnish and serve. I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me. ~ Winston Churchill   * While the discussions still abound regarding Churchill's sobriety, not one single person mentions his weight. At 5'6" Churchill was quite a sturdy figure and more girth equals more capacity for alcohol consumption.   PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

BLACK PANTHER - SCOTCH & ESPRESSO COFFEE LIQUEUR COCKTAIL

Inspired by the Black Watch Cocktail (blended scotch, coffee liqueur in a 2:1 ratio with a splash of soda, garnished with a lemon peel) I played around with my favorite scotch again for this year's International Scotch Day.

The name of this cocktail was inspired by all the hype for the premier of new Black Panther Marvel superhero movie coming out this week. The finished drink is as visually sleek and sexy as the movie previews and I couldn't resist the reference but it's  a great drink name even without the inspiration.

The

BLACK PANTHER
COCKTAIL

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 Oz. Johnnie Walker Black Blended Scotch Whiskey
3/4 Oz. Caffé Borghetti Espresso Liqueur
3 Dashes Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters
1 Dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Garnish: Orange Peel

Tools: Bar Spoon

Glass: Rocks

DIRECTIONS

Add a large ice cube to a chilled rocks glass.
Pour in the scotch and coffee liqueur.
Tap in the bitters.
Stir until chilled.
Express the orange twist over the top then drop twist in cocktail and serve.

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The Sparkling Heart Cocktail for Valentines Day

The

SPARKING HEART COCKTAIL
TO A CHILLED FLUTE Add 2 Oz Fragoli Strawberry Liquor Drop in 3 Frozen Strawberries Tap in 2 Dashes Lemon Bitters Top off with Champagne Mist Orange Liqueur over Top Garnish with an Orange Twist For a mocktail version: Replace the strawberry liqueur with strawberry syrup. Use club soda instead of Champagne. Add a dash of orange bitters on top.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY from The Martini Diva
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STRAWBERRY JAM OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL

While having a nosh at one of my favorite eateries, Prep And Pastry in Tucson, they served some homemade Strawberry Jam with my (delicious) Monte Cristo. I don't usually like strawberry jam but it was homemade so I tried it and got one heck of a surprise when I realized I loved that jam. I loved it so much I specifically mentioned it when the waitress brought the check. I told her it would be great in a cocktail and asked if I could have a couple tablespoons to try it out. When my change came back so did a small carton filled with the jam. In turn I promised Kevin, the owner, I'd post up the cocktail recipe featuring his strawberry jam.   I knew immediately I was going to pair that jam with some premium whiskey in an Old Fashioned. A good Canadian Whiskey would be a great match for the flavor of the strawberries in the jam and the jam was a great way to replace the standard sugar cube and cherries used in a classic, muddled Old Fashioned.   Good thing I love Prep and Pastry because I really liked this cocktail, it was easy to make, bursting with flavor and a great way to change up an Old Fashioned.  I just wish Prep and Pastry was closer so I could mooch some of their strawberry jam more often.  

 
STRAWBERRY JAM OLD FASHIONED   INGREDIENTS 2 Oz. Canadian Whiskey 2 Tsp. Strawberry Jam 2 Dashes Rhubarb Bitters   Garnish: Orange Twist, Strawberry Filled Ice Cubes.   Tools: Mixing Glass, Bar Spoon   Glass: Old Fashioned   DIRECTIONS Chill glass. Muddle the strawberry jam in the bottom of the glass with the rhubarb bitters. Fill glass with strawberry ice cubes. Add 2 ounces of premium whiskey, stir to chill, garnish and serve.
MORE OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL RECIPES
By the way, if you're in Tucson you definitely want to hit up one of Prep and Pastry's several locations. Not only is their food locally sourced and delicious, they are also pretty creative with their cocktails (try one of their fabulous Mimosas) AND, omg, those incredible house pastries!!  

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The VODKA MARTINEZ. That's right, Vodka.

A friend came to visit last night and, as always, brought a bottle of booze along. (Good friends who come to drink are the ones who bring booze with them.) I told him I would make him a Martinez since he had never tried one, but he brought vodka instead of the Old Tom style gin I'd asked for, killing off the idea of the classic Martinez. At least until I thought about it for a second and said, why not?   Why not try the gin based Martinez with vodka? Vodka is sort of gin without botanicals in it, the sweet vermouth has a goodly amount botanicals on it's own. I figured it was worth a try so I did. To balance out for the sweeter, botanical forward qualities of Old Tom gin I added a bit more of the sweet vermouth and an extra layer of bitters. I liked it, he loved it, but he's not a gin lover so he doesn't count. Also he didn't bring me gin so he still has nothing to compare it to. I still prefer the gin Martinez, but I can't deny the vodka was decent replacement and it made a great aperitivo before the pork tenderloin roulade dinner I'd made.   I couldn't truly call it a Martinez, but then maybe all I needed to do was add Vodka in front. After all the Vodka Martini has made a name for itself, maybe it was time for the (so-called) father of the Martini to get a vodka version of its own.  

  The VODKA Martinez   INGREDIENTS 1 Oz. Vodka, Chilled 1 Oz Sweet Vermouth, Chilled 1 Barspoon Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 4 Dashes of Orange Bitters   Garnish: Luxardo Maraschino Cherry, Orange Twist   Tools: Mixing Glass, Bar Spoon   Glass: Cocktail (Martini)   DIRECTIONS Stir ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice until very cold, pour into a chilled glass, garnish and serve.   PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY