Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Leap Year Cocktail

Day 14


Leap Year Cocktail
3 shots out of 5








Happy Leap Year Day!!  

In honor of tonight's holiday (not sure if you call it a holiday or not)  I found a cocktail that fits the day, Leap Year!  

14 days into my 365 days of cocktails!  That's the 2 week mark.  How fun!!  

Now wait a minute......Leap Year?  That would make this a blog of 366 cocktails now wouldn't it!  

Oh yeay, one more day to find a new and different cocktail!  

To my utmost and utter surprise, I give tonight's cocktail 3 shots out of 5.  

Why am I THAT surprised?  

GIN!  

Aaahhhh, gin!  

The mere smell of it makes my nose sqwinch up.  

Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of gin.  I must say, if I was a big fan I would really like tonight's cocktail!  

My husband likes gin and he likes tonight's cocktail.  For a non-gin liker, I have to say that I am honestly going to finish this entire cocktail.

Along with the gin, this is my first time ever having vermouth (sweet, dry or extra dry).  Vermouth reminds me of my mom, because she enjoys her Manhattans which are the same color as tonight's cocktail thanks in part to the vermouth.



Here is a photo of the ingredients:


Here is a photo of the end result:




Here is the recipe for the Leap Year:

  • 2 shots gin
  • 1/2 shot sweet vermouth
  • 1/2 shot Grand Marnier
  • 1/4 shot lemon juice
Put ice into a shaker and add the gin, sweet vermouth, Grand Marnier and lemon juice.  Stir it up real good!  Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass and enjoy!



Tonight I've learned that gin is OK, and there is a possibility that I could sort of like it.

Cheers to gin!!

The Cocktail Lady


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Into The Blue

Day 13


Into The Blue
1 shot out of 5



Sounds like a fun drink.  

Into The Blue.  

Blue cocktails are fun to drink, right?  

Well if you're talk'n Blue Hawaiian then you'd be right!  

This cocktail has the taste of what I was afraid grapefruit drinks would taste like, yuck!  Tonight's cocktail is the reason I was scared to try them and I have to say that I'm glad that I tried the Sea Breeze first, because I REALLY liked that one!!

I tried tonight's cocktail along with my husband and our neighbors.........survey all agreed: 



None of us enjoyed this cocktail.  

I hate to tell you all how bad some of these cocktails are, but I feel if I wasn't honest about it and you tried it and hated it, then you'd in turn hate me.  

I couldn't have that!  

So if you're following me and have enjoyed what I've enjoyed, then don't try tonight's cocktail.  But if you're feeling adventurous and have the ingredients at home (don't go out to buy them if you don't) and want to try it, then by all means go ahead but let me know what you think.

I gave tonight's cocktail 1 shot out of 5.  

The mix of ingredients was not a good one.  

It's sad that my new found love of grapefruit juice can have a bad outcome, but I guess every mix has a bad day right?



Here is a photo of the end results:

into the blue cocktail, light rum, blue curacao, grapefruit juice, club soda

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

into the blue cocktail, light rum, blue curacao, grapefruit juice, club soda


Here is the recipe for Into The Blue:

  • 1 shot light rum
  • 1/2 shot of Blue Curaçao
  • 1 1/2 shots of grapefruit juice
  • club soda to top it off with

Put ice into a shaker and add the rum, blue curaçao and grapefruit juice.  Using a bar spoon stir it up real good.  Pour the cocktail including the ice into a highball glass and top it off with club soda.




Here's to tomorrow night's cocktail being better then tonight's!!

The Cocktail Lady


Monday, February 27, 2012

Chi Chi

Day 12

Steph's Chi Chi Cocktail
5 shots out of 5





I'm naming tonight's drink after a good friend of mine that suggested I make it tonight.  

She said that she had first tried a Chi Chi while she was in Hawaii and wanted to have one again.  


Therefore tonight's cocktail is a Chi Chi, thanks to Steph.

I am really enjoying this Chi Chi!  

It's super refreshing and fun to drink.  


I am totally digging blended drinks now too.  I only used to think of margaritas as blended drinks, not anymore!  


All of these fun blended drinks almost make me want to have a blended cocktail party, hmmm, not a bad idea.

I gave tonight's cocktail 5 shots out of 5!  

I honestly didn't think I'd be giving another drink that many shots for quite some time, so Thank You Steph for introducing me to the second 5 shot worthy cocktail for my 365 day challenge!  


Now I need to run a couple Chi Chi's down the street for you guys to enjoy.




Here is a photo of the end result:

chi chi cocktail, vodka, pineapple juice, cream of coconut


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

chi chi cocktail, vodka, pineapple juice, cream of coconut



Here is the reciepe for a Chi Chi:

  • 1 1/2 shots of vodka
  • 4 shots of pineapple juice
  • 1 shot of cream of coconut

Pour all of the ingredients into a blender and add a cup of ice.  Blend all ingredients until the ice is completely broken down and there are no ice chunks.  Pour into a red wine glass and enjoy!!




I hope you try tonight's cocktail and enjoy it as much as I did!!

Until Tomorrow!

The Cocktail Lady





Sunday, February 26, 2012

Mai Tai

Day 11


Mai Tai
3 shots out of 5

Did you know that June 30th is National Mai Tai Day?  Well it is, and that makes it perfectly acceptable for you to have a Mai Tai.......or two today!

Cheers to that!!



This Mai Tai cocktail is everything you wanted in a Mai Tai.  The perfect rum cocktail.



Tonight's cocktail of choice is a Mai Tai, another cocktail that I have never had before.  


When searching for a recipe for the Mai Tai, I ran into may different versions of it.  



I then found out that the original Mai Tai did not have any pineapple, orange or guava juice in it.  Apparently the Mai Tai is a rum based drink and not a fruity drink, but somewhere down the line someone added the 3 juices to the cocktail and named it the Maui Mai Tai.  



I think I might try that version another time, either in this blog of 365 cocktails or just on my own depending on how many different cocktails I create for this blog.

Well I sure did say it, this is definitely a rum drink!  

WOW.  


The first sip was quite limey, then I stirred in the Myers Rum that I had floated on top and WOWZERS, holy rum Batman!  



After a few sips you get used to it and it actually becomes pretty enjoyable.  This is definitely a stronger drink then some of the others I've made in my 11 days.




Here is a photo of the end result:

Mai Tai cocktail, rum, cointreau, orange liqueur, lime juice, orgeat, simple syrup, grenadine, dark rum


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Mai Tai cocktail, rum, cointreau, orange liqueur, lime juice, orgeat, simple syrup, grenadine, dark rum


Here is the recipe for a Mai Tai:


Mai Tai

ingredients:


  • 3 ounces rum
  • 1 ounce Cointreau
  • 1 1/2 ounces lime juice
  • 1 ounce orgeat
  • 3/4 ounce simple syrup
  • 1 dash grenadine
  • 3/4 ounce dark rum

instructions:


  1. Fill 1/3 of the shaker with ice.
  2. Add all of the ingredients except for the dark rum and shake it up good.
  3. Fill up your glass with crushed ice and strain the drink into your glass from the shaker.
  4. Float the dark rum on top.
    (Take your bar spoon, turn it so that the back of the spoon is facing up then tilt it so that the bottom tip of your spoon is just a little below the surface of your drink.  Basically you don't want to have the dark rum drip into your drink, which would make it sink into the Mai Tai.  Slowly pour the dark rum on the back of the spoon so that it slowly makes a layer on top of your cocktail.)
Created using The Recipes Generator


All in all, the Mai Tai was enjoyable.  I am honestly having a blast making all of these different cocktails and trying them out.  I hope you are enjoying some of them at home as well.  If you have any different cocktails that are your absolute favorites or some that you've heard of and want me to try, send me and email at cocktailady@gmail.com and your cocktail may be featured as one of my 365 cocktails.

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

Piña Colada

Day 10


Piña Colada Cocktail
4 shots out of 5



Well look at that, we're in double digits!  Tonight's cocktail is the Piña Colada.  


Now I must say that I've always been secretly scared of the Piña Colada, reason being.......it has coconut in it (or coconut flavoring I should say).  



When I had made the Blue Hawaiian and declared my love for it, my husband raised an eyebrow at me (if you know him you know how his raised eyebrow can make a room stand still) and asked "You know that has a coconut flavor right?".  



This was the same reason I was surprised at how much I liked it.  



I know I don't like to eat coconut, but I have eaten things in my past that have had a faint coconut flavor to them and thought they tasted pretty good.  Since the Blue Hawaiian was a huge hit with me, I figured that the Piña Colada shouldn't be that much different.  I was right!


The two cocktails I've mentioned do have some of the same ingredients in them, but there is enough of a difference to where I can honestly say that I like the Blue Hawaiian a bit more then the Piña Colada. 


The only thing that slightly bothers me is the fact that as my cocktail sits here as I sip and blog about it (I'm thinking the cream is what is making this happen) my Piña Colada starts to get a thicker layer on top.  I can give it a good swirling and it "mostly" blends itself back together, but I just felt I needed to mention that.


I gave my Piña Colada 4 shots out of 5 because I truly am enjoying it and would defiantly order it at a bar if I was in the mood for a blended drink.  


This is yet another cocktail I could drink by the pool or on a hot summer day while soaking up the sun.  I would recommend this drink if you enjoyed the Blue Hawaiian absolutely.


Here is a photo of the end result:


Pina colada, golden rum, coconut rum, malibu rum, cream, pineapple juice


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Pina colada, golden rum, coconut rum, malibu rum, cream, pineapple juice


Here is the recipe for a blended Piña Colada:

  • 2 shots of golden rum
  • 1 shot of coconut cream
  • 1/2 shot of cream
  • 1 shot of pineapple juice


Pour all of the above items into your blender.  Add a good handful of crushed ice and blend until the ice is no longer in pieces.  Pour into your glass and enjoy!



On a side note, I have to say that we went out to dinner last night and I was VERY proud of myself when I ordered a Sea Breeze!!  Nope, not a vodka cran or a rum & coke, a SEA BREEZE!!  I do have to add that I make a MUCH better Sea Breeze then the bartender at the restaurant though.  


Cheers to Day 10!

The Cocktail Lady

Friday, February 24, 2012

Barbie Cocktail

Day 9-updated


A BARBIE COCKTAIL
2 shots out of 5






For those of you who are pinners (my pinterest term for all of us that pin, haha) on Pinterest, you've all seen the ah-maze-ing photos of some of these cocktails, food items, clothes........the list goes on and on.  

Well I along with many of you assume that these photos (for the most part) are totally legit.......I mean, why wouldn't they be, right?  


That opens up the doorway for tonight's cocktail, a Barbie Cocktail.

On Pinterest there was this beautiful photo of this drink that was called Barbie Cocktail, I knew I had to eventually try it!

WOW, what an amazing looking drink!  



That color is amazing too.  Such a bold vibrant neon bright pink color!  

So I decided to try it out for Day 9 of my year of cocktails.....actually a friend of mine had asked if I'd do it sooner then later please, so I decided to do as she asked and do it now while it's still fresh on all of the pinners  minds.  

I checked out the ingredients and couldn't figure out how on Earth they got it to be that color of a neon pink......but hoped that I'd make it and it would magically become the amazing color I saw in the photo.   

Oh and it had lot of...bubbles??  Wait a minute.......  


As you can see I gave tonight's cocktail 2 shots out of 5.  

I was feeling generous.  


In my honest opinion, the fact that you put the same about of Malibu rum as vodka into this cocktail makes me raise my eyebrow (The Rock-style).  


Here is a photo of the end result:

Barbie, barbie cocktail, mailbu rum, coconut rum, vodka, cranberry juice, orange juice


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Barbie, barbie cocktail, mailbu rum, coconut rum, vodka, cranberry juice, orange juice



Here is the recipe for a Barbie cocktail:

  • 1 shot Malibu rum
  • 1 shot vodka
  • 1 shot cranberry juice
  • 1 shot orange juice

In a shaker put add about 6 ice cubes (oh no I'm becoming more like my husband as I don't give you an exact amount of ice cubes to put in!), Malibu rum, vodka, cranberry juice and orange juice.  Give it a good shaking and then pour it into your glass through the strainer in your shaker, and...........enjoy?  or not.



You be the judge of what you see here and on other websites.  Don't always believe what you see, hear, etc. Thank you for pulling up a bar stool for my first week plus a couple days of my Year of Cocktails!!  See you tomorrow!!

Cheers to Barbie!

The Cocktail Lady





  


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Blue Hawaiian Cocktail

Day 8


BLUE HAWAIIAN COCKTAIL
5 shots out of 5


Seriously if you have not yet tried a Blue Hawaiian, you MUST!  This cocktail is as fun to make as it is to drink!  

Time to whip out your blender and get mix'n!




Why have I not tried this cocktail before??  

I have absolutely found my new favorite blended drink, EVER!!  


The only time I've ever heard of this cocktail before was years ago when I went to Hawaii with a group of friends and one of the guys from our group had ordered.....well I guess a few Blue Hawaiian's because when we found him at one of the bars he was quite red in the face, singing karaoke.  I never got to try it, but I did remember that his drink was quite blue.

This is a simple cocktail to make.  

I know there are non-blended versions of this drink, but I went with the blended one instead. 


GREAT choice on my part!!  


This is a total cocktail I could see myself drinking poolside as well as hanging out at the house with a group of friends.  


I have a feeling after typing up this blog that that's exactly what I'll be doing at the next get together here.

I have discovered in my 8 days of writing this blog, that I am more of a Rum Cocktail Lady, then a Vodka Cocktail Lady.  

If you would have asked me before writing this blog which one I preferred, I would have told you vodka hands down.  


Yea, not anymore!  


I even prefer my rum Drunken Gummy Bears over my vodka Drunken Gummy Bears (recipe is on my "Other Fun Stuff To Try" tab).

I have given tonight's drink 5 shots out of 5, but am seriously considering giving it 8!  I hope you try tonight's cocktail and love it!  



Here is a photo of the end result:

blue hawaiian cocktail, light rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice, cream of coconut

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

blue hawaiian cocktail, light rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice, cream of coconut



Here is the recipe for a blended Blue Hawaiian:

  • 1 shot light rum
  • 1/2 shot blue Curaçao
  • 2 shots pineapple juice
  • 1 shot cream of coconut


Crush up a good handful of ice and then put it into the blender.  Add the rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice and cream of coconut.  

Blend the ingredients together until your ice is completely broken down.  If you do not blend it enough, your ice will become a little crunchy and you don't want to eat your Blue Hawaiian, trust me!  

Once the ice is blended in all you have left to do is pour and ENJOY!!  I sure know I did.....as did my husband and our neighbors!!




I sure hope you enjoy this cocktail as much as I did!!

The Cocktail Lady