August 20, 2011
In the Earl of 15th Avenue cocktail post below, I talked a bit about how I was lucky enough to be mixing with a Deluxe Foods syrup not yet widely available. Then I apologized for it. And now I’m apologizing again, because in the drink we’re sipping today, the main (really) ingredient is another of those Deluxe syrups, this time strawberry. And, to keep the apologies flowing, let me apologize for putting a drink sans alcohol on a booze blog. What kind of a creep am I anyway? But sometimes a summer refresher needs to be light, and light on alcohol, and sometimes even without alcohol altogether. Which is how the Deluxe SSB rolls. But its dry-ish strawberry goodness more than makes up for it and will cool you down on a day when the Mercury has risen to the tops of the thermometer. Oh, and keep checking the Deluxe Foods farmer’s market stands for syrups–you never know when you’ll get lucky.
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Deluxe Foods strawberry syrup
Chilled club soda
1 Rainier cherry, for garnish
1. Fill a highball or comparable glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the syrup.
2. Fill the glass almost to the top with club soda. Stir well, and garnish with the cherry.
A Note: Rainier cherry deficient? Sub in a second type and only cry a little.
A Second Note: Feel this has to have a alcohol component? Add an ounce of gin to the glass in step one. Gin and strawberries are a yummy combo.
August 18, 2011
Here’s something long-time readers (all three of you) of the Spiked Punch don’t see very often: a drink recipe with vodka. It’s true, I find most mass-produced modern vodkas a wee smidge, well, boring. Flavorless, even. This has probably and sadly kept me away from some modern craft-y vodkas, ones I would enjoy. Until recently, that is (and that, friends, is what we call an “ah-ha” moment). Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to try some of the new local vodkas, those created around the Seattle and WA area, and I’ve been blown away–complex vodkas with intriguing flavor profiles? Amazing. I’m talking about vodkas like Bainbridge Organic’s Legacy vodka, Woodinville Whiskey’s Peabody Jones vodka, and Sound Spirits’ Ebb+Flow vodka. The latter is what I used in the below drink, because it’s flavor, which comes from using 100% malted barley, mingled well with some tasty Earl Grey syrup I received from the fine folks at Deluxe Foods. Deluxe isn’t selling their syrups yet (I don’t think–though if you’re in Seattle you should stop by a Farmer’s Market and ask), but keep checking the Deluxe Foods site for when they do. The Earl Grey syrup has a subtle-but-evident tea taste and a nice medium sweetness. Sorry to list a recipe that might have hard-to-find ingredients, by the way, but you know what they say: fate favors those who track down hard-to-find-ingredients. Or something like that.
Ice cubes
2 ounces Ebb+Flow vodka
1/2 ounce Deluxe Foods Earl Grey syrup
1/4 ounce Lillet blanc
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add everything. Shake well.
2. Drain the mix into a cocktail glass and enjoy to the fullest.
