Kristen's Recipes

Beekeeper’s Balm Cocktail

6 T. honey

1/4 cup very warm or hot water

2 cups white rum

3/4 cup freshly squeezed, lemon juice, strained

1 cup fresh lemon balm leaves, loosely packed

Club soda to top off, optional

Lemon slices, for garnish

Stir honey and water in a pitcher until honey is dissolved. Add the rum and lemon juice.

Add the lemon balm and muddle with a wooden spoon. Fill 8 to 10 canning jars with ice cubes. Divide the cocktail evenly among the glasses. Top with club soda if desired. Garnish with lemon slices and serve.

Pink Starburst Shots

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Sanding sugar or edible glitter

Ice

3 ounces Bailey’s Strawberries & Cream

1 ounce strawberry vodka

1 ounce whipped cream vodka

½ ounce maraschino cherry juice optional

Rim your shot glasses with corn syrup and sanding sugar. Set aside. In a cocktail shaker, add the ice, Bailey’s strawberries and cream, strawberry vodka, whipped cream vodka, and maraschino cherry juice. Cover with the shaker’s lid. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, the pour mixture into the sugar rimmed glasses through the strainer. Serve pink starburst shots cold.

Light My Fire Cocktail

2 ounces vanilla vodka

5 ounces cold brew coffee

½ ounce cocoa simple syrup*

⅓ ounce coffee bitters (optional)

2-3 toasted marshmallows

caramel drizzle (optional)

Combine vodka, coffee, syrup & bitters and shake. Strain over fresh ice in highball glass or mason jar. Garnish with marshmallows and caramel drizzle, if desired.

Blackberry Bitters

6 ounces blackberries (about 1½ c.)

1 Peel, including pith, from 1 organic lemon, minced

1/2 tsp. whole allspice berries

5 white peppercorns

1 cups grain alcohol (Everclear) or a 100-plus-proof vodka

2 T. sugar

1 T. water

Combine the berries, lemon peel, allspice berries, peppercorns and alcohol in a quart-size jar and lightly mash the berries with a wooden spoon. Cover with a lid and let the mixture sit in a dark, cool place for at least 1 week. The day before you plan to complete the bitters, make a syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir to keep the sugar from scorching. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat, pour into a small jar with a lid and let sit overnight at room temperature. Strain the berries and solids first through a fine wire mesh sieve, and again through a coffee filter. Add the simple syrup to the strained bitters—omitting any sugar crystals that formed overnight. Store the bitters at room temperature in a tightly sealed jar or bottle.

Kiwi Melon Sangria

2½ cups cubed honeydew melon or light-fleshed summer melon

1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine

½ cup brandy

¼ cup tequila

3 kiwis, peeled and sliced, or a pint of kiwi berries from the farm market

1 lime, sliced

1 cup club soda or seltzer water

Fresh mint for garnish, if desired

Add 1½ cups of the honeydew melon and ¼ cup of the white wine to your blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes. Transfer the purée to a large pitcher or Mason jar. Then stir in the remaining white wine, brandy and tequila. Add the kiwi slices, lime slices and remaining 1 cup of cubed honeydew melon. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to overnight. Divide the sangria mixture evenly into serving glasses. Top each with soda water; stir in gently. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and a lime wheel.

Peach-Mango Sangria

2 (750-ml) bottles Pinot Grigio

2 cups peach-mango juice

1 cup peach-flavored vodka

1 (1-oz) pkg fresh mint

2 cups frozen sliced peaches

2 cups frozen cubed mango

Stir together wine, juice, vodka and mint in a large pitcher. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Just before serving, stir in frozen peaches and mango.

The Lavender Daisy

10 fresh blueberries (3 reserved for garnish), rinsed

½ tsp. fresh (or ¼ tsp. dried) lavender flowers

1 ounce fresh lemon juice

1½ ounces Bombay Sapphire Gin

Sparkling water

1 ounce honey syrup*

In a highball glass, muddle 7 blueberries with lavender blossoms and honey syrup. Add ice, fresh lemon juice, gin and top with sparkling water. Garnish with 3 blueberries. * Combine 1 cup local honey and 1 cup water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until honey dissolves. Cool and pour into a clean glass bottle. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

Honeyed Orange Breeze

3 T. Tennessee honey whiskey

3 T. orange juice

1½ tsp orange flavored liqueur

Ice cubes

¼ cup ginger ale

Garnish: orange peel strip

Add whiskey, orange juice, orange liqueur, and ice to fill a cocktail shaker. Cover and

shake until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into an Old-Fashioned glass filled half full with ice. Top with ginger ale. Garnish, if desired.

Cactus Pear Margarita

9 ounces white tequila

4 ounces orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Cointreau)

4 ounces cactus pear juice, plus more for the rim

2 ounces fresh lime juice

1 1/2 cups crushed ice

Coarse salt, optional

Lime wedges, for garnish

Place tequila, orange liqueur, cactus pear juice, lime juice, and ice in a blender and blend until smooth. Carefully pour a few ounces of cactus pear juice onto a plate and a few ounces of salt onto another plate. Dip the rim of each margarita glass into the juice and then into the salt. Pour margaritas into each glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

Phoenician Gold Margarita

1 ½ ounces gold tequila

1 ounce Cointreau

½ ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

4 ounces fresh lemonade

Combine ingredients in a shaker and mix well. Salt the rim of the glass if desired and pour the drink over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge if desired.

Strawberry Pazzo Cocktail

1½ ounces black pepper-infused gin (must be prepared well in advance)

¾ ounce fresh lime juice, chilled

3 ounces strawberry purée, chilled

½ ounce Simple Syrup, plus more to taste

Ice cubes

1 large, perfect fresh basil leaf for spanking

Mix the pepper gin, lime juice, strawberry purée, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Taste and add more simple syrup if you like a sweeter drink. The character of strawberries changes from month to month, so add more syrup or lime to adjust the flavor. Spank the basil leaf and float it on the drink. (Hold basil in on palm, and slab it hard with the other hand to release the oils)

Black Pepper-Infused Gin

2 cups gin, preferably Tanqueray 10

½ cup (4 ounces) black peppercorns

Pour the gin over the peppercorns in a clean glass container. Store in a cool, dark place for 24 hours. Strain, and put the peppercorns aside for another use. Cover the container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

The Ruby

makes 1 cocktail

1 shot vodka

1 shot triple sec

2 shots pomegranate juice

1 shot orange juice

squeeze of lime juice

fancy sugar to rim glass

Fill a shaker with 4 – 5 ice cubes and add vodka, triple sec, pomegranate juice, and orange juice. Shake vigorously to combine. Rub the rim of a martini glass with a lime wedge and dip in sugar. Pour drink in glass and add a squeeze of lime juice.

Orange Creamsicle Cocktail

4 oz orange juice (or more to taste)

2 oz vanilla infused vodka

Ice

Fresh orange rounds for garnish (optional)

Blender (optional)

Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour in vanilla infused vodka, top with orange juice. Stir. Serve with fresh orange rounds for garnish. Optionally, you may blend the ingredients with ice to make a slushy/daiquiri-type drink!

Blue Moon Cocktail

1 C. crushed ice

1/4 C. vodka

1/4 C. blue curaçao

1/4 C. whipping cream

2 T. vanilla-flavored syrup (such as Torani)

2 T. fresh orange juice

1 T. Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur

In a blender, combine all ingredients and whirl until smooth. Pour into four martini glasses (4 oz.) and garnish the rim of each glass with a slice of orange.

Blue Margarita

1 1/2 oz. Tequila

1 oz. Blue Curacao

1 oz. Lime Juice

Coarse Salt

Rub rim of cocktail glass with lime juice. Dip rim in coarse salt. Shake tequila, blue curacao, and lime juice with ice, strain into the salt-rimmed glass, and serve.

Winter Fruit Martinis

1 apple

1 pear

Lemon juice

Fresh blueberries

1 orange

Orange juice

About 1/4 c. coconut rum or vodka

Sugar (for coating glasses)

Fresh mint leaves (for garnish)

Dice apple and pear. (For fun you can cut slices of the apple with a cookie cutter.) Place in mixing bowl.  Add lemon juice to keep fruit from turning brown. Add blueberries to bowl.  Peel and segment orange: Cut off both ends and slice off rind. Then cut along natural segments. Add orange segments, orange juice and rum (or vodka) to bowl. Let sit for approximately 2 hours.  Serve in a martini glass with a sugarcoated rim. Garnish with an orange wedge and mint leaves.

Sweet Rhubarb Lemonade

4 Basil Leaves

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz rhubarb syrup

1.5 oz vodka

3 dashes rhubarb bitters

2 tsp. simple syrup

½ cup chopped rhubarb

Add 4 basil leaves, lemon juice, and rhubarb syrup into a cup or cocktail mixer. Muddle basil gently to release flavor. Add ice and vodka, shake until cold. Pour into a cocktail glass and stir in rhubarb bitters. In a microwave safe bowl, mix chopped rhubarb and simple syrup. Heat about 2 minutes or until slightly bubbly. Strain into cocktail glass and enjoy!