Tag: grenadine

Cocktail of the Week: Tequila Sunrise

tequila sunrise

I know, I know that looks nothing like a Tequila Sunrise… I guess my homemade grenadine isn’t think enough? So instead of sinking to the bottom it suffused into the drink? When I first poured it in it looked right, maybe I just waited too long before taking the picture? So, let’s call this a Los Angeles Tequila Sunrise? Nice and muddy looking through all that smog! Anyway, Tequila Sunrises are perfect summer drinks. Also, perfect morning drinks but you didn’t hear that from me! To the cocktail!

tequila sunrise
The ingredients

Tequila Sunrise

  • 3 oz. orange juice
  • 1 1/2 oz. tequila
  • 1/2 oz. grenadine

Pour the orange juice and tequila into an ice filled collins glass. Slowly pour grenadine into mix, the weight of the grenadine (should) make it sink to the bottom leaving some rather lovely red/pink trails through the orange juice. Garnish with a orange wedge.

tequila sunrise

Again, mine doesn’t look quite as it should. But, it did taste lovely. The acidity of the oj, the sweet tartness of the grenadine and the sharp alcoholic taste of tequila. Ah, what a delicious cocktail! As I said at the beginning. Enjoy for breakfast or as an aperitif before dinner! If you have a poolside or ocean side view even better! Enjoy the summer it’s going to get too hot soon!

tequila sunrise

 

EDIT: I think I figured out why my Tequila Sunrise looked so muddy. I transposed the figures for tequila and orange juice… Leaving me with a very boozy but not very bright cocktail.

Cocktail of the Week: Scofflaw

Scofflaw cocktail

After last week’s cocktail, the Jack Rose, a couple of friends recommended other drinks they enjoy that have grenadine in them. The one that I found most intriguing was the Scofflaw: a combination of Rye whiskey, lemon juice, grenadine, and dry vermouth. The Scofflaw’s name come from the era of Prohibition here in the United States. The actual word “scofflaw” came into being through a contest to create a word to describe “a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor.” This drink was created in Paris during Prohibition and named “Scofflaw” to honor those in the United States who continued to drink. Or so the story goes…

Scofflaw cocktail
The ingredients

Scofflaw

  • 2 oz. rye whiskey
  • 1 oz. dry vermouth
  • 1 oz. lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz. grenadine
  • 2 dashes orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Scofflaw cocktail

 

The Scofflaw is a delicious cocktail that seems to have a perfect balance between sweet and sour and it has a lovely, rich red color. I like to imagine drinking this cocktail in some quiet out of the way speakeasy with jazz music playing in the background. Prohibition may be dead but its drinks live on, eh?

Cocktail of the Week: Jack Rose

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One of the things I’ve come to appreciate doing these cocktails of the week is the incredible depth that there is in the world of mixed drinks. I often will sit down Sunday morning, look over my bar to see what I have, and then just type random combinations of my inventory into Google and see what comes up. Another thing that I’ve enjoyed is the history and drama that comes with so many of these drinks. Take for instance this week’s cocktail: the Jack Rose. Where does that name come from? Well, it could be a lot of things:

There are various theories as to the origin of the drink. One theory has the drink being named after, or even invented by, the infamous gambler Bald Jack Rose. Albert Stevens Crockett (Old Waldorf Bar Days, 1931) states that it is named after the pink “Jacquemot” (also known as Jacqueminot or Jacque) rose. It has also been posited that the Jack Rose was invented by Joseph P. Rose, a Newark, New Jersey restaurateur, and named by him “in honor” of a defendant in a trial then being held at the courthouse in that city. (Joseph P. Rose once held the title of “World’s Champion Mixologist.”) However, the most likely explanation of the name is the fact that it is made with applejack and is rose colored from the grenadine. Harvey’s Famous Restaurant in Washington, D.C. claimed to be the originator of cocktail.

I found all of this, and more, out just by typing “Laird’s and grenadine” into Google!

Jack Rose
The ingredients

Jack Rose

  • 2 oz. Applejack (Laird’s)
  • 3/4 oz. Fresh Lemon or Lime Juice (I used lemon)
  • 3/4 oz. Grenadine (home made)

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice and shake thoroughly. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No garnish, though you could use an apple slice.

Jack Rose

So, the Jack Rose is a nice cocktail. But, nothing about it really sticks out. Maybe that is because I used lemon juice instead if lime juice? It’s not bad, it just seems to lack the little something that makes you remember a drink? Pleasant but unmemorable. This is a real shame too because you’d think a drink with Applejack, Grenadine, and lemon juice would be something worth sharing. I’m going to try it again with lime and maybe that will help…

Cocktail of the Week: Gin and Sin

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I’m not quite sure how I stumbled upon this cocktail. I think I was looking for cocktails that had cranberry juice in them. Of course, that is a lot of cocktails, but this one had gin and fruit juice and I was hopeful!

The ingredients
The ingredients

Gin and Sin

  • 1 1/2 oz. Gin
  • 1 oz. Orange juice
  • 1 oz. Lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. Grenadine or Cranberry juice
  • Fresh cranberries

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a few cranberries.

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But, either I made it wrong or it’s just not that good. D thought it tasted like cough syrup. I thought it was much too sour. Maybe the lemons were too tart? Maybe the orange was sour? I don’t know, but this was the first time I’ve made a cocktail and not liked the end result. When I try it again, I will use a sweet lemon and use less of its juice, more orange juice and maybe some cranberry simple syrup, something with a lot more sweet in it, than just juice or a splash of grenadine.

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