Entries Categorized as 'Vodka'

Queen Bee: The Queen Bee cocktail is pure alcohol – three and a half ounces of it, to be precise. This makes it a wonderful aperitif, especially because it’s a bit on the sweet side. This cocktail blends lime vodka with coffee liqueur – a surprising combination, but it can become addictive. This is also a nice cocktail for unwinding at the end of a rough day. The Queen Bee 2 ounces lime vodka 1 ounce Tia Maria 1/2 ounce dry sherry Shake the ingredients together in a ... READ MORE

Yellow Sea: The Yellow Sea is not a very well-known cocktail. It’s perfect for summer-time with its hints of banana and lime, it’s a bit on the strong side, and it’s very drinkable. Galliano is a complex liqueur, with notes of anise, lavendar and mint, but those flavors are hidden well behind vanilla. Experienced palates may pick them out and appreciate them, but less experienced ones will just pick up on the vanilla, which is fantastic alongside the banana and lime. (If ... READ MORE

Ruby Red: There are a number of different recipes for cocktails called “Ruby Red”, and they’re quite dissimilar. Some involve vodka, others use gin. Some add brandy, others campari. There’s also a ludicrous version that’s served with an actual ruby in it at some posh nightclub looking for a drink to satisfy clientele who suffer from the inability to get over themselves. The following is a personal recipe that combines the best of a couple of other recipes – at least, as far ... READ MORE

Peach Dream Cocktail: There’s more than one recipe called a Peach Dream. This one uses cream, which seems most appropriate with peaches. It’s a fun little sweet treat, like something you might have been served at a soda counter in the 1950s, except with alcohol. Some drinkers might find this drink a little cloying with the use of sweet, syrupy peach nectar. If so, just change the ratios to include more of the peach schnapps or vodka and less of the nectar. Peach Dream 3 ounces ... READ MORE

Blue Monday: Because it’s Monday, and even good Mondays can be kind of blue, the timing is perfect to feature the Blue Monday cocktail. This is one of those really simple cocktail recipes that even beginners can put together perfectly – that’s important when it’s Monday and/or you’re blue! The last thing you want is a pick me up that makes you feel inept before you even get to taste it. It’s also got a very simple flavor (orange) that tends to agree ... READ MORE

Pomegranate Martini: The Pomegranate Martini is a fairly new development in the cocktail world. The popularity of pomegranate juice both for flavor and antioxidants made this one inevitable. Because this particular mixed drink is new, there are a lot of variations on it. I’m going to present several of them, and once you see how many options you have, you can go to town coming up with your own. Purists note: these really should be called “pomegranate cocktails”, because true martinis contain gin ... READ MORE

The 12 cocktails of Christmas: There are a number of traditional Christmas or winter holiday drinks, but in recent years people have gotten very creative. Some people have created Christmas-themed cocktails from scratch, while others have added Christmas twists to existing cocktail recipes. This is a collection of… well, whatever struck my fancy as a winter holiday cocktail. Eggnog is a tradition for a reason. It tastes great with or without alcohol, which makes it perfect for gatherings that include drinkers and non-drinkers. Hot Buttered Rum is ... READ MORE

Top 10 Thanksgiving cocktail recipes: The main rule of thumb for selecting Thanksgiving cocktails should be: does it make you want to curl up by a fire and sip? Then it’s a potential Thanksgiving cocktail. If you want to get even more of a Thanksgiving or autumn feel, think about fall harvest and all the traditional foods of Thanksgiving. Look to flavors like apple, pumpkin, cranberry, ginger and other spices. Consider warm drinks with or without coffee, and drinks featuring heavy cream or eggs. There are a ... READ MORE