Saturday, November 21, 2020

JUNGLE RED COCKTAILS at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore


 LUCY BURDETTE: Did you join us earlier this fall when all of the Reds got together for a chat at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore? No? Don't worry, Barbara Peters is hosting us again--but even better, with holiday cocktails this time! And you could do some of your Christmas shopping at the same time...

Here's the rub: Should we all sip the same drink or go it alone? And what recipe should we use? (Something red of course.) Luckily, my pal from golf mystery days, Fritz Schrank, has just published a book of quarantine cocktails. And he offered three of his favorite suggestions from his new ebook Quarantinis: Easy and Fun Cocktails for When You’re Stuck at Home, by Fritz Schranck....




Bacardi Cocktail 

According to Liquor.com, a popular drink in the post-Prohibition era. 

2 oz Bacardi white rum

0.75 oz grenadine syrup

0.75 oz lime juice 

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake for 30 seconds. Strain into a coupe or martini glass. 



Irish Redhead

This version of the popular cocktail is derived from restlesschipotle.com. 

1.5 oz Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey 

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lime juice

0.5 oz grenadine 

ginger ale 

cherry garnish 

Combine whiskey, juices, and grenadine in a rocks glass with a large block/ball of ice. Top off with the ginger ale and cherry garnish. 

The whiskey is hard to detect, making it easy to convince yourself that another one or two or three would be just one. 



Rye Billionaire 

A crushed ice version of a recipe from Liquor.com. The Hawaiian Punch-like appearance is a bit misleading. 

2 oz Reservoir Rye

0.75 oz lemon juice

0.5 oz grenadine

0.5 oz Demerara simple syrup 

0.25 oz blackberry bitters

lemon wheel garnish 

Combine first five ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake for 30 seconds. Strain into an 8-oz goblet and fill remainder with crushed ice. Add the lemon wheel garnish.

And one last idea--I made this to celebrate the launch of A Deadly Feast--it's a campari spritz (at the beach) and it was delicious!


1 ounce C​a​mpari
3 ounces Prosecco
Club soda or sparkling water
Sliced  Orange
Maraschino cherries

Fill up​ a​ pretty glass with ice. And the C​a​mpari followed by the Prosecco, and​ finally​ add club soda or sparkling water to taste. Garnish with sliced oranges and maraschino cherries. Retire to the beach or the pool or your armchair to sip and read… 

What do you think Reds? Votes? Other suggestions? And here's the link to our event 12/12 at 5 pm EST. Hope to see lots of you there!

(And here's the link to Quarantinis by Fritz Schrank!)

43 comments:

  1. Thanks, Lucy . . . I’m marking it on my calendar [and hoping my internet actually works] . . . .

    All those holiday cocktails sound wonderful . . . I’m voting for the Campari Spritz . . . it sounds amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Campari Spritz and the Irish Redhead sound good, but there's nothing with vodka. Vodka is what I usually choose as the liquor when I get a cocktail. I have vodka in the freezer and a small bottle of bourbon in the cupboard. I do have cranberry juice, too, so I could just make a Cape Codder (just vodka and cranberry juice) and skip the lime wedge.

    I will try my hardest to attend the cocktail chat on Dec. 15th. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come on the 12th Kathy, not the 15th. Sheesh, my brain has gone soft...

      Delete
  3. That Bacardi cocktail looks good. Maybe that’s just because I have those ingredients on hand.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I vote for Jenn's non alcoholic punch from ONE FOR THE BOOKS, (cranberry juice, sparkling apple juice, and ginger ale) Of course, feel free to indulge in any of the above. I will stay with my usual mocktail. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What fun to gather. I tried to attend the previous one but the screen kept freezing. Hoping for better luck with the December 15 event! I'm not much for sweet cocktails, but I'll see what I can do!

    If I can slip in a small plug, several other cozy mystery authors and I will also be at Poisoned Pen, On December 5 at 1 pm EST. It's a store I've always wanted to appear at, and the pandemic gave me a chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Edith, thanks for mentioning the December 5. Adding things to the calendar and crossing my fingers for Internet!

      Delete
    2. I'll try to be there on the 5th, Edith

      Delete
  6. Is there a cocktail drink for the non-alcoholic drinker?
    Looking forward to the December 15 event.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should have included that Dru--see Coralee's suggestion above!

      Delete
  7. I am not much of a fan of either whiskey or rye, so I vote for the Campari Spritz.
    I have added the PP Dec 15 event to my calendar...hope the Internet connection works this time!

    ReplyDelete
  8. On my calendar! Prefer my wine and spirits unmixed, voting no to all of these. Will a glass of Cabernet be acceptable? :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Like Coralee and Dru, I'll go for non alcoholic drink, a mocktail to toast you all.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Definitely signing up for event on Dec 15. It's always fun to see your pals!

    As for cocktails, they're okay but I don't love them and I do love Scotch. Is it okay if I just bring a glass of wine or a Scotch neat to the party?

    ReplyDelete
  11. It’s the 12th! It’s the 12th! Lucy is about to fix it, but I wanted it to be in the comments, too!

    I am very fond of vodka with fizzy pink grapefruit and a wedge of lime. It is amazing! Does pink work?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Hank. I wondered about the Monday date...

      Delete
    3. If they are letting me bring Scotch, then yeah, pink works(-;

      Delete
  12. Definitely the Campari spritz!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The date is going on my calendar! I enjoyed the last one!

    Edith, yours is going on my calendar, too.

    DebRo

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have calendared the event and am excited to be there. As to what I will be drinking, I will probably decide about December 11....but the leading contenders are the Bacardi Cocktail, the Cape Codder, or a glass of red wine. This probably qualifies as the most exciting thing on my December calendar so far, and while I do love you all, I can't help but think that is a sad testament to 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh Susan, we all can't wait for better times in 2021. Yikes this has been an awful year...

      Delete
  15. JRW + cocktails is a sure-fire recipe for a fun time. Date is on my calendar!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'd like to throw into the mix:
    Pomegranate Cosmopolitan - pomegranate juice, vodka, lime juice, Creme de Cassis, and I add club soda because I'm a wimpy drinker
    Or
    a spicy Blood Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, that pomegranate Cosmo sounds fun!

      Delete
    2. I use POM pomegranate juice in cocktails all the time, usually gin for me but vodka works as well. My problem is I don't usually measure anything but the liquor, but roughly: Squeeze one half lemon or lime, plus juice from a small clementine or part of an orange. Add an ounce of gin (I like Bombay Sapphire for this,) a half ounce orange liqueur (I use Cointreau or, even better, Clement Creole Shrubb. Fill glass tumbler or wine glass with ice, add a good splash of pomegranate juice, then top with sparking wine. Garnish with lemon or lime wedge. A sprig of mint or basil is lovely, too. This drink will be RED, but very refreshing and not super high alcohol content. Salute!

      PS If you use orange liqueur, the Clement is wonderful. It's made in New Orleans, is slightly spicy, and not as sweet as Cointreau.

      Delete
  17. I'm going to vote for the Irish Redhead or the Campari Spritz - although a spritz seems so summery to me.

    I also love hot toddies in cold weather - hot rum and apple cider, whiskey mac (although that requires laying hands on ginger wine, which can be hard to find around here)or our family's self-named Kazakhstani health drink: juice from a quarter to half a lemon, a generous spoonful of honey, a shot of vodka, mixed with boiling water. Drink it as hot as you can bear it - it will cure what ails you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grandma swore by hot toddies for what might ail you. Her recipe was whiskey, tea, honey and lemon juice - or is that mine?

      Delete
    2. Deana, that's my go-to bedtime sip when I'm sick, minus the tea. Works a treat, too.

      Julia, I've never tried it with vodka. Hmm.

      Delete
    3. Deana, that's the same recipe I use!

      Delete
  18. Last year I found small cans of diet sparkling cranberry juice so that will probably be my choice, served in one of my great-grandmother's pink crystal glasses for a little extra cheer. The mocktail Coralee mentioned above sounds good too. I could just reverse which juice is sparkling and which is still. So now I need to get to Poison Pen's site in add all these dates for the events on my calendar. First Edith's and then Jungle Red the following week. Now, how can I send the cocktail book to my sister's Kindle? I'm sending her the link so she can find it but it would be fun just drop it into her Kindle as a surprise...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yum! Campari spritz sounds fabulous. After we built the tiki bar at our pool hubs decided to make a drink a night for happy hour. The only red one I recall was a Cherry Blossom. It was wonderful and very refreshing. Like all of the "pretty cocktails" it also packed a punch!

    ReplyDelete
  20. So looking forward to this! But I will probably stick to the spritz, or my RED cocktail above!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Skidding in awfully late today, and voila! Cocktail recipes. How fun, and how fun to look forward to a holiday cocktail/mocktail party with all of you! Thank you.

    All summer we celebrated most Fridays with an Aperol spritz, but I'll have to try one made with Campari.

    For the Scotch drinkers who also want a red drink, may I submit the Rob Roy? Ingredients. 2 ounces scotch. 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth. 3 dashes Angostura bitters. Garnish: brandied cherry.

    Or, if you want to get knocked straight onto your butt, try our potent, one-drink-only New Year's Eve celebratory cocktail, the Sazerac, which is also red from Peychaud bitters: 1 1/2 oz Sazerac Rye whiskey or Cognac, 1/4 oz Absinthe, One sugar cube, Three dashes Peychaud's Bitters.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Campari spritz or rye billionaire.

    ReplyDelete