Thirsty Thursday: Strawberry Ginger Smash with Homemade Ginger Beer

In case you didn't know, the Hubs (and me, technically...I'm more of an assistant) is a home brewer.  We've been brewing for several years now.  It's a fun if periodically frustrating hobby (like most hobbies, probably), that gives you a tangible result in the end...that can also get you buzzed.  Earlier this year we decided to branch out from our usual beermaking to make some spicy ginger beer from an extract kit we found at our local homebrewing store.

The full packet makes 16 Liters, so we bottled four 2-Liters, and then put the rest in the fermenter with some yeast.  The yeast gobbles up some of the sugar and converts it to alcohol, and boom...you have hard ginger beer.

BOOM, is right...since we decided to use champagne yeast.  Which not surprisingly, makes the bottles fizz up like crazy when you open them...much like a bottle of champagne.

Anyway, aside from those incidents, it's tasty stuff...providing you like ginger. Like, REALLY like ginger.  This stuff will go up your nose and make you cough.

Much like the other super-spicy ginger beer, Q, this makes an excellent moscow mule. Or Dark & Stormy  But since we've already made those here before, I wanted to try something a little different.

INGREDIENTS: (per cocktail)
4 hulled strawberries
1 tsp honey
5-7 mint leaves (note: I think this would be equally delicious with basil)
1/2 lime juice
3-4 oz strawberry infused vodka 
8 oz homemade ginger beer 
Crushed ice

DIRECTIONS:
Place the strawberries, mint, and honey in the bottom of the glass and muddle with a wooden spoon.  Then top with crushed ice.

Add the lime juice, vodka, and ginger beer.  Garnish as desired.  Kick back and enjoy with a nice cheese plate.

Featured cheese: Mango Ginger Stilton

Slainte!

Thirsty Thursday: Moscow Mule

My last trip down south, my buddy Dre introduced me to Q Ginger Beer.  If you like ginger, you will LOVE this stuff. If you don't like ginger...well, you should probably steer clear.  There was a time when I thought Gosling's was intense.  This stuff...man.  If the first sip doesn't make you cough, you're a tougher mother than myself.  Big, bold, peppery, the heat of ginger, all in a fizzy cold soda. It's crazy.

Dre's sweet handmade man-cave bar in the background.

So Dre made me a Moscow Mule with Q, and I was hooked. I immediately went to Target & picked some up when I got home and made drinks for The Hubs & I that next week. (Note: I do not have the fancy copper mugs. Sorry.)

INGREDIENTS: 
Large glass
crushed ice (our new fridge dispenses crushed ice. I'm so spoiled now.)
1-2 oz lime juice (start w/1 oz, and if you need a little more to offset the burn of the ginger beer you can add more)
2 oz vodka (we like 360 Vodka, made in Missouri!)
6 oz Q ginger beer

DIRECTIONS:
Pour lime juice & vodka over ice.  Top with ginger beer and add lime wedge for garnish. Enjoy!

Note: I also had a killer Bloody Mary this same trip. So if you're flying through New Orleans (MSY), stop by the Atrium Bar (D Terminal) and ask for one.  (I am easily bribed by lots of free pickled snacks in my drinks, obviously.)

Thirsty Thursday: Candied Praline

I'm so glad to see the weather outside finally warming up so we can enjoy our porch!  Well...when it's not raining and soaking our chair cushions.  Apparently some of those April showers got delayed.  We can probably blame DFW airport--I always seem to get stuck there too. :)

I've been having a lot of fun coming up with things to use this Praline Liqueur  from New Orleans in.  So far, we've used it to sweeten up an Irish Channel coffee and add a nutty hint to pineapple upside down pancakes.  Then I whipped up this cocktail the other night to enjoy out on the porch after work.  The ginger ale helps to balance out the sweetness of the liqueur.  And for fun, I threw a little chiffonade of basil in there for the aromatics.

INGREDIENTS:
1 oz Praline Liqueur
4 oz ginger ale
Ice
basil chiffonade (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Muddle basil with ice, and then add the liqueur and ginger ale.  Drink outside.  Enjoy!

Thirsty Thursday: Jumping the Shark (Ginger, Lime & Spiced Rum Cocktail)

Have you heard of the show "Bar Rescue"?  It's on Spike, and it's one of those shows that tends to marathon at random times and makes a decent background noise--even though I'm relatively sure the host is part of the mob and has a voice that really grates the nerves after a while.

"I amuse you? I make you laugh? Funny how?"

You can probably figure out the premise--there's a bar, they're in debt and losing business, due to bad management/poor employees/bad service, whathaveyou.  Mob Boss swoops in, yells at them for a while, gives the owner/manager a pep talk, while his assistants revamp the menu, teach them some new signature drinks--and oh yeah, usually completely change the decor and the name of the bar.  Lingerie bar in Detroit?  Boom--now it's car themed.  Irish bar in the Midwest? BAM--now you're an ol' western saloon.  Tavern in Tampa?  Guess what?  Now you're a tiki bar.  

Sure, it's schticky, but if nothing else, we at least learn a few new cocktail recipes.  This is from the one that ended up as a tiki bar, but we've put a Cajun spin on it, using some Bayou Rum from Lacassine, LA.

INGREDIENTS:
2 oz Bayou Spiced Rum
1/2 oz Agave syrup
1 oz lime juice
4-6 oz ginger ale

DIRECTIONS:
Fill a pint glass with ice and add the rum, syrup, and lime juice, then cover and shake.  Pour into a glass with ice and top with the ginger ale.  Enjoy!