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Dec 9, 2016 at 3:58 PM
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Rayo de Sol
Rayo de Sol
Ingredients - Makes one 5 oz cocktail
2 oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
1 oz NVD Grand California*
.75 Fresh lemon juice
.25 Fresh lime juice
1 oz Bang Candy Peach Basil Nectar*
2 dashes Berg & Hauck Celery Bitters
Preparation:
Shake all ingredients vigorously over ice. Strain. Garnish with fresh lime zest.
Enjoy and repeat responsibly
*Ingredients included in the June 2015 Bar Club Package
Recipe created by Napa Valley Distillery resident mixologist Aaron Lahey
Coupe De Ville Margarita
Coupe de Ville Margarita
Ingredients - Makes one 8 oz cocktail
2 oz premium Reposado Tequila
1 oz NVD Grand California*
1 fresh lime, juiced
1 Slice Inna Preserved Meyer Lemon*
2 oz Cocktail Crate Sriracha Margarita Mix*
.75 oz Bang Candy Peach Basil Nectar*
Preperation:
Muddle tequila and lemon with ice in a shaker. Add all other ingredients except Grand California. Shake hard, pour unstrained into a highball glass. Garnish with lime shell, top with Grand California.
Enjoy and repeat responsibly
*Ingredients included in the June 2015 Bar Club Package
Recipe created by Napa Valley Distillery resident mixologist Aaron Lahey
Cherry Darlin
Cherry Darlin'
Ingredients - Makes one 4 oz cocktail
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Grand California*
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Cherry Brandy
1 oz Fresh Orange Juice
1 oz Tart Cherry Juice
2 dashes Berg & Hauck Aromatic Bitters
Preperation:
Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist and Luxardo Marischino Cherry
Enjoy and repeat responsibly
*Ingredients included in the June 2015 Bar Club Package
Happy Spooky Spirited Halloween!
Hello Booze Log Readers!
It's been a while. I'm back, for one night only, to talk a little bit about Halloween; as well as the spooky cocktails this holiday inspired me to create.
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. There's a natural creativity to it, between carving jack o lanterns, making haunted houses, and carefully crafting your costume. It's like the arts and crafts fair of holidays.
For the last few years now this creatively charged holiday has compelled me to make creepy cocktails, inspired by things that go bump in the night.
Nightmare on Ginn Street
I recently watched Wes Craven's slasher classic for the first time, far overdue I may add. The goofy, yet still terrifying Freddy Krueger is more than deserving of a creepy cocktail namesake.
The main color palette for the drink is green and red, reminiscent of Freddy's grubby sweater. The float of bitters mottles the foam on the top of the drink, making it look like burnt skin. Despite the intimidating visage, this drink is wonderfully refreshing. Full of spices from the Old Hollywood Ginn, with a strong raspberry note, dry botanicals, and more than a touch of rich Cocoa, this is a perfect cocktail for a warm fall night.
Nightmare on Ginn Street
2 oz Napa Valley Distillery - Old Hollywood Ginn
.5 oz Premium Dry Vermouth
.5 oz Small Hands Foods - Raspberry Gum Syrup
8 Drops Napa Valley Bitters - Antique Chocolate Bitters
Lime Wheel
Pour .25 oz Raspberry Gum Syrup into the bottom of a chilled cocktail glass. Add all other ingredients to cocktail shaker and shake hard with ice. Strain into glass.
Garnish with a lime wheel and 4 additional drops of Antique Chocolate Bitters.
Tower of Terror
Ever since Napa Valley Distillery released the Grand California, something about it reminded me of being a kid and going to Disney's California Adventure theme park. Everyone knows the best ride in the park is the Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror, a creepy 1930's hotel, with quite the drop.
These memories are what inspired the Tower of Terror cocktail. A southern Californian play on a Moscow Mule, replacing vodka with 80 proof Orange Brandy and adding some south of the border kick with tamarind chili lime bitters. The look of the drink, from the Colin's glass to the cherry on top, is supposed to be reminiscent of an Art Deco hotel.
Tower of Terror
1.5 oz Napa Valley Distillery - Grand California
1/2 Lime, juiced
6 oz Ginger Beer (or 1 oz. Pickett's #1 Ginger Beer Syrup, Medium Spicy & 5 oz soda water)
8 drops Napa Valley Bitters - Tamarind Lime Chili Bitters
Fresh Orange Peel
Fill Collins glass with ice. Add the Grand California first, then lime juice, topping with Ginger Beer. (If using Pickett's #1 Syrup and soda water together mix in a separate glass before adding to the cocktail).
Garnish with flamed orange twist and float bitters on top.
I hope you enjoy these eerie libations as much as I enjoyed creating them. They are alive...ALIVE I SAY!!!
Until next time,
Your ever humble, mad mixologist
Aaron Lahey
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
Thirsty Thursday: The Real California Mint Julep
We have a very special weekend coming up Booze Log Readers: The Kentucky Derby! What is the Kentucky Derby without its ubiquitous cocktail, the Mint Julep? It's just another horse race. This iconic libation became the official drink of Churchill Downs in 1938, when they started selling it in commemorative Julep cups.
Although synonymous with Kentucky know, the Mint Julep was originally associated with Virginia. Originally described in 1803 as "a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning." These Virginia Juleps were thought to use brandy, rum, or rye as their "spirituous liquor," not Bourbon at all! In fact, in Jerry Thomas's 1887 edition of his bartending guide, he includes several recipes for mint juleps, none of which call for whiskey. However, in my humble opinion, no matter the cocktails origin, if you are drinking one for derby, it better have Kentucky bourbon in it.
The Real California Mint Julep is a play on Jerry Thomas' The Real Georgia Mint Julep, which uses cognac and peach brandy as its base spirits. I really liked the idea of pairing the mint and a stone fruit flavor like peach. I also like how different regions have taken this simple drink and modified it to express local character. I am going to attempt to do the same here, using a fuzzy stone fruit native to California: the apricot. Instead of simple syrup I add a bit of black-strap molasses. This drink is, after all, for the racetrack; and molasses always reminds me of the stables.
Alright, I can tell you are chomping at the bit. Here's the Recipe:
The Real California Mint Julep
2 oz Kentucky Straight Bourbon
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Apricot Brandy
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Grand California
1 heaping barspoon Luxardo Apry Apricot preserves, or other high quality apricot jam
1 small barspoon black-strap molasses
6 large fresh mint leaves
More fresh mint to garnish
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint with the apricot preserves and molasses. Add spirits, stir well with a bar spoon, making sure to scrape the sides of the shaker. In a julep cup or highball glass, fill to over the edge of the glass with crushed or shaved ice*. Strain the contents of the shaker over the crushed ice, through a fine sieve. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs. Watch a horse race. Repeat. Makes one 8 oz cocktail.
*All juleps will have crushed or shaved ice, that is what makes them a julep.
Enjoy the Derby everyone! Until next week!
Your ever humble, equestrian barman,
Aaron Lahey