Saturday Spirits: Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail

August 6, 2016 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

The final month of Summer is here and I’m trying to soak in as much as I can of these late nights with friends. One recent summer evening we enjoyed an evening out amongst the glow of the fire pit and these beautiful beverages served in LED barware from PremierGlow.Com. The Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail features Ménage à Trois Vodka. I was sent a bottle of Ménage à Trois Vodka and PremierGlow LED Barware for purposes of creating a recipe to share with readers. All opinions are my own. For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page.

When I received these fun LED Black Tie Martini Glasses I knew I wanted to do a girls night or a summer glow themed party. Really though, they would work simply as a way to keep track of glasses since the LED lights can be set to a desired color.

I wanted a flavorful summer beverage that would accentuate the glow of the glass. The flavors of blueberry and orange came to mind almost immediately! I chose a blue/purple colored light to accentuate the drink. They turned out beautiful!

Blueberry Tangerine Cocktail

This was an easy party beverage because it didn’t require a ton of different ingredients and very little prep. I picked up the Blueberry Juice and Tangerine Italian Soda at our local 365 by Whole Foods Market, though you can likely find similar products at your local natural grocery store. You can absolutely make this more of a craft blueberry tangerine cocktail by creating a blueberry simple syrup and orange or tangerine simple syrup and topping with soda water. The drink can also easily be made in a pitcher or served over ice instead of up.

Ingredients/Supplies:

Shaker with ice & strainer
1 1/4 oz of your favorite vodka – I used Ménage à Trois Vodka
1 oz of your favorite orange liqueur
1 oz of blueberry juice
3 oz of tangerine Italian Soda (orange soda would work in a pinch)
Optional: Sugar & orange juice for a sugared rim on glass
Optional: Frozen and sugared blueberries on a skewer for garnish

Directions:

Sugar the rim of your martini glass by dipping the rim into orange juice (or rubbing an orange slice around the rim) and dipping rim into a plate of sugar.
Pour 1 oz of blueberry juice into your martini glass.
Pour vodka, orange liqueur and tangerine Italian Soda over ice in a shaker.
Shake just to chill, strain into the martini glass.
Garnish with a skewer of sugared blueberries and enjoy!

Want more cocktails featuring vodka?

Check out the posts below!

Salted Caramel Apple Hot Toddy
Spiked Ice Cream
Classic Martini
Twists on the Classic Martini
Lemon Ginger Drop Cocktail
Vodka Slushies

A Well Crafted Pantry

Saturday Spirits: Vodka Slushies

July 23, 2016 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

Two words—Vodka Slushies. My first job was at a drive-in that served delicious, sweet slushies in a variety of flavors. I drank those things ALL SUMMER LONG. Now days I try to stay away from that much sugar and typically enjoy my sweet drinks in the form of an adult beverage. So, for today’s Saturday Spirits I combined my summer-time favorite and favorite vodka cocktails for two fantastic vodka slushies featuring Ménage à Trois Vodka. I was sent a bottle of Ménage à Trois Vodka for purposes of creating a recipe to share with readers. All opinions are my own. For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page.

Vodka Slushies Inspired by Classic Cocktails

Vodka is such a versatile beverage. It is one of my favorite cocktail ingredients hands down. My bar ALWAYS has vodka stocked. I love all the classic vodka cocktails from a classic vodka martini to a bloody mary. Two classic vodka cocktails inspired these delicious vodka slushies that are perfect for summer— a salty dog and screwdriver! Read on to see how to make both the classic versions of these cocktails and the slushie version!

Classic Screwdriver & Classic Salty Dog

These two drinks are good ALL day long from brunch to sundown.

Ingredients:

2 oz Ménage à Trois Vodka (or your favorite brand vodka)
4 oz of fruit juice (either Orange or Grapefruit)
Ice
Rocks Glass

Screwdriver

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Top with 2 oz of vodka then add 4 oz of orange juice. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with an orange and enjoy!

Salty Dog

A Salty Dog is a Greyhound cocktail with salt on the rim. To make a Salty Dog rim a rocks glass with kosher salt, fill with ice, pour 2 oz of vodka on ice, and then add 4 oz of grapefruit juice. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge and enjoy!

Make them into slushies

There are two ways to make these classic cocktails into slushies. The first is if you are in a rush. the results will be tasty, but they won’t have quite the same consistency as the second.

First Method:

Pour your completed cocktail into a blender and blend away! Pour the blended cocktail into a glass serve with garnish and a straw!

Second Method (preferred method):

The night before you plan to make the cocktails fill a few ice cube trays with your juice of choice and freeze. Use the frozen fruit juice to build your drink in the blender. Each drink takes approximately 6 ice cubes to 2 oz vodka. Garnish and then serve with a straw!

Pro Tip: Keep frozen fruit juice cubes in a ziplock in your freezer for impromptu vodka slushies or deliciously cold mimosas!

Tell me… what is your favorite cocktail that features vodka?

A Well Crafted Pantry

Saturday Spirits: Twists on the Martini Recipe

August 9, 2014 3 Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

Greek Martini and Other Twists on the Classic // A Well Crafted Party — Image taken by Portland photographer Macey Snelson of Motormouth Studios

Last week’s post featured one of my all time favorite cocktails… a simple, classic martini! I also shared a bit of the terminology surrounding martinis. I could drink a classic martini almost every time I want a drink. However, every now and again I like to mix up my martini a bit with one of the following “twists” on tradition.

Martini with a Twist: This is actually pretty much considered a classic. But, because I typically prefer olives… this is mixing it up for me. When I want a different flavor than olives I’ll make the classic martini and add a lemon twist. Nearly any bar, any where will have the ingredients to make this cocktail. (A twist is just a piece of citrus zest that garnishes a cocktail.) How to Make a Lemon Twist: I love this Bon Appetit article that shows three ways to make a lemon twist.
Dirty Greek Martini: (pictured) One of my favorite greek restaurants serves their dirty martini subbing greek olives instead of the traditionally used pimento stuffed green olives. I like to do vodka in my greek martini! This cocktail might be best made at home since most bars aren’t going to carry greek olives. How To Make a Dirty Greek Martini: Pour 2 oz vodka, 3/4 oz dry vermouth, and 1/4 oz greek olive juice over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake at least 45 seconds. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with greek olives.
Gibson: A Gibson Martini is traditionally a Gin martini garnished with a pickled onion. This is a super traditional drink—most bars will be able to easily whip this up for you. How to Make a Gibson Martini: Pour 2 oz of gin and 3/4 oz dry vermouth over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake for at least 45 seconds. Stain into a martini glass. Garnish with pickled pearl onions.
Dirty & Spicy Martini: A dangerously good sipper if you like it hot… I tried this martini at a bar that had their own pepper infused vodka. You can easily make it at home, but some bars may have the fixings for this as well. How to Make a Dirty & Spicy Martini: Pour 2 oz pepper infused vodka, 3/4 oz dry vermouth, and 1/4 oz olive juice over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a pepper and olive!
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives with a Dry Martini: When I know a bar has freshly stuffed blue cheese olives I will ALWAYS order this drink. They have to be freshly stuffed though… I haven’t met a jarred blue cheese stuffed olive than I’ve liked yet. How to make Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives with a Dry Martini: For the martini I like to keep it very dry and clean. First you’ll want to prep your olives. I typically get large pimento stuffed green olives, pop out the pimento’s and stuff with blue cheese using my fingers. I then pour 1/4 oz vermouth into a chilled martini glass, swish around the glass and pour out. Then pour 3 oz of vodka over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake well and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with your freshly stuffed Blue Cheese Olives!

There are a ton of variations of cocktails that are based off the basic martini recipe. Changing up garnishes and/or portions can easily switch up a drink.

Tell me…. do you like martinis? If so, what is your martini order? Comment below!

PS: Don’t miss out on your opportunity to win an awesome new wireless speaker! Check out my current giveaway for your chance to win!