Crazy for Cocktails: Margarita

I welcomed in the New Year with my favorite cocktail, Margarita. I began my hunt for a recipe at the Jose′ Cuervo site where I was directed to use a Margarita mix. I think I’ve been very clear how I feel about pre-made anything. So I hopped over to my new favorite site, About.com: Cocktails and wasn’t disappointed. Colleen has recipes for all kinds of mixers for cocktails.

She also offers the alternative of sugar, instead of the usual salt, to rim the glass. I don’t eat a lot of salt, so I have always ordered my margaritas with it, but I have to admit that I am intrigued by the idea of using sugar.

Now a word about tools. Other than the alcohol, I haven’t wanted to invest a lot of money in my little cocktail experiments. Instead of running out and buying a lot of fancy gizmos that I may or may not ever use again, I’ve just been using whatever I have on hand. For a stirrer, I’ve used a chopstick. Instead of a shot glass, I’ve used my measuring cup. For the margarita, I needed a cocktail shaker which I don’t have, so I substituted a Ziplock container. Glassware has also been a problem. I’ve substituted plain old drinking glasses for rocks glasses and in the case of the margarita, I used an old-fashioned wide champagne glass:

How Not To Make A Margarita

My first margarita tasted a little “off”. I decided that it must be too much triple sec. My measuring cup starts accurate measurements at 2 ounces. Anything less than that such as the ½ ounce of triple sec has to be guesstimated. I guessed that I guesstimated a little on the heavy side. The second one tasted better with less triple sec. I still have lots of mixer left so I’ll probably be trying margaritas again some time. Maybe with sugar on the rim.


Margarita(source: About.com: Cocktails)

1 ½ oz tequila
½ oz triple sec
Dash of lemon or lime juice
3 oz sour mix
Lime wedge for garnish
Salt or sugar to rim the glass (optional)

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.

Shake well.

If desired, salt the rim of a chilled margarita glass.

Pour contents, with ice, into the glass.

Garnish with the lime wedge.

Recycle: tequila bottle, triple sec bottle

Compost: lime

Crazy for Cocktails: White Russian

Not being a black coffee drinker, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Black Russian. I’m more of a café au lait person. I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar. So I was really looking forward to trying a White Russian.

Using the Kahlua recipe of 2 parts Kahlua and 1 part vodka, I added Half & Half but didn’t stir it. I’m learning mixology, the study of mixing cocktails, courtesy of Colleen Graham on About.com:Cocktails. I’ve learned important things like adding ingredients in the order in which they are given in the recipe. This makes sense to me as a cook and baker.

In the case of a White Russian cocktail, if you mix the cream into the other ingredients, it becomes another cocktail, a Dirty Bird. And I have to say, drinking the White Russian with the cream on top and the alcohol underneath gives the impression that you are drinking coffee ice cream with a kick. Yum!!




White Russian(source: Kahlua.com)

2 parts Kahlua
1 part vodka
Add milk or cream

Pour over ice in a rocks glass.

Recycle: Kahlua bottle, vodka bottle

Crazy for Cocktails: Black Russian

When I saw that the recipe for the Chocolate Tart called for Kahlua, the ubiquitous TV commercials immediately sprang to mind. I had just visited the Bacardi site in search of a recipe for mojitos, so I searched the Kahlua site for cocktail recipes. There were about a dozen, two of which were popular when I was a child, Black Russian and White Russian.

I had often overheard these cocktails mentioned in adult conversations, but had never actually seen either one. I grew up in a dry household. Alcohol, kept in the cabinet over the refrigerator, was only served to guests. My parents didn’t drink. Or so they claimed. Teenagers are often awake late at night and that was when I discovered that Late Night with Johnny Carson wasn’t the only reason that my father stayed up later than my mother. He liked his Scotch. There were even rumors that at neighborhood parties, his consumption of Scotch had to be closely monitored lest he start trying on lampshades.

I opted to start with the Black Russian. The recipe was simple. 2 parts Kahlua, 1 part vodka, pour over ice in a rocks glass. Whatever that is. Unlike my parents, I do drink. Outside of my home. I keep no alcohol in my house. So I know nothing about barware. A little Googling led me to a wonderful columnist on About.com:Cocktails, Colleen Graham. From her I learned that a “rocks glass” is that short, fat little glass from which my father drank his Scotch. I wasn’t about to run out and buy new glasses for a cocktail that I may or may not like. I settle on using my usual tall glasses. Having used them, I can see the wisdom of rocks glasses.

Interestingly enough, her recipe for Black Russian was the opposite of the Kahlua recipe. She uses 1 ¾ oz vodka, ¾ oz coffee liqueur, then instructs you to build the ingredients in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice and stir well. I decided to try both versions.

I started with Colleen’s recipe. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. Then I reversed the ratio with the Kahlua recipe, which turned out to be fabulous. I loved the smooth coffee flavor of the Kahlua with just a kick from the vodka. Hmmm . . . maybe I’ll go out and buy those glasses after all.



Black Russian(source: Kahlua.com)

2 parts Kahlua
1 part vodka

Pour over ice in a rocks glass.

Recycle: Kahlua bottle, vodka bottle

Crazy for Cocktails: Mojito

I resisted the siren call of cable TV for years. I didn’t watch a lot of TV. I’m more of a book and movie person. Reality TV does nothing for me. Bachelors, Bachlorettes and Idols don’t do it for me. Nor do Big Brothers and Survivors. The internet, on the other hand, became a bigger and bigger part of my life. Banking, shopping, income taxes, blogging, email, I was spending more and more time online. Time to upgrade from dial-up.

After 14 months of DSL hell, I switched to cable. And discovered my television. Who knew that I could watch Law & Order any time, day or night? I began to branch out. CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Dexter and, my all-time favorite, House.

CSI: Miami fascinates me. No workplace could possibly function with that much cleavage being flashed around. Whenever the ME kneels over a corpse, I hold my breath waiting for a wardrobe malfunction. When the characters aren’t flashing cleavage or trying to ignore flashing cleavage, they’re offering someone a mojita, drinking a mojito or examining a corpse who died after drinking a mojita.

Which lead me to the logical question: what is a mojito? A little Googling told me that it is a drink made with rum. I just happened to have a bottle of rum in the house that was used in the Rum Balls. A quick visit to the Bacardi site and I added a lime and mint to my shopping list. I was making Cuban Pork for Christmas. Mojitos seemed the perfect accompaniment.

The pork was excellent. The mojito on the other hand was not a revelation. Since I was using sugar instead of simple syrup, I discovered that the ice prevented the sugar from being dissolved by the rum and club soda. So the second time (one always has to have a second drink, just to make sure) I poured the rum in before the ice, stirring to make sure the sugar was dissolved. The lime offset the taste of the rum and the mint added a refreshing touch, but it didn’t wow me so much that I wanted to run right out and buy a push-up bra.




Bacardi Mojito Cocktail(source: Bacardi.com)

1 1/2 oz. Bacardi Superior Rum
12 fresh spearmint leaves
1/2 lime
2 Tbsp simple syrup (or 4 tsp sugar)
Top with club soda

Muddle mint leaves and lime in a tall glass. Cover with simple syrup and fill glass with ice. Add Bacardi Rum and club soda. Stir well. Garnish glass with lime wedge and sprigs. of mint.

Recycle: Rum bottle

Compost: lime, spearmint stems