Happy National Vodka Day!

Today (October 4th) is National Vodka Day and if you're looking to raise a glass, consider this delicious recipe from Prairie Organic Spirits:

Roasted Grape Bounty

·         2 oz. Prairie Organic Vodka

·         1 oz. grape juice

·         ½ vanilla bean, scraped

·         Vanilla sugar rim

Directions:

1.    Place 2 oz. of Prairie Organic Vodka and 1 oz. of grape juice in a shaker. Mix vigorously.

2.    Pour the mix into a tall glass rimmed with sugar previously.

3.    Top with ice and the vanilla bean

Yellow Rose Whiskey Cocktail: Peachy Keen Punch

Last week, Wyatt and my friend DJ. D (WorldWide Playa) took a terrific tour of the Yellow Rose Distillery, Houston's only whiskey distillery. #drinklocal

You can actually purchase one of the barrels.

Samples were abundant and we even had the opportunity to try a super-proof (but don't call it 'moonshine') white whiskey.

I'll take three of each, please.

Yellow Rose also graciously gifted Bridey with her own bottle, which she has been using purely for research purposes. Most recently, her fieldwork experimentation yielded a novel drink she likes to call,  "Peachy Keen Punch."

The Peachy Keen

Peachy Keen Punch

• 2 ounces Yellow Rose Straight Rye Whiskey 

• 2 ounces peach juice

• 2 ounces Sparkling Ice Strawberry Watermelon

• Strawberry Garnish

Fill a chilled mason jar with 2-3 ice cubes. Add Yellow Rose whiskey and peach juice, then top with Sparkling Ice Strawberry Watermelon. Garnish with strawberry slice. Sip as the sun goes down.

Like other stone fruit, peaches provide an even sweetness that wonderfully complements the rougher smoky undertones of the whiskey.  Berry-flavored bubbles add effervescence as well as a more piquant sugary note, making for a punch that pulls a softer punch.

Cruzan + Creativity = Great Concoctions

When it comes to rum, I am conservative and rather picky. I prefer dark, moderately sweet varieties for my Dark & Stormy's and high quality strong monotone whites for mojitos. For this reason, I was initially reluctant to agree to review Cruzan's fruit-flavored white rums. 

Not that I have anything against Cruzan, as I cannot bestow enough accolades on their terrific aged dark rum and their innovative black strap rum, whose licorice notes are just tantalizing, and incidentally, which makes for a mean rum and coke. And truth be told a ways back I tried (and liked) their blueberry lemonade rum.

My invention: Cruzan Skinny Orange Strawberry Fields Forever

But fruit-flavored spirits in general tend to be saccharine and over-the-top in terms of their taste profiles and more often than not don't come off as particularly natural.  The mango and orange (and yes, they do taste different) Cruzan white rums seem to be the exception, perhaps because they are lower in alcohol content and more subtle in their botanical flavors. Sipping either straight up is pleasurable, and not, as in the case of some other brands who shall not be named, like quaffing hastily made prison hooch from purloined generic juice.

I recreated the Cruzan Carpe Diem, though with a blood orange twist, and it was light and refreshing. I am still in the process of experimenting with some of the other flavors, but so far my 'research' has yielded a nice concoction I call the "Cruzan Skinny Orange Strawberry Fields Forever." (Btw, probably about time I got off my high horse about being 'natural' as I used HEB soda because I was in a pinch.) Here's the recipe: 

Cruzan® Skinny Strawberry Fields Forever

Ingredients: 

1½ parts Cruzan® Orange Rum,

3 parts light or diet strawberry soda (I recommend Zevia)

Garnish: Fresh strawberry
 

Method: Pour rum and strawberry soda into a chilled glass filled with ice. Stir to combine and garnish with a strawberry. 

I will keep you posted on additional possibilities for cocktails...and there are many.