My bad habits are back…

#ad Together with my friends at @tanduayrum, I’ve taken one of my favorite Filipino street foods and found a way to make it into a cocktail. Turon is kind of like a Filipino dessert egg roll, but I made it with jack fruit and I thought, wait a minute, this would be killer as a cocktail, so here we are.

If you’ve never had jackfruit before, it tastes like if a pineapple, banana and mango had a baby. It’s tropical and sweet and I figured it would be perfect as a syrup in a Rum Old Fashioned using Tanduay Overproof. I just figured the tropical notes in the jackfruit would just play really well with an aged, higher proof rum and I wasn’t wrong.

As always, with these drinks, I have to make the a little snack as the garnish, so we’re going to skewer a little piece of turon to caramelize later.

What filipino dessert should I make into a cocktail next? Drop it down below!

Cheers y’all.

Weird (but good).

Jackfruit or ‘Lanka’ (in Tagalog), tastes like if a pineapple, banana and mango had a baby - it’s tropical and sweet and figured it would make for a killer syrup in a tiki drink or hell, even an Old Fashioned (subtle foreshadowing).

Fun fact: The average jackfruit weighs between 15 to 35 pounds (7 to 16 kg). However, as the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, they have a massive size range; smaller varieties can weigh under 10 pounds, while exceptionally large specimens can easily reach 80 to 120 pounds (36 to 55 kg)

Follow along for Part II because I’ll be making something amazing with it but let me know what you’d make with this too!

Ever had a jackfruit before? 🍈🇵🇭

Today I’m making one of my favorite Filipino desserts that my mom used to make when I was a kid.

Everyone is familiar with Filipino lumpia, but turon is like its sweeter, dessert-style cousin. It’s typically stuffed with Saba bananas but today we’re using jackfruit which tastes like if a pineapple, banana and mango had a baby. It’s tropical and sweet and if you can’t get it fresh, just use the canned version like my mom used to. This version is stuffed with fruit, brown sugar then coated in a caramel glaze and so damn good.

Truth be told, this is my first time making this from scratch [without my mom] because I’m doing some R&D on a drink recipe coming soon but I’m so glad I did because it was as delicious as it was nostalgic.

Hope y’all enjoy this one - what filipino dessert should I make next?

Cheers y’all

#ad Is the BEST rendition of an Old Fashioned? 🥃 🍒🍊

Together with my friends at @angosturahouse, we’re going to find out. When I think of an Old Fashioned, the first ingredient that comes to mind is always ANGOSTURA bitters, so we teamed up to make a summer version of this classic and trying their brand new ANGOSTURA demerara syrup with some help from our friends in Wisconsin.

This cocktail is straightforward but we’re going to make some subtle tweaks like substituting 100 proof bourbon for Brandy and using this Demerara simple syrup. If you know me, you know I’ve always preferred Demerara sugar in my old fashioneds because of the rich complexity of the molasses content in the sugar. It just pairs perfectly with any dark spirit like a classic old fashioned.

The Wisconsin-style old fashioned gets a lot of hate due to the fact that you muddle fruit into the cocktail but if you change your mindset from “old fashioned-style” to “smash-style” cocktail served over plenty of crushed ice, I think you’d agree that this is a sippable, refreshing cocktail that you can enjoy in the summer.

Do you agree? Let me know what you think, cheers y’all.

A smokey, caramelized pineapple 🤝 tequila #ad21+

Smoky, sweet, and just a little salty, this one is my type of summer margarita.

The pineapple gets a quick run on the @traegergrills Westwood XL grill, picking up that smoky, wood-fired flavor that takes this margarita to another level. Paired with nice blanco tequila and a touch of smoked sea salt, it’s balanced, refreshing and built for warm days by the grill. Don’t forget the caramelized, charred pineapple garnish!

Cheers, y’all!

Some cocktails are better when they're ready before you need them.

This Flasked Spiced Pear Boulevardier is built for two. Perfect for a cozy date night in or passing it around the firepit with friends as the air starts to cool. WhistlePig 10 Year Rye is the backbone here, bringing bold spice, oak, and a touch of sweetness that plays perfectly with spiced pear and rich sweet vermouth. It's a balanced, rye forward fall sipper that only gets better once it's batched and rested.

Cheers y'all.

Have you ever made fizzy grapes? 🍇🫧

#ad21+ Together with my friends at @Codigo1530 Tequila I made a recipe that I’m calling the Enzita - and it’s perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

It’s called the Enzita because it’s a cross between a tequila-based Rosita and borrows elements from the Italian-inspired Enzoni which involves muddling sweet green grapes into a sour-type cocktail.

Both cocktails have a bitter sweet citrus element to complement the grape so I figured it would be a perfect match with Codigo Rosa, where they take their Blanco and rest it for one month in uncharred French white oak barrels that previously housed a Napa valley Cabernet, which gives a fruity, floral and wine-forward aroma.

I also thought it would be fun to force carbonate it since the bubbles really bring out those fruity, floral wine aromas that really open up the cocktail here. All in all, it turned out amazing, especially with the fizzy grape garnish.

Cheers y’all!

NOTE: you can’t just do this in any old soda machine so check to make sure your manufacturer’s instruction manual to see if its capable of sweetened carbonated beverages and/or has a slow pressure release valve.

The smoked pineapple syrup is a smokey, fruity syrup that can go into any summer cocktail like a Margarita or Daiquiri riff.