holy city handcraft | RECIPES

Filter by Category
Filter by Tags
Cocktails, Rum, Brandy Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Rum, Brandy Miguel Buencamino

Smoked Apple Pie Old Fashioned

PSA: Make a smoked apple pie syrup this month. Make a lot.

Remember when I made a smoked apple pie syrup on my @traegergrills to make an Apple Pie a La Mode whiskey sour? No? Well check it out a couple posts back because it was firrrrreeee.

Anyways, I figured I’d put that syrup to good use in an Old Fashioned and it worked out way better than I could have ever imagined. Up next - the batched version!

Read More
Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino

Castle Freke Martini

I've never made a martini like this before…

Sometimes its not about the ingredients but the technique and the quality of the gin that makes for a good martini. I recently hopped on a call with Stephen Evans-Freke, the owner/founder of Castle Freke Gin and he recently showed me a new way to make a martini and its unlike anything I've ever made before.

The process that Stephen described is called the 'In and Out' method where you flavor the ice you're shaking with by adding a blend of vermouths and bitters to the shaking tin, straining it out, then adding the gin to shake again to just give a kiss of those elements that remain on the surface of the ice. Combined with the citrus zest, the result is a unique and refreshing martini that deserves a spot in your martini rotation. As a bonus, you get a gin-infused cucumber snack after you finish your martini.

Cheers y'all.

Read More
Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino

Green Ghost

This October I'm pouring something a little haunted. The Green Ghost is bright, herbal, and eerily green, built on Citadelle Original Gin and the botanical power of Green Chartreuse. A quick absinthe rinse, flamed in the glass, adds a wisp of smoke that makes it made for the season. Shaken hard with fresh lime and served up. Cheers, y'all!

Read More
Cocktails, Brandy Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Brandy Miguel Buencamino

Apple Pie A La Mode

What if we made an apple pie with vanilla ice cream into a drink?

#ad21+ Today with my friends at @traegergrills, we’re going to find out what happens when you take a classic southern dessert and turn it into a tasty fall cocktail. It all starts with the smoked apple pie syrup. For this recipe, I used the Traeger Woodridge Elite since it has a built-in infrared side burner so I could make the syrup while smoking some juicy honeycrisp apples dusted with cinnamon sugar.

Of course we’re using apple wood pellets at 375 for about 45 minutes just to give them that kiss of smoke and concentrate their flavors a bit before adding it to our baking spices, brown sugar to make our syrup.

The topping is a non-negotiable, a salted maple, vanilla cold foam to really drive home that vanilla ice cream on top of an apple pie. That smokiness from the apple gives this recipe a one-of-a-kind, but familiar flavor profile and you’ll want to make over and over again. Just make sure to make enough of that syrup.

Cheers y’all!

#TraegerGrills #TraegerPartner

Read More
Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Gin Miguel Buencamino

Pink Pony Club

I’m gonna keep on dancin…

The Pink Pony Club comes from Leandro DiMonrova (@theeducatedbarfly), and it’s built specifically for Waterloo Gin’s Prickly Pear & Rose expression. This gin starts with their award-winning No. 9 Gin base and infuses it with prickly pear fruit, citrus, rose petals, and soft floral botanicals. Those flavors don’t just sit in the glass—they anchor the whole cocktail. Strawberry syrup, Campari, fresh lemon juice, and an egg white create brightness and structure. The result is pink, balanced, and genuinely delicious. Plus, during October, Waterloo Gin supports Susan G. Komen, so this drink means something beyond the coupe.

Cheers, y’all!

Read More
Cocktails, Scotch, Whiskey Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Scotch, Whiskey Miguel Buencamino

Vieux De Provence

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a Vieux Carre was actually made in France instead of New Orleans… by a Scottish bartender #ad21+

Together with my friends at @theglenlivet, I’m making a cocktail recipe uses some elements from the classic but with some French Ingredients. This has elements of honey, thyme, rosemary and apricot, but the star of the show is Scotch. Today we’re using The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Provence Edition.

This offering brings notes of ripe apricot, citrus, honey, and vanilla, which it gets from finishing the 12 year old Scotch in combination of French wine casks ranging from Rivesaltes, and Sauternes to white wine casks from Château Sainte Marguerite. Give that a quick stir and pour of a big cube then finish with a thyme skewered honey comb. Its an aroma bomb and snack all at once.  If you’ve never been the Provence region in the south of France, this recipe will take you there.

Cheers y’all.
—
#TheGlenlivet #TheGlenlivetPartner

Read More
Cocktails, Vodka Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Vodka Miguel Buencamino

Freezer Door Tomato-Tini

When you’re hosting and you want to serve something that actually matters, you make a decision: play bartender all night, or make one bottle and serve something uncompromising.

Inspired my friend Evie, this one combines Ciroc Vodka, dry vermouth, tomato water, champagne vinegar, and olive brine. It’s umami-forward, briny, and completely uncompromising. I added just a slight kiss of MSG to highlight the natural MSG already present in tomatoes, and it transformed the drink from savory into something people actually want to drink.

Here’s the hosting move: scale it up to a 1L bottle. Make it once, freeze it overnight, and you’ve got unlimited cocktails ready to pour. No measuring mid-party. No forgetting proportions. No apologizing because someone’s drink tastes different from the last one. Everyone gets the same thing. Everyone gets something that tastes intentional.

Garnish with black pepper, olive oil, a cherry tomato, and fresh basil. Pour into a coupe glass and suddenly you’re not just serving a drink, you’re hosting properly. Your guests will ask for the recipe. You’ll tell them to comment for it.

This is what happens when a bartender scales up something that matters and decides to invite people over.

Cheers, y’all!

Read More
Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino

Honeycrisp Margarita

I've created a seasonal cocktail that pairs perfectly with Añejo tequila. This recipe takes a traditional margarita and infuses it with the flavors of fall and winter — crisp apple, rich maple, and tart cranberry — for a drink that feels both festive and refreshing Cheers, y'all!

Read More
Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino

Big Sky Bramble

I’m your huckleberry 🤠

I just got back from Montana with my friends at @traegergrills. It was strictly a grilling event but given what I do, of course I had to get behind the bar. I knew I wanted to incorporate local Montana ingredients like huckleberry, juniper (grown on site) and honey but also wanted to incorporate smoke from the grill. So I had the idea to make a bramble type cocktail.

For the smokey element, I smoked some local raw honey along with some juniper berries on the Traeger to just get a kiss of smoke. I then constructed the cocktail originally using gin like a traditional bramble, but the juniper botanicals overpowered the recipe so I switched to a reposado tequila and knew it was the perfect fit. They also had some locally made huckleberry liqueur which was the perfect last ingredient to top the cocktail and bring that sweet/sour/fruity element to the cocktail. Finally topped it with that smoked juniper berry branch to give it that botanical pop and tricking your brain into thinking you’re drinking a bramble when you’re actually drinking something closer to a margarita.

Given the ingredients and location, it was just fitting to call this the ‘Big Sky Bramble.’ Cheers y’all.

Big thanks to @i_drewcifer for the R&D help!
🎥: @tobojosh / @grillvaultbbq

Read More
Cocktails, Bourbon Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Bourbon Miguel Buencamino

Classic Old Fashioned

Not all great bourbon comes from Kentucky, and this Old Fashioned proves it. I reach for an Old Fashioned whenever I want to know what a whiskey is really made of. Three ingredients, nothing to hide behind, so whatever is in the bottle comes through clean. First up is TINCUP 10 Year, made in Colorado on Rocky Mountain water. What sets it apart is the blend. There is Stranahan's single malt whiskey in there alongside the bourbon, so it drinks grain-forward and light at 84 proof, with cherry, pastry dough, and sweet fruit syrup carrying right through the sugar and bitters. Want a higher proof pour? Reach for Pendleton 1910 out of Hood River, Oregon at 90 proof. It brings more maple, clove, rye, and warm baking spice, with a longer oak finish on the back end. Same recipe, two very different drinks, and not a Kentucky zip code between them.

Read More
Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Tequila Miguel Buencamino

Peach Hot Honey Frozen Margarita

Hot honey and peaches are a match made in heaven 🍑🍯

Today with my friends at @MijentaTequila, we're making a maybe the ultimate end-of-summer drink. Peaches are at their peak here in SC and today we're going to make good use out of them using hot-honey to make a frozen peach margarita with hot honey and sea salt. If that doesn't sound good to you then I don't know what does. Fun fact: Did you know South Carolina produces more peaches than Georgia? #themoreyouknow 🌈🌟

Read More
Cocktails, Vermouth Miguel Buencamino Cocktails, Vermouth Miguel Buencamino

Puttanesca

The Puttanesca happened on a whim one night with no measurements, no plan, and definitely no name. I knew it was good, so I R&D'd it into something repeatable. The recipe reads like if the bartender was Italian but also just happened to be your Nonna. Tomato vermouth and anchovy vermouth (via Veso) form the base. Oloroso sherry adds depth and nuttiness. Dry gin brings structure. Queen olives and an orange slice finish it. When I asked for name suggestions, the internet delivered instantly. Puttanesca was the winner because it's exactly what this drink is: a savory, briny, umami-forward cocktail that tastes like someone's grandmother figured out how to pour Italian flavors into a glass.

Cheers, y'all!

Read More