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.

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.

In this low-proof spin on the Manhattan, sweet vermouth and rye switch places; the former acting as the base spirit and the latter as the modifier. Small measures of amontillado sherry and dry vermouth add complexity and balance.

Hey babe, wake up… its Negroni Week…

We’re kicking off this week with arguably one of the best Negroni recipes I’ve ever made… and you can thank my wife for it. Negronis are all about balance, but sometimes balance means dessert in a glass because my wife’s banana bread is the inspo for this recipe. The Banana Nut Negroni takes the bitter-sweet classic and layers on notes of banana, oloroso sherry for toasty backbone, and hazelnut + black walnut bitters to tie it all together.

Seriously considering batching this one for the freezer this week.

Cheers, y’all!

What would happen if the Sazerac and Rob Roy had a love child? This.

We could all use more sherry cocktails in the world after all. This one uses the rich raisin notes in PX sherry to round out the flavors from the single malt scotch. If you know me, you know I love flaming my absinthe to give it a bit more toasted sugar/caramel flavor, this is optional.. If you’re a fan of Manhattans, you’re going to love this cocktail.

Cheers y’all.

Home for the holidays?

Doesn’t matter because you’ll be wanting to make this recipe wherever you are. I made this because I was looking for a festive Boulevardier alternative and think this was it. Let me know what yall think!

Ever heard of Kintsugi?

Kintsugi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery”) is the art of joining together broken pieces with molten gold to provide one beautiful and cohesive piece. While this is often used to describe pottery, today we’re using it to describe this Negroni riff with my friends at 135eastgin. Their Hyōgo dry gin is meticulously crafted and works perfectly in this recipe while the slight salinity from the sweet soy balances with the bitterness from the aperitif. I really enjoyed this one and hope you do too!