Friday Night Cocktails
It started in spring 2020, when my daughter in Alberta dared me, in Nova Scotia, to a Friday-night cocktail challenge. Three weeks in, she went back to work. I kept going. What hooked me was the history. Many classic cocktails trace back to Prohibition, and that speakeasy pull still intrigues me. After 176 cocktails, I film less often, but Friday nights and the history behind the glass still call me back.
coquito (Puerto Rican rum and milk punch)
Coquito, Spanish for little coconut, is a Puerto Rican cocktail made of coconut milk and rum, flavoured with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s thick, delicious and has a similar consistency to eggnog. If you want an eggless eggnog, this is for you!
Homemade Irish Cream
It had been years since my last sip of Irish cream, and this after-dinner favourite brought it all back.
New York Sour Cocktail
A bourbon sour finished with a red wine float, born from Friday night cocktail challenges with my daughter.
cherry shrub syrup
The word shrub is derived from the Arabic word sharab which means to drink. Shrubs were popular in 17th and 18th century Britain and were usually mixed in with rum or brandy. By adding a shrub to a cocktail, it creates depth and complexity.
Rhubarb Simple Syrup
A rosy spring twist on the classic, with fresh rhubarb steeped right into the syrup for cocktails, lemonade, or iced tea.
Simple Syrup
Just sugar and water, but endlessly useful: flavour it with vanilla, ginger, or mint for cocktails, iced drinks, and desserts alike.
DIY Kumquat Infused Vodka
A bourbon sour in 2015 set me off exploring cocktails and infusing my own spirits. Kumquat vodka is one of my favourites, perfect in a Moscow Mule.
Homemade Rhubarb Gin
The G&T dates back to the British East India Company in the 1700s. My rhubarb gin gives the classic a rosy, homemade twist.
Classic Margarita
Made properly with fresh lime juice, not the bottled mix. This is margarita as it should be.
Homemade Limoncello
At OPUS (Alex Morabito’s Italian wine bar in Bangkok) our unforgettable meal years ago ended with a signature touch: a complimentary glass of his father’s homemade limoncello. It remains the best we’ve ever tasted. Four years after Alex shared the recipe, I finally made it at home and it’s every bit as lovely and delicate as we remembered.