Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Open Door

A little indulgence goes a long way. The simple ice-cream that you decide to give yourself after a long day in school, or the iced-blended coffee that you get on your way to yet another frantic day at work, or you could also take my favourite alternative. Whip yourself a nice, smooth cocktail after a rough day at work. You can never fully recognize the importance of these little indulgences that people take everyday until you try it yourself.

Indulgences induces emotions, and emotions lead to sparks; and though these sparks may seem insignificant, you would be surprised at the unlimited power it possesses to create opportunities. Which brings me to my main point, that opportunities are like open doors, and only if you are willing to take that little bit of risk, that little bit of sacrifice for a something better, you are actually opening the door for yourself to a world of difference.

1 part Frangelico
1 part Amarula
1 part Strawberry Liqueur
3 parts Fresh Milk
One Teaspoon Nutella
One Ferrero Rocher

I've always toyed with the idea of pairing hazelnut and strawberry together, perhaps out of curiousity, as to how two such strong characters can blend together. This drink is probably a little complicated, and it might turn out too sweet for some(you can always add more milk to unsweeten it), but would be to be the perfect drink for those with sugar teeth!

Our first step would be to mix the fresh milk with the nutella. Normally I'd serve these concoctions of mine in larger quantities, so in this case I would use a large mixing bowl(the kind you use for baking). In this large bowl you pour in the milk, followed by the nutella. Give it a good whisk. If you can get a bit of foam in the milk, its a bonus. The frothier your drink is, it probably makes it a little more smooth.Next with this brown hazelnut milk, we pour in our frangelico and amarula, and following that give it another good whisk. Once it is mixed consistently(make sure there are no large chunks of nutella at the bottom), place them in a shaker with ice and gently give a a few twirls to chill it. Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass. With a straw, use the length of it to hold the strawberry liqueur, and with a bit of control, gently release it in twirls around the cocktail. Finally garnish with a ferroro rocher, either by sticking it on to the rim of the glass or just drop it into the bottom of the well.

Take this little indulgence and open a world of a difference!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Life's A Melon

Life's A Melon,
Sweet, subtle and immensely fruity.
It may appear in different shades,
Though often fades,
But a melon is always round,
When it grows from the ground.

Harvested on a bright summer day,
Farmers placed her on dry hay.
People come, she goes away,
On a long long journey to never return.

She loses her spirits, bottled up by fear,
Sullen and lonely, she sheds her tears.
Labelled Midori, packed in boxes,
Oh why does everyone look the same?

I got up in the morning,
Shaken by happenings on a broken night.
A trip to the gallery was all it took,
Where I caught a sight of green light shine.

I needed a companion,
For compassion's sake,
So Midori became a friend of mine,
And oh my word did she look so fine.

Melon Milk has to be one of my all time favourite drinks, and I've been thinking for some time how this will work out. I wanted something nice and sweet, for the ladies, and also it has to be creamy and full-bodied, with a very smooth texture as it goes down your throat. So I decided to create of the ultimate summer drinks that just about anyone can enjoy!

30ml part Midori
30ml Vodka
A large handful of cantaloupe melon pieces
A glass of frothed Milk
A maraschino Cherry to garnish

Well first we need to get frothed milk, and if you do not have it, you can always use normal fresh milk and basically pulse it till you get nice foamy bubbles over your milk. Next, you place your melon pieces together and pulse it even further, which will give you the base of this drink. If you like to smoothify(I know this word doesnt exist in any dictionary, but I guess you know what I'm trying to say when I use this word) your drink, you can always add plenty of ice cubes to give you the perfect consistency. You can play around with the volume of milk and melon pieces to get the right flavour as well. So next, to your base of this drink, you add 30ml of Midori and 30ml of Vodka(you can add more if you like), and shake it gently such that liquids just mix well enough. Strain your drink into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a nice green maraschino Cherry. Ah, life's a melon.

Peppermint Madness

I've always been a big fan of peppermint. In whatever form is has appeared to me so far, I have consumed it. And so it is no surprise that one of my first bottles of exotic liqueurs that I bought is peppermint flavoured.

Today, I'd like to work on the base of one of my all-time favourite drinks; the MOJITO. I will be giving it a few tweaks and minor additions to this drink, so avid fans of the original mojito, do forgive me, and I am sure you will after you try this concoction of mine.

1 part White Rum
1 part BOLS Peppermint
1 part Cointreau
1 Teaspoon of Sugar Syrup (you can alter this to your own taste)
1 Lime, cut into quarters
2 Large Juicy Lychees, or alternatively 4 Large Juicy Longans
10 Mint Leaves
Soda Water

In your shaker, muddle the lime, mint leaves and lychees until you are confident that all the juices have mixed well enough. Next, add the rum, and using a stirrer, stir the juices as much as possible to infuse these flavours into the rum. Once that is done, add the rest of the liqueurs and sugar syrup, top it up with ice and shake vigorously. Pour it into a short glass(do not strain it, you'd want all the fruits to be part of the drink), and top up with a little soda water, give it another stir and VOILA!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Firecracker

Oh what a pity, that such as iconic feature of the current festive season is banned in Singapore. The firecracker is symbolic to Chinese as a means of driving away evil spirits through their loud explosive noises. In the past, they used bamboo shoots which are probably cut into two-inch long sticks, and filling them up with gunpowder, it would be lit up at the stroke of midnight on the Chinese New Year, in rapid consecutive explosions. Nowadays, you would probably find them in a bright red colour with golden words or linings on it, or in the case of the country I reside in, you probably wouldnt find it at all!(laughs)

So I had this brainwave today, about how to create a drink that would mirror this impact. Explosive, bright and with a touche of continuity. It came to my mind at an instant, with my inspiration derived from cars passing by along the expressway.

Here goes:

You need 3 shot glasses.

First you pour 30ml of Cherry Brandy

Second you pour 30ml of Gold-Flaked Vodka

Third and last one you pour your nice favourite brand of golden tequila.

You may add Grenadine syrup to the vodka if you find it too bitter.

3 seconds to midnight, and in 3 swift motions, pop the first, second and third glass in order.

Happy Lunar New Year to ALL!

P.S. You could of course extend it to six swift motions, or 9 swift motions, etc, you know what I mean.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Moonshine 3am

I've actually toyed around with the idea of creating a pop shot Flaming Lamborghini instead of a drink shot, and it only came to me today the possibility of doing something like that. Essentially, the densities of the different liqueurs involved do allow the creation and separation of different layers.

The whole idea of this new shot will probably need a larger shot glass of course, probably something with a capacity of around 100ml, but most importantly it has to be tall and thin, allowing the different layers to be defined.

So, the bottom layer is Kahlua, which of course can be substituted by Tia Maria or any other coffee liqueur if you prefer. This will provide a substantial base for this shot, so if you're feeling good, feel free to add more than the stipulated 30ml.

The second layer, is one of my all-time favourite creamed liqueurs of all time. Baileys Irish Cream. You can use the all natural one, though I personally feel this is the right opportunity to flaunt your Irish Cream Creme Caramel. The sweetness from the caramel combines with the coffee to give you a quite refreshing aftertaste. Sugar sweetness, cream and coffee; probably sounds like your everyday morning drink. But nonetheless, they are good friends and they combine well together.

The last layer would be the tricky layer of course. I'd like to add a layer of blue curacao to give it the whole moonshine idea; a flame burning over the blue curacao. The vision I have of the finished product of this shot is to demonstrate the passion of moonshine that shines, and drifting further into this moonlight you will be able to see the clear layer of sambuca which lingers somewhere amongst the flame-lit sky. And in literal terms, as the moon goes down, you get up, and when you get up, you take your early morning coffee drink. There is much stereotyping in this drink, but essentially this is the whole idea that I want to create.

So the third layer goes with the blue curacao on top of the Baileys, followed by the Sambuca. It doesnt have to be seperated into layers with the Curacao though. Finally flame it, and while its nice and hot, remove the flame (in your own imaginative ways), and down it in one POP! The next thing you know, its the dawn of another new day.

P.S. 3am is probably the best stipulated time for this drink. You won't regret it.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Probably, Most Certainly

You could probably say and think that life is one of the few things that you expect to follow a chosen path. A path that you designed for yourself, or it is just probably manufactured by your very own actions or the actions of those around you. However, a single moment, albeit a powerful one, could change all that. You could end up stranded, looking back you see the first half of what has been an easy path(a straight one), while up ahead, you see the roads winding, dividing into intersections, and probably a lot of uneven ground. Narrating this from a third person's point of view is indeed effortless, as is reading it, but think about how you would react, if you ever encounter a situation like this. Saying it matter of factly, its all just a period of wild circumstances, which lead to other different circumstances. But if ever we get caught in the web of life, it is definitely important to always remember that good times do not last, and bad times do not last as well.

So cheers, to a great time. For tomorrow there may not be one as great as before.

I decided to create a layering effect into a drink instead of a shot this time round, and it probably came to my mind as I slowly began to form the layers in it. Well you have to stir it in the end to mix it all up so that the flavours combine, but the appearance of this drink will probably remind you of better times, with its sunny disposition and radiant colours.

1 part Grey Goose Vodka
1 part peach schnapps
1 part Cherry Brandy
1 teaspoon of honey
1 half of a canned Peach, diced
Soda water (if prefered)
Maraschino Cherry to garnish

Place your diced peach into a shaker, and muddle it nice and neat. Add to it the honey, peach schnapps and vodka. Add ice, and shake well, and strain it into a tall and thin glass filled with ice. Using a straw, carefully pour the cherry brandy into it such that you get a nice layer of the brandy at the bottom of the glass. Top up with soda water if preferred, and garnish with a marachino cherry, and maybe even a nice little cocktail umbrella. Cheers!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Swedish Delight

I wanted to do something nice and fruity today, a drink that resembles a bit of summer amidst the gloomy winter season. Well in the country I live in there's only one season of course, summer! So probably this drink will probably bring out some energy inside us; a vibrancy that you probably would not expect to encounter in our daily mundane lives during this time of the year.

You would probably think I'm nuts with this combination, as it incorporates many different complex flavours into a drink, and also the combination of these flavours into this drink may sound a little too intense, but I assure you; it worked for me, and it will work for you.

I decided to go a little RED with the whole colour of the drink in recognition of the fact that today is probably the last working day before the Chinese New Year, so may this drink bring you guys luck.

You could use different summer berries; blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc, but I decided to go with raspberries for this drink as it possesses this ruby red colour and I believe its sweet fruity flavour will complement the Elderflower in it.

Place half a handful of raspberries into ur shaker and and 1 part of Elderflower Cordial and 1 part of Gordon's Gin into it. Muddle the raspberries with your muddler(of course!), until you can see the colour change in the cordial. If it is possible you should get something that looks like a puree. Top it up with ice, and give it a good shake. Pour it through a sift into your martini glass if you're feeling posh, or you can alternatively pour into a tall glass filled with ice, and top it up with soda water. Add some grenadine syrup to sweeten your tastebuds!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

INFUSION

Today I'd like to introduce a concept that has been around for quite some time, but is still not practised long enough! Well the title of this entry gave it all away.

So well, infusion. This process does take quite some time to take place, so one reason I feel that it is still not practiced long enough would be because of the length of time and also the patience required to infuse a particular flavour into a spirit of your choice. My first ever experiment was making my very own homemade limoncello. Yes it did took me 3 months to infuse, and the product was brilliant! The lemon rind actually decolourised into the liquid, and a sniff of the liqueur gives you a strong intoxicating lemony flavour that basically just bursts out. Following the recipe, I finished off by sweetening it(I used vodka as my base spirit, and it is very very bitter at that stage of production), and voila, I got my very own homemade limoncello. There is no greater satisfaction then from creating your very own liqueur, playing around with the intensity of the flavours and subsequently creating your very own customized drink. So go on, give it a try. It could sound totally crazy to someone, but it might just be an eye opener to another!

I had this infatuation with tea at some point of time a while back, and it probably triggered the creation of this drink. Basically its an infusion, requiring about 200ml of Rum to the rind of two limes (or lemon limes as they call it, the big round kinds that has a sweet taste to it), the rind of a lemon, and a tea bag (I added two but you could always use one which I believe is sufficient). Let it rest for 3 months, and you should end up with clear brown liquid.

Using this infusion, and seeing it as best friends of coke, I decided to keep it simple today, by making it more or less something like a housepour drink, but with a zesty kick to it.

30ml of Lemon-Lime-Tea Infused Rum
in a glass of ice
Topped with Coca cola

Serve chilled, and maybe a lemon and lime rind to garnish.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Midnight Drink




Wednesday, the day right smack in the middle of the working week. You're past halfway there to the weekends, but yet you've actually still got two more days to go. You want to have some fun, do something enjoyable, but yet you don't want this decision you make to be one of regret. You could probably meet up with some friends, and maybe meet up for dinner, or a movie, or maybe even something lighter perhaps a drink or an ice cream. So what really inspired me for today's drink is perhaps nature of it.

I picked up a Tia Maria today at the stores. Oh the bliss of having a variety of coffee liqueurs, namely Kahlua and Sheridan as my others, and its probably a privilege to enjoy the many varieties at the same time. But what stood out was the subtle nature of this liqueur; smooth, sweet and perhaps a little creamy, even on the rocks. I actually thought to myself this was worth every cent spent on it.

Today happends to be cream again. I am in LOVE with creamy liqueurs. And to my surprise this actually tasted GOOD!


Midnight Drink

1 part Tia Maria
1 part Amaretto
1 part Vodka
1 part Amarula
Milk to top up

In a tall glass filled with ice, pour your liqueurs into it, and top it up with milk. Stir gently to let the flavours mix. Have a sip, you'd feel you could last the whole night long.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Creme de la Creme

I've given much thought about it, and I've decided that every Tuesday will be a day where my cocktails will be cream based. It can come in the form of cream(of course!), milk, or if we see from an alcoholic point of view, Baileys Irish Cream, Amarula etc. Yes I am not oblivious to the fact that some people DO not like the taste (or maybe even the sound) of creamed liqueurs and cocktails, but I do hope that I could change all that. Afterall, its just a matter of perspective, and in the manner of my perspective, what better way to relax on a midweek working day with a smooth cocktail by your side, and all the time in your hands.

I haven't actually thought of a name for this drink, and this happened to come to my mind in a cloud of instinct, so I did what I had to, which is to hastily name it:

Oranjan

1 part Cointreau
1 part Grand Marnier
1 part Baileys Irish Cream Caramel
1 part Smirnoff Vodka
1 part Bols Creme de Cacao (Brown)
A Bar of Rich Dark Chocolate

Chill your cocktail glass with a couple of ice cubes. In a shaker, pour in ur liqueurs, in any random other as you like, top with ice, and shake well. Strain it into your glass(remove the ice first of course!), and garnish by grating some Chocolate over the glass. Here it is, the night is yours.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Monday Blues

Well to chase the monday blues away, I decided on a chill out drink. Not a very fascinating drink, but perhaps, the simplicity of it will drive ur blues away.

I looked at my collection of liqueurs today, and I have to notice the insufficiency of it all, even though a few friends will think im a nutcase with that much. But variety means a lot to me, which is why I am always eager at every opportunity to expand my collection, though I am still limited by the constraints of having to work with what I have.

Which comes to remind me of a song.(Electric Blues) So electric here would give me a feeling of a shock effect, something that gives the drink an extra bite, so I would have to go with a lemon. Hardly surprising. The tough part is fitting in the blues. I didnt go so much with the colour, but rather my favourite liqueur so far, amaretto by disaronno.

Amaretto Sour(My version)

1 part Disaronno Amaretto
2 parts iced tea
Juice of half a lemon
Crushed ice.

Well, just take a tall glass, fill it up with ice, and pour in the amaretto and iced tea in proportions. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it, and stir well. Serve with a cherry garnish and lemon rind to posh things up. Chase your monday blues away, for tomorrow comes a better (Tues)day.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Cocktail Geek

This is the start of something new I recently decided to take a step forward and implement. You could choose to see it as implement, or whatever, but I would like to see it more of as a project that will be around for many years to come.

Food has always been my passion. The creativity of it all and the satisfaction that comes from it. I am not only talking about the satisfaction that we derive from consuming it, but rather how preparing a simple meal for a special someone can bring out certain emotions within us. Food has evolved in a way most discerning to us over the past few years, but what has triggered this intention most is the art of it all. This, I shall elaborate further as we move along.

Now to the focus of my entire blog and the main reason why this page was even created. Liquids appear in different forms to us. There are many ways in which they differ, in terms of colour, texture, density, concentration, taste, aroma, etc. And so by mixing and matching these different mixes(drinks or alcohol or whatever you want to call it), you get very different flavours, and since flavours are the essential components of food(in general) that invoke emotions, we could certainly bring out a whole lot more this world is asking for.

I would like to go as international as possible, exploring every single corner of the world of its amazing cocktail mixes and ideas, and at the same time share it with the rest of the world, how a little inventiveness could go a long long way. I start, with one of my favourite drinks of all time, but with a minty twist:

Long Island Mint Tea

1 part Smirnoff Vodka
1 part Gordon's Dry Gin
1 part Barcadi White Rum
1 part Jose Cuervo Tequila
1 part Bols Peppermint
Lemon rind
A couple of Mint Sprigs
Juice of Lemon
Coke to top(if preferable)

Very simple, in a jug full of ice, add all the above named liqueurs, and stir vigorously. Mix it well, and top it up with coke(original pls). Garnish with mint sprigs and lemon rind.