new york sour

Spring this year has been awesome.  Last year at this time I was so over the dreary, wet weather and constantly dreaming about moving somewhere less yucky.  This year?  70 degrees in April?  Yes please and thank you.  The sunny weather has made me excited about concocting fun beverages, because what's better than basking in the sun with an ice cold cocktail?  Dan made me one of these the other day and I loved how pretty the wine looked floating on top so I decided to share the recipe.  A New York Sour is a pretty standard cocktail, so this isn't anything too crazy or special, just a nice, solid cocktail that looks super fancy.  The best part is that it's a rather simple and easy cocktail to make, so you won't have to be at the bar doing a bunch of crazy mixologist stuff while your friends enjoy their cocktails.


New York Sour

2 oz bourbon
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz red wine

In a cocktail shaker 3/4 full of ice, add bourbon, lemon juice and simple syrup.  Shake until frosty. You can either strain into a chilled cocktail glass or a collins or rocks glass with ice.  Over a spoon, pour the wine onto the top of the drink.  This will keep the wine floating on top of the drink and give it that cool gradation, pretty fancy!  You'll probably want to mix the wine in before you drink it, just to mix the flavors, but it's fun to serve it with the wine floating on top.  You can garnish with a cherry and/or lemon/orange slice if you like!  I thought the wine float was fancy enough so I went sans-garnish.  And since I always get asked where the spiral paper straws are from, you can find them on Amazon in tons of different colors.

photos of me by Dan

chipotle whiskey sour

Dan really enjoys smokey drinks, like mezcal and peaty scotches, so we were trying to devise a way to infuse smokiness into a drink without having to go out and get an expensive liquor.  Since I've been having fun infusing simple syrups we figured that'd be a good way to go about it.  So we made a chipotle pepper infused simple syrup!  After making it we were trying to think of what would go well with the smoky flavor of the chipotle, and whisky was an obvious choice.  I love the combination of the chipotle's smoky spiciness paired with the zesty citrus of the lemon in this drink.  And by now you probably know that I love drinks with egg white, so I made this one with egg white, but it's totally optional if it grosses you out.  I just think it adds such a great texture and gravitas to a drink.  A little extra "umph."  This is such a great summer drink.  The last couple days have been so nice here in Tacoma, and sipping on this drink while soaking up some vitamin D was a great way to spend a few quite moments of the afternoon.

Chipotle Simple Syrup: 1/2 cup water 1 cup sugar 3-4 Chipotle Peppers (I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and add sugar.  Simmer until sugar has completely dissolved.  Add chipotle peppers.  I washed the adobo sauce off of my peppers, but if you wanted to add some of that flavor, feel free to keep the sauce!  Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes to let the pepper flavor infuse.  Strain out the peppers through a fine mesh or cheesecloth and place in a container in the fridge. It should keep for a pretty long time

Chipotle Whiskey Sour: 2 oz whiskey 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 oz chipotle simple syrup 1 egg white (optional)
Fill a cocktail shaker 3/4 full of ice and add all ingredients.  Shake until the shaker is frosty and strain into a glass.  Garnish with a cherry and a little pepper!