Sour Grapefruit Margarita

Sour Grapefruit Margarita

Tomorrow being National Margarita Day gives us all a great excuse (like we need one) to try a new kind of margarita!  

I wanted to post this yesterday, but unfortunately the stomach bug that our youngest got, passed to her sister and then to me had me out of commission for the past few days.  

I am happy to say that I do feel like I am alive again and ready for a margarita!

A couple years ago for National Margarita Day two of our very good friends came over with their margarita machine and we started trying a couple different flavored margaritas.  One thing led to another......we had a few margaritas.......and other cocktails that I can't remember right now and decided that the BEST thing in the world to do was to create a rap song for our friends upcoming birthday.........accompanied with a music video.  

Oh yea, I said it........a music video.  

It ended up being a pretty good idea, b/c they ended up coming back over the next weekend and my husband recorded the song and he mashed it all together with background music (I don't have technical terms, b/c that's totally his thing) and beats and POOF, we had a soundtrack.

Anyways........onto today's cocktail.  

I wanted to create a margarita with Elderflower liqueur and grapefruit juice.  

I found a couple recipes online, combined them with one of mine and added more stuff to it.  

End result......sour.  

Not as sour as my first attempt (before I started adding stuff to it), but still kind of sour.  It's not bad, I'm totally drinking this margarita as I type, just sour.

What will you be drinking on National Margarita Day?  Any favorite flavors?  Prefer the classic margarita?  I'd love to hear from you!

Tomorrow being the BIG DAY, I present you with 18 different margarita's to choose from!

 1.   Classic Margarita

 2.   Grapefruit Margarita

 3.   Mango Margarita

 4.   Pink Cotton Rita

 5.   Kinky Margarita

 6.   Cranberry Margarita

 7.   Peach Margarita

 8.   Desert Margarita

 9.   Moon-a-rita

10.  Pomegranate Margarita

11.  Pucker Melon Rita

12.  French Margarita

13.  Mango Pomarita
14.  Easter Margarita
15.  Cran Chili Margarita
16.  Peach Habanero Margarita
17.  Pineapple Orange Margarita

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a Sour Grapefruit Margarita:

• 2 ounces silver tequila
• 1 1/2 ounces elderflower liqueur
• 3 ounces grapefruit juice
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 1/2 ounce triple sec
• 1/2 cup ice

In a blender, add all of the ingredients above.  Blend until your ice is completely gone.  Pour into a salted or non-salted glass.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday (yes it's totally a holiday)!  With all of these choices, I know I will!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

SIA Scotch Whisky Review and Recipe

SIA Scotch Whisky Review and Recipe

I was contacted by Carin, the owner and founder of SIA Scotch Whisky.  She has created a whisky that she is very excited about and wanted to share it with me.  I was sent the sample of SIA Scotch Whisky you see in the photo above to try and create a new fun cocktail with.  

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.  

Carin is a female entrepreneur who is based in San Franciso. 

I thought that was pretty cool given the fact that we live not too far from there ourselves.  

I'm impressed that she took her love of Scotch and decided to do something with it, bravo to you Carin!

SIA Scotch Whisky is a nice smooth blend.  

My mission was to mix it up with a few ingredients that would compliment some of the flavors that are found inside the Scotch Whisky.  

Mission Accomplished!!  

This whisky combined perfectly with the ingredients I chose, and I have to say I really like this cocktail.  

I am not much of a Scotch Whisky drinker, but I could definitely see myself ordering this cocktail at one of the many bars, or restaurants SIA is served at.  

I am impressed with what Carin has accomplished as well as her whisky.  

If you have any Scotch Whisky drinkers in the family, or even friends that enjoy it, I would recommend that you give SIA a try.  I think you just might like it!

Here is a link to the full list of the bars and restaurants, as well as stores that carry SIA Scotch Whisky.  Visit their webiste here to find out more!

Here is my recipe for a Whisky Sour Surprise:

• 1 ounce SIA Scotch Whisky
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce amaretto
• 1/2 ounce cointreau
• 1/4 ounce Elderflower Liqueur

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a sugar rimmed short cocktail glass.

Thank You Carin for the sample of your delicious SIA Scotch Whisky!  I wish you all the best!!

The Cocktail Lady

Polish Delight

Thank You to Match.com for sponsoring this post

Happy Saturday everyone!  

This last week has been (at least for me) insane!!  

Completely insane.....I honestly can't believe it's finally Saturday!  

I have had deadlines galore that were personal, work related and even ones I've put on myself.  I do see the light at the end of the tunnel though, which is wonderful.

Our second oldest is turning "double digits" tomorrow.  

If you haven't guessed....it is a VERY exciting time for him!  

He has been counting down since there were "8 days left" to count.  The magic number today is "1"!!  Yeay!!  Today is his friends party, going to go see Earth To Echo.  Tomorrow is the family & friends (our friends who are the kids Aunts and Uncles) party.  We are all very much looking forward to both of those celebrations.

I was asked to create a Polish inspired cocktail which people can make on a date for the Polish dating section of match.com.  

I was happy to be asked.  

Apparently they have an advice section (http://advice.uk.match.com/polish-dating) where they answer many of the questions people ask about dating.  I did some research and came up with vodka, apple juice, apple cider and honey liqueur as all being common when making cocktail in Poland.  

That was a great find because I have been looking for another opportunity to use my honey liqueur.

That aside, I knew that I didn't want to make a super sweet and sugary cocktail.  I also didn't want to make a bright or odd colored cocktail as well.  

I needed to create something that both men and women would want to make, or even order at a bar or restaurant.  I decided to stick with my findings and add a little something extra to it as well.

This cocktail is really good.  I can taste the honey liqueur which is nice.  It is not completely overwhelming or anything at all.  It is just enough to let you know it is in there.  All in all, I think I have created a good one!

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a Polish Delight:

• 2 ounces vodka
• 1/2 ounce Elderflower Liqueur
• 1/2 ounce honey liqueur
• 2 ounces apple cider

Fill up a cocktail glass with ice cubes.  In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain your mixture into the cocktail glass filled with ice cubes and enjoy your date!

Here's to dates, whether this date is your first, tenth or hundredth.  Enjoy it and have a great time!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

An American In Paris & American Harvest Vodka

An American In Paris & 

American Harvest Vodka

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.

Happy Earth Day!  

It's Tuesday and all of my school-aged kids are back to school and we are back to our regular scheduled program........uh, routine.  

The last spring break lasted 10 days and I will tell you, those 10 days flew by.  It feels good to be back in our routine though I must say.

I was contacted by American Harvest to try their vodka and possibly make one of their recipes for Earth Day.  

I was sent a nice looking bottle of vodka and a handy little recipe book with quite a few recipes inside (the little booklet hanging from the bottle has a few recipes in it as well.....but that's not the book I was talking about). 

As you can see on the bottle, American Harvest is an Organic Spirit.  

It comes from the same creators of Grey Goose and is 100% US owned and operated.  

American Harvest uses organic materials and production processes.  One-third of their electrical consumption every month comes from wind power and their bottles are 100% recyclable right down to their organic inks and water-soluble varnishes on their labels.

I looked through the recipe book they sent and bookmarked quite a few cocktails.  The one I chose to go with today is called An American In Paris.  

This cocktail was very good!  I haven't used Elderflower Liqueur in quite a while, so this recipe gave me the chance to do so.

Here is a photo of the end result:

(this cocktail looked a bit greener then what the photo shows)

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here's the recipe for An American In Paris:

• 1 1/2 ounces American Harvest Vodka
• 1/2 ounce elderflower liqueur
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain your cocktail into a chilled martini glass and enjoy!

Thank You to American Harvest for sending me this beautiful bottle of your Organic vodka!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

La Boheme

Day 231

La Boheme

5 shots out of 5

The week is half over.  

231 days down and 135 days to go.......no I didn't do my math wrong, I started before the end of February, so I get to do one extra day thanks to Leap Year!  

I'm feeling better today then I did yesterday, but still not 100%.  

Slowly but surely getting there.

I gave tonight's cocktail 5 shots out of 5.  

I am liking this Elderflower liqueur!!  

It adds a taste that  (before this blog) I've never tasted before.  

Each ingredient in this cocktail is the perfect proportion and together they make one of my newest favorite cocktails!  

I got this recipe from PartyCocktails.com site (which I found is no longer a site, 11/11/16).  

This is a must try cocktail and Stacy, it has NO pineapple juice in it!  

My husband just came home and say that it's a good cocktail too, so four thumbs up here at The Cocktail Lady's House!!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a La Boheme:

• 1 oz vodka
• 1 1/2 oz cranberry juice
• 1/2 oz black raspberry liqueur
• 1/2 oz elderflower liqueur

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake it up real well to get it chilled.  Strain your cocktail into a martini glass and enjoy!!

Here is a photo of the end result:

I'm sad that my little mini bottle of St. Germain Elderflower is gone.  It's been fun....maybe one day I'll buy another.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Bohemian

Day 198

Bohemian

4 shots out of 5

We made it!!  It's officially Friday at 5:00.  

The weekend.....holiday weekend that is......is here!  

Time for some pizza, beer and of course cocktails.  

We've got a long, action packed weekend planned so this cocktail is absolutely what I need to get the weekend started off right.

I gave tonight's cocktail 4 shots out 5.  

I found this cocktail recipe on the St. Germain website.  

They have quite a few recipes on there.......I may have to break down and buy an actual real life sized bottle of this stuff to try some more of them out.  

I honestly can't tell you which ingredient I can taste more of in this cocktail.  

The three main ingredients in this cocktail are mixed together so well that they all just kind of blend together in a chilled scrumptiousness.  

Guess I'll have to keep sipping and sipping and sipping to figure it out............then make another?  

Wait do I have enough St. Germains.........yikes, I don't.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Bohemian:

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz St. Germains Elderflower
• 3/4 oz grapefruit juice
• 1 dash of Peychaud's Bitters

In a shaker add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Strain your mixture into a martini glass and enjoy!

Here's to the weekend!  Hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend......or non-holiday weekend if you don't live in the U.S.A.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

White Linen

Day 162

White Linen

5 shots out of 5

If you want a gin cocktail White Linen is a very refreshing one for any night....or afternoon.....or whenever you need a cocktail.

Did you see that?  

I just gave a gin cocktail 5 shots out of 5!!  

What is this world coming to?  

I made a run to my local BevMo today to get a sample bottle of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur so that I could make tonight's cocktail.  

Glad I did!!

I gave tonight's cocktail 5 shots out of 5.  

I can't believe how much I like this cocktail! 

For those of you who don't know.......I always used to RUN the other way when a cocktail had gin in it.  Yuck, didn't like it at all.  The smell of it alone was too much.  

Now doing this blog, I have found that gin is not a horrible thing at all (to my surprise).  

Now, Elderflower Liqueur I had never heard of until a month or so ago, then I received a recipe for White Linen Cocktail from Crystal not too long ago.  Crystal first tried this cocktail in a local restaurant that her and her husband went to and enjoyed it enough to get the recipe and send it to me, and I Thank You Crystal for doing so!  

This cocktail is refreshing and delicious!  

The smell of the Elderflower Liqueur itself is amazing, and the proportions of it along with the gin, lime juice and sprite.....WOW!!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for White Linen:

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 3 oz sprite (lemon-lime soda)

In a shaker, add ice, gin, Elderflower Liqueur and lime juice.  Shake them up real well and strain your mixture into a tall glass filled with crushed ice.  Next pour in your sprite and EN-JOY!

I will definitely have to look for more recipes with this yummy liqueur in it in the future!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady