Fall Orchard Punch

I was sent a couple bottles of Angry Orchard to try in exchange for my open and honest opinion.  I was not paid for my opinions.

There it is!  

I said it.  

The BEST Fall Punch EVER!!  

I was sent a couple bottles of Angry Orchard Crisp Apple and Cinnful Apple along with a few recipes.  

I have already made the Hot & Angry and last weekend I made Fall Orchard Punch.  OH MY GOODNESS, this is a perfect punch for Thanksgiving.....or a Fall/Autumn party.....or whenever really.

There are two parts to creating this punch.  

The first part is to make the Cranberry Syrup.  

I made it a day ahead so that I knew it would be ready in time.  (Wait, I didn't tell you that my youngest turned 6 and we had her family party on Saturday.  

I decided to make this punch and to see how everyone liked it.)  

First you pour cranberry juice into a pot.

Next you add sugar to the pot and cook on low until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Let it sit and cool completely.  I then transferred it to a tupperware and stuck it in the fridge over night.

When you are ready to make this punch, it literally only takes a few minutes and is really really easy to make.  

I whipped it together in a punch bowl and put a few Ice Balls inside to keep it cool.  We poured it into short glasses over ice because it tasted even better the colder it was.

This punch was such a hit, I'm making it again this weekend for the holiday!  Which reminds me that when I went to the store today......that I forgot to get more of the short plastic glasses for the punch........dang it!

Here is the recipe for Fall Orchard Punch:

print recipe

Fall Orchard Punch

November-23-2016

Ingredients

• 4 bottles Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Cider
• 8 ounces white rum
• 1 1/2 ounces Grand Marnier
• 3 ounces lemon juice
• 6 ounces cranberry syrup**
• 3 ounces raspberry puree

Instructions

In a punch bowl add all of the ingredients above except for the Angry Orchard Crisp Apple. Stir everything in the bowl together. Top off with the Angry Orchard Crisp Apple.

**To make the cranberry syrup:
- 2 cups cranberry juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar

In a pot, pour in the cranberry juice and sugar. Heat on low until the sugar is all dissolved. Set aside and let it completely cool. Once cooled, pour in a tupperware and stick it in the fridge to chill overnight.

Once our first batch ran out we had no more of the Angry Orchard Crisp Apple.  Luckily a friend had brought the green Angry Orchard cider so we made the second batch with that.  Although it's totally doable, the Crisp one was better because it wasn't as sweet at the green one.

Here are the ingredients:

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  This year my parents Anniversary lands on Thanksgiving, so we have 2 reasons to celebrate!

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

I was sent these bottles of Angry Orchard free of charge.  I was not paid in any way for this post.  All opinions are my own and always will be.

Dingo

Just finished watching the end of the Giants game and am happy to say that Timmy just pitched a No-Hitter!  

Unfortunately he got a huge container of powerade dumped on him (that's not the unfortunate part) and the top of the container seems to have knocked him in the back of his head.  

After the second container was dumped on him, he ran downstairs into the locker room.  

Gosh I hope he's OK.  

Poor guy.

I have had my eye on this cocktail for quite some time.  About a week or so ago I was going to make it and then opened up my fridge and notices that I didn't have any OJ left.  

Love it when the kids finish stuff and don't tell me about it.....

I found this cocktail over at Hampton Roads Happy Hour.  

This cocktail is pretty good.  

I have used Southern Comfort in two other cocktails so far.  The first was the Funky Cold Medina.....wasn't a huge fan of that one.  

Then I tried it in the cocktail White Christmas, HUGE success!  

My husband and I loved it as well as just about all of our friends and family.  Today was time to give So Co another shot (sure there was a little bit of pun there, I'll admit it).  

The So Co definitely gave this cocktail a different flavor then I'm used to.  

My first sip threw me so I had to take a couple more to really get the taste for it.  It's pretty good.  Not a favorite, or go to cocktail for me, but pretty good.  I'm thinking that if you are a So Co fan, you might just like this one.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Dingo:

• 1 1/2 ounces light rum
• 1 ounce Southern Comfort
• 1 ounce amaretto
• 1 ounce sweet & sour mix
• 2 ounces orange juice
• 1/2 ounce grenadine

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients except for the grenadine.  Shake well and dump everything into a margarita glass.  Pour the grenadine down the side of the glass.

Here's to a fun cocktail of different colors!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Red & Gold Attack

Day 341

Red & Gold Attack

4.5 shots out of 5

You didn't think I'd leave it at creating only one cocktail for my Niners now did you?  My oldest son made some smoothies with some of my purees today, which gave me an idea to use one in tonight's cocktail.  Since banana is my favorite, and the Niners colors do include gold (which is very close to yellow-ish), I decided to create something with it.

I gave tonight's cocktail 4.5 shots out of 5.  I created this one on my own and decided to go with some of my yellow juices to keep with the Niners colors.  This cocktail is very scrumptious.....very scrumptious.  I can definitely taste the banana puree in this one, but the rest of the ingredients blend so well with it that it makes this a very good, cold, refreshing cocktail.  I just may make some of these on February 3rd (Superbowl Sunday) along with some of my other Forty Niners creation I made last night, Forty Niner Fever.

Here is my very own recipe for a :

• 1 1/2 oz light rum
• 2 oz banana puree
• 2 oz orange juice
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz cream of coconut
• 1/4 oz grenadine

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above except for the grenadine.  Shake and pour into a tall glass filled half way with ice.  Pour your grenadine down the middle and enjoy!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here's to another San Francisco Forty Niner created cocktail.  Can't wait until the 3rd!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

SAMU-lada

Day 327

SAMU-lada

5 shots out of 5

First day back at school.  Before I know it, this school year will be over and we'll be enjoying some of our summertime cocktails.  I decided to try my hand in creating a SAMU Thai Coconut water cocktail today, so for those of you who have won a case, or simple bought it on your own, this is for you!

I gave tonight's cocktail 5 shots out of 5.  I added, tasted, added, tasted and added and tasted again until I really liked what I was drinking.  I call it SAMU-lada and I must say it's pretty darn good!  I have made quite a few cocktails with Malibu and cream of coconut before, but adding the SAMU water was a nice twist.  This is a cool refreshing cocktail that would be perfect for a pool party, sitting on the beach, or just a regular day/night when you're feeling coconutey!

Here is my recipe for a SAMU-lada:

• 1 1/2 light rum
• 1/2 oz coconut rum
• 1/2 oz cream of coconut
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 oz SAMU

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass filled 3/4 with ice.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here's to creating my own SAMU cocktail!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Eggnog & Coffee

Day 313

Eggnog & Coffee

4 shots out of 5

It's Christmas Eve!  

The kids are all dressed (which wasn't exactly easy.....one of the kids kept telling us he was ready as he was wearing his shorts and Mario shirt) and once this cocktail is done we'll be ready to celebrate.

I gave tonight's cocktail 4 shots out of 5.  

I had found a similar recipe online and tried it and it tasted like.......nothing.  

Back to the drawing board......using the same ingredients because they sounded good.  

This eggnog cocktail is pretty good, it's husband approved as well so that's always a good thing!  

If you enjoy eggnog and kahlua I think you will absolutely enjoy this cocktail.  

To those of you who celebrate Christmas, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas Eve.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for an Eggnog & Coffee:

• 4 1/2 oz eggnog
• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz kahlua
• shaved chocolate for garnish

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above except for the chocolate.  Shake and strain into a snifter glass with a cocktail strainer because your regular shaker top will not let the eggnog flow that quickly at all.  Garnish with your shaved chocolate if you wish.

Here's to inventing an eggnog cocktail.  Here's also to realizing that eggnog cocktails pretty much rock!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Blue Blue Christmas

Day 312

Blue Blue Christmas

2.5 shots out of 5

Merry Christmas Eve Eve, to those of you who celebrate Christmas.......or to those of you who love the movie Elf.

Our.........house..........is..........buzzing...........with.......... EXCITEMENT!!  

The fact that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the next day Christmas Day.....wowzers, these kids almost can't stand it!

I gave tonight's cocktail 2.5 shots out of 5.  

I found this recipe at recipe.com.  

They gave me a choice of vodka or rum, so I went with rum.  

I'm honestly not sure that it would have made any difference in my rating if I would have chosen vodka.  

This cocktail is not horrible and it's not great.  

This cocktail is one that I will completely forget about in a few minutes.  It doesn't have a whole lot of flavor unfortunately and that's what makes it ho-hum.  

I guess that's why they call it Blue Blue Christmas, because if you drink it and not a scrumptious cocktail like my White Christmas (which we had AGAIN last night) or Candy Cane Martini, then your Christmas will be blue.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is a the recipe for a Blue Blue Christmas:

• 2 oz rum
• 2 oz white cranberry juice
• 1/2 oz blue curacao
• 1/4 oz lime juice

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain your cocktail into a chilled martini glass.  I put a couple little orange peels on the rim of the glass......for looks.

Here's to never having this cocktail again!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

SAMU Honey Daiquiri

Day 302

SAMU Honey Daiquiri

2.5 shots out of 5

I can smell Friday!!!!  Oh I can definitely smell it.  Tomorrow at this time my husband will officially be on vacation.  I can't wait (neither can the kids), after such a long, super busy year, it will be nice to able to hang out with him and just relax........well as much as a couple can with four kids.

I gave tonight's cocktail 2.5 shots out of 5.  I found this cocktail on SAMU's facebook page.  I liked the idea of mixing it with lemon juice and honey, so I thought I would give this one a try.  I also liked the smaller alcohol to SAMU ratio that this cocktail has, much different then when I made the Drunken SAMU-rai.  Tonight's cocktail was OK.  It wasn't super flavorful, meaning there was not one or two ingredients that took over my taste buds.  Yes, I did taste the lemon juice the most, but it was far from over powering.  This cocktail has a very subtle flavor, enough to get it a 2.5 rating.

Here is the recipe for a SAMU Honey Daiquiri:

• 2 oz white rum
• 2 oz SAMU Thai Coconut Water
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz honey

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

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here's to my second cocktail with SAMU and to it being Thursday night!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Fall in Vermont

Day 265

Fall in Vermont

3 shots out of 5

101 more cocktails (after tonight) to go.  

WOW, I'm going to be in double digits here pretty soon.  

Unbelievable!  

Tuesday marks soccer practice and a presidential election to find out about.  

May the person you voted for win (especially if you voted for who I voted for).  

OK, that's as far as I'm getting into politics, now onto the cocktail!

I gave tonight's cocktail 3 shots out of 5.  

I can see this cocktail's potential, I really can, it's just that it's a bit too spicy for me.  

My first sip I took I thought the reason for the spiciness was the cinnamon I sprinkled on top. 

Keeping that in mind for my second sip, I blew the cinnamon across the glass so that I would be sure not to sip any........yea it wasn't the cinnamon on top.  

Apparently the Fulton's Pumpkin Pie Liqueur is spicier then I had initially given it credit for. 

Unfortunately because of the spiciness, it's going to be hard for me to finish this cocktail. 

For those of you who do enjoy the extra spiciness in your cocktail, you may just really like this one that I found here!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for Fall in Vermont:

• 1 1/2 oz light rum
• 1 oz Fulton's Pumpkin Pie Liqueur
• 1/2 oz Kahlua
• ground cinnamon

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above except for the ground cinnamon.  Shake up your mixture well and strain it into your martini glass.  Sprinkle ground cinnamon on top and enjoy!

Here's to so many of my cocktails being in martini glasses!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Crooked Golf Cart

Day 255

Crooked Golf Cart

4 shots out of 5

Yes we're recording tonight's game.  

I'm making my cocktail while my husband and oldest finish up their soccer game. 

After all that is done we will all sit down and watch......can't....contain....my excitement!!  

I'm sick (yes again.......4 kids remember, lol) and my taste buds aren't working the way they should.  

The combo of both kinda makes me not in the mood to find a cocktail, and as I was searching I got an "amazingly perfect timing" tweet from Janice!  

She gave me the recipe for tonight's cocktail......which I amended a little bit from the link she sent me (actually in the link she sent it stated that you may want to add more amaretto because the cranberry juice overpowers it).

I gave tonight's cocktail 4 shots out of 5.  

Thank You Janice for your yummy recipe and "perfect" timing!  

The site that she sent me (found here) was right, the cranberry juice does take away from the amaretto flavor.  

Already thinking that, I cut back on the cranberry juice and upped the amaretto.  

The 2 lime wedges and "splash" of rum I kept the same.  

This is a pretty refreshing cocktail.  

The cranberry juice gives it that refreshing taste and the amaretto, rum and lime give it a nice complimenting taste that works quite well.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my amended recipe for a Crooked Golf Cart:

• 4 oz cranberry cocktail juice
• 1 1/2 oz amaretto
• 1/4 oz light rum
• 2 lime wedges

In a tall cocktail glass filled with crushed ice, pour in 2 ounces of cranberry juice.  Next pour in your amaretto, followed by your remaining 2 ounces of cranberry juice.  Stir and top with the rum and squeeze in your lime wedges.

Thank You again Janice for saving me tonight and sending me the link to this cocktail!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Long Island Iced Tea

Day 176

Long Island Iced Tea

5 shots out of 5

We have another birthday today!  


One of my dearest friends Angela is having a birthday today! 

I promised her that I'd make her favorite cocktail on her birthday, so here it is, a Long Island Iced Tea!  


I hope you are having one.....or three of them tonight as well!  

I also want to Thank Stacey for giving me tonight's recipe!  Thank you from The Cocktail Lady and Angela!!

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


I have been pretty darn SCARED about this cocktail for a couple months now.  

This cocktail usually goes against ALL that I think I like in a cocktail.  

We're talking 5, YES 5 liquors, 1 liqueur and then some sweet & sour mix and a little bit of coke.  


WHAT?!?!  


I braved it and pulled out all of my bottles, mixed it up.......took a deep breath.....stared at it for a few seconds.....and went for it!  

WOW, I was surprised to REALLY like it!  It has no fruity, sweet taste to it (like I normally love), but the mixture of all of these alcohols along with the remaining ingredients.....very good!  


I will admit that before I started this blog I absolutely did think that there was Iced Tea in this cocktail (which I'm not a big fan of at all).....glad I was wrong!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea:

• 1/2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz light tequila (by light I mean clear)
• 1/2 oz light rum (by light I mean clear...again)
• 1/2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• 3/4 oz sweet & sour mix
• 1 oz coke (coke, coke zero, diet coke.....even lime flavored coke I think would taste good)

In a shaker fill 3/4 with ice and add all of the ingredients above EXCEPT the coke.  Give it a good "brisk" shake and dump it all into a tall glass.  Pour your coke on top and give it a quick stir.

Happy Birthday to you Ang!  I love you and hope your day is as wonderful as you are!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady