Category: Cocktails

Cocktails

Today’s cocktail: Mint Chocolate Birthday Martini!

Sincerely, Shawna

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This Martini is not very much different from my other Chocolate Martini, I just thought it looked pretty and fun with its little candle in it 🙂

Ingredients:

1.5 oz vanilla vodka

.5 oz Baileys or other creme liqueur

.5 oz Rumpleminz

whipped cream

chocolate syrup

candle

Mix all of the liquors and a small amount of whipped cream and chocolate syrup in a mixing tin with ice and shake vigorously

make a fun design with chocolate sauce a chilled martini glass

strain martini into the glass and add a dollop of whipped cream

add candle and sing!

This martini tastes just like a mint chocolate cookie and its pretty too! you can’t be sad on your birthday drinking this martini!

I made this one in honor of a girl who just started bartending for me whose birthday is today. Tasty!

Cocktails

Tonights Cocktail: The Irish Wake

Sincerely, Shawna

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The Irish Wake

1 oz Bacardi Superior

1 oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

Orange Juice

.5 oz Blue Curacao

.25 oz Bacardi 151

This is the signature cocktail at my Irish bar. First, you fill the glass with ice, then you put the rum and OJ in. Then, swirl the blue curacao around the top so it will evenly sink to the bottom. Float the Bacardi 151 on top and garnish with a lemon. This drink packs a serious punch. If done correctly, it should appear green. It took me a few tries to get the green color to show through, the trick is not putting too much blue curacao in, and making sure that it disperses evenly before floating the 151. I have learned through experience that it does not work with pineapple juice, though it does taste good.

Cocktails

Tonight’s Closing Cocktail- The Irish Whiskey Smash

Sincerely, Shawna

whiskey smash

Ingredients: 4-8 mint leaves

2 lemon wedges

Irish whiskey- I used Tullamore Dew

.5 oz simple syrup

sparkling water

Directions:

muddle mint leaves, lemon wedges, and simple syrup

add ice and 1.5 oz of Irish Whiskey

shake and pour into glass

top with sparkling water

garnish with a pretty little mint sprig

My bar runs a special on Thursdays on Jameson Irish whiskey so I try to mix it up a little. The citrus and the mint compliment the spice of the irish whiskey, while the simple syrup keeps it from being too tart. The sparkling water is optional, or it could be substituted for regular water. It really up to personal preference but when I’m making it for myself, I add sparkling water. I also prefer it with Tullamore Dew as it is smoother and citrusy and less spicy.

Cocktails

Tonights Closing Cocktail- The Luckytini

Sincerely, Shawna

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2 oz Absolut vodka

.75 oz Midori

splash of pineapple juice

shake and strain into chilled martini glass

garnish with orange wedge

This is a very popular green martini that I found online, however the original recipe says to use grape flavored vodka. I thought grape vodka was a little too sweet so I substituted it with regular vodka. It’s been so popular that I put it on the specialty cocktail menu at work. Its great for people who want something sweet and fruity. 

The person who ordered this particular cocktail was a nice older lady who stayed at my bar for most of the evening. She said that she used to frequent The Royal N’orleans, which was the restaurant that used to be in the building that Katy O’s is located. She used to come in with her husband and sit at the bar, sharing a bottle of wine before dinner. They would come in on their anniversary, which was May 12th 1970. Forty-five  years to the day. She told me he died seven years ago to lung cancer, and since the Royal N’orleans closed in 2009, she hadn’t been back since he died. She had heard that we opened in the old N’orleans building, and that we are an Irish pub. She decided on a whim that she was going to come in today and sit at the bar, just like her and her husband used to do. She asked for a wine list and we talked about the wine we offered for a while, Finally, she decided that she didn’t really want wine and asked me what else I could make. I showed her our speciality cocktail list and asked her what she was really in the mood for. She said that she wanted something sweet and fruity and something that would lift her spirits. I suggested the Luckytini. She fell in love and had a few more. She relived her past with her husband over the drinks, and when she was ready to leave I called her a cab. She gave me a big hug before she walked out of the door.

I love my job.

Cocktails

5 ingredient Margarita (The Perfect Margarita) Closing Cocktail

Sincerely, Shawna

Tonight’s Closing Cocktail is the Perfect Margarita

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My perfect margarita

1.5 oz tequila- I used Patrón Silver

.5 oz Cointreau- This is important. Not Triple Sec

1.5 oz Lime Juice

Kosher Salt Rim

Ice

These are the only five ingredients in a perfect margarita. Notice that there is none of that nasty sweet and sour mix. Fresh lime juice is prefered, but I only have Rose’s at my bar so I made do. I have fresh lemon juice on hand but limes are kind of costly right now.

To build:

Set up kosher salt in a rimmer or a plate if no rimmer is available.

Rim glass with lime juice and kosher salt.

Fill glass with ice and set aside

In cocktail shaker put ice cubes, tequilla, Cointreau, and lime juice. Shake until vigorously.

Strain and pour into glass, Garnish with lime.

This is literally the only way I can drink a margarita. I would love it if “margarita” wasn’t synonymous with sugar filled neon green tequila cocktail. Or worse, when they’re blue.

I don’t pretend to be a margarita professional, this is just personal preference. Plus I don’t think it could get any simpler. The simpler, the better in my experience.

Cocktails

Todays Closing Cocktail: The Irish Wristwatch

Sincerely, Shawna
Danielle, the lady I made this cocktail for. I told her I was going to take a picture of it and she insisted on being in it. It was more green than the picture let on. I'll remake this at some point and post a picture
Danielle, the lady I made this cocktail for. I told her I was going to take a picture of it and she insisted on being in it. It was more green than the picture let on. I’ll remake this at some point and post a picture

1 oz Jameson

.75 oz Bacardi

.75 oz Gin (I used Bombay Sapphire)

.5 oz Triple Sec

.5 oz Peach Schnapps

.5 oz Blue Curacao

Splash of fresh lemon juice

Redbull to the top

This drink was originally supposed to be an Irish Trash Can, but with as many modifications as I did it ended up being almost nothing like the trash can. This drink was delicious.The Jameson, Bacardi, and Gin was complimented well with the lemon juice, which I think helped neutralize the alcohol taste. The peach schnapps, triple sec, and blue curacao really made it a summer cocktail. I could see drinking this out of a fish bowl beside a pool on a summer day. The Redbull made it turn green, and made the whole drink taste like a soda. I named it the Irish Wristwatch because if you can’t say the name, you probably shouldn’t have another one.

Cocktails

Tonight’s Closing Cocktail, the Irish Shillelagh

Sincerely, Shawna

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1.5 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey

.5 oz Sloe Gin

.5 oz Bacardi

.5 oz Peach Schnapps

.5 oz Simple syrup

.75 oz Fresh lemon juice

stir and garnish with a lemon

wpid-20150501_231509.jpg Here is a picture with flash so you can see the color. Its a dark pink which is unusual for the Irish drinks I have been serving. It had a much sweeter and lighter taste than I was expecting. I thought that it would taste more like whiskey. It is definitely a summer cocktail. It is quite strong so I would suggest drinking it it moderation. If I was going to add anything to it, I would probably add some carbonated water or Sprite just to give it some fizz. This is actually the first time I have used Sloe Gin in something that I have drank myself, which is kind of exciting.

Usually on Friday or Saturday night when I close the bar, I try to make myself something unique to try so I can better understand how the different flavors pair together. I suppose now that I’m doing this blog I’m going to make it a point to take each of their pictures and post the recipes.