Recipe Round-up (Cocktails)
In honor of the release of The Buslife Kitchen Vol. 2: Recipes from the Road, here’s a handful of cocktail recipes — so you can lift a glass with me to celebrate. There is something in here for just about everyone, from five-minute patio pounders to the more complex and elegant — even a couple drinks that are full to the brim with nostalgia. This is a recipe round-up you don’t want to miss.
Irish Butter-Washed Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is one of those incredibly simple, near perfect drinks. Just a pour of whiskey, some sugar, bitters, and a bit of fruit. It’s easy to make and rarely disappoints. But, like anything, it can get a bit dull. And while it can be difficult to modify such a simple drink without straying too far from its soul, I think this Irish butter-washed Old Fashioned fits the bill just right.
All you do is melt some Irish butter and mix it into a jar of your preferred Irish whiskey. Let it infused a bit, then solidify the butter in the fridge, and strain it out. What you’re left with is a silky, savory Irish whiskey that is inconceivably good mixed into a classic Old Fashioned. And you can even batch-make the drink. Once you’ve butter-washed the whiskey, mix in the sugar and bitters and store it in your fridge or freezer. When you’re ready for a drink, just pour a dram over ice and add the orange peel.
I first tried this drink in Stu the bus, the rig of our good friends Aaron and Cat. Never in million years did I think I’d be shooting my own recipe for it — not that there’s much to the recipe, it’s mostly about pouring — but they were delicious then and they are delicious now. If you click through to the recipe you can see all my tips for the best way to layer the three liquors in a shot glass. If, on the other hand, you d0n’t care about much for the appearance, just mix equal parts coffee liqueur, cream liqueur, and Canadian whiskey, and toss it back.
At first glance, this may seem like a silly recipe. But once you try it, you’ll understand. Few things hit the spot on a warm day like a margarita, but they can sometimes be a little too boozy for the occasion. By adding sparkling wine to the mix, you keep everything wonderful about a margarita — that salty-sweet lime and tequila flavor is still there — but you stretch things out, lower the ABV, and add some delightful bubbles. You can drink a couple of these under the sun on a warm patio and not accidentally get too loose to finish the rest of your day. Beyond that, this recipe falls somewhere between a margarita and a mimosa, making it the perfect drink to open the door for margaritas at brunch. A plate of chilaquiles and a glass of champagne margarita is seriously the stuff brunch dreams are made of.
I was absolutely obsessed with the Harry Potter series growing up. To an extreme degree, really. As a kid I begged for a black bath robe and would wear it around all the time, cosplaying a Hogwarts student in my own home (and, embarassingly, sometimes outside of it as well). Of all the magical food and drink in the series, nothing hit quite like butterbeer. The description was always vague enough to leave it feeling mysterious and magical. You could drink it warm or cold, and it was alternately hearty and warming or cool and refreshing. The only thing that was certain about it was that everyone loved it — how could you not want to try it?!
This recipe is definitely an adult version, with each mug carrying a boozy wallop — a bit more potent than the stuff in the books. But it is a sweet and savory drink that I think fits the bill perfectly. Give it a shot next time you have a rainy day movie marathon or curl up with your favorite book from the series for a nostalgia read.
This one here is the real star of the show. Clarified milk punches have been all the rage in recent years, and this recipe takes a unique angle, using fruity cereal milk to flavor the drink. The way a clarified milk punch works is you mix up a milky punch — in this case using vodka, milk, fruity cereal, raspberries, and sugar — and you let that infuse for a while. You then add citrus juice to the mix, curdling the protein in the milk. Straining the curds out leaves a translucent cocktail with all the silky richness of a milk-based drink. It feels a bit like alchemy, and it is both stunning and truly delicious.
There are a lot of ways to make a milk punch, but this one is really fun. It tastes just like the leftover milk after a bowl of cereal — a real nostalgic treat. Plus, after you’ve gone through the whole process you are left with a jar of ready-to-drink cocktail that you can store in the fridge. Ater being processed like this it will last much longer than standard milk-based drinks — think weeks to months rather than days. And while I’ve opted for that fruity cereal with the rabbit mascot, you can certainly substitute in your personal favorite for maximum nostalgia.
There you have it, five new drink recipes to add to your repertoire. Enjoy!