Perfect Homemade Lemonade

Serves 4-6

Easy and delicious homemade lemonade. Of course wonderful by itself, but it really gets going when you add bourbon or vodka or whatever in it - you decide.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (5-6 lemons)
• zest of 1 lemon, strained remove pips
• 2 cups cold water
• ice

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1 cup water then add sugar, cook and stir 2 minutes to dissolve to make basic sryup
2. Add zest to syrup, let it cool or if in a hurry, warm is ok too
3. Add syrup to lemon juice, add cold water, stir well
4. Serve chilled with lots ice

WATCH ME MAKE THIS... 

Moscow Mule

Makes 1

A great cocktail – just don’t be tempted to substitute ginger ‘ale’ for the ginger ‘beer’, because it won’t be the same. BTW, ginger beer does not contain alcohol.

Ingredients

• Ice cubes
• 1 half lime, cut into 2 wedges
• 2 ounces vodka
• 4 ounces cold ginger beer

Directions

1. Fill a copper mug (or tall glass) with ice, add vodka, squeeze in both lime wedges - and drop in one of the wedges
2. Fill with the ginger beer
3. Serve

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Mini Sriracha Bloody Mary

Serves 1

This will complete any breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 ice cubes
• 1 small can tomato juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
• 2-3 drops Worcestershire sauce
• 1 vodka shot
• 1/4 piece lime, juice salt and pepper

Directions

1. Add ingredients to tall glass, stir well and enjoy.

Sammy-Boys Margarita

Makes 1 - go on, be selfish

The Margarita may have been born in Mexico in the 40's, but it came of age in my kitchen in the late 80's. Don't change it, just make it. And please use a decent tequila. I have this theory - crappy tequila makes a crappy Margarita. Oh, and be a little careful, they're kinda strong.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces reposado tequila

• 2 ounces Sweet & Sour - not Margarita mix

• ½ ounce Grand Marnier, plus extra for serving

• 1 splash Roses Lime Juice

• 2 lime wedges

• 2 orange wedges

Directions

1. Add ice to shaker and put in tequila, sweet & sour, Grand Marnier, Roses limejuice and juice from one lime & orange wedge

2. Place lid on shaker and shake well - you want it icy

3. Add fresh ice to a glass and pour in contents from shaker

4. Squeeze a new wedge each of lime and orange on top and drop wedges into glass

5. Then float a little more Grand Marnier over the top and voila - life is good.

WATCH ME MAKE THIS... PLUS, A BUNCH MORE RECIPES

Vodka Caesar

Serves 1

This is essentially the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary. Its made with Clamato Juice, but don't worry it's not like drinking a bowl of clams. I like to make it a martini shaker, get it really cold and mixed and then pour it into my glass.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces Clamato Juice (you'll find it in the store with the tomato juice.)
• 4 ounces vodka
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 good dashes hot sauce (anything like Cholula or Tabasco)
• 1 Lime
• Celery salt - some on plate for rimming and some for the drink
• 1 fat teaspoon Horseradish, grated

Directions

1. Slice a wedge of lime and rub around rim of glass
2. Dip glass rim into celery salt on plate
3. Fill shaker 1/4 full of ice and add Clamato, vodka, Worcestershire, horseradish, hot sauce and 1/4 teaspoon celery salt, juice of 1/2 a lime
4. Shake well and pour over fresh ice in glass being careful not to disturb the rimmed edge
5. Drop in a lime wedge, sit back and enjoy
6. An urge to quietly humm 'Oh Canada' is quite normal

Strawberry Mojito

Makes 1 - but a really delicious one.

This drink requires you to perform the ancient bartender art of 'muddling' which just means mashing some of the ingredients at the bottom of the glass to bring out the flavors & oils. You can even buy special equipment just for this task. Or you could use the handle of a wooden spoon or stick or hammer handle if you had to.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces white rum
• 10 fresh mint leaves
• 2 strawberries, halved
• 1/2 lime, quartered
• club soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Put lime, sugar, strawberries & mint in the bottom of a tall glass and muddle
2. Add ice, rum and fill to the top with soda and stir

French Martini

Makes 1

Chambord is raspberry liquer and a great addition to your bar - or cupboard, too - as it's great even just on ice cream.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1 ounce pineapple juice
• 1/2 ounce Chambord
• 1 lemon twist

Directions

1. Put ice in cocktail shaker
2. Add all ingredients and shake well
3. Pour into glass, add lemon twist and drink

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Raspberry Gin & Tonic

Makes 1

Summer in a glass. Ok, 'raspberry' summer in a glass. Fine then, rasberry summer 'that you have to be 21 to drink' in a glass.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin - and please use decent gin because cheap gin is maybe the worst of the cheap alcohols to drink
• Tonic
• 1 ounce Chambord (raspberry liquer)
• Ice

Directions

1. Put ice in glass and add gin
2. Fill 3/4 of the way with tonic
3. Add Chambord and serve

Champagne Cocktail

Makes 1

A classic that's perfect for New Year's - and way simple. Bitters are just a vegetable extract that's used in making a bunch of cocktails - you can find it at the supermarket. You know sparkling wine is essentilly the same as champagne - you just can 't call it champagne unless it comes from the champagn region of France.

Ingredients

• Champagne or Sparkling Wine
• 1 sugar cube
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Directions

1. Shake 2 dashes bitters on sugar cube and drop in champagne glass
2. Fill with champagne

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Caipirinha

Makes 1

Pronounced 'kaipeereena,' - this is essentially the official drink of Brazil. It's made with Cachaca, pronounced 'cachasa' a sort of rum-like alcohol made from sugar cane. It fun to make and even funner to drink. I know, funner's not a word - I just like saying it (and after a few of these you will too)

Ingredients

• 1 lime, cut into small chunks
• 2 ounces of cachaca
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Ice cubes

Directions

1. Place lime pieces at the bottom of a short glass and sprinkle with sugar
2. Using something like a wooden sppon handle 'muddle' the lime and sugar - that means to gently crush the limes with the sugar to bring out the juices (if you crush too hard it wil get bitter
3. Add the cachaca and stir well
4. Fill with ice and drink, pronounced 'dreenk'

Pink Rum Hammer

Makes 1, but a good 1

I'm not sure the combination of rum and ruby red grapefruit juice sounds all that good, but this is one of my favorite cocktails. And on a hot summer day, it's the official drink of the Red Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces dark rum
• 1 ounce Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
• splash raspberry liquer, like Aqua Perfecta

Directions

1. Fill a short glass with ice
2. Add rum and grapefruit juice
3. Add the splash of raspberry
4. Squeeze and drop lime on top and serve

Tequila Sunrise

Makes 1

This is definitely an old school cocktail. It reminds me of this one night we were all over at....oh never mind.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces tequila
• 1 ounce orange juice
• About 1/2 an ounce of Grenadine

Directions

1. Put ice in a glass and add tequila then oj
2. Drizzle the Grenadine over the ice and watch the sunrise - get it?

Peach Bellini

Makes 6

These are usually made with pureed peaches but try this my way. They're really good!

Ingredients

• Fresh raspberries
• 1 bottle dry (moderately priced) champagne
• 1 - 12 ounce can peach nectar

Directions

1. Drop 2 or 3 rasberries into the bottom of a champagne flute
2. Pour roughly 3 ounces champagne into each glass and add 2 ounces peach nectar
3. Finish filling the glass with champagne
4. Enjoy

Pomegranate Champagne

Serves 6

I'm not a huge Champagne guy and even less huge when it comes to the classic Mimosa (Champagne & OJ). I find it a bit sweet. But pomegranate juice is tart and makes a very different, yet still special drink. There's really no need to buy expensive champagne when you're mixing it like this--that would just be unnecessary.

Ingredients

• Ice
• One 26-ounce bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine (by the way, sparkling wine is just Champagne that comes from somewhere other than the Champagne region of France)
• 12 ounces pomegranate juice
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Fill tall glasses with ice and add the Champagne and juice
2. Squeeze, then drop in the lemon wedge and serve

Sangrita

Makes about 20 ounces

Drink this along side your really good tequila. Its awesome....try it!

Ingredients

• 10 oz tomato juice
• 10 oz orange juice
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1/4 cup onion (preferably white), diced extra fine
• 1 tablespoon Cholula Hot Sauce
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• A pinch of salt

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together
2. Refrigerate
3. Serve in a small glass along side an equal amount of good tequila

Potato Vodka Cocktail

Makes One

Think vodka Mojito with mint, sort of.

Ingredients

• 2 oz potato vodka (like Chopin)
• 1 oz Ginger Beer (similar to ginger ale but stronger and non-alcoholic)
• 8-10 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 lime, cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Put the mint and lime pieces into the bottom of a short glass and muddle (squish down with until the mint and limes are kind of mashed a bit
2. Fill glass with ice and pour in the vodka and ginger beer
3. Stir and enjoy

Michilada

Makes 2

Maybe the world's most refreshing drink. And I realize a beer with lime isn't earth shattering, so I guess you'll just have to trust me.

Ingredients

• 1 beer, some sort of lagery thing is best, just not too dark
• 2 limes, cut in half
• Kosher salt
• Ice cubes

Directions

1. Rub rim of glass with lime and push edge into Kosher salt
2. Squeeze one lime into each glass and fill with ice
3. Pour beer all the way up and drink
4. Simple huh?

Red Beer

Makes 1

My friend Matt makes this with tomato juice, but I prefer Clamato. Either way it's great.

Ingredients

• 1 Dark Beer (like Newcastle Brown Ale)
• Clamato Juice (or plain tomato juice if you prefer but I say try the Clamato)
• Dash of worcestershire sauce
• Wedge of fresh lime
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Ice cubes

Directions

1. Into a glass pour a 50/50 mix of the dark beer and the Clamato (or tomato juice)over ice
2. Add a big fat dash of Worcestershire, fresh ground pepper to taste
3. Squeeze the juice from the lime wedge into the glass then drop in the wedge
4. Stir and enjoy

Bourbon Romaine

Serves me, I mean one

Named after my dear friend Romaine, this is maybe the best thing you can do with bourbon.

Ingredients

• 2 parts bourbon
• 1 part ginger ale
• 1 good splash Angostura Bitters
• 1 large lime wedge

Directions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice
2. Add bourbon, ginger ale & bitters
3. Stir then squeeze in lime juice then drop in the wedge
4. Think about Romaine

Sake Martini

Makes 1

This is one of my favorites.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1 ounce sake
• 1 splash Grand Marnier, or any orange liquer
• Ice
• 1 small wedge of fresh orange

Directions

1. Add some ice to a cocktail shaker and pour in the vodka, sake and Grand Marnier
2. Shake well
3. Add fresh ice to a glass and pour in martini
4. Squeeze the orange wedge into the drink and drop in
5. Enjoy