We Love Cocktails!!!

That was the name of the party we had this last Saturday, We Love Cocktails. The idea was to find a handful of cocktails that we had not made before or possibly had not had before. “We” meaning Annie, myself, and our friend Sean. So, what drinks did we come up with?

The Cocktails

1)      Cranberry & Rosemary Sangria using J. Dusi Pinot Grigio

2)      Spa Citrus Cocktail with Re:Find Cucumber Vodka

3)      Beet & Cilantro Margarita with Cazadores Tequila & Grand Marnier

4)      French 75 with Re:Find Gin & Bubbly

Number 1 and 3 we found in Jerry James Stone’s cookbook called “Holidazed: A Cocktail Cookbook for Getting Lit on Christmas”. He also has a blog called Cooking Stoned, where I have started doing wine reviews. The Spa Citrus Cocktail (#2) was found at thisgirlwalksintoabar.com and the French 75 (#4) was found at epicurious.com.

I will say it was quite the process getting these drinks prepped and ready to go prior to the party. I suggest doing that part with friends too, it makes for some good laughs. We made enough of each drink to serve 20 people which was good because we ended up with 16 crazy cocktail guzzlers. That provided for some leftover adult beverages for morning.

So which cocktail won? First, with any cocktail you can lower doses of this and raise dashes of that to fit your particular palate. That said, the Sangria came in first place followed by the Beet Margarita, the French 75, and the Spa Cocktail.

One of our friends, who shall remain nameless (Ryan), couldn’t stand the Beet Margarita but that’s because he doesn’t like beets…which is all good. For the most part it seemed all the cocktails were enjoyed, the Spa Cocktail included, but that Sangria really stood out. It was easy drinking, refreshing, and with that sugar coated sprig of rosemary it tasted like Christmas…pretty cool!

We tried to use local ingredients as much as possible. We used Re:Find booze as much as we could and of course J. Dusi’s Pinot Grigio. It’s nice to support local whenever you can. Be sure to check out the full recipes as well as Jerry’s book…it’s a cookbook for those that aren’t really into cookbooks (in my opinion).

Now go get your cocktail on!