This month’s Mixology Monday focuses on morning drinks, the kind of boozy beverages that jumpstart your day and pair nicely with breakfast. I created a tasty libation, dubbed Dad’s Juice Box, that pairs fresh orange juice with egg whites for a nutrient-packed beginning. From there, I add genever, St. Germain, sugar and absinthe, because I’ve yet to find a better way to start your day than with absinthe. For the orange component, I opted for Clementines. They’re seedless and sweet and their peels give off very aromatic oils when muddled. So rather than squeeze the fruit, I muddled a handful of...

Perhaps the biggest contributor in reviving craft cocktails – aside from personal interest and talent – has been the utilization of fresh ingredients in drinks. Just as quality dishes benefit from fresh produce and herbs, so too can drinks. And as the weather turns cooler, we often look to fall favorites like apples and rhubarb to add seasonal flavors to our cocktails. In this latest video from friend of the program Liquor.com, industry expert Charlotte Voisey explores the bounty at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, where she finds fresh and flavorful ingredients like red bell peppers, cilantro, rosemary...

Summer has turned to fall (though here in Texas, you wouldn’t know it), which means that it’s time to usher in some seasonal drinks. We typically prefer a nice whiskey, Cognac or rum to welcome falling leaves and cooler temps, but the below Grey Goose Vodka cocktails include some ingredients, flavors and colors indicative of the season. Grab a bottle and start mixing. Autumn Sage 1 1/4 parts GREY GOOSE Le Citron Vodka 1/2 part Green Chartreuse 2 one-inch pieces of fennel, diced 3 sage leaves 3/4 part agave nectar 1 part lemon juice 2 parts seltzer water In a cocktail shaker, muddle the fennel, sage and agave...

September 20th is National Punch Day. While some associate punch with everclear, trashcans and college, a true punch (which is Hindi for “five”), is comprised of five main components: sugar, water, citrus, spice and alcohol. An Indian discovery, punch gained popularity amongst sailors who took advantage of the abundance of Caribbean sugar cane as a perfect ingredient for their new drink of choice. When punch arrived in the new world, many drinkers relished the taste, texture and simplicity of the drink, and enjoyed sharing it in large quantities. “It’s the original mixed drink,” says David Wondrich, drinks historian and author of...

Germany’s The Bitter Truth makes some of our favorite cocktail bitters – we’re especially fond of their celery bitters and creole bitters – but they also make a range of fine liqueurs, including an apricot and a violet liqueur. Given that the latter two products just showed up on our doorstep, straight from Deutschland, we figured we’d crack them open and do some drinking. Bitter Truth Apricot Liqueur This liqueur combines the juice of sun-ripened apricots with an apricot eau de vie distilled from the same fruit. As expected, it smells convincingly of apricots, but there’s also a pleasant note of...

Summer’s nearing an end, which means it’s time to put away your CSI Miami pants and break out some fall cocktails. These Labor Day-inspired sips come courtesy of Belvedere Vodka and feature fall flavors like black cherries and licorice. Recipes below: Black Cherry Mule 1.5 oz Belvedere Vodka 6-7 fresh black cherries Dash of simple syrup 1/2 oz lime juice Dash Peychaud’s bitters Ginger beer Muddle cherries, then shake all ingredients except ginger beer with ice. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer, and garnish with a cherry. Intense Liquorice Sour 1.5 oz Belvedere Intense 1/2 oz lemon juice 1/2 oz licorice syrup Dash licorice bitters Dash...

What this cocktail lacks in a respectable name, it more than makes up for in boozy stoutness and balanced flavor. The Fancy Free follows the tried-and-true formula of spirit, liqueur and bitters that, more often than not, results in a tasty drink. The components present in this one are bourbon, maraschino liqueur, Angostura bitters and orange bitters. The result? A spirit-forward cocktail tempered by the sweetness of the maraschino liqueur and further balanced by the addition of bitters. The Fancy Free is very simple to make at home, and while it’s somewhat obscure, the easy-to-make recipe makes it an accessible call...

We’re a sucker for drinking holidays. It’s not that we need an excuse to drink, but justification is always nice. So it’s with open cabinets and freezers that we welcome National Whiskey Sour Day, celebrated each August 25th. The Whiskey Sour is one of the most classic drinks around. Following the simple sour template of spirit, sugar and citrus, it’s crisp, well balanced and packs a boozy wallop. And it’s got a history to it, first appearing in print in Jerry Thomas' 1862 book, “The Bon Vivant's Companion or How to Mix Drinks.” That said, it’s also really easy to make....

The world is full of weird booze. Much of it is fun to drink, while others totally miss the mark. Even within specific categories, like vodka, there are some odd options – think smoked salmon vodka, for instance. And of course, the many flavored vodkas include ridiculous bottles ranging from Three Olives Purple (purple isn’t a flavor) and Dude (neither is Dude) to protein-infused vodka. Curating some of these weird liquors are our pals at The Daily Meal. See below for their roundup of the world’s 10 weirdest spirits, which range from pretty nuts (yogurt and cannabis liqueur) to fairly...

It’s difficult to find a drink that bitters don’t make better. Their enhancing, tie-the-room-together qualities can take a cocktail from ordinary to extraordinary. But sprinkling them on top of vodka? Never occurred to us. Then again, vodka on the rocks isn’t a common beverage at Cocktail Enthusiast HQ. Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic vodka that’s garnered much appreciation since its fairly recent introduction to the U.S. market. And Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters is a small shop producing some very interesting bitters, including rhubarb, sriracha, black mission fig and meyer lemon. These two companies joined forces to create the very small batch...