DIY craft cocktails

DIY Craft Cocktails: Festive Non-Alcoholic Drinks

Making drinks for those who can't (or prefer not to) drink alcohol can be a bit of a challenge. It's easy to offer a guest a bottle of soda, juice, or sparkling water, but in the context of a party, particularly during the holidays, it's more fun and inviting to plan ahead and be able to offer them a beverage that's more intricate, more special, more festive.

 

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DIY Craft Cocktails: Beer Shandies for Cooler Temps

A traditional beer shandy is a refreshing, height-of-summer drink, served ice cold and made by combining lemonade and a light-bodied beer, usually in a one to one ratio. The shandy is typically enjoyed in the middle of a hot day and has a relatively low alcohol content. Its primary purpose is to refresh, not to intoxicate.

 

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DIY Craft Cocktails: Mixing Cocktails with Herbs

I ran into a problem last summer: too many herbs were coming out of my garden, so many that I couldn't keep up with them. The easy way to deal with this overflow would've been to make large batches of pesto and tabbouleh, or other variations on crushed-herb sauces or greens-and-grains salads. I did my best, but I still had a surplus. By the end of the growing season, I had to cut back armfuls of sorrel, thai basil, lemon thyme, curry, and others. All these great flavors (for which I had so many plans last May), and I ended up pitching them into the compost bin. It was silly: what was the point of nurturing these plants out of the dirt if I was only going to transform them back into dirt in a few months?

 

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DIY Craft Cocktails: Infused (Flavored) Liquors

I maintain that there's a ridiculous secret lurking underneath the craft cocktail movement: as complicated as some of these cocktails can get, it's actually almost impossible to make a bad drink. As my instructor said on day one of bar-tending school: the most important ingredient is ice; you can never have enough. (This instructor was a guru and mentor to me years ago, a person who had devoted his adult life to making drinks. Actually, he's now more of a cautionary tale than anything, but I'll keep the practical knowledge he imparted.) My experience has proved that all you need to do is get some liquor cold, mix in complementary flavors, serve immediately, and a decent drink is inevitable.

 

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DIY Craft Cocktails: Lighter Holiday/Winter Cocktails

I'm making a pact with myself to not feel gross this winter. Usually this time of year, I succumb to the temptation to eat too much and then keep that same pace with drinks, leaving me generally sluggish and grumpy by the end of January. This holiday season, I'm planning to be more moderate with everything: I'll eat less salt, avoid starches, and eat fewer snacks and desserts. Also: more vegetables with as much color in them as possible and no giant meals with animal protein at their center.

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DIY Craft Cocktails: Make Your Own Garnishes

This is the second post in a series about do-it-yourself craft cocktails. Also check out the first post in the series on making your own simple syrups.


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DIY Craft Cocktails: Make Your Own Simple Syrup

There's a ridiculous secret underlying the current revolution in cocktail culture: it's actually almost impossible to make a bad drink (especially if bourbon is involved). All that's really required is balance: a strong, tactile, clean note of alcohol, finished with interesting side currents of bitterness, sugar, or salt. A successful drink should land loudly but end quietly on the palate.

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