sultry lavender smoked margarita. check.

 

Smoked Lavender Margaritas

• 4 ounces of silver tequila
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• The juice of two limes and Ice
• 2 pinches of smoked salt
• 2 ounces of lavender syrup

To make the lavender syrup, boil a cup of water with a cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of lavender flowers, and a strip of lemon peel. (The acid in the lemon peel helps preserve the colour of the flowers). Reduce to low heat and simmer for twenty minutes. Taste the syrup, you may want to add more flowers and simmer longer. Strain the flowers out.

To make the Margaritas, nearly fill the pitcher of a blender with ice, add all of the other ingredients, and blend until smooth. Taste for salt, lavender and lime, adding more if necessary to balance the flavours. Pour into chilled glasses rimmed with smoked salt.

Cheers!

tasting notes for the whiskey newbie

Irish whiskey has been increasing in popularity since the late 90’s. If you have never tried a good Irish whiskey there is probably no better time than the next couple of days. Over the weekend there will be several local bars offering ridiculous Irish whiskey specials. To get started we offer some tasting notes on a few of our favorite Irish whiskies.

Clontarf Classic Blend – This blended whiskey is a great place to start. It has a milder flavor up front with just enough bite and body at the end and is generally priced mildly as well.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Pure Pot Still Whiskey – Without a doubt my favorite Irish whiskey at its price point. Redbreast is known for its musky nose, smooth texture and light finish.

Bushmills 10 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey – A delicious flavor for a whiskey on the younger side, Bushmills single malt offers a contrast between bright acidity and sweet barley.  

Jameson 18 Year Old Limited Reserve – Going from 10-year whiskey to 18-year whiskey causes a noticeable jump in price. But also offers a noticeable jump in flavor, incorporating sweet nutty notes with a velvety texture.

In Ireland, whiskies like these are commonly referred to as “moreish”, meaning that one leaves you wanting more. My research has confirmed this. I think that these Irish whiskies are quite a refined group of hooligans, sure to impress your drinking companions, but with just enough bite to keep you on your toes.  Cheers!

DIY custom salt & sugar

We just discovered the easiest way to give your cocktails (or any other beverage) a custom look with either colored salt or sugar. If you like to add either to the rim of the glass, this project couldn't be easier.

What You'll Need

• Sugar or Salt
• Air tight container
• Food Coloring

Simply pour in the amount you think you need into the air tight container. Add a few drops of food coloring, snap on the lid and shake. If you want a richer color just add a few more drops and shake again. Simple and easy way to customize your margaritas or martinis. 

distilling 101

Join us for a little history lesson about how distilled liquor came to be. By definition a distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables. This excludes undistilled fermented beverages such as beer, wine, and cider.

The term hard liquor is used in North America to distinguish distilled beverages from undistilled ones (implicitly weaker).

In modern distillation, except for the invention of the continuous still in the 19th century, the basic process of distillation has not changed since the 8th century. There have been many changes in the methods used to prepare organic material for the still, and the ways the distilled beverage is finished and marketed. Knowledge of the principles of sanitation and access to standardised yeast strains have improved the quality of the base ingredient; larger, more efficient stills produce more product per square foot and reduce waste; ingredients such as corn, rice, and potatoes have been called into service as inexpensive replacements for traditional grains and fruit. For tequila, the blue agave plant is used. Chemists have discovered the scientific principles behind aging, and have devised ways to accelerate aging without introducing harsh flavors. Modern filters have allowed distillers to remove unwanted residue and produce smoother finished products. Most of all, marketing has developed a worldwide market for distilled beverages among populations that previously did not drink spirits.

Now that you have some understanding of the distillation process, it's time to get mixing. We have a ton of great recipes here and on our www.facebook.com/lybations page to enjoy.

Cheers!

Curaçaos - Don't be affraid

We wanted to change things up a bit and introduce a different color palette to your mixology repertoire. We aren't usually drawn to the bluish frou-frou drinks that arrive with lots of fruit and an umbrella on vacation, however the Blue Ice is a tasty and easy to make lybation. Here's the scoop on Blue Curaçao Liqueur.

Curaçaos history - It's flavoured with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao. A non-native plant similar to an orange, the laraha developed from the sweet Valencia orange transplanted by Spanish explorers. The nutrient-poor soil and arid climate of Curaçao proved unsuitable to Valencia cultivation, resulting in small bitter fruit on the trees. But the aromatic peel maintained much of the essence of the Valencia varietal, and the trees were eventually bred into the current laraha cultivar.

Curaçaos flavour - The liqueur has an orange-like flavour with varying degrees of bitterness.

Blue Ice:

• 2 oz vodka
• .5 oz Blue Curaçao Liqueur
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake all ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice. Pour in a cocktail glass or in a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of dried Pineapple.

Cheers!