Salt air meets a margarita

Want salt with your margie, but just a lot less of it? Salt does great things to tequila and lime, but in small doses. Too often that gritty, too salty sensation is overkill. Now, we've got it covered. With foam. The Lybations margarita comes with a cloud of lightly salted foam on top. No grit. No overkill. Just the right balance of the sweet, sour, and salty. The secret? Egg whites? A cappuccino foamer? Nope, we've made it much easier than all that.

Salt Air Foam:

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon soy lecithin (available at any vitamin store)

Preparation:

Combine ingredients. Tilt the bowl away from you and blend with hand-held blender held away from you. When there's an inch or so of foam on top, it's ready to use. Skim off foam onto margarita. When you've used it all up, repeat the process. Juice mixture can be refrigerated for several days, so it's great for multiple uses.

a pear you won't soon forget

We've introduced you to various flavor infusions via Vodka, Gin, Whiskey etc, however, infusing vodka is one of the easiest spirits to work with because it's very neutral—making it a wonderful base. Things like fruit, cinnamon sticks, herbs and citrus rind all make for wonderful infusing elements.

Today we're introducing you to our infused Vodka (or Gin) with Pear, Apple and Chai Tea. The Chai gives just that little extra zing making it great for Autumn cocktails that will impress your most discerning guests. Let’s just say you’ll be thanking us next week when you’ve killed the whole bottle.

Ingredients:

• 1 Litre Vodka or Gin
• 2 Jolie Rouge Pears
• 1 Green Apple
• 1-2 Chai Tea Bags

Place vodka in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

Soak the tea bags in the vodka for one hour, then remove and discard. In the meantime, slice up the pear and apple–add to the jar.

Let pears, apples and vodka sit for one week in a closed container.

Once your week is up, your liquor is done infusing. You can strain the pears and apple out of the vodka, and eat or trash, I know what I'd do.

Come back later for a fantastic cocktail recipe using this infusion.

Cheers!

a simple, but necessary part of any tasty lybation

Simple syrup is very simple to make and is an essential part of any tasty lybation. You will find it in many popular mixed cocktails including Mojitos, Daiquiris and Hurricanes. This sweetener is primarily used as a substitute for raw sugar, keeping the cocktail from tasting granular and adds rich volume.

Making your own simple syrup is also more economical than buying it at the store. You can make as small or as large a batch as you wish and store it in the refrigerator in a well sealed bottle for around 6 months. It can be made in a variety of ways, here's how:

Thicker Simple Syrup:

With this variation you can use less syrup than a cocktail calls for.

Ingredients:

• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part water

Prep:

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water, stirring constantly.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved completely (about 3 minutes), remove the pan from the heat.
4. Allow to cool completely and thicken, then bottle.

To prolong the shelf life, add a little vodka, tequila or rum (whatever spirit you use the most) - usually between a tablespoon and an ounce, depending on how large the batch of syrup is.

Flavor-infused syrups:
Simple syrup can also be infused with flavor, such as lemon, lime or orange zest, and used in a variety of cocktails to add a unique twist.

hands down the best martini in the universe

That's right, the lybations crew thinks this is hands down the best Martini in the universe. I would attribute it to one of the star ingredients, St Germain, an elderflower liquer. It takes this lybation to new levels. Trust us when we say, you must make one, or two for you and some very close friends.

Basil Cucumber Martini

• 2 oz Vodka
• 1.5 oz St Germain
• 2 oz lime juice
• 3 slices of cucumber
• 4 leaves of basil

First, muddle your sliced cucumber and fresh basil in a cocktail shaker. Add some crushed ice, then add Vodka, St Germain and Lime juice. Shake well and serve in chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a sprig of basil or cucumber slice.

Tip: If you want a little kick, add a couple drops of habanero infused vodka. See our October 20th post for infusion recipes.