SUMMER DRINKS: Cucumber Vodka & Ginger Beer

Summertime is HERE! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the weather change than with a few drink recipes. A few weeks back we celebrated my roommate Sara’s move back south for a gig at one of our favorite bars. The Art Bar in the west village. They have a pretty stellar mixed cocktail menu and I became OBSESSED with one of their choices. Enter my summer lover: cucumber vodka and ginger ale.  There are all sorts of crazy vodka infusions on the market from jalapeño to tomato. What bummed me out was how expensive these delightful seasonal flavors were. I discovered with a few days and an cheap ish bottle of vodka I could make my very own Cucumber Vodka! Of course using these guidelines you can make your own vodka infusions in many flavors. I also set out to figure out how to make a ginger beer concentrate to add to soda water. I’m in love with the spicy nature of the final product. I’ve been splashing it into my soda water all weekend.  The process of making it uses a food processor rather than simmering the ginger over low heat keeps things nice and spicy!

 

Cucumber Vodka

2-3 Cucumbers 

1 medium size bottle of vodka- nothing too fancy but defiantly not the cheep plastic handle

Peel and finely dice the cucumbers. The point is to get as much surface area as possible on the cucumber for the vodka to come in contact with while it’s infusing. Put cucumber bits into a pitcher, pour an entire bottle of vodka over the top, and place in the refrigerator for 5-10 days. If you infuse any longer things will start to taste bitter.  After your infusing days are up strain through a fine mesh strainer and funnel back into the vodka bottle. Keep chilled in the refrigerator and enjoy!

 

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Ginger Beer Concentrate

1 Large Piece of Fresh Ginger(about 4 inches)

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1 cup water

 

Peel ginger and place pieces into a food processor. Puree with 1/2 cup of water until smooth. Transfer pulp to a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and try to remove as much liquid as you can.  Scrape the remaining ginger pulp out of the strainer and return it to the food processor. Add lime juice to the pulp and puree  for about a minute.  Repeat the same steps of pushing it through the strainer trying to remove as much liquid as possible.  Return whatever remains of the ginger pulp to food processor and add sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup of water. You can add more sugar depending on if you want it the final product to be sweeter.  Pulse for another minute and then repeat the straining process.  Keep your ginger concentrate in the refrigerator for up to a week. Add a splash to ginger ale to give it more kick. Mix it on a 1 to 3 ratio with soda water and a lime slice for a refreshing summer drink!

 

Hopefully these will help you kick of summer in style- Enjoy!

Charlie

 

 

Ginger Margarita

Rumor has it we *might* make it to 60 degrees outside today. This has been the never ending winter in NYC. In order to remedy the winter blues we had taco night with margaritas this past weekend. Lots of margaritas.

We tried making some crazy flavors but the ginger margarita rose to the top as my favorite. I used SNAP ginger liquor and a frozen can of limeade to make this subtly spicy treat. Now I can’t wait for summer so I can sip on one of these on a sunny day in the park!

Ginger Margarita

1 part tequila
1 part ginger liquor(snap or domaine de canton)
1 part frozen limeade
Splash of soda water

In a blender combine tequila, limeade, and ginger liquor with a handful of ice cubes. I like to use the container the limeade comes in as my measuring cup. Blend until smooth. Serve in a rocks glass topped with a splash of soda water and a lime.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

A Thrifty Foodies review of Brooklyn Beans Coffee kcups

Anyone who knew me during my college years knew that I was obsessed with coffee. In fact, I spent a good four years of my life making lattes as a Starbucks barista in order to save up money to move to New York City. As most people know when you work for Starbucks you get a weekly pound of coffee. Needless to say I moved to NYC with POUNDS of coffee to drink. After a year or so I ran out of my stockpile and started to really get on board with the craft coffee scene. I love tasting different varieties of coffees and have been enlightened beyond the traditionally burnt tasting Starbucks generic brew.

Fast forward a few years and I’m living with Tom who owns a Keurig machine.  Lets get one thing straight- Kcups are not cheap. They are super expensive and for the price I found the coffee that green mountain was creating for their machine lacked so much of the character I look for in my morning cup of coffee. On a mission to find the perfect thrifty kcup, I scoured the internet looking for a new coffee that was packed with taste and wouldn’t break the bank.

What I found was the Brooklyn Bean Roastery, a local NYC company making a huge splash in the kcup market by producing quality craft coffees.  Brooklyn Bean’s taste reminds me of those tiny college coffee shops that roast their own beans.  For $22 on amazon you can get  44 kcups that are the best quality, quantity, and price you will find.  Brooklyn Bean has taken the variety found throughout Brooklyn and tried to harness it  into their NYC-centric coffees with names such as Boardwalk Blend, Brooklyn Bridge Blend, Cyclone, and Fuhgeddaboudit. Along with standards such as Breakfast Blend, French Roast, and Colombian Brooklyn Beans has created a totally satisfying line of coffee that I’m proud to have at my house every morning.  Every kcup I tried in the variety pack was well balanced and far from the watered down taste of their green mountain coffee counterparts.

Check them out at www.brooklynbeans.com and look for them online and at a handful of grocery stores. I’m excited to have found this small company right as they are about to explode into the coffee world.

Enjoy!

~Charlie

Basil Blueberry Vodka Lemonade

Summer is one of my favorite times of the year because it seems like everyone is spending SO much time outside in the parks. I don’t know a New Yorker who hasn’t been sneaky and drank in one of our lovely parks. This past week I had the privilege of going to a concert in central park and laying out in the smaller park near my house. On both occasions you could find me and my friends with our Starbucks cups full of this tasty cocktail.

 

Basil Blueberry Vodka Lemonade

6-10 leafs fresh Basil

small handful of fresh blueberries(although raspberries would work too!)

3 ounces Simply Blueberry Lemonade

2 ounces vodka

splash of soda water

 

In a shaker muddle a sprinkle of sugar with the basil leaves and fresh blueberries. Add ice, lemonade, and vodka and shake vigorously. Pour into glasses and top off with a generous splash of soda water.

 

Enjoy!

~Charlie

 

 

Barbados Rum Punch

Hello from sunny St Augustine, Florida! Tom and I have temporarily traded in the hustle and noise of New York City for the slow paced roll of ocean waves. My family loves to drink on the beach. When we arrived we were treated with a delicious rum punch recipe that’s been passed down to us through our family friends in Barbados. When I went to visit last year a day didn’t pass where we weren’t far from a glass of this tasty cocktail. I hear it’s gotten pretty scorching hot in NYC, it’s the perfect time to mix up a pitcher and mellow out. Cheers!

Barbados Rum Punch

Rum punch can easily be created by remembering a simple equation: 1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, 4 of weak. In fact if you’ve been in my kitchen you’ve probably seen it printed on one of my tea towels.

Here’s how the ingredients are broken down….

1 SOUR: Fresh lime juice. Squeeze yourself. A great way to use that killer 11 limes for $1 deal at the bodega.

2 SWEET: Create a simple syrup with 1 cup of sugar(or Splenda) and 1 cup of water until dissolved.

3 STRONG: Rum. Any type you like though it’s not super important to use top of the line as all of the flavor is buried in the juices. We used the dark Cruzan which was only $18 for a large bottle.

4 WEAK: Juice. Try to use a tropical juice and stay away from anything citrus or acidic. We used Dole Paradise Blend for one pitcher and Welches Guava Pineapple for the second. Use half juice and half water for this step so things don’t get too sweet.

I love the versatility of this recipe. You can make it in a pitcher using 1 cup as your measurement or in a smaller glass using a shot glass as your measuring. Serve over ice with a dash of fresh nutmeg, bitters, and a slice of lime. Perfect for a day on the beach or an evening on the fire escape

Enjoy!
Charlie

A Thrifty Thanksgiving Day #4: Ginger Snap and Cider Mimosas

Happy Thanksgiving!
By now your bird should be in the oven and its time to get down to business- cocktail time. On television this past weekend I was reminded that every delicious meal needs an equally delicious opening act.
Last night while we prepped our thanksgiving meal my roommates and I made some cocktails that are sure to be a theme throughout our day: ginger snaps and cider mimosas.

I’m a huge fan of ginger flavor in anything. When I started flipping through My Year in Cocktails by John Cusimano(the companion of My Year In Meals), I knew the ginger snap would be a perfect pre-dinner cocktails to get guests into the holiday spirit. It was a little difficult to track down a bottle of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur in my Washington Heights neighborhood. It tastes like a lemony version of the cookie.

Our apple cider mimosa ended up being a happy accident. My new roommate Sara suggested using some leftover cider that I was using to marinate our tofu turkey in our drinks. What we figured out was a tasty seasonal treat!

Ginger Snap
My Year in Cocktails by John Cusimano
1 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon agave syrup
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Cinnamon stick, for garnish
Shake together all ingredients and strain into a martini glass.

Cider Mimosa
1 part apple cider
2 parts dry champagne
Cinnamon stick
Pour together over cinnamon sick in champagne flute.

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving and lovely day with your family.
-Charlie