Lemon!

I’m sorry to say that I don’t have any fun stories of how I decided to choose lemon this week, or any bartender trivia about it, like I did with the Creme de Banane last week. All I can really say is that the main lemon-flavored liqueur out there is called Limoncello, it’s made using lemon peels, and it’s originally from Italy. And that’s about all I know about it! But I do know a couple of drink recipes that use it that are supposed to be pretty tasty, so here are those!

Lemon Drop Martini
1.5 oz Limoncello
1.5 oz Vodka (use citrus-flavored vodka for even more lemon flavor!)
1.5 oz Lemon Juice
2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
1 tsp Sugar (or more if desired)
Mix in a cocktail shaker with ice, then pour into a martini glass.

Lemon Highlander
1 part Limoncello
1 part Scotch
Pour into a glass with ice and stir. Garnish with a lemon peel.

I have a feeling that that first one will probably be more popular with the girls at your bachelorette party, but hey, you never know. I’ve known girls who pound back straight scotch, so if there’s anybody like that at your party, the second one might be more her style. Or you could just give her straight scotch, I guess! Some girls really know how to handle their liquor! Maybe one of these days I’ll do a post of really hard drinks for all the tough, badass girls out there… what do you think?

Banana!

I was jogging with my ipod on shuffle earlier today, and that Gwen Stefani song came on – I think you can guess which one I’m talking about! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! And that’s how I figured out what flavor this post would be about: oranges, of course!

Just kidding! It’s bananas! Just like there’s “Creme de Menthe” and “Creme de Cacao,” there’s a fancy-sounding liqueur name for bananas, too, although this one’s a little closer to the English word: Creme de Banane. It’s so close, in fact, that I’ve seen a lot of people misspell it as Creme de Banana! Okay, enough of my nerdy bar trivia, here are some drink recipes I know of that use Creme de Banane!

Banana Split
1 shot Creme de Banane
1 shot Kahlua
Mix in a glass with ice and fill with pineapple juice. Garnish with a cherry if desired.

King Kong Cola
2 shots Crown Royal
1 shot Creme de Banane
Mix in a glass with ice and fill with cola.

Sadly that’s all I know when it comes to Creme de Banane cocktails – except, there’s always that banana daiquiri I posted a looong time ago! Here’s that recipe to refresh your memory:

4 parts Light Rum
1 part Creme de Cacao (white)
1 part Creme de Banane
1 sliced Banana
Put ingredients in a blender and blend them together, then serve in a cocktail glass.

Okay, that’s really all I know. I think. If anything else springs to mind I’ll post it, but otherwise we’ll be on to another flavor next time, if I can think of one – I might need another random miracle of inspiration like the Gwen Stefani song to help me out! Or, if any of you have certain flavors you’d like to know about, just post comments with your requests!

Coconut!

As promised, here’s a flavor that might sound a little more appetizing than egg – coconut! Now, as far as I know there isn’t really any drink that’s technically defined as a coconut liqueur. The most famous coconut-flavored alcohol is Malibu coconut rum. It’s just like a regular rum, but it’s made with coconut extract to add the coconut flavor. Anyways, here are a couple of cocktails I know that use it!

Caribou Lou
1 part Bacardi 151
1 part Malibu Coconut Rum
5 parts Pineapple Juice
Pour in a glass with ice.

Staten Island Ferry
1 part Malibu Coconut Rum
1 part Pineapple Juice
Pour in a glass with ice.

I’m sure there are more I know, but these are the two that come to mind first – and both us pineapple juice, what do you know? That’s because pineapple juice and coconut rum mix really well and taste really good together – at least in my opinion! You’ll have to try it to see if you think so too! Oh, and if you’re looking for something to drink these with, I found some of my favorite penis-shaped straws from that website like I said I was going to, so here they are:

The first one is a set of pink and purple penis straws and the second one is a jumbo pink penis straw. I guess I just like the color pink when it comes to penis straws. It makes them look so cute! Of course, there are lots of other designs on that website, so you should give it a look if you’re looking for penis-shaped straws for your bachelorette party. That’s all for now, I’ll be back with another flavor next time!

Eggs?

If you’re reading that title and wondering if such a thing as egg-flavored liqueur really exists – so was I, not too long ago! At risk of a little embarrassment, I’ll admit that I actually only learned about the existence of egg-flavored liqueur recently. Now, some of you might be thinking about eggnog, but that’s not really an egg-flavored liqueur. It’s just a drink made with eggs which some other type of liquor is often added to. But there is an egg-flavored liqueur, and it’s called Advocaat. I don’t think my bar even stocks it, and I’ve definitely never heard any customer order a drink that uses it. In fact, I only know one recipe that uses it, and I learned it from a friend a couple of weeks back. Something I saw online just made me think of it for some reason, so I thought I’d make a post about it. I know this probably won’t appeal to anybody (or maybe it just doesn’t to me) so it might not be practical, but hopefully you can at least laugh at the fact that an egg-flavored liqueur exists and they make drinks with it! And here’s the recipe I know:

Snowball
1 part Advocaat
5-6 parts Lemonade
Serve in a glass with ice and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Yeah, I know it’s a really weak drink. Maybe it’s because you need all that lemonade to drown out the flavor of the advocaat!

I feel bad about just posting this drink that I know nobody’s ever going to want to drink so here’s something a little more relevant for you girls. I found this website while I was online the same time that other thing made me think of advocaat. It’s an entire website about penis-shaped straws! I’m sure some of those would be great to drink out of at your bachelorette party. I didn’t really look at the site at all, so I don’t know what kinds of straws there are there, but I bet there’s something cool. Maybe I’ll give it a look over and post my favorites (along with a better flavor than egg) next time!

Almond!

I was thinking about last week’s post about the hazelnut-flavored Frangelico, and I realized that I really like the idea of nut-flavored liqueurs. I don’t really know why. Maybe I’m just a nut nut! Okay, that was bad, I’m sorry. Anyways, I thought I’d continue with the nut theme today and have some drinks made with a popular almond-flavored liqueur: Amaretto. You might remember me mentioning this drink already, as an ingredient in the Flaming Dr. Pepper a while back. Well, in that drink it was used to make the drink taste like Dr. Pepper, but there are other drinks you can make to highlight the almond flavor of the Amaretto itself. Here are some of them!

French Connection
1 part Amaretto
1 part Cognac
Pour in a glass with ice. Stir gently.

I think this one’s called a “French Connection” because both of the ingredients come from France. But there are plenty of other french types of alcohol, I wonder why they chose these two? Maybe because the combination is really tasty! Okay, these next ones are all pretty similar and even have similar names. It’s like a family of drinks – literally!

Godfather
1 part Amaretto
1 part Scotch
Pour in a glass with ice.

Godmother
1 part Amaretto
1 part Vodka
Pour in a glass with ice.

Godchild
1 part Amaretto
1 part Cream
Pour in a glass with ice.

The first two are IBA official cocktails, but the last one isn’t. I guess somebody just decided the trio needed to be complete and made one up! It makes sense, too, because the “child” one is less alcoholic than the other two. I’ve never tried any of these, but they sound good, and I really like the idea of a “family” of drinks. I wonder if there are any more “families” of recipes out there? I just might have to do some research about that!

Hazelnut!

This week’s flavor is… hazelnut! Well, I guess you already knew that if you read the title. Anyways, the most well-known and popular hazelnut liqueur out there is called Frangelico. You’ve probably heard of it, and maybe even seen it before – the bottle’s pretty distinctive. It looks like a friar, with the rope around its “waist” and everything.” It’s a pretty interesting bottle, if you ask me. And a pretty tasty liqueur, too! Okay, I’ll stop raving and get onto the drinks. Here are some drinks made with Frangelico, which are great if you like the hazelnut flavor.

Hazelnut Martini
1 part Frangelico
2 parts Vodka
Mix and strain into a cocktail glass.

Yep, it’s basically just kind of like a vodka martini, minus the vermouth. So there aren’t any real martini ingredients at all, and yet it still carries the name. Drink names are funny like that sometimes. Anyways, because the primary ingredient of this is vodka, which doesn’t have much of a flavor of its own, the hazelnut really stands out.

Frangelico Colada
1 part Frangelico
1 part Coconut Rum
2 parts Pineapple Juice
1 part Coconut Cream
Blend with ice, strain into a glass.

Okay, in this one, the hazelnut stands out a little less. It’s a lot like a pina colada, but with Frangelico. You can definitely still taste the hazelnut in it, but that’s not the dominant flavor. What is the dominant flavor? Delicious! I think I might like the taste of these more than a regular pina colada.

Now, if you’re a fan of those drinks that try to taste like different desserts, here’s a shot, which is basically the reverse of the Hazelnut Martini:

Chocolate Cake
1 part Vodka
2 parts Frangelico

I’ve never tried this, and I think it’s really odd that there’s no chocolate liqueur in a “chocolate cake”, but if it really accomplishes that taste, I’m very curious about this. This is going on my list of cocktails to try!

Cinnamon!

For the next post in the little “flavor challenge” I’ve started myself, I’m going to focus on cinnamon-flavored liquor! You may have heard of the most famous brand of cinnamon schnapps out there. It’s called goldschlager, and it’s famous mostly because it not only tastes great, but it’s got little flakes of gold leaf floating in it! Isn’t that fancy? The best part is, because the gold is so thin, it doesn’t increase the price or anything, so goldschlager is very affordable! Oh, and I feel like I should probably mention that it’s totally safe to drink. Unless you’re deadly allergic to gold, drinking little bits of it is no problem. Now, without further ado, onto the drinks!

Golden Elk
2 parts Jagermeister
1 part Goldschlager

The golden elk is a shot which is also sometimes known as the “24 Karat Nightmare.” That name or the golden in golden elk comes from the gold in goldschlager, and the elk part comes from the elk picture on every bottle of jagermeister. Neat, right? This is a pretty strong shot with a big bite to it, but if you like the intensity and can handle the bite, go for it!

The next ones are a little more gentle. Their ingredients were chosen to make them taste like certain desserts. I’ve had the first one and it tastes pretty close in my opinion, but I can’t comment on the second one. If any of you try it, let me know how it tastes!

Oatmeal Cookie
1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 part Goldschlager
1 part Butterscotch Schnapps
1 part Jagermeister
Can be layered or mixed in a glass.

Carrot Cake
1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 part Cinnamon Schnapps
1 part Frangelico
(serve as a shot)

I don’t know how “carrot cake” is supposed to taste like carrot cake without any carrot ingredients… although carrot-flavored liquor would be pretty weird! I’m kind of intrigued by this now. Maybe I’ll try it some time!

Mint!

I liked that last post so much (and I think you all must have, too) that I’m going to do something similar this time, and maybe for a couple of posts after this. Not chocolate drinks (although I might do more of those later), but a couple of drinks based around a different flavor of liqueur every time. Last time was chocolate, so I feel like it’s only natural that this time it be mint! Mint liqueur is referred to as “Creme de menthe,” and it comes in two varieties: green and white. They have the same flavor and alcohol content, typically, the only difference is the color. Here are some of my favorite cocktails that use either one!

Dirty Girl Scout
1 part Vodka
1 part Kahlua
1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 part White Creme de Menthe
Mix the first three ingredients and pour over ice, then pout in the Creme de Menthe.

There are quite a few flavors going on in the dirty girl scout, but they all blend together really well. Because you add the Creme de Menthe last, it’s the dominant flavor. If you do it right, this tastes just like a girl scout cookie – I think that’s where the name comes from!
The next one has less ingredients, so the Creme de Menthe flavor is more important to it. And there are two versions for the different colors!

Stinger
3 parts Brandy
1 part White Creme de Menthe
Mix in a cocktail shaker and pour into a cocktail glass.

Green Hornet
3 parts Brandy
1 part Green Creme de Menthe

As you can see, they’re the same thing. The only difference is the color of the liqueur, and they have different names based on that, for some reason. I think it’s kind of silly. But also tasty! Ok, next time I’ll post some drinks that use another flavor of liqueur… I wonder what flavor it will be?

Chocolate!

Since I said last time I’d be expanding the kinds of cocktails I’ll be posting about to include pretty much anything, I thought I’d ease all of you into that with some drinks that I’m sure you’ll all love. Why? Because they contain something every girl loves: chocolate! Chocolate liqueur, that is. Chocolate liqueur is one of my favorite ingredients ever. It tastes just like chocolate, how can you get any better than that? And here are two of my favorite drinks that use chocolate liqueur. You might have heard of this first one, it’s called a Grasshopper.

Grasshopper
1 part Creme de Menthe
1 part Creme de Cacao
1 part Cream
Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake then pour into a cocktail glass.

It tastes just like mint chocolate chip ice cream. It’s so good! This next one isn’t quite as tasty but it’s a little more alcoholic and still good!

Alexander
1 part Gin
1 part Creme de Cacao
1 part Cream
Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake then pour into a cocktail glass.

Yeah, so it’s basically the same thing but with gin instead of creme de menthe. The drinks are totally unrelated though, I’m pretty sure! Isn’t it crazy how such similar drinks can become popular independent of each other? Although I guess someone has tried pretty much every drink combination possible by now, so it’s bound to happen, I guess. Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy these drinks, because I sure do!

A Classic!

Ok, I think it’s about time to be getting back to actually talking about drink recipes, don’t you? So I thought we’d start up again with a classic whose name you’re all going to recognize. Some of you may already know how to make one, but a lot of you might not, so I thought I’d post it anyways. I’m talking about Martinis!

5 parts Gin
1 part Vermouth
Served in a cocktail glass straight up with no ice.

To make an also popular Vodka Martini, replace the gin with vodka.

There’s one more variation you might be familiar with. It’s definitely one that more of your girls might be willing to try, because a regular Martini is pretty strong, since it’s pure alcoholic beverages. So if you want something a little weaker (and maybe tastier), maybe you’ve heard of an Appletini?

1 part Vermouth
2 parts Gin or Vodka
4 parts Apple Juice or Apple Cider

Here’s another variation which is more alcoholic than that but still probably tastier than a regular Martini:

3 parts Vodka
1 part Apple Schnapps
1 part Triple Sec

I know a Martini isn’t really a common bachelorette party drink, per say, but it is a common drink. I’ve been thinking that maybe I should expand this blog to include more than just girly drinks and drinks with inappropriate names. Because you want more than just that to drink at your bachelorette party. You want options, and drinks that taste good. So I’m not really going to have any criteria for what I post any more – the only criteria is that it be a drink I know some girls will like. So be on the lookout for a wide variety of drinks now!