Herb Infused Cocktail ~ Basil Honey Strawberry Smash

 

Strawberries and watermelon are the fruits of summer. Nothing says summer like a cool refreshing cocktail made from fresh strawberries and beautiful summer basil. With three types of basil growing in our garden our choices are plentiful and tasty. The honey in this drink is hot honey so it adds a kick of spice and a little sweet at the same time.

 

A key point for this drink is to muddle the strawberries, honey and basil until it’s almost liquid. This will help to mix the strawberries, basil and honey with the bourbon better once it is all combined. If you do not happen to have a muddler you can use a wooden spoon to break everything down.

 

Basil Honey Strawberry Smash

 

3-4 fresh or frozen strawberries

4-5 basil leaves

1/2 ounce hot honey

1 1/2 ounces bourbon or whiskey

Ice

 

Muddle together strawberries, basil and honey until liquid. Add in bourbon or whiskey. Mix well and top with ice. Garnish with strawberry and basil. These measurements are for one drink, add more for multiple drinks.

 

             

The hint of spice is just perfect in this drink for those who like an easy extra kick with their cocktail. Make this a mock tail by adding in club soda or sparkling water instead of bourbon. We selected a mix of purple basil and green basil for our drink to mix our basil flavors together.

 

This is a great drink to make as a batch to enjoy with friends on the upcoming holiday. As always enjoy responsibly by having a designated driver. Cheers!

Herb Infused Cocktail ~ Old Fashioned

 

    March is right around the corner and we are celebrating the month with a classic Whiskey drink, the Old Fashioned.  Since we are making this for the Oaks Bed and Breakfast, our drink would not be complete without an herb resting on the side, and what better herb than rosemary to bring out the flavor of the whiskey. Once again we used one of our favorite whiskeys, from Teeling Irish Whiskey.

    The Old Fashioned is thought to originate around the early  1800's and were further adapted in later years.  The "“old-fashioned cocktails” referred to a general style before becoming synonymous with a particular drink," according to the website www.provi.com.  You can read their full article about the history on the link.  Basically consumers were not familiar with the term cock-tail, and soon found that ordering these mixed drinks proved to be a new way to consume some of their favorite whiskeys and bourbons.

    The Old Fashioned was born and still lives on today as a classical way to enjoy these libations. 

The Old Fashioned 

2 ounces Whiskey

1 bar spoon cherry syrup

1 bar spoon simple syrup

2-3 dashes of bitters

Orange peel

Bourbon Cherry

Rosemary sprig

Mix together your drink in a tumbler filled with a large ice cube or in a mixing cup.    You can mix in the glass you plan to serve your drink in or mix in a separate cup then pour over your ice.  Add all liquid ingredients together.  Garnish with orange peel, rosemary and cherry.  Enjoy!

    This drink is simplistic in the ingredients that it uses, while having a fantastic mix of complex tastes.  The perfect way to finish your night by the fire or watching the sunset.  As always please drink responsibly and have a designated drive. Cheers!

Herb Infused Cocktail ~ Rosemary Apple Cider Toddy

    

 

    Fall has finally arrived and along with it comes cool days and nights.  This month's cocktail is a great way to warm up at the end of the night or around the fire pit.  Warm up with this month's Herb infused cocktail a Rosemary Apple Cider Toddy.  

    This one is so simple to make you can make it in a big batch to serve for a party or just warm it up for yourself as you wind down in the evening.  The flavors of fall are warmed up for you with apple cider and cinnamon notes that make you feel warm all over.  Grab some friends and prepare this drink for everyone and enjoy it while watching the flames and celebrating the wins of the season.  

    A hot toddy is thought to originally be found in India, while still under British control.  The use of a fermented palm sap, heated with hot water and additional spices created this popular cold weather drink.  As this drink found it was around the world, doctors started to prescribe it to their patients as a 
"healing elixir."  Brandy, water, cinnamon, and sugar were the part of the first prescribed drinks by doctors.  Overtime they have evolved into a hot drink with lemon, honey, whiskey, and spices.  I know, I have used this drink in the past to easy a sore throat. 

    For this drink you can make your own apple cider or purchase a premade bottle at the store.  I will say I did purchase a bottle since I did not have time to make my own.  I think that my own apple cider would be a great way to add in more of the rosemary to the drink.  The rosemary could be added at any point in the process depending on how deep you wanted the flavor to be.  The rosemary gives this drink a woodsier taste or just a hit of the herbal flavor if you only used as a garnish.  Either way works, it just depends on what you are looking for in the final flavor.  We added some rosemary while heating the apple cider to really bring it out in the drink.  

   Rosemary Apple Cider Toddy

6 ounces Apple Cider

1 ounce Whiskey we used Teelings

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey (optional)

Garnish with lemon slice, cinnamon stick, rosemary, or apple slice.

Heat up your apple cider and rosemary to a low boil.  When done pour directly into your glass, add in whiskey and lemon juice.  Stir in the honey if using.  Garnish with your rosemary, lemon, apple, and cinnamon stick.  

    I personally found it too sweet to use honey in the main part of the drink, but to each their own.  If you enjoy a sweeter drink, then I highly recommend using honey.  Local honey is best, since it will add in a bit of an allergy reducer, since the bees would have been attracted to local pollen.  No local honey, no sweat, just use what you have on hand.  

    As always please drink responsibly and have a designated driver.  Enjoy this holiday treat with friends at the Tipsy Oak Lounge Thursday - Saturday from 4-8 p. m.  We can't wait to serve you.  

Herb Infused Cocktail ~ Irish Maid

 

    To help with the St. Patrick's Day celebrations we are sharing a cocktail recipe from our friends at Teeling Irish Whiskey.  If you remember we visited their distillery while in Ireland last year and really enjoyed the tour and tasting at the end of the tour.  We wanted to bring back their whiskey in our cocktail this month to help celebrate the day.  

    Teeling's shared this recipe for the Irish Maid from a local bar named the Dead Rabbit, and creator Jack McGarry. We added in the addition mint, since it is an herb infused cocktail.  I thought about dill but felt that would not be the best flavor combination with the St. Germain.  We love St. Germain, and would use it almost every cocktail if we could but alas we much change it up.  The elderberry liquor is just so pleasant to drink or mix.  

    Irish Maid

2 ounces Teeling Small Back Irish Whiskey

3/4 ounces Lemon Juice

3/4 ounce Simple Syrup

1/2 ounce St. Germain

2 Cucumber Slices

4-5 Mint leaves

    Muddle the cucumber and mint leaves in the bottom of a shaker cup.  Add all the remaining ingredients.  Shake and strain into a glass over ice.  Garnish with a cucumber slice and mint. Enjoy!

    This drink is simple to make and fantastic to enjoy.  Each of my taste testers wanted another glass, to enjoy. Make this drink for your friends and they might never leave.  Be sure to check out our video on YouTube and let us know what you think.   

    We hope you enjoy this drink, since it is quick and refreshing.  This is a single served option, adjust for larger batches for more drinks.  As always please drink responsibly, have a designated driver.  We hope you enjoy the Irish Maid this St. Patrick's Day. Slainte!

Sage Germain Sour ~ Herb Infused Cocktail

    

    Hello and welcome back to our herb infused cocktail series, a new month has arrived and with it we have a festive drink to share with you, that dovetails a wee bit with the holiday that comes mid month.  In honor of St. Patrick's day we have selected an Irish Whiskey based drink to make with one of the herbs currently growing in our garden.  

    Upon a recent visit to Ireland, my husband and I toured the Teeling Irish Whiskey distillery in Dublin.  I kind of  had to twist his arm to go, because we are not personally whiskey drinkers but we both loved the tour and subsequent tasting, so much that I wanted to feature their whiskey in our drink, instead of another well known Irish Whiskey.  We really enjoyed our tour and even brought home whiskey to share with friends and family.  The tour was well worth the visit!

    

    This cocktail is unique in that it also uses a liquor that is derived from the Elder flower.   St. Germain is an artisanal French liquor that can be used in other cocktails, which we might feature at a later point.  Over here at the Oaks we are big fans of the elderberry, which grows from the elder flower, and has a myriad of medicinal uses and has been known to help reduce the amount of days a person is ill, while having the flu or a cold, when taken as elderberry syrup. 

    The herb we are featuring this month is sage.  Sage is well know in cooking of game birds, sausage and items roasted in the oven for a long period of time.  The slow release of heat, pulls the flavor from this herb, and brings a wonderful taste to the food.  There are a few different sage varieties one can plant, and they typically have beautiful purple flowers when in bloom. 

    We are using sage in two different ways for the cocktail, one is in the honey syrup and the other is fried, and placed as a garish.  The Honey Sage syrup is easy to make:

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup water

3-5 destemmed sage leaves

Put everything into a pot and and cook until the honey is dissolved.  Once dissolved let it cool and sit over night before mixing into the drink.

    Now for the main cocktail.  For most Irish whiskey cocktails you want to use small batch whiskey, it's going to give the drink a stronger flavor and help add to the taste of the overall drink.  The honey sage syrup and St. Germain help the curb the bite of the whiskey in this particular cocktail.

2 oz Irish Whiskey

3/4 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz Honey Sage syrup

1/4 oz St. Germain

Add all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake.  Strain into a glass and add some fresh ice.  Garnish with the deep-fried sage leaf.  Enjoy!

    We hope that you will try our latest herb infused cocktail.  Be sure to let us know if you happen to try this drink.  Tag us on social media and remember to always drink responsibly and have a designated driver.

    Slainte