Coqtails » The Saucy Coq

GINGER FIZZ COQTAIL

Hello to my fellow foodies on this fine December Friday. This week’s Weekender Brunch is cleverly disguised as an alcoholic beverage!

Since I started this website a couple months ago, I’ve begin to uncover a plethora of fascinating and seductive food blogs that have existed under my fingertips for years. One of my favorite new food sites is Tastespotting. I love it for the layout, great photos (they only accept great photos; I’ve been rejected 4 times now) and as a means of discovering other great food blogs. Amongst all of the site surfing I’ve done from Tastespotting, I found a recipe for Fresh Ginger Beer on Coconut Raita‘s website that I borrowed and added to.

Now, there’s something funny about ginger beer that I realized after making a pitcher of it; it has achieved the unlikely distinction of being as refreshing a summer drink as it is a comforting winter drink. The crisp ginger seems to cleanse your palette and cool you down in the summer, yet its earthy-spiciness provides the necessary kick to warm you up 6 months later.

You can omit the Ginger Liqueur here for a non-alcoholic version, but I didn’t tell you that.

Ginger Fizz Coqtail

8 oz fresh ginger (big 7 inch piece)
Peel of 1 lemon; juice of 3 lemons
Handful of Kumquats, sliced thin
4 heaped teaspoons of Muscovado sugar
1 litre sparkling mineral water
Ginger Liqueur (Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur is the only one I know)

Remove the skin of the ginger and grate coarsely into a large bowl with a cheese grater. If you didn’t already know, the easiest way to peel ginger is with a spoon. Was that your mind that was just blown?

Using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, shave the peel off of one lemon into large strips taking care to avoid the pith (will add unwanted bitterness). Add the lemon peel and the juice of all three lemons into the bowl.

Add the Muscovado sugar and stir the mixture thoroughly taking care to remove any lumps of sugar. Muscovado sugar is a variety of brown sugar that is unrefined and has a strong molasses flavor/color.

Add the sparkling water to the bowl and stir.

Put the bowl in the fridge and let the flavors infuse for an hour or so (if you can wait that long). Using a fine sieve, to filter the ginger and lemon peel, pour the mixture into a jug filled with ice. Add in the Kumquat slices.

Pour 1 (or 2 if you like) oz of Canton Ginger Liqueur in to a glass and fill with the Ginger Fizz, making sure you get a few slices of Kumquat in the glass.

Brunch in served!!

SAUCY WATERMELON COQTAIL

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If you can forgive the untimeliness of this post, we’ll all be in a better place. Summer has left us for dead with winter looming close by. Fortunately for us, science has given us the luxury of watermelons all year round. There’s absolutely no reason you can’t strap on the old long underwear and turn up the heat to enjoy this refreshing Coqtail.

NYC had week after week of signature Amazon-like heat this summer and this Watermelon Coqtail was a solid go-to to cool things off a bit. There’s just something about the cold, fresh watermelon juice and vodka that makes me want to put on some layers and keep trying to cool down with another pitcher. I get that it’s not the manliest drink there is, but you’ve read this far, so you’re not fooling anyone.

Chances are, you’ll need to make a multiple of this recipe. It serves 2.

Saucy Watermelon Coqtail

1 cup watermelon juice

1/2 cup vodka (4 oz)

1/4 cup triple sec (2 oz)

1/4 cup simple syrup

juice of 1 lime

salt

sugar

ice

watermelon for garnish

Simple syrup is just sugar dissolved in water in equal parts. So, heat 1/4 cup of water, add in 1/4 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved. Make this first so that it can cool down before you mix the drinks. You’re amazing!

To juice the watermelon, I puree it in a blender, then squish it through a fine sieve. Try to really work it through the sieve and even squeeze the pulp with your hand to get every drop of juice out. If you happen to have a juicer, well, use it. And, let me use it.

To make the rim salt, mix the sugar and salt 2:1 on a plate. Wet the rim of some chilled cocktail glasses of your choice with a piece of watermelon and dip in the rim salt.

Mix the watermelon juice, vodka, triple sec, simple syrup, lime juice and ice in a shaker and do your best. If you’ve done this before, flip the cocktail shaker around in the air for your guests. If your charm isn’t intoxicating enough, pour the drinks in to the cocktail glasses and garnish with a piece of watermelon.

These Coqtails are on the sweet side, so if you’re serving them with a snack, make it a salty one.

Enjoy!