Pink Russian - Happy Tequila Day !!!

Happy #NationalTequilaDay !!! 

I have to admit that I was a bit puzzled when I received this bottle of Tequila Rose. 

Just to be clear, this is NOT a bottle of Tequila, but a creamy liqueur which might remind you of Baileys Irish Cream. But completely different. This is a very fruity mix of Tequila and strawberries. Lots of strawberries, you only get a slight hint of Tequila in the tail. Perfect for low-alcohol shots, perfect for visitors and friends who don’t like “real” cocktails. 

But of course, I intend to use it in a cocktail anyway. (Ok, we did some shots too 😉. That’s when we experienced the ‘blooper’ we’ll post in the stories on Facebook and Instagram)

On the website of Tequila Rose I discovered several recipes, but… no. I don’t intend to create a liquid dessert, I want a real cocktail. A boozy cocktail. Google told me lots of people already tried to mix this, not always successful… but in a few cases the result seemed to head in the right direction. I decided to experiment with one of those ideas, but with slightly more respect for ‘The Dude’. 

Pink Russian

Ingredients

45 ml Vodka (Any cheap bottle will be just fine, the mix of coffee and strawberry flavours will be dominant anyway)

40 ml Tequila Rose

25 ml Kahlua Coffee Liqueur

Heavy cream or whipped cream

Method

You could throw all ingredients in a shaker or blender and strain over fresh ice. The result will be a “Fristi”-style drink for adults. 

But that’s absolutely not what I’m looking for. With slightly more respect for “the Dude” (Yes, I’m a fan!), I’m building my drink directly in a tumbler with ice. It has to look a bit messy. It needs the cream on top. And yes, this is much more difficult because whatever you do, the drink still might end up looking like the “adult Fristi”. Just have a try and follow my lead…

Add the coffee liqueur to a tumbler with lots of ice. Next, add the vodka. Top with a mixture of whipped cream and Tequila rose. Don’t stir, don’t garnish. 

For the best result, I whipped up the cream and carefully added it on top of the drink, next I gently coated the whipped cream with (ice cold!) Tequila rose. It looked good and the taste was exactly what I had in mind. The flavours will partly blend, but you will experience the different taste sensations one after the other while enjoying the drink. 

I do recommend trying the drink this way because the taste experience is completely different from the “adult-Fristi”. This is MUCH better!!!

Eat your strawberries with a glass of good quality Prosecco, but keep them away from this drink. “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, my opinion, man.”

(*) Several references made to the movie ‘The Big Lebowski’, where the ‘White Russian’ drink is present throughout the entire movie. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Carribean Journey (with Larimar rum)

The fun part of the Daiquiri recipe is that you can vary on the ingredients… almost endlessly. Each alteration on any of the ingredients will change the result in your glass. By picking another brand of spirit, another juice or syrup… you basically create a new cocktail. 

Today I’m just playing with the juices, while testing this Ron Larimar… excellent rum from the Dominican Republic, aged in Pedro Ximenez sherry barrels… in Scotland. I always love experiments where barrels are aged on other continents. 

I have tasted several rums in the past months, but this is a bottle that really surprised me. Great taste and aroma. Packed with fruity flavours. 

Caribbean Journey

Ingredients

50 ml Ron Larimar Pedro Ximenez sherry cask finish

30 ml Pineapple juice

10 ml Lemon juice

7 ml Simple syrup

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain in a longdrink with fresh ice cubes. Garnish with orange. 

Tip
If you want to upgrade the drink even more, add a splash of Campari. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Black Vodka Smash (with Kombucha)

I don’t think I’ve ever mixed up a drink with kombucha, so let’s do that. We have a huge blackberry bush (in Dutch: “Braambessen”) in our garden and my better half just made some nice marmalade with those tasty berries. I knew this would work extremely well in a cocktail.

Using kombucha in a cocktail sounds more difficult than it actually is. You can try to substitute Ginger Beer with kombucha, just make sure your kombucha has a nice ginger taste. In lots of drinks, this will work just fine. The bottle of kombucha I used is labelled gluten-, alcohol- and sugar-free, the sugar which is added during production has been “eaten” during fermentation.

If you don’t have blackberry marmalade, you could also prepare this drink by muddling fresh blackberries. The resulting serve would be messier.  

Black Vodka Smash

Ingredients

50 ml Vodka

2 barspoons of homemade blackberry marmalade

Remedy Kombucha “Ginger and lemon” 

Method

Add the marmalade to your favourite tumbler. Add the vodka and use the backside of a barspoon to dissolve the marmalade. Add ice. Top off with kombucha and give it a few gentle stirs. Garnish with fresh blackberries. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Egg Cream Martini

Egg liqueur (in Dutch, “advocaat”) is a yellow, rich and creamy drink with a smooth, custard-like consistency. It’s often used as a kind of extravagant little dessert to accompany your coffee. 

You could use egg liqueur in cocktails, but there aren’t that many options available due to its consistency. I would rather call it a liquid dessert instead of a cocktail.

My friends at Presentda.be have sent me a few tasters of t Geel Genot, locally produced egg liqueur by Christophe and Anne. They launched a whole range of products with tastes like cappuccino, amaretto, limoncello, chocolate and banana, … to give you new taste experiences with each jar. 

My favourite? The egg liqueur with banana. The aroma and taste throw me back in time to my teenage years, sipping Pisang Ambon longdrinks 😉 

Egg Cream Martini

Ingredients
30 ml ‘t Geel Genot Advocaat Cappuccino 
30 ml Vodka
30 ml Bailey’s Irish Cream

Method
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake like your life depends on it for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish is optional, I would rather serve it as a dessert, paired with fresh baked cookies.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Bel'Uva Summerdrinks

When creating recipes with gin and vermouth, in most cases we just grab a bottle of white or dry vermouth and start experimenting. This time, we’re doing it a bit different. I was asked to try and create a couple of drinks with gin and vermouth of Bel’Uva. These products are created with grapes, sourced from Belgian wineries and mixed with botanical extracts. 

I created two drinks, you could consider them alternative recipes for the Martini and Negroni. But not really, they do taste very different. 

The Classy Bel'Uva is an excellent aperitif, while the Bella Bel'Uva is a delicious cocktail to enjoy on a sunny terrace. This summer both drinks are on the menu at Paal 26 Grand-Café.

Classy Bel’Uva 

Ingredients

50 ml Bel’Uva Gin Pinot Blanc

10 ml Bel’Uva Humulus Red vermouth

10 ml Medium sherry

5 ml Simple syrup

2 dashes Angostura cacao bitters

Method

Add everything to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for 15 seconds. Strain in a coupe. 

Bella Bel’Uva 

Ingredients

50 ml Bel’Uva Gin Pinot Blanc

20 ml Bel’Uva Humulus Red Vermouth

20 ml Aperol

5 ml Simple syrup

Schweppes Tonic Pink Pepper

Method

Add gin, vermouth, Aperol and sugar to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for 12 seconds, strain in a tumbler with fresh ice. Top with a bit of tonic. 

(Photo: Paal26)

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Honey Old Fashioned

My first blogpost without a picture??? Just visit the Facebook or Instagram page and you’ll find a reel/video of me mixing this delicious drink.

The best recipe to use when testing a spirit is the Old Fashioned. This recipe puts the spirit in the spotlight, mildly softened with a bit of bitters and sugar. I often swap the cane sugar(syrup) for honey(syrup). I love the touch of honey that appears in the tail of your degustation. 

The hardest part is getting decent honey. In supermarkets, all of the available honeys are mixes of local and foreign honeys, discarding all the goodness that you really want. Best option is to find local beekeepers and buying honey directly from them. Second best option is buying from a local cooperation. 

For my aperitif today, I picked a bottle of Glencadam American Oak Reserve, matured in Ex-Bourbon barrels. Handpicked and blended by Glencadam’s Master Distiller. The sweet vanilla in the nose matches perfectly with the fresh organic honey of Byeboere Maastricht. Together with a fruity palate of apple and pear and a finish of red fruit, this is a perfect match. 

Honey Old Fashioned

Ingredients

60 ml Glencadam American Oak Reserve

1 barspoon of fresh organic honey

1 dash of Angostura Aromatical bitters

1 dash of Angostura Orange bitters

Method

Add all ingredients directly to a tumbler with ice. Stir for 15 seconds. Garnish with orange. Drinks don’t have to be complicated. Just enjoy. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Ready-to-shake cocktails

It’s not the first time I’m talking about bottled cocktails. In the past we tested similar good quality drinks (e.g. Belroy’s bottled cocktails) and each year for Negroniweek, I try to find a good quality bottled Negroni.

Bacardi-Martini is a pretty large company with a large brand-portfolio. This summer they really put their cards on the table and use that portfolio to the max. This summer Bacardi-Martini launches a range of “ready-to-shake” cocktails, available at your local supermarket. Let me explain what this means. We’re talking about bottled cocktails. You just pour the drink into a shaker (or any other closed jar or container) with lots of ice. Give it a good shake for about 15 seconds and strain it into your glass of choice. Garnish if you like. Enjoy in good company. 

Each bottle has a QR-code on the label that will take you to a video, showing how to do a perfect serve for the cocktail. I also recorded my own reel/video which I already shared on Instagram and Facebook.

In Belgium I discovered this range of “Tails Cocktails” at Delhaize. These 500 ml bottles hold four big (125 ml) or five moderate (100 ml) drinks. Tails Cocktails was originally started in 2010 by Nick Wall in London. 

These are the drinks: 

• Whisky Sour (Dewar’s Scotch whisky, lemon juice, simple syrup)
• Rum Daiquiri (Bacardi Rum, Simple Syrup, lime juice)
• Gin Gimlet (Bombay Sapphire Gin, Elderflower liqueur, lime juice)
• Passion Fruit Martini (42Below vodka, vanilla syrup, passion fruit puree, lime juice)
• Espresso Martini (42Below Vodka, Coffee liqueur, Premium espresso coffee)

You’re allowed to giggle, we all know the Passion Fruit Martini really has another name, and no, “Maverick Martini” is also NOT what you’ll find on the menu in most cocktail bars 😉 

I suspect they are not releasing all their secrets on the label, because the Whisky Sour and Espresso Martini come with a very nice foam layer, which doesn’t appear out of thin air. 

I enjoyed some of these drinks while I was getting some fresh air at Roompot Beach Resort in Zeeland. In local supermarkets I discovered another premium range of Bacardi cocktails. The bottles were half the size (200 ml, good for two drinks) and indicated that you could cool-and-serve them over fresh ice, I guess we’re talking about more of less the same concept. 

The cocktails I discovered in the Netherlands were different, more tiki style. The range is called “Bacardi Aged Rum Cocktails” with recipes created by three top-bartenders: Chelsie Bailey, Georgie Radev and Belgium’s own Ran Van Ongevalle. You will find this range of bottled cocktails in larger supermarkets like Albert Heijn and Jumbo

These are the drinks:  

• Caribbean Espresso Rumtini
• Roasted Pineapple Rum Punch
• Toasted Coconut Colada

And now, the big question: Are they any good? 

These drinks are extremely easy to serve and they are a very handy solution that will slip into many suitcases on their way to a holiday. To my surprise the quality was indeed bar-quality. And by that I mean “decent cocktail bar” quality. So yes, I’m very happy that these drinks are available and I really enjoyed them. Cheers!

Tip: We discovered that the Gin Gimlet pairs very well with fresh oysters.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.