Bitter Lemon Negroni

Inspired by the Limoncello Negroni by my friend Natalie Migliarini, I created this cross-over with the ‘White Negroni’. That might sound like a weird combination, but it’s actually delicious. 

Since it’s an even-parts recipe, everyone can mix it at home. Bartenders in every bar or restaurant can serve it fast and easy. This is another recipe I've mixed up for my friends at Paal 26 Grand Café. 

Bitter Lemon Negroni 

Ingredients

30 ml (Homemade and delicious!!!) Limoncello

30 ml Suze bitter

30 ml Lillet Blanc

Method

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for 15 seconds and strain into your favourite tumbler with fresh ice. Garnish with a wedge of torched lemon.

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.

Negroniweek 2022

If you browse through the boozy pages on Instagram, you will notice it’s #negroniweek again. This is the very first year I don’t fully participate, due to a lack of time and resources. In the past years, I’ve always posted a full week of Negroni-style drinks, which are still online for you to enjoy. 

Of course, I will raise my glass to the cause and hope you’ll visit lots of participating bars and restaurants, which will raise some money for their selected causes this week. When venues register to participate, they will donate a small contribution to the ‘slow food’ movement, but most bars will also donate one dollar or euro for each glass of Negroni sold, to a local cause. Think global, act local.

I also promise that next month, I will create a special Negroni version for my friends at Paal 26 Grand Café. They are participating in this edition of #Negroniweek, this means you can support a local cause by ordering a ‘regular’ Negroni right now. 

The Negroni is one of the easiest cocktails to stir at home, because of the even parts of Campari, gin and sweet vermouth. It’s also one of the most adapted recipes.

• Campari? Sure, but why not try any other kind of bitter/amaro?
• Gin? Sure, but why not try any other kind of spirit? 
• Sweet vermouth? Sure, but why not try any other kind of vermouth or fortified wine? 

You can go even further and break it down into four even parts. The fourth part can be for example espresso or cold brew coffee.

I could go on and on about the possible variations, but why not try out some variations yourself? 

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.

La Bienvenida

Summer is just around the corner and we can use a drink that smooths us into that sunshine. This one sure does. 

The name was chosen, refering to the pineapple as symbol of hospitality. 

(Photo: Paal 26).

La Bienvenida

Ingredients
50 ml Havana Club Golden Rum
20 ml Lemon juice
10 ml Simple Syrup
30 ml Pineapple juice

Method
Shake with ice. Strain over fresh ice in a tumbler. Garnish with basil and/or fresh pineapple. 

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.

Virgin Passion

Fans of our blog already know I never really do dry months like Tournée Minérale. But nevertheless I can share a very nice, easy-to-mix and tasty mocktail recipe. 

What I often miss in mocktails is a solid base. That’s exactly what a spirit provides in a normal cocktail and you often seem to miss that base in a mocktail. Nona June is a pretty good NA replacement for gin and is one of the only products of that kind that provides a good base. I don’t really need juniper for this recipe, but the strong passion fruit flavours will cover that. And what’s more… the passion fruit flavours also make this a great mocktail for Valentine’s Day.

The P***star Martini is a popular classic cocktail with strong flavours of passion fruit and vanilla. That combination shouldn’t be that hard to replicate for this mocktail. You can use fresh passion fruit, passion fruit puree or a good quality passion fruit juice. I’m using Caraïbos Maracujà juice, which is a pretty nice and economic option. Be aware that passion fruit puree only lasts for a month. Also be careful when buying juice, most supermarkets sell passion fruit juice which is actually 70-80% other fruits. We don’t want that. We really need the taste of passion fruit. The Maracujà is a variety of Brazilian passion fruit. It has a thick yellow skin, juicy and almost jelly like inside. A strong and fantastic aroma and lots of small brown soft seeds.

Virgin Passion

Ingredients
40 ml Nona June
40 ml Caraïbos Maracujà
20 ml Fresh lime juice
15-20 ml Vanilla syrup
Optional: ½ egg white if you want a silky foam layer 

Method
Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake for 12 seconds and strain in a chilled Martini glass or your favourite alternative. The preferred garnish is a half passion fruit, but you can also pair this drink with some dark chocolate. 

Important
If you want the egg white foam layer, first dry-shake for 10 seconds, then add the ice and shake again.

P.S. This month, this mocktail will also be available at Paal 26 Grand Café. 

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.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2021 - Kick-off

It’s time to kick off our annual Xmas Gifts Parade. We are running a little bit behind with photoshoots, but we’ll try to publish a wonderful series of mouth-watering drinks between today and Christmas Eve. 

I always love a good start, today I’m not sharing just one tasty recipe with you. I’m sharing THREE tasty recipes. You want more? How about this: You will be able to enjoy all three of these drinks at Paal 26 Grand Café until the end of January. 

The first drink is a Rum Martinez, but without Maraschino liqueur. Let’s do it a bit different. 

On Double Strainger we always try to keep recipes as easy as possible, with bottles you’ll be able to find in any supermarket or liqueur store. Another threshold might be a bottle that you really never use. You won’t buy a “special” bottle for just one single cocktail recipe. Today I’m going to eliminate the bottle of Maraschino liqueur from the Martinez recipe. I have re-balanced the flavours to get the taste right. The bottle that I use as a substitute is a cherry syrup. You will absolutely use the rest of this bottle. You can mix it with soda for your kids or even pour it over your ice cream. Be careful, I used Monin Cherry Syrup which is very liquid and is intended for use in drinks. If you buy a cherry syrup which is much thicker, you need to adjust the quantity otherwise it will be too sweet.  

For all three recipes in this article I was looking for a rum that’s just a little bit sweeter and spicier than the average rum. I’ve selected two bottles that will really work. The first is Zacapa Rum from Guatemala. I’ve used it many times before and it has that special sweetness that really works for this style of drinks. Another great bottle is Rumbullion spiced rum, a rum with a fantastic taste created by the producers of the well-known Bathtub Gin. 

This award-winning spiced rum is a blend of Caribbean rum, Madagascar vanilla, orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. It’s rich and complex and really fits what I had in mind for the end-of-year holidays. This is the rum you want to sip around the Christmas tree.

• Nose: Sweet Madagascar vanilla, cola, cloves and cinnamon. This is Christmas in a glass.
• Taste: Sweet, spice, orange, clove, honey, cola. An explosion of flavours.
• Finish: Long finish with creamy vanilla.

The cinnamon, vanilla and cloves also work fantastic for the other two cocktails I had in mind. Enhancing the flavour with some extra cinnamon syrup had the exact result I was looking for. I kept the recipe for the Spice 75 pretty sour, because I personally like it this way. If you want slightly more sweetness, add another 5 ml of syrup.

Rum Martinez

Ingredients
45 ml Rum
22 ml Pinguino Sweet vermouth
10 ml Tio Pepe Fino Sherry
10 ml Monin Cherry Syrup
2 dashes Orange bitters

Method
Add everything to your shaker. Give it a good shake for 10 seconds. Strain in a chilled coupe or Champagne flute. Garnish is optional, you could add a sweet cherry.

Spice 75

Ingredients
40 ml Rum
10 ml Monin Cinnamon Syrup
20 ml Lime Juice
Prosecco

Method
Add everything but the Prosecco to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake for 12 seconds. Fine strain in a Champagne glass. Top with Prosecco. Give it just one gentle stir. 

Xmas Old Fashioned

Ingredients

50 ml Rum
10 ml Monin Cinnamon Syrup
Dash of nut bitters

Method
Build in a tumbler glass with lots of ice. Stir in the glass. Garnish with orange. Pair it with a few of those small cinnamon cookies or a piece of black chocolate.

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.

Fruity Jack Old Fashioned

Just a few more weeks and we reach my favourite week of the year, the Old Fashioned Week. Of course also this year we will share several delicious Old Fashioned recipes. Let’s get a head start with a small variation on our last post. 

Jack’s Fruity Old Fashioned

Ingredients
50 ml Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
7 ml Simple Syrup
1 barspoon of Apricot Marmalade
1 dash of orange bitters

Method
The best way to mix this drink is to stir it up in stages. Add the Marmalade to your glass with bitters and 10 ml of whisky. Add a splash of soda. Muddle the marmalade to dissolve it. Add two ice cubes. Add 20 ml whisky. Stir. Add more ice. Add the last 20 ml whisky. Stir again. Add more ice. Garnish with orange peel of a dehydrated orange slice and serve with a dark chocolate to complete the experience. Enjoy.

P.S. During the Old Fashioned Week next month, this cocktail will also be available on the suggestions menu at Paal 26 Grand Café.

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.

Lillet Apero(L)

The iconic Negroni seems to be a source for endless variations. Since I was playing around with the bottle of Lillet Blanc to make the Reverse Vesper, I thought it would be a great idea to use it also for a nice Italian-style aperitif 😉. This cocktail is a light and fruity Negroni-variation. 

Lillet Apero(L)

Ingredients
30 ml Aperol
30 ml Lillet Blanc
30 ml Cinzano sweet vermouth

Method
Stir together in a tumbler or mixing glass. Garnish with dehydrated orange. 

P.S. Next month, for a limited time, this drink will be on the suggestions menu at Paal 26 Grand Café.

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. This article is a paid partnership with Paal 26 Grand Café.

Sunshine Lover 2.0

Two years ago I created the ‘Sunshine Lover’, a delicious highball cocktail with a base of Sierra Tequila. This summer, I wanted to improve that recipe. I like the typical grassy tones of Tequila, but already wondered what it would be like to also add a bit of warm rum flavor... without changing the recipe too much.

Señor Weber blanco rum is certainly no average blanco rum. For me it’s the perfect crossover between rum and cachaça. Weber Haus is one of Brazil’s best cachaça distillers, but they recently also started with their own range of rums. They have tons of knowledge on how to create tasty spirits from sugarcane juice. It’s definitely rum, but in the nose and mouth you will also recognize the typical cachaça grassy flavors. Don’t expect heavy agricole rum flavors, it really leans much more in the direction of cachaça, but with all the goodness of rum.

Sunshine Lover 2.0

Ingredients
30 ml Señor Weber Rum Blanco
30 ml Aperol
Fever-Tree Clementine tonic (You need about ¾ of a small bottle)

Method
Add the rum and Aperol directly into your glass with lots of ice. Give it a good stir. Top with Clementine tonic and give it two more gentle stirs. Garnish with dehydrated orange and a sprig of mint. Very easy… but also very tasty !!!

Summers are for highballs, or is it the other way around? For me the highball-definition is more about the drink than about the glass. I’m talking spirit and mixers. For glassware highballs are actually pretty easy. You can use a classic cocktail tumbler, a highball longdrink or the coppa glass you use for G&T's or Spritzes. Even a large wineglass will be just perfect. 

Extra !!!
This summer (during the months of July and August) you can also enjoy this cocktail at Paal 26 Grand Café.

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.