Cosmopolitan Cocktail
The Cosmopolitan, like any great fashion icon, has gone in and out of popularity over the years. After suddenly being launched into the lime light, then inevitably cast aside as being passé, this potion should always remain a staple of your cocktail wardrobe. Originally made with Citron Vodka, this head-turning beauty owes its start to [...]
Earl Grey Infused Gin Cocktail
Infusing spirits with herbs, fruit, tea and other flavorings is a great way to add your own signature to a drink. Although many infusions can take days to weeks to really develop, using a concentrated infusing agent like a flowery Earl Grey tea speeds up the process and provides remarkably full flavors in just a [...]
Blood Orange Margarita
‘Tis the season for Blood Oranges. The holidays are long over and out of the way making room for us to celebrate peak citrus season. Dating back to the 15th century, Blood Oranges were first cultivated in the Mediterranean in Southern Italy and are a natural mutation of the sweet orange. In the US they are now [...]
Eggnog
Eggnog has its roots in 17th century Europe, and perhaps even earlier, where it seems to have descended from a medieval drink called posset, a milky drink made with ale or wine. As milk and eggs were difficult to come by in England through the 19th century, this kind of dairy-based drink was usually enjoyed by [...]
Cranberry Daiquiri
The basic components of a Daiquiri are rum, a sweetener, lime juice and ice and it’s not surprising that this simple balance of ingredients really allows the rum to stand out. Emerging out of Cuba in the early 1900′s, where there was an abundance locally produced rum, lime and sugar, the cocktail quickly grew in [...]
Blackberry Hot Toddy
If you’ve had trouble finding a recipe for a traditional Hot Toddy, welcome to the club. The proper ingredients for this heated drink are surprisingly hotly debated. Even the origin of the name is not exactly known, but suspected to have come about in the 1700s. Due to frequent trade between Britain and India at [...]
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest began in 1810 in Munich, Germany as a city-wide marriage celebration for the crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The celebration later became an annual tradition and just had a 200 year anniversary in 2010. The official website of the Munich, Germany Oktoberfest details the layout and extent [...]
Perfect Manhattan
September is National Bourbon Heritage month so it’s a perfect time to enjoy a Perfect Manhattan cocktail. We just got a bottle of Knob Creek small batch bourbon and couldn’t wait to open it to create, enjoy and photograph this recipe. Calling for just a few common ingredients, mixing this cocktail is so simple yet [...]
Calvados and Maple Syrup Cocktail
Calvados is a French apple brandy from Normandy. Combined with the maple syrup we brought home from our last trip to Maine, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, we ended up with up a cocktail that had us longing for Fall – and pancakes! Print Calvados and Maple Syrup Cocktail Author: The Framed Table Recipe [...]
Vodka Thyme Cocktail
Herbs are a great addition to cocktails for both added flavor and aroma. Thyme is one of our favorite herbs to use especially since it’s so easy to grow and we always have it on hand. Muddling thyme in the bottom of a cocktail shaker before shaking it up with ice and either gin or [...]
Ginger, Honey & Lavender Cocktail
Paul bought a bottle of Domaine de Canton the other day, got creative with ingredients and designed his own unique cocktail. His love of ginger is only surpassed by his love of honey so this drink really showcases two of his most favorite flavors. Just as important as what’s in the drink is what’s decorating [...]
Dark and Stormy Cocktail
The forecast tonight calls for a Dark and Stormy cocktail – a beautifully layered drink with the sharp bite of Ginger Beer, tempered with a moody wash of tropical Dark Rum. As the unofficial drink of Bermuda, this cocktail’s name is actually trademarked by Gosling’s and must be made with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum to [...]
Ramos Gin Fizz
The Ramos Gin Fizz is not a drink for the impatient. This cocktail takes commitment, elbow grease, and perhaps most importantly (are you sitting down?) the lack of an aversion to raw egg white. For those of you who just said, “Ewww!”… easy now. Stay with me. Egg cocktails have been experiencing a renewed popularity [...]
Vesper Martini
Paul and I are both James Bond film fans, with Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan having been our favorite Bonds until Daniel Craig appeared and completely revamped the Bond-scape in Casino Royale, the 2nd big-screen realization of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel of the same name. With Jason Bourne having been on the scene for [...]
Hot Toddy (Hot Whiskey)
2012 is here already and after surviving some holiday overindulgences, and now facing some chilly January temperatures, we decided to soothe and steel ourselves with some Hot Toddies. Even just the idea of settling into a cold winter evening, while holding a hot, spiced (and spiked) drink is comforting. We spent some time looking up [...]
Mulled Wine (Vin Chaud)
Mulled Wine, or Vin Chaud in France, has its ancient origins in medieval Europe. ”Mulled” simply means heated and spiced and it was common in colder months for wine to be warmed with basic spices such as cinnamon, cloves and citrus. Lesser quality wines, or even wines that had taken a turn for the worse, [...]
Kir Royale
Kir is a cocktail born in Burgundy, France in the 19th century. The mayor of Dijon by the name of Félix Kir helped to popularize the drink, consisting of a white Burgundy wine spiked with locally produced Crème de Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur). The drink eventually became known internationally as a “Kir” and typically just [...]
The Sazerac Cocktail
The Sazerac is rumored to be the very first cocktail ever created. Though this may not really be true, it makes for a nice story anyway. Peychaud’s bitters proudly take the stage along with bold and spicy supporting characters played by rye whiskey and Herbsaint. While this line up is generally recognized as the classic [...]
Stormy Morning
I first encountered the Stormy Morning on my birthday last year in New Orleans at my favorite restaurant, The Bayona on Dauphine St. in the French Quarter. We arrived early for our reservation and I ordered a Stormy Morning from the drink menu while waiting for our table, intrigued by the mention of Créme de [...]
Drunken Apricots
I originally saw this made with peaches but the apricots were looking better at the market. I find the color of apricots to be one of my favorites and they look great for photos. Making this is simple, just cut up some apricots or peaches and put them in a small glass of Chianti with [...]
Pimm’s Cup
The first and certainly not the last Pimm’s Cup we ever had was at The Napoleon House in New Orleans – a tall Collins glass with a lemony effervescence, punctuated by a cool crisp cucumber slice. A fantastic thirst quencher, the Pimm’s No. 1 Cup is as famous in New Orleans as it is at [...]
