Tag Archives: bartender

Crémant

Crémant is sparkling wine from France. It’s typically made with more grapes than champagne. Champagne is made typically made using three or in some cases one grape varietals. The process, methode traditionelle, the same for both. The wine can only be called champagne if it’s from the Champagne region of France and crémant if it’s from one of its producing regions; Loire, Alsace, Bourgogne, and Limoux. Crémant was the name given in the 1980s because of law.

This one featured here is is Gratien & Meyer Cremant (Gra-shen My-er) De Loire Brut Rose. 100 % Cabernet Franc and has a price point range of $16-$20 USD per bottle. This wine is bright with berry fruit and dry. It’s excellent on its own or as a topper to many cocktails.

My Bend and Snap Cocktail

Last year I was asked to create a cocktail for the 20th anniversary of the Legally Blonde movie. There were a couple of must haves. It had to be pink and called The Bend and Snap. Why the Bend and Snap? It’s named after the movie’s famous how to secure a date scene featuring the “bend and snap » technique. The scene was written at the hotel bar called the Writer’s Bar and paying homage to the creators and technique, this is my 2021 Bend and Snap.

didn’t have any more purple flowers or this signifies a mocktail

This cocktail scheduled to be on the menu for one week. That was July 2021. It is still on the menu today. I am so proud of my little cocktail. I can’t promise it will secure you a date but sure is a tasty way to try.

Bend and Snap

2 oz Belvedere vodka

5-6 slides of watermelon

8 sprigs of fresh mint

1 slice of a jalapeño

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz agave syrup (add little water if too thick as this reduces the agave sweetness and adds more fluidity. This is a trick when using speed pour spouts at a bar)

Purple edible viola flowers

Method

1. Add 5-6 small slices of watermelon to a small mixing tin. Think watermelon cut for a breakfast fruit plate. Using a muddler, mash the watermelon to create a pulpy juice.

2. Add 8 sprigs of mint to the same tin. Gently press and twist the mint using a muddler.

3. Add one thin slice of jalapeño with the seeds. Turn once with the same muddler to extract the juices. Don’t over muddle. This drink isn’t a spicy drink. The heat and “snap” should be in the back of the throat a the finish of the sip.

4. Add agave, fresh lime juice, vodka and ice. Shake and double strain into a bucket glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with a purple or lavender viola flower.

Glass: Bucket glass

Garnish: purple or lavender edible viola flower

*** pro-tip if the jalapeño is too spicy or too green consider making or purchasing jalapeño bitters for consistancy

Side notes: I tested this cocktail with tequila and honey together and both with vodka. For this assignment, these ingredients work best.

Test drink walking

Tatooom’s Espresso Martini

« The Thing ».That’s it’s nickname for my Tatooom’s espresso martini. Or « The Thing ».

Tatooom’s Espresso Martini

Ingredients

2 oz of Kettle One Vodka

1 oz of Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur (cold brew coffee liqueur from Australia)

1-2oz of Umbria espresso depending on size of glass (Umbria is from Pacific Northwest of United States and espresso pods papers are made from recycled pineapple pulp)

1-2 bar spoons of simple syrup if your espresso is bitter or you prefer a sweeter drink as the simple softens the sometimes harsh espresso flavor

3 drops Chocolate bitters (add cocoa nibs to rye whiskey and let it sit in a closed jar at room temperature until chocolate desire chcokatebflavornisnacjieved. Longer is better if you ask me.

Coffee beans for the garnish

Method

Add all ingredients to a mixing tin. If your espresso is hot, add this to ice first and let it chill. Then add all ingredients and shake. Strain into a coupe glass.

Glass: Coupe Glass

Garnish: Coffee Beans

Where to buy stuffs related?

Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront

*** I may earn commissions from eligible purchases

feta stuffed black olives

Several months ago I was thinking about creative was to garnish my martinis. This, a way. Black pitted olives from a can stuffed with feta cheese. You will find yourself saying Spanish queen green pimento stuffed olives who?

Feta Stuffed Black Olives

Ingredients

1 can of pitted black olives

Feta cheese of choice

Method

Open the can and drain the olive juice. Reserve for a dirty martini or not. Slice or break feta cheese apart and stuff olives. Try not to eat them all before making the martini.

Sapid Canary

My riff on the carajillo. What is a carajillo you ask? It is a coffee hard liquor drink. This one traditionally made using espresso and Licorice 43. I added some zing. Spicy ginger orange goodness creating an extra kick in a glass. It’s called the Sapid Canary.

Sapid Canary

Ingredients

3 Slices of Fresh Ginger

2 oz Umbria Espresso

2 oz of Luxor 43

1-3 Pinches of Cayenne Pepper (quantity depending on desired spiciness)

Method

Wash ginger. Scrape the skin using the edge of a spoon. Slice the ginger. Add ginger to the mixing tin. Muddle the ginger. Add all other ingredients. Then, add ice. Shake and pour over fresh ice.

Glass: bucket glass

Garnish: cayenne pepper and orange twist

Please drink responsibly

Where to buy? Blonde Behind the Bucket

**I may receive some commissions from eligible purchases

11/14 Smoothie

11/14 Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Cup of Vanilla Oat milk

1Cup of Frozen Strawberries

1/2 Frozen Banana

1 Pitaya Foods Dragon Fruit Frozen Packet

3 Tablespoons Hemp Seeds + some for the glass rim

Manuka honey for the glass

I Scoop of Agent Nateur & Dr. Will Cole Holi Mane CollagenPowder

I Scoop of Sprouts Living Epic Vanilla Lucuma Protein Powder

Method

Add some hemp seeds to a saucer. Using a pastry brush, the back of a spoon or your fingers rim the glass with Manuka Doctor multifloral 80+mgo honey. Dip the honey rimmed glass into the hemp seeds. Set aside. The honey tastes great and is an excellent adhesive for the seeds. Add all other ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared glass

Glass: pretty coupe glass (the one photographed is from Crate & Barrel

Garnish: manuka honey with hemp seeds

Pink Smoothie

Pink Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Cup of unsweetened soy milk

1 frozen banana

1/2 Cup of chilled chopped red beets (cooked or raw)

1/2 Cup of frozen mango chunks

1/2 Cup of frozen pineapple chunks

5-8 Dates (pitted and soaked in water)

2 Tablespoons of cashew butter

2 Tablespoons of dark maple syrup

1 Tablespoons of coconut oil

1/8 Tablespoons of Himalayan pink salt

1/4 Tablespoons of turmeric

A few dashes of fresh ground black pepper

Handful of skin on raw almonds

Very large handful of fresh washed and cleaned spinach leaves

Large handful of coconut flakes

Method

Soak your dates in water to softer before adding to the blender. Add all ingredients to a blending machine. I use Cuisinart. Blend together until smooth. Voilà.

Glass: fun colored glass (my glass is a vintage poppy trail china glass from 1970s)

Garnish: toasted coconut flake, shaved beets, chia seeds, shaved cashews-whatever you like or no garnish at all

Where to buy Cuisinart, ingredients and stuffs? Well, if you are going to visit Amazon.. Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront has the goods.

*** I may earn commissions from eligible purchases

PRB (pumpkin root beer) float

This was supposed to be a test batch, but the recipe is too good not to post. May I present the PRB float: Pumpkin Root Beer Float.

PRB float

Ingredients

1 can of pumpkin purée

1 can sweet condensed milk

1/4 t Ceylon ground cinnamon

1/4 t of allspice powder

1/4 t ginger powder

2 dashes of cayenne pepper

2 dashes turmeric powder

dash cardamom

3 dashes of Himalayan pink salt

freshly ground black pepper three or four turns of the pepper grinder

1 can of Root Beer

Method

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth. For the first round, I poured the mixture into unlined and unoiled ice cube trays. The remaining mixture that didn’t fit into the ice cube trays was poured into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper and lightly oiled with avocado oil. All vessels were placed directly into the freezer overnight. The mixture freezes softly and needs to be blended to create a smoothie-like soft serve texture. Think of it as soft serve ice cream. Once blended and creamy, pour it into a glass or bucket and top it off with root beer.

Ice cube tray batch needed the help of small spoon to be removed. Silicone trays would be better. The lined loaf pan was great. I picked up the parchment paper, transferred to the marble board and cut into pieces. I mostly stood in my kitchen eating the product from the ice cube trays. Luckily, I have since purchased better ice cube trays for this recipe.

Behind the scenes:

It’s me practicing my video eating from ice cube trays in a dim lit kitchen
Me again, in Tatum’s Tiny Kitchen practicing my video..
Little frosty from my freezer..

Where to buy trays and ingredients and stuffs?

Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront

Please know I may receive compensation for eligible purchases. Thank you!

For consistency: Jalapeño Bitters

Jalapeño peppers are fickle ones. Some spicy hot some spicy mild and some are more green in taste. Consistency is key when creating spicy cocktails. Mother Nature does what she does and that isn’t always the most agreeable to when selecting ingredients for year round menu cocktails.

How do we create the desired consistency for our year round cocktails? Bitters is one way. What is needed? A high proof grain spirit and jalapeños and some time. That’s it. Easy as that.

Jalapeño Bitters

4-10 jalapeños

10 oz of Everclear 190 grain spirit (it’s a whopping 95% alcohol by volume)

Method

Slice each jalapeño. Using a muddler, mash some of the slices extracting juice and crushing the seeds. Add all slices and muddle pieces to a container. Then add the alcohol to the same container. Cover with an airtight lid. Leave a room temperature for about a week. 7 days. Taste test for spice. Remove peppers once you have your bitters. Store in the refrigerator or at room temperature in a dropper bottle or sealed jar. Label and date.

making jalapeño bitters

So, wanna spicy margarita? Make it the same as you would and add your jalapeño bitters float at the end. Just like that.

Golden Planet Juice

I was having a conversation with two someones on different occasions recently. “It’s what we do when we are well that affects us when we are not well,” was the takeaway. This is a yummy, taking-care juice. As bright as the sun and feels good with every sip.

Golden Planet Juice

1/2 cucumber

3/4 Granny Smith green apple (I ate the other 1/4 while preparing the juice)

2 medium golden beets

1 cup of baby carrots

pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Wash and cut all fruits and veggies. Skin on or off. Feed produce though the juicing machine. Pour juice into bucket glass. Add pinch of pink salt.

Glass: bucket glass

Garnish: none

Where to buy the juicers and glassware and stuff? Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront, of course. I may receive commission from eligible purchases.