Fassionola. You might be wondering what that word is, or whether or not I am misspelling something. But if you’re not familiar with that word, you’re making your Hurricane cocktail all wrong.
Wrong?! Well, we’ve had to swap out ingredients for a long time since Fassionola, a syrup made from a blend of strawberries and tropical fruits, hasn’t been on the market for, oh… 30+ years now. The syrup is one of the original ingredients in the famed Hurricane cocktail as invented at Pat O’Brien’s in the French Quarter. It has a history, and now Cocktail & Sons have resurrected it, and one lucky Stir and Strain reader can score a bottle. And since everyone is in a generous mood, they’re also giving away bottles of their Mint & Lemon Verbena and the Spiced Demerara Syrups. All superb fits for your summer drinking needs.
Since Cocktail & Sons prides themselves are only using the best seasonal ingredients in season, the Fassionola syrup will only be available until June 30th (strawberries don’t grow in October…)! So stock up if you can. And in the meantime, enter below to win your own bottle: you get up to 8 entries to help you along (open to US residents only)! Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PST Sunday May 29th, 2016. For more information on Cocktail & Sons, check out their website at cocktailandsons.com today! Good luck!
And once you do get a bottle of the Fassionola, you can craft the BEST Hurricane cocktail to sip all summer long:
Classic Hurricane
1.5 oz. Rum (Cocktai & Sons recommend aged rum or rhum agricole, nothing too dry)
.75 oz. Cocktail & Sons Fassionola
.5 oz. Fresh lime juice
Glass: Tall
Garnish: Lime wheel
Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a tall glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.
This post is brought to you by Thatcher’s Organic Artisan Spirits. Recipes and ideas are my own.
Right before I had left for the trip a coworker, who was born and raised in the Chicago area, told me I should check out the 
Guys, I have a secret to tell you all: I LOVE manufactured environments. Disneyland, Vegas, countless restored houses in New England I frequented as a child, and these tiny miniature rooms… Â This might be why I chose to make dioramas for all my book reports when that was an option (
I loved how these looked like terrariums and my mind wandered towards air plants and sea grasses. And cucumbers. Not sea cucumbers mind you, but just the regular guys you see at the market. I had recently received a bottle of 
And guys, you don’t need these little globe cocktail glasses to make the drink. A double rocks glass will do just fine too.
This post is brought to you by Patrón Tequila. Recipes and ideas are my own.
Ok Elana but what does this story have to do with Margaritas?
There is nothing wrong with the classic margarita. I love them. I love that there is a day devoted to them, even if it falls in February (?!). But I get bored of the same old same old and I never can leave good enough alone. I am always on the lookout for my #PerfectMargarita.
I’ve always been a big fan of having a little savory along with my sweet, and Patrón’s Silver tequila is a lovely base for doing just that. Patrón Silver has a slightly citrus and peppery flavor profile that is smooth enough to mix into a great tasting margarita.  My sweet element comes from ripe Champagne mangoes. Their juicy nectar cuts down on added sweetener but also gives a subtle tart bite that some freshly squeezed lime juice highlights. I’ve finished this off today with a touch of chili salt to remind the palate that they’re in for some SPICE before they even taste the first sip.
Right now THIS is my #PerfectMargarita. Tell me all about yours!
A few years ago I attended an event here in Los Angeles where I watched a local bartender use BEER in place of an egg white to make a cocktail vegan; it blew my mind. It even inspired me to make this 
I haven’t used the technique too much since then though as I almost never have beer in the house. Well, I have a few bottles, but not the right kind to make this replacement (you’ll need a wheat beer). And then a few months ago I heard about another egg white replacement being used by local bartender Gabriella Mlynarczyk (also of the blog 
Neat, huh? Now, to make this post as useful as possible, I performed a few experiments so that I can try and answer a few questions that might come up.
To test how aquafaba compares to using an egg white in a cocktail, I made two identical Sloe Gin Fizzes. The precise amounts of sloe gin, lemon juice (came from the same lemon!), and simple syrup were added to shakers within seconds and then 1 ounce of aquafaba was added to one and an egg white to the other shaker. Both were dry shaken with one ice cube, and then filled 2/3 with ice and shaken again for about 25 seconds.
Note: if you want to make this with an egg white, you can do a 1:1 substitution for the aquafaba. It just won’t be vegan anymore. 
1-3/4 ounce sloe gin, I used Spirit Works Distillery*
used here
For about the last month or so you guys may have noticed I’ve been promoting a 
So let’s talk about how I like to make wine cocktails, or rather, since the weather is getting HOT again in my neighborhood, wine slushie cocktails. I don’t bat an eyelash over frozen cocktails as evidenced 
The wine I’ve chosen as my base is Tarantas Monastrell, an inky, tart and not-too-sweet red from the Jumilla region of Spain. Because it’s so dry, I added in some sweetness with honeydew melon and Pimm’s No. 1. The Pimm’s also adds in some spices and subtle earthy flavors. I wanted to finish this on a spicy note so in went crystalized ginger. (You can get crystalized ginger in a speciality grocer, online, or can make your own too.) I wanted to add a touch more sweetness and have some of the ginger chunks actually present in the drink- think of them as your chewy spice bombs. Otherwise I could have gone with fresh ginger infused in some capacity.
To minimize watering the drink down with ice, I pre-freeze the mixture the night before. Because there is a low alcohol content, the mixture actually becomes solid overnight but not completely frozen. This way I can add the pre-frozen mixture directly into the blender and only add ice to it as needed. Yes, it’s an additional step that requires some thought beforehand, but it makes for a better frozen drink. If you don’t have the time to freeze overnight, you should at least chill the mixture a few hours beforehand, and if you need this IMMEDIATELY, then go ahead and throw it into the blender with crushed ice, just taste and adjust as you go.
Procrastination has gotten the better of me this week as we speed, much too fast for my liking, into the 3rd month of the year. March is looking to be the most jam packed month yet this year as I’ve said “yes” to maybe one too many events, my mother is in town, and we celebrate multiple birthdays, St. Patrick’s Day (I am a 1/4 Irish), and Easter. So of course, instead of working on projects, I’ve been covering my ears and eyes going NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH and making batches of brownies and spending copious amounts of time photographing my purse contents.
So here’s the thing. I enjoy an Irish Coffee from time to time; like, a few sips and then I’m usually done. It’s a lot of hot coffee and I’m usually drinking it late in the evening when a giant hot coffee is not really what I want right then. I’m also usually drinking them at a party or an event and bless their hearts for trying, but the coffee is usually not very good either. To control this situation for myself, and hopefully for you all, let’s get a delicious coffee and miniaturize it with the right amount of booze and not force people to drink giant hot coffees at 8pm.
I went ahead and created a straight up Irish Coffee version, garnished with the tiniest of lemon peel, and then bastardized it and went crazy adding in chocolate and Fernet Branca because I love chocolate mint anything including my coffee and for this one occasion, with my whiskey. Ooooh, I’m so crazy…
The original version of these has a strong, rich coffee flavor with a hint of whiskey at the finish. The cream is mixed in so you’re not trying to eat a delicate jello shot while whipped cream melts all over your fingers – gross. For the mocha-mint version, you get a lot of Fernet (a little goes a long way!) with a strong mocha finish and a more subtle whiskey punch at the end.
Irish Coffee Jello Shots (Makes 24, 2/5 ounce shots)
Are you guys into these? I have a few more ideas up my sleeve I’ll be rolling out over the next few months.
If I had these trees and their fruit readily available, THIS cocktail would be the go-to cocktail around my house. Highlighting the passion fruit but balancing it out with a little sweet Meyer lemon juice and, of course, an egg white. When I developed this recipe, I was using 10 Cane Rum for the base. And then it got discontinued and I’m lamenting the fact I used up my last bottle before I found this out. Another good option is Caña Brava by the 86 Co. Or, you know, use what you like.