Sadly, peaches are quickly disappearing from the farmer’s market this month so I thought I’d give them one final nod before we go full into Fall this week.
I don’t know about yours, but since it is the end of the season, my peaches are starting to look a little worse for wear. They’re RIPE, and maybe not so pretty looking anymore. When this happens, I fire up the grill and send them on their way Viking style (on fire).
Today just happens to be yet another drink holiday, but one I tend to enjoy: Rum Punch. Yes, even Rum Punch gets its own day now. But you know, Tuesday is a good enough reason too to enjoy one of these cocktails.
Keeping it simple, but full of flavor, this punch gets a double peach kick from grilled and caramelized peaches and a few good glugs of Bundaberg’s Sparkling Peach brew. We’re big fans of Bundaberg’s ginger beer so we thought we’d try their sparkling brewed drinks too.
The final rum punch comes together with an aged rum, fresh lime juice and the peaches. It tastes a bit tropical, with juicy peach flavors and a sour bite from the lime juice. The rum rounds it out with earthy notes and the sparkling peach gives it a pleasant, but not overpowering, bubbly lift. Nice and simple.
Yields 2-3 drinks
1/2 peach, sliced
2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice
4 ounces aged rum
Bundaberg Premium Peach Sparkling Brew*
- Lightly oil a grill or grill pan over medium high heat. Grill peaches until soft and with noticeable grill lines. Flip sides once or twice to fully cook through, about 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and let the peaches cool.
- In a small pitcher, muddle 2/3 of the peach slices with the lime juice. Add in the rum and let sit, refrigerated, for at least an hour (mixture can sit up to 8 hours).
- When ready to serve, top mixture with the Bundaberg Premium Peach Sparkling Brew and stir gently. Pour over ice and garnish drinks with remaining peach slices.
Switchel what?
The base of this cocktail starts with our 
3 ounces 
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.
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 
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!
This post is brought to you by Blue Nectar Tequila. Recipes and ideas are my own.
I drink Margaritas every day of the year. I don’t wait for Taco Tuesday and happy hour at my local cantina. I break them out over brunch or on any given Sunday. But usually just a single serving or two. Today, because we’re celebrating, we’re going big and making a Margarita PUNCH.
Even though I love those grapefruit, to balance out the citrus flavors and make the base more complex, I’m creating a oleo saccharum with lemon and lime zest in addition to a few grapefruit zests thrown in. Creating the base this way gives the punch a strong citrus backbone that won’t get watered down and lost once the grapefruit juice, tequila and ice are added in.
To sweeten everything up and to highlight some of the more floral characteristics of the citrus, I’ve combined Tahitian vanilla (which is the most floral of the vanilla varieties) and piloncillo. Not sure what piloncillo is? That’s ok, I’ve only just started using it over the last few years myself. Piloncillo is evaporated sugar cane juice from Mexico. It’s not as sweet as regular cane sugar, but it has a wonderfully rich taste, similar to brown sugar. Again, to make this a more concentrated flavor bomb for the punch, the vanilla and piloncillo get made into a syrup and then reduced into a rich, syrupy sweetener.
This wouldn’t be a Margarita without the tequila, right? For that I’m turning to 
Makes approximately 12 servings
FYI guys: you’re probably saying my name wrong. I don’t take offense; it’s been an issue going back to preschool. The spelling is what usually trips people up, especially now that I live in Los Angeles and an “a” is almost always pronounced “ahhhhh” when in fact my “a” is just a short “A”. Why am I talking about this then if it’s a non-issue?
I’m sure you all have had that moment in a bar. Intrigued by a drink but one look at the name and you end up passing on it. Too bad! You probably would have liked it. But you want to know what? Your bartender is NOT going to judge you (OK, let’s be real. Maybe one or two a-holes will.). They are there to tell you how to say things right so you can impress your friends next time when you order that intriguing sounding drink. They want to pass on that knowledge and inform you, their customer.
I had a similar experience with wine years ago when I was up in Napa at a tasting. The Sommelier, some laid back guy in jeans, and quite possibly a jean shirt too, told me that you either like a wine or you don’t. You can hate an expensive bottle and like something you picked up for $7. You don’t need to know if you’re smelling aromas of cherry or rotting wood, you should just want to drink it. I also learned that “legs” on a wine glass are bullshit and when you’re at a tasting, don’t throw back the whole glass (oops! I was young!!).
But back to the drink. Now that we’re in the dull days of January, you already have this 
On a side note here, some of you might read the recipe and see sparkling wine then pass over this because the thought of opening a whole bottle just to make one cocktail seems so wasteful. But wait! No need to pass on this, just buy a split! Yes, it’s enough for two of these but really, once you make one you’ll want another. And now, let’s say it together kye-peer-EEN-yah. And by the way, it’s e-LAY-nuh.
Remember when I said I’d never use Snapchat forever and ever? Yeah, about that… Guys, ugh, talk about going down a rabbit hole of watching people make coffee and take bad selfies. And yet, I’m so compelled to WATCH. Actually, right now, I love seeing how people decorate for the holidays, and Snapchat itself has compiled these little videos of people celebrating for the holidays all over Europe. What I think I’m trying to get across here is that I’M SO INTO CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR.
Yes, yes, it might seem like I am getting a bit overexcited about something that happens every year, but for the last few Christmases I just couldn’t be bothered. This Christmas I have forced myself to be in the holiday mood since about November 27th and I plan on keeping it up until at least New Year’s. While I have done my requisite decorating, I have now turned to holiday-izing my food and drinks. For all of you reading this right now, I will just focus on the drinks.
Holiday Punch. This is almost without a doubt my main cocktail situation for big parties, and especially those of the Christmas kind. You can batch it beforehand and let guests get as tipsy or not as they want and you still get lots of credit for making it (but we all know it’s WAAAAY easier than individually making drinks for 40 people at your party. F that.).
That smoky rosemary is pairing up with some winter citrus because we want to make this as holiday as possible. Then throw everyone a curveball as you sneak in a few Tiki elements with gold rum, orgeat and grated cinnamon. Oh, and also some high proof rum because WHY NOT?! Our base rum is Parce 8-Year, a small-batch Colombian rum that’s aged in whiskey barrels so it has a similar flavor to single malt scotch, and is DELICIOUS.
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