By Odeisel
A winter full of snow and frigid temperatures has the hood (and everyoen else in North America dying for later sunsets, warmer days and the advent of the outdoor barbecue/rooftop dining/ Spring sexy season. You know we know how to get down here at The Planet. If you did hosting parties or you just want to be fly and impress the ladies (or gents as it were) with some sophisticated cocktails. The following are all but guaranteed to get any party started (or close one out) and are all Hennessy based. Yes. As Wendy Williams says, the brown juice. There’s more to it than adding ice and cola. Drink responsibly. Enjoy.
PRIVATEER (Above)
2 oz Hennessy VS
3 oz Vita Coco Water
3 Strawberries
.5 oz Fresh Squeezed lime juice
1/3rd oz Agave Nectar
Garnish: Strawberry
Method: muddle 3 strawberries in a shaker tin, add all liquids with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice and garnish with a strawberry on the rim.
HERE’S TO YOU DAD
60ml Hennessy V.S
2 Dashes of Black Walnut Bitters
1 spoonful of brown sugar
2 orange twists
Method: add sugar to bottom of rocks glass with 1 orange twist, press with a muddler to extract essential oils from the orange skin. Add bitters, Hennessy and ice, stir to chill. Top with an orange twist.
FLEUR-DI-LYS
60ml Hennessy V.S
1Dash of Cherry bitters
45ml Fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
30ml Hibiscus Pomegranate Grenadine (*recipe to follow)
Lemon twist
Method: In a shaker tin, add all liquids and shake with ice. Fine strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Twist of lemon over the top to garnish.
*Hibiscus Grenadine: in a pot over high heat add 1 cup of Pomegranate Juice and 1 cup of white sugar. Bring to a boil and add half a cup of dried hibiscus flowers, put on low heat and allow to simmer until the thickness of the syrup can coat the back of a spoon. Approximately 30min. when the syrup has reached the desired consistency remove the pot from heat and allow to cool before straining out the hibiscus flower particles.
MELON FRESHNESS
45ml Hennessy V.S
15ml fresh lime juice
8ml agave nectar
Splash of Grand Marnier
2 slices of ginger root
2 Watermelon balls
1 mint sprig
Method: Add watermelon pieces and ginger root to a shaker tin and muddle. Add all liquids and syrups with ice and shake until well-chilled. Fine strain into a cocktail coupe and slap the mint sprig to increase its effervescence and use it to garnish.
RASPBERRY SOUR
45ml Hennessy V.S
15ml fresh lime Juice
15ml fresh lemon Juice
23ml simple syrup
8ml Crème de Muir
1 egg white
4 raspberries
1 basil leaf
Method: Muddle the raspberries in a shaker tin and add all ingredients, dry shake to activate the egg whites foaming action, then shake with ice until well chilled. Fine strain into a cocktail coupe, garnish with a slapped basil leaf.
CAMOUFLAGED GINGER
45ml Hennessy V.S
15ml St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
15ml fresh lemon juice
30ml Light Honey Chamomile Syrup
1 dash of ginger bitters
3 ginger root slices
Method: Muddle 2 ginger slices in a shaker tin, add all the liquid and shake with ice until well chilled. Fine starin into a martini glass and garnish with a slice of ginger.
Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 later in the week.
