****Bonus Post***** The Royal Wedding Punch!

One more thing about spring season, is that is WEDDING SEASON!!!!!. And the most famous and talked about wedding is right upon us... the Royal Wedding!  My good friend Dan Warner( Beefeater Global Ambassador) is paying tribute to The Queen Mum who enjoyed the mix of gin and Dubonnet, and  has updated the classic cocktail with the refreshing flavors of pomegranate (representing life, regeneration and marriage in Greek mythology), lemonade (an American balance and length to the punch) and Angostura bitters (the most classic, famous punch ingredient). Sounds like the perfect drink for the newlyweds!! So without further adieu, here is Dan Warner's Royal Wedding Punch!!!

Dan Warner’s Beefeater Royal Punch

2 parts Beefeater London Dry Gin
1 part Dubonnet
1 part pomegranate juice
2 parts fresh lemonade (American style)
Angostura bitters to taste

Method

Serve in a large punch bowl (if you don’t have a punch bowl, a large, deep casserole dish will do the job) and garnish with wheels of lemon & lime, mint sprigs and pomegranate seeds.

Chill the punch with lots of regular ice cubes or make your own fruit ice cube by freezing oranges and lemon slices with water in a plastic container (ice cream tub or similar).







So here's a Cheers to the Royal Couple, and a Big BIG cheers to my main man Dan for sending me his Royal Punch recipe... Maybe I can get him to make my punch whenever I decide to get married????

Until Next Time
Mr.Mixologist

SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!!

Well its finally spring here in Chicago... Or what we Chicagoans consider to be spring. No snow on the ground, couple real nice days, motorcycles, BBQ's, and the best part of spring to me... Spring Cocktails. Some of Chicago's best restaurants, bars, and clubs are switching their menus over to some very tasty, refreshing, spring cocktails. The focus is on light spirits(Gin, Vodka,Tequila) and fresh ingredients.  I'm even trying my hand a making my own Limoncello and Orangecello and some new spring infusions that I will be debuting later this month at a few events I'm working.

My good friends over at Beefeater and Plymouth supplied me with a few new spring cocktails that i will be using at an event the end of this month, so I decided to share them with you all as well.... I mean hey, who doesn't love cocktails, and Gin cocktails at that... So here you go....

Market Fresh Millionaire

Beefeater Gin
Sloe gin
Grand Marnier
Apricot brandy
Pomegranate juice
Lime juice

Shake all the ingredients in an ice filled cocktail shaker, large screw top jar or jam jar. Strain into a coupe glass or small wine glass.

English Garden featuring Plymouth and elderflower

Plymouth Gin
Apple Juice (Cloudy/Pressed)
Elderflower Cordial
Lime

Fill Hi-ball glass with ice. Pour in the Plymouth Gin. Pour in the apple juice and elderflower cordial. Add juice of lime quarters. Stir and add cucumber garnish

Beefeater Honey Fig Sour featuring Beefeater

2 PARTS Beefeater Gin
1 PART Fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Small egg white
(optional) 1 TEASPOON honey
1 fig

Use a rolling pin to crush the fig with the honey in a large screw top jar or cocktail shaker. Add all the other ingredients and ice and shake hard for 1 minute. Strain into a short whisky tumbler filled with ice cubes. Garnish with half a fig and lemon slice.

Silver Bronx featuring Plymouth

Plymouth Gin
Sweet Vermouth
Egg White
Orange Juice (Fresh)
Dry Vermouth

Fill mixing glass with ice. Add the Plymouth Gin, vermouth's, orange juice, and whisked egg whites (optional). Shake well. Strain into a martini glass




So I hope all of you get a chance to try the wonderful Spring cocktails. They are definitely the kind to be enjoyed on the back porch, relaxing on a warm spring night enjoying the breeze with someone special. And if you aren't a big Gin fan, these are some drinks that can ease you into the Gin experience. I find when i work that people are scared of Gin. You get the whole "Gin makes you sin" or "Gin makes me want to fight".... Ive even stated those sentiments before I got into this industry. But all in all Gin is one the most mixable spirits. Well "Quality Gin" is a great spirit. And the good people over at Beefeater and Plymouth put out an excellent product. They are all Mr.Mixologist Approved!!!....

If any readers have any good Spring time cocktails that they would like to share, send me your recipe and a picture of the cocktail to DrinksOnMeinc@Gmail.com and possibly have it featured as the drink of the week..

Until Next Time
Mr.Mixologist