Orange Bourbon Slush

MMM a favorite for both Thanksgiving Day and really any other day of the year!  My mom and aunt like to serve these in mint julep cups for added sophistication....

2 L bottle of Sprite or Diet Sprite
12 oz frozen OJ
12 oz frozen lemonade
20 oz bourbon

Stir in a large freezable container.  Freezes to a slush within around 6 hours.  Enjoy!

Pensacola Bushwacker!!

Anyone from Pensacola has hopefully been privy to this tantalizing delight of a cocktail, and anyone not from Pensacola should be ASAP!  This recipe is from Cheryl Hart.  mmmmmm.

Bushwacker

~3 1/2 cups ice
4 oz rum
4 oz kahlua
4 oz creme de cacoa
2-4 oz cream of coconut
2-4 oz chocolate syrup
8 oz 1/2 and 1/2
vanilla ice cream

Fill blender with ice.  Add wet ingredients and fill to top with ice cream, about 1/4 gallon.  Blend and enjoy!

Tinto Verano

tinto 'BERano' - as they said it in sevilla!  my new favorite summer drink (let's be honest - i've said this before)

i'll describe it as a less-sweet version of sangria

very very simple to make

2/3 part dry red wine over ice cubes
1/3 part *sparkling* lemonade (and yes, they have this at Walmart- for all you klassy folks like me!)
(if you can't find sparkling lemonade - maybe mix part lemonade and part soda water)

mmmm scrumptious . enjoy .

Blackberry Spring

On the menu at Dram, our favorite bourbon bar in Mountain Brook Village, is a fabulous bourbon drink called a Blackberry Winter... But I have to say it reminds me of Easter and springtime!  Saturday rolled around and I had already purchased the ingredients to make my own... Here it is!

2 oz Bourbon of your choice (I chose Makers... comes with Knob Creek at Dram)

2 oz orange-juiced based juice (I chose a mix of OJ/pineapple/apple, but Dram uses Sour Mix)

a hefty squeeze of lime juice

1 Tbs of coarsely pureed blackberries 

Puree 1 container blackberries (save about 4 berries for garnish), coarsely, with chunks.  This keeps if you choose to make the drink several nights in a row.

Pour all above ingredients in a shaker.  Fill shaker 2/3 of way with ice.  Shake.  Delicious served in a double-old-fashioned... but I bet even better served up and neat!

Enjoy!

Beetle & Fred's Southsides

Anyone who has ever been over to my family's house while my dad is entertaining or to his cousin, Beetle's house in Baltimore, has to have had one of these amazing summertime cocktails.

1 6 oz can lemonade concentrate
1 6 oz can of limejuice concentrate
Several handfuls of mint leaves
2 TBS sugar (or splenda to taste)
2 6 oz cans of water (12 oz total)
juice from 6 lemons and 10 limes

Combine concentrate with water in bowl.  Add the juice from lemons and limes.  Muddle/rind mint leaves with sugar in bowl until mint is smashed and fine.  Add touches of water as necessary to grind the mint.  Put mint mash with the liquid mix into the bowl.  Run through strainer to remove mint leaves and excess pulp from lemons and limes.  Squeeze the top of the strainer to make sure all juice gets through the pulpy part.

Serve as an "elixir", with about 2 Tbs south side with 2 oz liquor (bourbon, vodka), over a glas FULL of crushed ice, and fill rest of way with soda. Rim glass with lime.  

*Can reduce the amount of water if you want it to be more concentrated.  Can use splenda instead of real sugar to make it less caloric.  Can do it without any sugar because lemon/lime concentrate has sugar in it - a more tart version.  Definitely start with less sugar, and can add more later!