SiscoVanilla Makes The Libations for the 4th July 5, 2018

Hope everyone had a safe and festive July 4th. Sorry for the lack of posts as of late. Been busy writing for my other blog SiscoVanilla Hits the Bricks. So Momma-San and I were invited to a cookout at Papito's and Ro's place and of course I couldn't arrive empty handed to the festivities. Since I had a premade Arnold Palmer made, I decided that I would make it a bit more adult. Aside from that I made a Rose Sangria and another light vodka cocktail. Here is what the three libations looked like:

Adult Arnold Palmer, Summer Rosé Sangria, Spring Fling

I'll describe each from left to right:

Adult Arnold Palmer:

Very simply put, the Adult Arnold Palmer I made was made up of two parts of Earl Gray Lavender iced tea and lemon/limeade and one part Tito's Vodka. That's it. The host of the party really liked this one. It was very light and refreshing. 

For more information on how I made the Arnold Palmer part of the cocktail, check out my post on Homemade Arnold Palmer July 5, 2018.

SiscoVanilla's Summer Rosé Sangria:

This one was heavily influenced by the Summer Rosé Sangria recipe by the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten. Here is her recipe:

1 (750 ml) bottle good rosé wine
1/2 cup Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
1/4 cup superfine sugar
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon Cognac or brandy
Water and ice, plus extra ice for serving
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
8 large fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 red plums, pitted and sliced ¼ inch thick

Combine the rosé, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, sugar, Grand Marnier, Cognac, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of ice in a large glass pitcher. Stir in the raspberries, strawberries, and plums, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, fill wine goblets or highball glasses halfway with ice. Pour the sangria over the ice, spooning some of the macerated fruit into each glass. Serve ice cold.

For mine I doubled the Barefoot Rosé and Pomegranate portions. Added 1/2 cup of Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier and added an extra tbsp of Remy Martin Cognac. I omitted the superfine sugar since the Rose was already sweet. In terms of fruit, I added Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Black Plums and Red Plums.

Now I'm not a wine dinker so I really didn't know how this would turn out. But I have to say that I liked it. It was very light but potent. The peeps really enjoyed this sangria. I liked it as well. Will definitely make this again for a get together.

Spring Fling:

I have to admit, I don't quite remember where I found this particular cocktail. A search for a Spring Fling Cocktail gives a number of results, using a variety of spirits. This one called for the following ratios for one cocktail:

1oz Tito's Vodka
0.5oz Amaretto Disaronno
2oz Cranberry Juice
1oz Pineapple Juice

I scaled it up to fill the bottle. The pineapple juice hits the nose immediately. While the cocktail contains three relatively sweet components, it really isn't overly sweet. Its a pleasurable sipper for a hot day, like it was on the 4th.

Overall, a great time was had by all. I have some posts coming up. So keep your eyes peeled for them.

Until Then Keep Drinking,
#SiscoVanilla
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