My friend Marilyn sent me the link to this recipe and since I had all the ingredients, I decided to make it.

It is really good and super refreshing. Thanks for the recommendation Marilyn! I followed the recipe she sent with one slight change - I muddled the basil in to the drink instead of just using it as a garnish. 

Cocktail Scale (out of 5*)
James 4.75*
​Mellissa 4.75*

 Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 large seedless cucumber, coarsely chopped and divided
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2/3 cup vodka - I used Strathcona Spirits Vodka (a great local distillery)
1/4 cup water
4 fresh basil sprigs

Place sugar and 1/2 of the cucumber pieces and 2 sprigs of basil in a large, wide-mouthed glass or 2-cup measuring cup. Muddle lightly.

Add lime juice and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Pour lime juice mixture through a fine mesh sieve into another measuring cup.

Stir in vodka and water.

Fill two lowball glasses with ice. Divide cocktail and remaining cucumber pieces between two glasses. Garnish with basil.
​
The recipe that was sent to me was from Garnish with Lemon and can be found here

If you have a drink recipe you would like us to try, just send us a note!

I was gifted a bottle of Licor 43 from a friend. Licor 43 is described on the bottle as "a secret Spanish family recipe of Mediterranean citrus fruits infused with selected botanicals". I found it had a strong and sweet vanilla flavour.

It came with a recommended recipe, The Licor 43 Screwdriver, so that's what we tried out.

The Screwdriver was a great drink. We had it late in the afternoon but it would be a perfect brunch drink. I didn't have the orange to add which I think would have made a difference. Val added some lime from another drink she had just finished and said it tasted better with the lime. 

Cocktail Scale (out of 5*)
James 4.25 *
Val 4.25 * 
Mellissa 4.25*

Ingredients
1 oz vodka
1 oz Licor 43
3 oz orange juice
ice
cinnamon stick and orange slice for garnish

In a tall glass combine vodka, Licor 43 and orange juice. Stir and add ice. Garnish with three orange half moons and a cinnamon stick. 

I first made this drink at home and we enjoyed it so much I decided to  bring the ingredients to the camp site.

One of my cocktail goals is to use up some of the obscure liquors I have purchased over the past year. Elderflower liqueur was one of them. I am happy to report that we successfully finished the bottle but these are so good, I might need to buy another bottle!

​This is a great drink with interesting flavours. 

Cocktail Scale (out of 5*)
James 4.5*
Val 4.5*
Mellissa 4.75*

​Ingredients
1/2 lime, juiced
5 blackberries
1.5 oz vodka
1.5 oz elderflower liqueur
ginger beer
berries for garnish

Muddle lime juice and blackberries in a copper mug. Add vodka, elderflower liqueur and ice. Top with ginger beer. 

It's the start of the camping season and I will continue the cocktail scale tradition. 

This May long weekend I actually made two cocktails. The other cocktail, Blackberry Moscow Mule with Elderflower can be found here.

Cocktail Scale out of 5*
James 3.5*
Val 3.5*
​Mellissa 3.75*

​Ingredients
pint of strawberries
1/2 c tequila
1.5 oz Cointreau (I used dry curacao)
1 lime juiced
1 Tbsp honey
2 - 3 basil springs
ice
salt for the rim (I didn't do this)

Place strawberries, tequila, cointreau, lime juice and honey in the blender. Finely chop basil and muddle in a shaker. Mix the basil with ingredients from the blender and muddle together. Pour in to glass with ice. Salt the rim if you like. 

It's our tradition to get a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's every St. Patrick's Day so you can imagine how excited I was to stumble upon an adult version!

Cocktail Scale out of 5*
James 4.5*
Mellissa 4.75*

We really enjoy this shake it was perfect with burgers on the BBQ! And better than McDonalds. 

Recipe
1/4 cup Milk
6 cups Vanilla Ice Cream
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1/4 cup Creme de Menthe Liqueur
1/4 cup Whipped or Vanilla Vodka
4-5 drops Green Food Colouring
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. 
​
Garnish
Green coloured sugar crystals, 
Whipped Cream
Maraschino cherries

The garnishes add a fun touch. We found shamrocks that were perfect.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's Christmas Eve - where did the year go? - and we decided to try a new cocktail with  dinner.

The Caramel Apple Cider Cocktail is super easy to make. The hardest part is finding caramel flavoured vodka. We went to three liquor stores and finally found some Stoli Salted Karamel (I don't know why it is spelled with a K) flavoured vodka.

This was a really good drink. We had it on ice but it would probably be good warm too.

Cock tail Scale out of 5 *
James 4.25*
Mellissa 4.5*

Recipe
1 cup Apple Cider
2 oz. Caramel Vodka

Pour over ice and stir. Garnish with some apple and a cinnamon stick if you like.

Merry Christmas!

A friend posted this drink on her Facebook feed and when I saw it, I knew we had to try it. It is simple and tasty...if you like coconut!

The fresh snow this evening was the perfect backdrop for this simple drink.

Cocktail Scale (out of 5*)
James 4.5*
Mellissa 4.75*

Recipe:
1.5 oz. Malibu Rum (we had Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Coconut Rum)
3 Tablespoons coconut cream
6 large ice cubes
Coconut for garnish

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Serve in a coconut rimmed martini glass.

Now it's time to finish decorating the tree!

The original recipe comes from nelliebellie.com

Ginger beer is our favorite mix this summer and Moscow Mules our favorite cocktail.

Cocktail Scale out of 5*
James 5*
Mellissa 5*

They are easy to make:
4 parts ginger beer
1 part vodka
1/2 lime (or more to your liking)

Fill cup half full with ice. Copper cups are the best.
Add ginger beer, vodka and squeezed lime. Add lime wedge for garnish.

The ginger beer you use makes a difference. We like The Great Jamaican Ginger Beer Co. - it has a warm and spicy.

We ran out of ginger beer so we bought a Crabbie's (alcoholic ginger beer) at Derby's General Store. It definitely doesn't have the strong ginger flavour that (non-alcoholic) ginger beer has.

Our friend Val had this bottle of Domaine de Canton that came with a recipe book. Since it was a bit chilly the weekend we were looking through the recipe book, we decided to try the Hot Toddy recipe.

Domaine de Canton is a delicious ginger liqueur infused with cognac...it makes a warm, spicy hot toddy!

Cocktail Scale out of 5*
James 5*
Mellissa 5*
Guest Reviewer, Val 5*

A hit!!

Here is the recipe from the recipe book. We used dark rum instead of whiskey.

We decided to stay home today. The weather was iffy - no rain but a little chilly and windy. We BBQ'ed for dinner and decided to try a Raspberry Moscow Mule. We re-named it a Canada Mule because we made it in tin maple leaf cups as opposed to copper cups.

The raspberries in our yard are ripening and are very tasty.

Cocktail Scale (out or 5*)
James - 4.8* "It's very refreshing"
Mellissa -  4.2* "Love the bubbles from the ginger beer but maybe too much raspberry"

The recipe is from this site.

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• 10 raspberries
  
• 1 bottle of ginger beer
• ice

Directions
Muddle the raspberries and lime juice together in a cocktail shaker. Add the vodka and some ice and shake well. Strain into a copper mug or tall glass over ice and then top off with ginger beer.