Just made a penicillin with a splash of banana liqueur - it's not really perceptible as banana but makes it rounder, fuller.

When I make a paper plane I like double bourbon but also replace some of the Aperol with Campari - less sweet and extra bitter is better.

What small changes do you always make to a standard recipe?

So, I saw this recipe that inspired me.

https://punchdrink.com/recipes/green-mango-martini/

But don't have mango eau de vie and not about to make it, and I think as written it would be too sweet for my palate. And of course everything needs ice here in the summer. I did make the green mango tequila.

So far I can vouch for tequila, green mango and sauternes - it's a surprisingly good combination.

This is:

2.5 oz green mango infused tequila

1 oz Sauternes wine

.75 oz lemon

.25 oz Giffard Apricot (because I have no mango liqueur right now and did you hear Chinola is making a Guava liqueur? I am excited for that.)

Squirt of honey.

Shaken with ice.

My thoughts - the green mango tequila is tart and I think the lemon sort of muddies the flavor. I would try this again with more Sauternes and a splash of mango liqueur, leave out the honey and if it was too sweet adjust with citric or malic acid not lemon.

I would also like to try the green mango tequila with ginger beer but not today, this is a one and done.

And I was thinking to convert the recipe into a punch or sangria, a pitcher cocktail using a whole bottle of Sauternes, but I think that it might need to go in a different direction. Again, I do love the combination of the green mango with the Sauternes, and tequila - the main flavor combo is good. I've tried amchur and tequila - the green mango infused tequila worked so much better to get that flavor.

1 oz tequila blanco

1/2 oz each mezcal, Campari, passion fruit syrup, ginger syrup and lime.

Squirt of fire tincture

Shake these together and add 1-2 oz IPA beer.

I had to substitute apricot liqueur for the passion fruit and it's really good so I suspect anything fruity would be fine. Beer I used is Jai Alai and only 1 oz, I don't like it but as an ingredient in here can't taste it, must add something though. This is bitter in a great way, somehow not too sweet, I went a little heavy on the lime but close to the 1/2 oz. If you do like beer I think you could safely increase it past the 2 oz and still have something really nice.

The rainy season is finally here too. So happy to be out here watching the rain.

Biker kitty!

Biker kitty!

I am halfway through the Dry July and would like to celebrate but at a loss. I have the following ingredients, and define non alcoholic as non intoxicating not completely alcohol free, so splash of something ok.

N/A liqueurs:

Pathfinder

Seedlip Spice

Other:

Coffee

Coconut water, coconut cream

Tepache de piña

Enough pineapple to make a little pineapple juice

Strawberries

Tonic water

Yuzu lime tonic water

Ginger, lemon, lime, bitters

A pretty full bar, and a small amount of good red wine.

Considering just Pathfinder in tonic, that ends up like Chinola soda. But with all this I just feel like it could be more interesting!

In celebration of today, I present the Guillotine. Old Fashioned variations are always too sweet for me but with extra lemon zest as advised, it goes on the list for August. I will probably be stirring a lemon slice in it.

So, what are you drinking this weekend? It's tepache for me tonight!

Taking July off (I do dry July every year) but this is going on the list for August!

1 lime

1 spoonful Tajin

2 oz tequila

1/2 oz jalapeno brine

Bottle of Topo Chico

Quarter the lime and use one quarter to make a tajin rim on a glass. Mix the juice of the rest of the lime, the tequila, the brine in the glass, add ice, top with topo chico, keep topping off the glass till it's gone. Then, as is traditional, start over :)

Sourdough donuts

Used the recipe on Perfect Loaf, way too long to detail here but the ingredients are, for 18 of them (he always has these weird odd measurements like 101, I do often round them with no ill effect but will write them as the recipe states):

203 g very active starter 100% hydration

253 g all purpose white flour

253 g strong white bread flour

187g eggs - use extra yolk to adjust to this weight

101 g butter

101 g white sugar

91 g water

10 g salt

It takes a couple days to finish these (I start Friday midnight to get Sunday morning donuts) but most of that time is waiting not working).

Couple of notes- he says the final rise takes 12 hours but that must be in a cold climate, here in the subtropics it took about 7 to be perfect. And when he says careful attention to shaping he means it, but it's easy if you keep the dough chilled, with the butter in the dough it's not too sticky. Don't be afraid to really stretch it when forming the little dough balls, you want a tight surface all over. If you can shape buns, and your starter is robust, this is about a foolproof recipe.

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/naturally-leavened-bomboloni-doughnuts/

I can't see the picture in the header, hopefully you can. Will put below too.

1 oz tequila claro (Tequila Ocho, la mejor)

1/2 oz mezcal

1/2 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco (see note)

1/4 oz Ancho Reyes rojo

1 oz fresh pineapple juice (see note)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

1/3 oz agave nectar (again, see note)

Shake all with ice, pour into chilled rocks glass over fresh ice. It is delicious.

Notes: I don't have that luxardo, used half Campari half bitter rhubarb liqueur; doubled the pineapple juice because I literally just made it and it's amazing. This doesn't need 1/3 oz of agave, less is better. Finally - it was quite difficult to make one of these with those teeny measurements. I would recommend making two at a time.

Has anyone made this? I have no allspice dram, to me this looks like a recipe that would make a fantastic pitcher drink for Thanksgiving, it reads fall with the cinnamon & allspice.