Category Archives:cocktail recipes

14
Aug

Review: Organic Cucumber Vodka from Prairie Organic Spirits

organic cucumber vodka

The folks at Prairie Organic Spirits sent me a bottle of their organic cucumber vodka and a bottle of their organic gin to try out for a review. I know, my job is really, really hard sometimes.

I'm a big fan of Prairie Organic Spirits. Their regular organic vodka is top notch and reasonably priced, so when they offered me samples of their new products, I jumped at the chance! I decided to start out with the cucumber vodka because - I mean - cucumber vodka, you guys!

Related Reading: The Cleaning Power of Vodka

You'll also notice that my cocktails have paper straws. I've been developing lots of cocktail recipes for my personal site, and folks ask me frequently where I found paper straws. Disposable plastic straws are terrible for the environment, so I'm glad that folks are getting excited about this more sustainable alternative! I found my plastic straws at Target, but you can also find them on Amazon.

Cucumber in a drink might sound a little bit strange if you've never had it, but let me tell you: it's amazing. Next time you're fixing a glass of water, toss in a couple of slices of fresh cucumber, and you'll see what I mean. The cucumber vodka has a nice, subtle cucumber flavor that worked perfectly in the recipes I tested out. I'm not one to drink straight booze, but to get a feel for how it tastes I kept it simple to start, then got a little more fancy. Here are the two recipes I came up with.

1. Organic Cucumber Vodka Cooler

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce Organic Cucumber Prairie Vodka
  • 1 lemon wedge
  • ice
  • soda water

Method

Pour the vodka into a highball glass and add a squeeze of lemon. Give that a stir, then fill the glass with ice and top with soda water. Stir again and serve.

sweet green tea cucumber vodka

2. Sweet Green Tea Cocktail

If you don’t go for booze, you can replace the cucumber vodka in this recipe with cucumber infused water. Just put a few slices of cucumber into 4 ounces of water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Bam!

Ingredients

  • 2 bags of jasmine green tea
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 ounce Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka
  • 4-6 leaves of fresh mint
  • ice
  • wedge of lemon

Method

1. Add the tea bags and sugar to the hot water and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Let the tea bags steep in the hot water for 5 minutes. Once the water has cooled to room temperature, you can either start making cocktails or stick your tea in the fridge to chill until you’re ready to use.

2. Pour your vodka into the bottom of a small glass and muddle with the mint leaves. Fill the glass the rest of the way with ice. Top with the chilled jasmine green tea and a squeeze of lemon juice. You can garnish with another lemon wedge and more mint, if you want!

Posted:   |   Categories: cocktail recipes, cucumber vodka, cucumber vodka recipes, Food+Drink, Living, organic cucumber vodka, organic vodka, Prairie Vodka
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24
Jul

Mason Jar Cocktails for Your Summer Parties (+ recipes!)

mason jar cocktails

Planning a summer shindig? Serve up some mason jar cocktails that your guests can grab and sip with no messy mixing.

I love summer, you guys! The days of feeling cold no matter how many layers I'm wearing? Dunzo! It's shorts and sandals weather, and that means backyard summer parties! I've been getting really into cocktails lately, but at a party that can be a messy situation. Drunk people mixing liquids equals sticky spills that bake onto your table in the hot sun. Save the mess and wow your guests with these mason jar cocktails instead!

This idea was inspired by the photo above, from Flickr user Kelly Teague. Doesn't that cooler full of mason jars look pretty and refreshing? All you need now is a cocktail recipe that will fill them up. Unless you want folks getting wasted, I'd go with half-pint mason jars for boozy beverages. A half pint is one cup, the perfect size for serving up cocktails.

Worried that your guests are going to leave those lids and rings all over the place? Just stick a big bowl next to the cooler with a label on it, so they have a convenient place to stick the lids, and you'll have an easier cleanup later. You might want to do the same thing for the empty jars. Put a bucket or a tray out where folks can stick their empties to save you wrangling empty mason jars the next day.

If you're not sure what to serve, I've got a few cocktail recipe suggestions for you. Like I said, I've been getting into cocktails lately, and over on my personal site I'm featuring a different cocktail recipe every Friday. Some are my own recipes and some come from friends who have been kind enough to share their tried-and-tested drink recipes with me.

Dark-and-Stormy-Sunshower-cocktail

Mason Jar Cocktails: Recipe Ideas

One caveat about these: since you're mixing your cocktails up in advance, I'd skip the ice in the jar, because the ice is going to melt and water down your lovingly-prepared drinks. Boo! Just serve them up instead of on the rocks, and you're golden.

  1. The Sunshower - This is a lighter-tasting take on the Dark and Stormy.
  2. Pickled Peach Bellini - You can put the pickled peaches right into the jars or serve them on the side.
  3. Stone Fruits and Ginger Sangria - White sangria is so summery and delicious!
  4. Fruity Fizz - This drink doesn't have any booze, but it's a great way to have non-alcoholic drinks that feel more special than water or sugary soda pop.

Do you have a favorite cocktail recipe that would look good served up in a mason jar? Tell me yours in the comments!

Image Credits: Remixed Creative Commons photo by Jinx!; Sunshower Cocktail photo by Becky Striepe

Posted:   |   Categories: cocktail recipes, Food+Drink, Living, mason jar cocktails, mason jar ideas, mason jar party ideas, summer party idea
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24
Jul

Mason Jar Cocktails for Your Summer Parties (+ recipes!)

mason jar cocktails

Planning a summer shindig? Serve up some mason jar cocktails that your guests can grab and sip with no messy mixing.

I love summer, you guys! The days of feeling cold no matter how many layers I'm wearing? Dunzo! It's shorts and sandals weather, and that means backyard summer parties! I've been getting really into cocktails lately, but at a party that can be a messy situation. Drunk people mixing liquids equals sticky spills that bake onto your table in the hot sun. Save the mess and wow your guests with these mason jar cocktails instead!

This idea was inspired by the photo above, from Flickr user Kelly Teague. Doesn't that cooler full of mason jars look pretty and refreshing? All you need now is a cocktail recipe that will fill them up. Unless you want folks getting wasted, I'd go with half-pint mason jars for boozy beverages. A half pint is one cup, the perfect size for serving up cocktails.

Worried that your guests are going to leave those lids and rings all over the place? Just stick a big bowl next to the cooler with a label on it, so they have a convenient place to stick the lids, and you'll have an easier cleanup later. You might want to do the same thing for the empty jars. Put a bucket or a tray out where folks can stick their empties to save you wrangling empty mason jars the next day.

If you're not sure what to serve, I've got a few cocktail recipe suggestions for you. Like I said, I've been getting into cocktails lately, and over on my personal site I'm featuring a different cocktail recipe every Friday. Some are my own recipes and some come from friends who have been kind enough to share their tried-and-tested drink recipes with me.

Dark-and-Stormy-Sunshower-cocktail

Mason Jar Cocktails: Recipe Ideas

One caveat about these: since you're mixing your cocktails up in advance, I'd skip the ice in the jar, because the ice is going to melt and water down your lovingly-prepared drinks. Boo! Just serve them up instead of on the rocks, and you're golden.

  1. The Sunshower - This is a lighter-tasting take on the Dark and Stormy.
  2. Pickled Peach Bellini - You can put the pickled peaches right into the jars or serve them on the side.
  3. Stone Fruits and Ginger Sangria - White sangria is so summery and delicious!
  4. Fruity Fizz - This drink doesn't have any booze, but it's a great way to have non-alcoholic drinks that feel more special than water or sugary soda pop.

Do you have a favorite cocktail recipe that would look good served up in a mason jar? Tell me yours in the comments!

Image Credits: Remixed Creative Commons photo by Jinx!; Sunshower Cocktail photo by Becky Striepe

Posted:   |   Categories: cocktail recipes, Food+Drink, Living, mason jar cocktails, mason jar party ideas, summer party idea
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