Drink Recipe Ep 023

For the “series vs standalones” episode, the drink is a take on “series” with a set of rainbow shots.

These are relatively low abv (alcohol-by-volume), since Avery had to drink all six over the course of the episode. If you’re making these for a group to each drink individually, you can swap the ratio of juice-to-vodka.

Rainbow Shots
  1. Blue Curacao (1oz) + Vodka (.5oz)
  2. Blue Curacao (1oz) + Pineapple Juice (.5oz)
  3. Pineapple Juice (1oz) + Vodka (.5oz)
  4. Pineapple Juice (.5oz) + Cranberry (.5oz) + Vodka (.5oz) 
  5. Cranberry (1oz) + Vodka (.5oz)
  6. Curacao (.5oz) + Cranberry (.5oz) + Vodka (.5oz)

Drink Recipe Ep 021

This week’s drink is a cheeky twist on a margarita base, utilizing ingredients that form a fitting acronym.

Lemon Fluff
  • 2oz Vodka
  • ¾ oz curacao
  • 1 oz Lemon juice
  • ¾ oz Simple syrup
  • Dollop of marshmallow fluff (~1-2 tbsp)
  • Granulated sugar (for glass rim)
    (for extra fun, you can use colorful sanding sugar in gold or yellow)
  1. Shake vodka, curacao, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice.
  2. Rim a coupe, martini, or sour glass with sugar.
  3. Pour cocktail into coupe and top with a dollop of marshmallow fluff.

Drink Recipe Ep 017

This week’s drink is a cheeky twist on a margarita base, utilizing ingredients that form a fitting acronym.

S.H.I.T. Cocktail
  • 2.5oz Sour Mix (can buy premade but I used the homemade recipe below)
  • .75oz Huckleberry Syrup
  • 1oz Italicus Bergamot Liqueur
  • 1oz Tequila (Blanco)
  • 1 cup of ice
Homemade Sour Mix
  • 1/2c water
  • 1/2c sugar
  • 1/2c lemon juice
  • 1/4c lime juice
    • Heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
    • While syrup cools, squeeze juice and strain into a bottle using a fine mesh strainer.
    • Combine cooled syrup and juice in a bottle, shake well.
    • Will last 1-2 weeks. Can add a bit of vodka to make it last up to a month in the fridge.
  1. Combine all in a blender.
  2. Blend well.
  3. Pour into a coupe or margarita glass.

Drink Recipes Ep 013

Both of the cocktails this week highlight Interrobang brand vermouth. The Interrobang (‽) is a punctuation symbol that combines an exclamation point and question mark, appropriate for a discussion of dialogue tags.

This episode, we chose drinks that let the vermouth shine, while the other elements enhance and emphasize it. This mirrors the way your dialogue should stand as the backbone of a scene, with the dialogue tags and action beats as support.

“The Nod”

Interrobang’s sweet vermouth is herbaceous in a way that reminds me a little of aromatic bitters, with a sweet red wine base. Orange helps smooth out those herbal notes, while the dry maraschino helps balance and highlight the sweetness of this low-abv drink.

  • 2oz Interrobang Sweet Vermouth
  • .5oz fresh squeezed orange juice
  • .25oz maraschino liqueur
  • 3oz seltzer
  • Orange wedge (for garnish)
  1. Combine all (except orange wedge) in a highball glass filled with ice.
  2. Stir gently.
  3. Garnish with the orange wedge.
“Said Isn’t Dead”

Interrobang white vermouth has a lovely spice note that almost reminds me of holiday baking spice. Grapefruit and honey add a little complexity that makes those flavors stand out, while vodka gives this one a hidden punch.

  • 2.5oz Interrobang White Vermouth
  • 1oz vodka
  • 1oz grapefruit juice
  • .5oz honey syrup
  • Lemon wheel (or dried lemon wheel) for garnish
  1. Pour all into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
  2. Shake well until chilled.
  3. Strain into a martini or coupe glass.
  4. Garnish with a lemon wheel, or float a dried lemon wheel on top.

Drink Recipe Ep 011

Spiced Dai-query

For our episode on queries, we made this punny concoction, with a hint of jalapeño for the burn of rejection.

  • 3.5oz light rum
  • 1.5oz lime juice
  • 2oz agave syrup
  • 2-4 slices of jalapeno to taste (can remove seeds if you want milder, leave the seeds in if you want it hotter)
  • 1 cup ice
  1. Add ice to blender.
  2. In a separate mixing glass, muddle jalapeno in agave syrup, then pour the syrup through mesh strainer into the blender. Discard leftover jalapeno bits.
  3. Add the rum and lime juice to the blender.
  4. Blend.
  5. Pour into a daiquiri or wine glass, garnish with a lime wheel.

Drink Recipes Ep 010

For our chat about pitches, this pitch-black cocktail is a delicious accompaniment.

Pitch-Black, Short & Sweet
  • 2.5oz Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur
  • 1oz Dark Rum (not spiced)
  • 1oz Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Syrup
  • Optional: black sugar for rim
  • Optional: Luxardo cherry for garnish
  1. (Optional: rim martini or coupe glass with black sugar)
  2. Combine Mr Black, rum, and chocolate syrup in a shaker with ice, shake very well.
  3. Strain into glass, garnish with a Luxardo cherry on a cocktail pick.

Drink Recipes Ep 009

For our discussion on short fiction, we crafted this “strawberry shortcake” smoothie.

Boozy Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie

  • 3oz cake or donut vodka
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 4oz milk or plant milk of choice
  • (optional) whipped cream for topping
  1. Combine strawberries (still frozen), vodka, and milk in a blender
  2. Blend until smooth
  3. Optional: top with whipped cream
Crystal’s drink: Petit Verdot white wine

Drink Recipes Ep 007

This week, DC and Avery selected drinks that reflected our individual excerpts. Avery chose a mournful, herbaceous twist on the classic Last Word cocktail, while DC did a riff on an old-fashioned.

Matcha Elderflower Last Word
  • ¾ ounce gin
  • ¾ ounce green chartreuse Liqueur
  • ¾ ounce ​maraschino liqueur
  • ¼ ounce elderflower liqueur
  • ¾ ounce lime juice
  • 1 tsp matcha powder
  1. Mix all in a shaker with ice
  2. Shake well
  3. Strain into a coupe glass or Nick and Nora glass
Greatest CEO In The World
  • 1½  ounce Lagavulin 16 Year Scotch
  • 1½ ounce Avery’s Magical Maple Cherry w/ Cinnamon shrubs
  • 1 sugar cube
  • 1 peel of lemon
  • 3 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 1 wedge of orange
  • 1 splash club soda
  1. Drip 3 dashes of Angostura bitters on a sugar cube, in a glass
  2. Put a thin wedge of orange, a lemon peel, and a maraschino cherry in the bottom of glass, and muddle the fruit.
  3. Pour Lagavulin on muddled fruit.
  4. Pour in Cherry shrubs.
  5. Put a handful of ice in a whiskey glass, stir, and finish with a dash of club soda.

Maple-Cherry Shrub Recipe:

  • 1½ cups dark sweet cherries (frozen ok)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅔ cup red wine vinegar
  1. Mix cherries, cinnamon, maple syrup, and sugar in a glass bowl or tupperware container and cover. Leave in refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days, checking and stirring once a day, until the sugar has pulled the juice from the cherries and there’s a good amount of liquid.
  2. Strain juice through a mesh strainer and remove cherries. (These can be pureed into a jam for toast and will last at least a few days in the fridge, if you’d like to save them.)
  3. Add vinegar to the juice and stir well. There may still be some stray sugar granules at this stage, but these will dissolve eventually.
  4. Pour into a sterilized glass bottle or jar and refrigerate. Will keep for 3-4 months if refrigerated. The flavor will change slightly for about the first week, but then will stabilize.

Drink Recipe Ep 006

Drink recipe: Zombie

Since we’re bringing your work back from the dead in this episode about removing the word “was” and replacing it with something more interesting, we’ve made a deliciously undead drink: The Zombie.

This is a well-known tiki drink with a lot of variations, so I’ve borrowed a recipe from renowned cocktail expert Dale DeGroff.

Drink Recipe: The Zombie
(Recipe by Dale DeGroff)
  • 1 oz light rum
  • 1 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz orange curaçao liqueur
  • 1-½ oz passion fruit purée
  • 1-½ oz orange juice
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz lime juice
  • ¼ oz grenadine
  • 2 dashes aromatic bitters
  • Cocktail umbrella and/or various fruits for garnish
  1. Shake all in cocktail shaker with ice
  2. Pour into a tall glass filled with ice
  3. Garnish with fresh fruit, pineapple leaves, and/or a tiki umbrella