Happy New Year’s from a Tiny Hippo!
It is New Year’s Eve, a time for revelry, tiny hats, and fancy drinks!
Hope you all have a great New Year’s Eve and a wonderful new year! Check out my oh so scrumptious Spiced Mint Julep recipe.
We have created a scrumptious Spiced Mint Julep recipe that I am sure you will all love. This spicy citrus drink, with a hint of fresh mint, is perfect for a winter party or a quite evening at home. The spiced simple syrup requires 24 hours to steep, so plan ahead, it will be worth it!
Spiced Mint Julep
Spiced Mint Julep:
5 mint leaves
3 orange wedges
1 ounce grapefruit juice
1 ounce spiced simple syrup (recipe below)
1.5 ounces bourbon
0.5 ounces Grand Marnier
1 cinnamon stick for garnish
Muddle torn mint leaves, orange wedges, and Grand Marnier in glass. Fill glass half full with crushed ice. Pour in bourbon, spiced simple syrup, and grapefruit juice, stir well. Fill the rest of the glass with ice, stir and garnish with cinnamon stick and sprig of mint.
Servings: makes one 12 ounce drink
Spiced Simple Syrup:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
zest from half an orange ( use a vegetable peeler to get large strips)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole black pepper corns
6 whole cloves
2 all spice berries
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 pinch salt
In a small saucepan, bring water, sugar, and orange zest to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. When mixture comes to a boil remove from heat and add all the spices, stirring to combine. Once mixture is cooled refrigerate for 24 hours in a sealed container, then strain. Simple syrup will keep for two weeks in refrigerator. Be sure to stir the syrup before use, all the best flavor is at the bottom!
Spiced Whiskey Sour
This Spiced Whiskey Sour uses a variety of spices to add great depth of flavor to the more traditional whiskey sour. The nutmeg is sweet, the cinnamon is spicy, and the cayenne adds heat to the drink; all together they make for a well-rounded medley of spices that complement this tart whiskey concoction.
Ingredients:
2 shots of Revel Stoke Spiced Canadian Whiskey
2 shots club soda
1 shot lemon juice
1 tbsp honey (local honey from a small supplier is best, we love the honey sold by Indian Creek Nature Center, if you visit the center on a Saturday afternoon you can watch the beekeeper harvest the honey.)
1 pinch (1/16th tsp) powdered cinnamon
1 smidgen (1/32nd tsp) powdered nutmeg
1/2 smidgen (1/64th tsp) powdered cayenne pepper
Cinnamon stick and maraschino cherry for garnish
Method:
In a glass or beaker mix the whiskey, club soda, lemon juice, and honey. Making sure to stir well so that the honey dissolves, it is important to do this without any ice, otherwise the honey will get too cold and harden. Once the honey is dissolved, stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne. Now fill an Old Fashioned glass 3/4ths full with ice. Pour the drink mixture slowly over the ice. Garnish with cinnamon stick and maraschino cherry, serve immediately.
Yields enough for two Old Fashioned glasses.
Because this Spiced Whiskey Sour uses honey instead of homemade simple syrup no electrical appliances (like the stove top) are needed to create it, making this the perfect drink for when the electricity goes out.
Even a Tiny Hippo can make this drink in the dark, it’s that easy and oh so good
Meanderings Abound 