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5 Tips for Making Perfect Cocktails at Home

by corrie.pennington / May 28, 2020

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Make Killer Cocktails at Home with these 5 easy tips

I’m real pumped to share my top 5 tips for making cocktails at home today. If you haven’t noticed already, I’m passionate about getting other people passionate about home mixology. I have a lot of readers who are brand-spankin’-new to the cocktail world and I want all of you to feel empowered to make killer cocktails for your very own happy hour at home.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like!

So many people assume that making cocktails at home is too complex, too technical, and too expensive of a hobby to take on. But, real talk, the main reason I started mixing up drinks at home is because craft cocktails at bars are expensive. I love ordering fun drinks when I go out but your girl’s on a budget. It’s not uncommon to see something as simple as a Moscow Mule going for $9. (That’s a 3-ingredient drink, y’all–to make it at home, it would only cost you about $2.50!) I think you’ll be surprised by how easy and affordable it is to get started on making your own cocktails at home.

My Top 5 Tips for Making Cocktails at Home

#1 – Invest in a Cocktail Shaker

While some cocktail aficionados might tell you that you need several different tools, you really only need a cocktail shaker to get started. This cocktail shaker is only $16 and then there’s this gorgeous golden option that’s $26 AND it comes with a bar spoon and a jigger. That’s a pretty sweet deal. (It also comes in rose gold– swoon)

I got the vintage-looking copper one below from Target but they don’t carry it anymore. Sad day.

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Tip #1 - Invest in a Cocktail Shaker

Now, if you’re on a really tight budget, you can totally use a mason jar with a lid. But, you’ll also need to make sure you have a small strainer so you can strain out ice, fruit pulp, etc. Cocktail shakers usually have a small strainer built-in already. Just buy one 😉

Many cocktail recipes are meant to be shaken and while simply stirring does a good-enough job of incorporating some ingredients, shaking them makes your drinks extra cold and helps further infuse ingredients like herbs, fresh fruits, and thicker syrups.

Another tool I would invest in is an ice mold. While not totally essential, bigger ice cubes make your drink colder and melt slower which keeps your drink from watering down too quickly. Plus they’ll make your cocktail look legit.

#2 – Use Fresh Citrus Juice

Y’all. This is so important. This is my number one tip for making GOOD cocktails at home. I’ve had so many friends message me and tell me they made a Margarita or a Daiquiri at home and that it didn’t taste right. The first question I always ask is “Did you use bottled lime juice?” Their answer is always a sheepish “yes”.

Citrus is a key ingredient in SO many drinks and the quality of your citrus juice will make or break your drink. There’s a naturally-occurring chemical in citrus fruit that reacts with air and actually makes the juice taste more bitter. So, the longer the juice is exposed to air, the worse it’s going to taste. That’s why bottled lemon juice and lime juice taste so different compared to their fresh counterparts. Not to mention they usually come from concentrate and are chock-full of additives. Yuck.

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Tip #2 - Use Fresh Citrus Juice

The only exception I make to pre-squeezed citrus juice is grapefruit. Since it’s already bitter to begin with, I really don’t mind the bottled stuff. But, fresh grapefruit juice will always taste better.

I make it a point to buy 2-3 lemons and limes a week. They’re cheap, so this only adds about $1-2 to my grocery bill. Plus, if you have fresh citrus laying around, you can use it in cooking and for your garnishes (see tip # 5).

Before I move on to the next tip, let me say it again for the people in the back– USE FRESH CITRUS JUICE!

#3 – Opt for Non-flavored Liquors

I know, I know. The pineapple vodka looks sooo good in the liquor store. You picture yourself sipping on some kinda pineapple paradise while you’re sitting poolside with a book in the other hand. But then you bring home your $25 purchase and it just sits in your cabinet most of the year.

Flavored liquors are kinda one-trick ponies, unless you’re a skilled mixologist who knows how to incorporate a lot of flavors. I think they’re really fun to experiment with (who doesn’t like the sound of coconut rum or apple brandy?), but if you’re going to invest in liquor, go for plain.

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Tip #3 - Buy Non-flavored Liquors

If you buy traditional vodka, you can use fresh pineapple juice to make that divine drink you’re envisioning for summer. And then you can use that same bottle of vodka to make a rich and decadent White Russian or a floral Rose Darling.

Pick 3 liquors you know you’re gonna like. You’d be surprised by how many cocktails you can make with only 3 types of alcohol on hand. Here’s what I recommend:

vodka (a MUST in my opinion- it’s got a clean taste that blends well with all flavors)
whiskey or rum
gin or tequila

Non-flavored liquors are going to expand your recipe options and encourage you to experiment with your own custom cocktails.

# 4 – Keep Mixers On Hand

If you keep these ingredients on hand, you’ll be able to make a whole slew of cocktails whenever the urge strikes.

ginger beer
tonic water or club soda
flavored sparkling water (I prefer unsweetened brands like LaCroix, Bubly, and Spindrift)
simple syrup (don’t ever buy it! it’s way too easy to make)
citrus juice (in the form of actual lemons and limes, please!)

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Tip #4 - Keep Mixers On Hand

I love buying the small cans of club soda and tonic water. I can never use a whole liter up before it goes bad and the small little guys are easy to store.

#5 – Don’t Skip the Garnishes

In addition to making your homemade cocktail Instagram-worthy, garnishes add a great deal to the experience of drinking a cocktail. Besides being visually appealing, some actually do add aromatic value. Smelling the mint, citrus, or chili powder that’s gracing the top of your beverage can really enhance the taste of it. After all, researchers say that 80% of the flavors we taste come from smell.

I’ve also found that adding a garnish to a cocktail acts as a visual reminder to stop and savor each sip instead of just chugging the whole thing because it tastes so dang good.

5 Tips For Making Cocktails at Home | Tip #5 - Don't skip the garnishes!

I hope these 5 tips for making cocktails at home leave you feeling inspired to jump into the world of home mixology. If you’re looking for some easy recipes that require minimal ingredients, check out these 17 simple cocktail recipes for beginners. Each recipe has four ingredients or less.

Cheers to your next happy hour at home!

vodka

Desert Elixir | An Earthy & Refreshing Coconut Water Cocktail for Death Valley Nails

by corrie.pennington / May 26, 2020

The Desert Elixir is an earthy and refreshing coconut water cocktail created in collaboration by Girl & Tonic for Death Valley Nails. Drink it tart or make it sweet by adding a pinch or two of sugar.

I get excited about every cocktail recipe I post but this coconut water cocktail is extra special to me. The Desert Elixir is a cocktail I created in collaboration with Death Valley Nails. When they reached out to me a few weeks back and asked if I would be interested in working with them, I actually squealed with delight. And maybe stomped my feet a few times. And probably jumped, too.

Death Valley Nails is my FAVORITE nail polish brand ever. Eh-var. I mean, before I tried DVN, I never felt particularly loyal to a brand of nail polish. If I liked the color, I bought it. Cool.

But y’all… y’all. This company will change the way you ~feel~ about nail polish. Besides the fact that their polish is the highest-quality nail polish I’ve ever used (I’ll rant about that later), it’s ten-free (!), cruelty-free, nontoxic, mixed by hand, and most is vegan. They just launched an amazing new line called Dust to Dust and some of those polishes utilize unused cattle bones from a farm. While these products are not vegan, they bring great worth and honor to the parts of an animal that are typically discarded after processing.

Alright, now for my rant. Saddle up. I am definitely not the kind of girl that goes to a salon for a manicure. However, I love to have my nails painted. But do you know the worst part about painting your nails? WHEN THEY CHIP TWO DAYS LATER. I’ve bought a lot of nail polish over the years, always hopeful that this will be the brand that lasts more than 36 hours. I’ve bought OPI, Essie, and other expensive options. I kept them because I assumed they were the best out there on the market.

Enter DVN. My friend Jenn actually started the company a little over a year ago. I’ve known her for years and she’s an artist and a creative through and through. She’s also incredibly kind and genuine. [Fun side note: The first time I ever had a Manhattan was with her at a bar in downtown Houston called Poison Girl.] When I heard that she had started a nail polish company, I was really interested. I bought my first bottle almost a year ago but truthfully, I was mostly doing it to be supportive of a friend. I already have low expectations for nail polish and seeing that it was 10-free and nontoxic had me skeptical.

I try to be eco-conscious and naturally-minded when it comes to products, but oftentimes natural and environmentally-friendly beauty products are sub-par. They just can’t perform as well as their chemical-laden competition. But Death Valley Nails has changed that narrative.

They. don’t. chip. Nope. They don’t. I’ll never forget the first time I wore it– i went 13 days before I got my first chip. WITHOUT a topcoat. Uh-huh. I finally took it off around 15 or 16 days but only because my nails were growing out. Otherwise, I would’ve been happy to leave it on even longer. I’ll also note that I’m rough on my nails. I use them as built-in Swiss army knives and I don’t wear gloves when I garden or do dishes. And they stay in pristine condition for well over a week every. time.

AND the polish stays glossy. The topcoat is incredible, but the polishes stay glossy on their own, too. It also dries and sets much faster than my other polishes. I mean, what kind of sorcery is this stuff? I’m truly amazed and will tell the world about DVN until forever.

Here are my current color crushes:

Gator’s Tongue

Burnt Sienna (wearing this now!)

High Plains

Traveller

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Vegasville

Ouzle– a tri-thermal that changes color!

Death Valley Nails also makes candles. They come in vessels that are handcrafted using cement and natural pigments and can be used long after the candle is gone. How awesome is that? Zero-waste and more bang for your buck. The candles are also made with 100% soy wax. I’ve purchased many polishes from DVN but I haven’t bought a candle yet. I reeeally want to buy one! The Orange Blossom + Honey and the Cardamom + Cedar are particularly calling my name. You pick your vessel first and then your scent. You can browse the scent options here.

Now that I’ve hopefully convinced you to make a Death Valley purchase, we can talk about the collab. When you get your polish (or candle) in the mail, you’ll also get one of these beautiful postcards designed by Houston-based artist Sarah Beth Baca:

The idea was to make it easier for us to connect to one another in these strange and socially-isolated times. I love the idea of sending this Desert Elixir recipe to a friend so you can both share a drink together. We plan on having one postcard for each season.

When Death Valley Nails asked me to create a cocktail for this summer, I knew it had to be one that would appeal to the masses (not too sweet) and would be easy to make (ingredients can be found at all grocery stores). I also wanted to make sure it was versatile and could be made with a variety of liquors– not everyone keeps a well-stocked liquor cabinet!

So, here is the Desert Elixir, the refreshing and earthy coconut water cocktail. I hope it keeps you and a friend cool this summer. ❤︎

Ingredients for the Desert Elixir

2 oz vodka or gin or rum
3/4 oz freshly-squeezed lime juice
6-8 mint leaves
1/8 teaspoon sugar or 1/4 oz simple syrup– optional
1+ oz sparkling coconut water (if you can find it with lime, get it!)
1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters- optional

How to Make the Desert Elixir

Add the mint leaves and the vodka to a cocktail shaker. Muddle the leaves until they’re bruised. Add in ice, the lime juice, and the bitters. Shake well, about 30 seconds. This will further infuse the mint. Strain into a lowball glass that’s filled with ice. Top off the rest of the glass with the sparkling coconut water.

Desert Elixir

The Desert Elixir is a refreshing coconut water cocktail made in collaboration with Death Valley Nails and Sarah Beth Baca.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 3 mins

Course Drinks

Servings 1

Ingredients

2 oz vodka or gin or rum
3/4 oz lime juice
6-8 mint leaves
1+ oz sparkling coconut water
1-2 dashes Angostura bitters (optional)
⅛ teaspoon sugar (or 1/4 oz simple syrup) (optional)

Instructions

Add the mint leaves, the vodka, and the sugar* to a cocktail shaker.
Muddle the leaves until they're bruised.
Add in ice, the lime juice, and the bitters.
Shake well, about 30 seconds.
Strain into a lowball glass that's filled with ice.
Top off the rest of the glass with the sparkling coconut water.
Garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime slice.

Notes

*Coconut water is slightly sweet to begin with. If you prefer sweet cocktails over tart ones, add 1/8 teaspoon of sugar (or 1/4 oz of simple syrup).

If you can find sparkling coconut water with lime, it takes this cocktail up a notch!

Keyword Desert Elixir, lime, mint, sparkling coconut water

Love the mint in this Desert Elixir? Check out the Campari To-Kill-Ya and the South Side.

vodka

The Novelist’s Garden | A Botanical & Bright Custom Cocktail for Maddie Deer

by corrie.pennington / May 23, 2020

The Novelist’s Garden is a custom cocktail I made for Maddie over at MaddieDeer.com. We recently connected on a Facebook group for female bloggers. I announced to the group that one of the services I offer is designing custom cocktails for brands and Maddie was one of the first people to reach out to me. You can check out the post that I made for her here.

Maddie Deer is a lifestyle blog that covers topics like vegan and plant-based recipes, vintage finds, DIY & crafting, travel, and fitness. She also blogs about the book writing process–she’s written a novel and is now working on her second one, hence the Novelist’s Garden. My favorite posts of hers at the moment are her 6 Superfoods to Add to Smoothies and her spring book list. I’ve recently gotten back into reading for pleasure so I love seeing what other people are reading.

I really love Maddie’s aesthetics. I had a pretty good idea of which direction I wanted to go in terms of her custom cocktail after just browsing her site, but to gain more insight into her and her brand, I sent her my Custom Cocktail Word Board. Maddie then selected several words from different categories that she felt best described her brand.

Some of the words she chose were earthy, steady, and sophisticated. If you’re familiar with her blog, you’ll see those words really align with her vibe. Let me know in a comment if you think The Novelist’s Garden does, too.

This is the cocktail I imagine Maddie sipping on while she works on her novel, surrounded by her plants in beautiful Portland, Oregon. The Novelist’s Garden is whimsical and bright with a touch of effervescence. Maddie loves plants so I wanted to utilize as many fresh herbs as possible. The basil and lavender lend a warm botanical feel without being overpowering. To impart a bit of Maddie’s refined and yet approachable style, I added a drop of orange blossom water. The bubbly citrus sparkling water keeps things light and lively.

It has been a dream to work with Maddie. She’s genuine and down-to-earth. I’m sure you’ll pick up on those vibes real fast when you browse her blog.

Maddie, thank you for trusting me to create a cocktail tailor-made for you and your brand!

The Novelist's Garden is a bright and botanical cocktail that is perfect to enjoy outdoors. The basil, lavender, and orange blossom pair perfectly with citrus to create an earthy, sophisticated drink. | cocktails with lavender | herb cocktail recipes | orange blossom water | cocktails with basil | drinks alcohol recipes | drinks with vodka | garden cocktail party | garden drinks

Ingredients for The Novelist’s Garden

2 oz vodka (gin is also great in this & creates a more botanical feel)
3/4 oz freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz lavender simple syrup- here’s my homemade recipe
5-7 fresh basil leaves
splash of citrus sparkling water (unsweet)
1 drop of orange blossom water– optional but it adds a floral perfume touch

How to Make The Novelist’s Garden

Add the basil and vodka into a cocktail shaker and muddle the leaves. you don’t need to destroy them–just bruise them well so that they release their oils.
Add a generous amount of ice, the lemon juice, the lavender simple syrup, and the DROP of orange blossom water (literally a drop, the stuff is potent. To do this, I dip a swizzle stick into the bottle and then dip it in the cocktail shaker).
Shake well, 20-30 seconds.
Strain into a coupe glass.
Add a splash of lime sparkling water.
Garnish with an extra sprig of basil.