creme de cacao

A Gift from the Heart

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vday2

Brandy Hopper

1 1/2 oz Brandy [Monteru]
3/4 oz Creme de Menthe [Short Path]
1/2 oz Homemade Bailey’s
1/4 oz Creme de Cacao [Tempus Fugit]

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake, and stain into an ice filled rocks glass.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and I have the perfect gift idea. Sure, flowers or chocolates are pretty traditional, but booze is way more fun. DIY gifts are always more personal and meaningful, so what if I told you there was a way to create a delicious, sweet, boozy gift for your SO that could be ready RIGHT NOW.

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Know Your Receiver

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The Intriguing Cocktail

1 1/2 oz Mezcal [Fidencio]
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Creme de Cacao
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with lemon twist.

Valentine’s Day and chocolate – a combination as old as time itself. Lucky for us chocolate comes in booze form too. A few years ago I wrote about how a bottle of creme de cacao is a great twist on a valentines cliche. I’m back at it again, but this time it’s about really tailoring the drink to your partners taste. In Mrs. Muddle’s case, that means only one thing: Mezcal. Continue reading →

Life is like a Bottle of Chocolate

Adam (aka Mr. Muddle)3 Comments

Marge’s Bowling Ball

1 1/2 oz Bourbon
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz dark Creme de Cacao
1/4 oz Cointreau
Few dashes Fee Bros Chocolate bitters

Stir with ice, strain into empty rocks glass

After a year or two of building our home bar, we had a wide variety of bottles to choose from.  We were able to make a nice range of interesting cocktails on any given night.  However, every now and then Mrs. Muddle would drop subtle hints that we should add some chocolate liqueur or creme de cacao to the mix.  Not surprising, since she has the bigger sweet tooth in the house.  After a few trips to the liquor store which resulted in nary a chocolate liqueur, the requests came more frequently.  Conveniently by this point, Valentine’s Day was right around the corner.

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Break Out the Metal Pole

Adam (aka Mr. Muddle)1 Comment

Rock the Bells

1 1/4 oz Rock and Rye <Hochstadters>
1 oz amber rum <Folly Cove>
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz orange juice
Few dashes Fee Bros whiskey barrel aged bitters

Shake with ice, strain into ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with orange peel

There was a restaurant in the town where I grew up that billed itself as a trendy, modern italian place.  It was the first restaurant I ever saw that had “trattoria” in its name.  While I don’t remember much about their food, they did have a giant jar upfront filled with rock candy.  I have no idea why, but I didn’t ask questions. I would just make sure to grab one every time I was in there.  It was like candy crack to me.  Imagine my surprise years later when I found out about a cordial made by combining rye whiskey, rock candy, orange peel and some bitter herbs.  Needless to say, I grabbed a bottle as soon as I found it. Continue reading →