It’s Friday! What does that mean?? HAPPY HOUR!!! My buddy, Miss James just got a copy of Barefoot Contessa’s Back to Basics Cookbook and we’re trying to plan a few recipes to cook on the same night so we can do a virtual GIRL’S NIGHT. Totally sucks having cool peeps live so far away. I hate it! To start it off, I’ve made this cocktail for our Happy Hour. We can now ichat under the influence. The typing gets a little crappy, but oooh does the truth come out!
Let me tell you that this cocktail is TASTY. The first few sips are like WHOA. It’s a bit on the strong side, but if you exploit the sugar rim you’ll be just fine. It definitely balances out the alcohol and citrus TANG. After finishing the first drink, you’ll find the second one to be much smoother! We even did a little gin floater on top. Amazing. So won’t you make yourself a cocktail and have one with us?
Let’s get our drink on!
Gather your ingredients. Look at the afternoon light! Ahh warmth! SUN!
Get our your juicer/reamer/whatever. I used both. Juice AWAY. It takes a little time.
Put some sugar on a plate, get out your vodka & martini glasses.
Put ice in your shaker. Add a cup of vodka to the shaker.
Add all of the citrus juice in!
SHAKE IT UP!!!!!! You could also pour everything into a pitcher and then put it in your shaker….
That just means more dishes!
Take a lemon and run it around the edge of the glasses.
Dip your martini glasses in the sugar.
TADA!! Sugar rimmed glass. How easy is that? (thank you Ina) Let it dry for a bit.
Pour the spirits into the glasses.
Top each drink with a sprig of mint!
Two for me. Two for you.
Now what are we eating????
Juice of a Few Flowers
(recipe from Barefoot Contessa’s Back to Basics Cookbook)
makes 4 drinks
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
- ½ cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice (1 grapefruit)
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
- 1 cup good vodka (I used Ketel One))
- Extra lemon juice
- Granulated sugar
- Fresh mint sprigs
Combine the orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, lime juice, and vodka in a pitcher. Dip the rim of 6 martini glasses first in a dish with lemon juice and then a dish with sugar. Set aside to dry.
When ready to serve, place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker, add the cocktail mixture to fill the shaker three-quarters full, and shake for about 30 seconds. It’s important to shake for a full 30 seconds to get the drink very cold and dilute it slightly with the ice. Pour into the sugared martini glasses and garnish with a sprig of mint. Continue filling the shaker with ice and cocktail mixture until all the drinks are poured. Serve ice cold.
Shutterbean Notes:
-I didn’t combine the juice & vodka in a pitcher before I put it in the shaker. It pretty much all fit in my entire shaker when I poured it directly in. Less dishes to do!
-Gin can be substituted for Vodka. It’s pretty good too!
-Also, in my photo above I only had 1 orange. I realized my mistake after I juiced everything. Make sure you use two! You’ll need them for the sweetness.
