Making Cocktails with Fingers Crossed

More experimenting today. Experimenting is good because 1) I get to drink and 2) get rid of the growing arsenal of liquors and syrups that are colonizing my kitchen. One of those is banana syrup, which isn’t exactly a utility infielder when it comes to cocktails. Additionally, my blender broke when I made this, so I wasn’t able to puree the banana — instead, I threw chucks of cut up bananas into the syrup process. Risk #1. I was encouraged however when I opened the lid and took a whiff – strong, beautiful banana flavor. Yum. My first drink was a Banana Hammock, which consists of:

1 1/2 ounces Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
3/4 ounce homemade banana syrup (1:1:1 ratio)
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
Dash of Angostura bitters

This drink was goooooood – the syrup give it a thicker consistency that gives you a very-bananaish mouth feel. With the spice of the rum , this just knocks it out of the park perfectly. I almost wish I had more ice with this drink as I think it gets more heavenly the colder it gets. Check it out:

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Ok, so as I’ve mentioned before I’m working towards a red white and blue cocktail combo. I have my white, now I need my red. I read the history behind the Jack Rose, an applejack cocktail which hails back to George Washington. I mean, that’s so patriotic I have to make it. Always favoring homemade ingredients, I made the grenadine myself. Unfortunately, there is no consistency in the online instructions about how to do it, with a lot of variation concerning the amount of sugar or other ingredients like pomegranate molasses. I hate the uncertainty, so I threw caution to the wind a bit and just threw a cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan and took a chance. Risk #2 I then added a few drops of lemon, threw it in the fridge, and hoped for the best.

Well my hopes were not in vein. This was good, maybe a bit too sweet, so I may cut down a little on the sugar next time, but it was a really rich and enjoyable drink. Can’t wait to make this for folks on a hot summer day, I think it will be a big hit.