Thirsty Thursdays by Lo

In light of the decent price on grapefruits I found over the weekend, I'm bringing back the summery drink for this week's post. Just as Agatha prefers a wheat beer over a lager even in winter, I like my mojitos year round. So, I present you with two Lo Flo specialties today, if you're dreaming of sunnier times.

Grapefruit Margarita

Ingredients:
1 pink grapefruit
bar sugar
triple sec
tequila (Patrón is worth the $$$)
lime (optional)

Fill the contents of your cocktail shaker with 2 oz. tequila, 1 oz. triple sec and plenty of ice. Depending on the quality of your juicer, you can get about 3 oz. juice out of half a grapefruit, which should be enough for this recipe. But if you're hand squeezing or using a crummy glass juicer like I did, you might need to use the whole fruit. Add the juice and shake shake shake, then shake once more. Meanwhile, rim a cocktail glass with sugar. I like organic sugar from Trader Joe's, but there are plenty of creepy flavored/colored cocktail rimmers out there (Stirrings is a big one). A good trick for rimming: Rub a lime slice around the rim, then dip onto a dish of sugar. Fill your glass, add another lime slice and you're good to go!

Coco Flojito

Ingredients:
8-10 mint leaves
club soda
Coco Lopez, canned coconut milk
Light rum
Lime
1 tsp sugar or simple syrup

I consider myself something of a master when it comes to the mojito. I think it's weird when people use Sprite to mix their mojito (which a lot of low-end places do) and cheap when they add tons of sugar and club soda and not enough rum. The main ingredient of a mojito is rum! The second is lime. But to keep things fun, here's my variation on a coconut mojito: Drop freshly rinsed mint leaves into the bottom of a tall glass, add an ounce of club soda, 1 tsp. sugar and the juice of one fresh-squeezed lime. Pummel the leaves into the sugar and liquid with a cocktail pestle. FILL the glass with ice, then cover about 3/4 of the ice with rum. Add 2 tsp. Coco Lopez and shake shake shake. When done, top off with club soda and stir. Wow, I can't believe I just gave away all my secrets. Guess I can retire.

Thirsty Thursdays (by Lo)

Sometimes the best drinks are the ones you don't intend to make!
As a frequent mixer of drinks for my friends, my BFF Agatha is often brave enough to try out my new creations, even when they're a little questionable. For the drink pictured, I wanted to use my favorite ingredient, mint, to add a summer flavor to a winter drink. Watch this special behind-the-scenes video and try out the following recipes at home for some yummy winter treats. Enjoy!


The Froth Bite
(title courtesy of my pun-making partner in mixology, Alex)

2 oz. chocolate or vanilla (I recommend Svedka) vodka
1 oz. midori, or more as needed
5 or 6 mint leaves
Soy milk
Ice

Add vodka and mint leaves to a shaker. Muddle the leaves in the vodka until they are practically shredded and give off a little color. Add three or four cubes to the shaker and enough soy milk to cover the cubes. I like using soy because it really froths when shaken. Now, add the midori until you get the color you like! I recommend 1 oz. but if you like melon liqueur, the flavor actually goes really well with the mint. Shake and strain over a martini glass.

The Renesmee
(yeah, yeah, we love Twilight)

2 oz. bourbon (Jim Beam works)
2 blackberries
1 lemon
Simple syrup
Black currant nectar
Ice

Add the juice of 1 lemon (if too tart for your palate, substitute one half of the lemon with half an orange), pulp and all, to the shaker. Add 1 tsp. simple syrup. Muddle 1 blackberry in the sour mix until it's tinted purple. Add bourbon and ice, then pour in enough nectar to cover the cubes. Shake and strain over a martini glass, and drop in the extra blackberry. The mixture is tart and sweet, just like half a vampire!