Cocktails Archives - Extra Helpings

Make an Iced Coffee Cocktail for a Caffeinated Halloween

This sweet and spooky Halloween coffee cocktail was created by chef Lili Dagan. Inspired in equal parts by the espresso martini resurgence and Chef Lili’s love of Below Deck, she’s dubbed it Captain Lee’s Boat Juice.

For those of us who lived our awkward teenage years in the 90’s, bringing back low-rise jeans and platform shoes is both a terrifying trip down memory lane and an interesting people-watching activity; is that your outfit, or are you en route to a costume party? In my neck of the woods we call this game “Bushwick or Halloween?”

I might have my doubts about the fashion, but there’s one nostalgic trend I am unquestionably here for: Espresso martinis. Do you need a pick-me-up and to buff out the edges of this crushing, unforgiving world? The beverage of choice is the espresso martini. I’m not the only one who’s noticed. I’ve seen espresso martinis popping up at airports, all around Bachelor nation, and of course, in the world of Below Deck. Cast, crew, yachties, and captains alike are fueling up for water sports and long shifts with a frosty espresso martini.

For my coffee cocktail I wanted to marry the espresso martini with a local favorite: the frozen coffee thing. A legendary drink in Brooklyn, NOLA, and other cities where folks wanna get a super buzz, the frozen coffee thing is just that: slushy, boozy, and caffeinated. When it meets the E-tini….well… we’ll see what happens.

Throw a couple of seasonal decorations on there and save it to a Pinterest board before the youths deem it too cheugy to enjoy.

Captain Lee’s Boat Juice: An Iced Coffee Cocktail Recipe

Makes 2 drinks

For the cocktail

2 cups cold brew ice cubes (about 8-10 cubes, see recipe below)
3 oz vodka
1.5 oz kahlua
1 oz heavy cream
1 pinch Coffee grounds
Halloween/Spooky Candy (optional, for garnish)

For the cold brew ice cubes

3 cups cold brew
1 cup milk
Simple Syrup, to taste*

Combine the cold brew ice cubes, vodka, Kahlua, and heavy cream in a blender. Blend until frothy (think frappe consistency). If necessary add more ice cubes to reach your desired consistency. Pour into two glasses and garnish with the coffee grounds. Garnish as desired and inspired with halloween candy. Enjoy!

In a pitcher, combine 3 cups cold brew, 1 cup milk and simple syrup to taste. Chef Lili adds 1 Tbsp simple syrup, but do what suits you and your preferred level of sweetness. Pour the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze overnight.

*Chef’s Tip: You can buy simple syrup at the store, but it’s also easy to make at home. In a pot, combine equal parts water and granulated sugar. Heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool and use it for a variety of cocktails or as a sweetener for your coffee.

For an easy coffee dessert, try our five-ingredient coffee granita.

How to Make Frozen Drinks at Home

During hot summer months there’s nothing more relaxing than happy hour with a frozen drink. A blended margarita or a glass of frosé will help you unwind and cool off at the same time. Restaurants have the advantage here: they have specialized machinery. If you’re hoping to recreate your favorite frozen drinks at home, try these tips and tricks for the best results.

frozen pina colada recipe — An icy piña colada is the perfect summer treat

How do frozen drink machines work

Restaurants, bars, and gas stations aren’t firing up a blender every time you order a slurpee or a margarita. They have specialized equipment for making frozen drinks. You’ve probably seen the big rotating vats of frozen beverages at a bar or 7-Eleven near you; the key difference between those machines and your blender is that they don’t pulverize ice. Professional machines actually freeze and churn a liquid cocktail base to create a smooth drink full of tiny frozen ice crystals. These results can be difficult to replicate at home.

Tips for making frozen drinks with a blender

The easiest way to make frozen drinks at home is with a blender. This method recreates the frosty texture of a frozen drink machine by mixing pulverized ice and flavorings. The biggest challenge is getting the ice to blend smoothly. Here’s how to get the most of your blender.

Freeze some ingredients

Start with frozen fruits or cubes of frozen juice will help you achieve a frosty texture, and will keep your drink from diluting as it melts.

Start small

Don’t overfill the blender! Keep the ingredients below the 2/3rds line to make sure everything will run smoothly.

Pay attention to ice

Big, clear ice cubes are great in a cocktail, but they’ll overwhelm your blender. Starting with small or crushed ice will set you up for success when it’s time to pulverize.

The amount of ice matters too. Aim for a 2:1 ratio of ice to other stuff. That should give you a drink that’s both frosty and flavorful.

Fruits on the bottom, ice on the top

Arranging softer, easily crushable ingredients on the bottom of the blender will help you achieve an even blend. As the soft fruits are drawn into the blades, they’ll carry ice along with them.

Add liquid

If your blender gets stuck, try adding a little juice or water. The extra liquid will help keep things moving.

Have fun with it!

Grab a cocktail umbrella or garnish with a piece of fruit. Frozen drinks are all about good vibes and relaxation.

For more cold drink inspiration, try these frozen daiquiris on a stick.

Try the Kailua: A Pineapple Passion Fruit Cocktail from Chef Roy Yamaguchi

Chef Roy Yamaguchi is best known for his cuisine fusing French technique with Asian-inspired flavors. This cocktail, however, is a big nod to his home in Hawaii. This pineapple and passion fruit cocktail is tropical and refreshing—the perfect thing to drink when you just want to kick your feet up. It’s not an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii, but it might be the next best thing.

Chef Roy’s recipe calls for Lilikoi syrup. Lilikoi is a type of yellow passion fruit that is popular in Hawaii. If you’re not lucky enough to have a Lilikoi tree in your backyard, we recommend substituting passion fruit syrup or passion fruit juice. Either way, the fruit’s tart and sweet nature will be the perfect complement to savory, earthy Tequila.

Kailua Cocktail

1.5 oz Tequila (Grand Leyenda Silver)
.5 oz Lilikoi syrup
.5 oz Ginger elixir
.5 oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
2 oz Pineapple juice, freshly squeezed if possible

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

2) Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds, or until the outside of the (tin or steel) shaker appears frosty and chilled.

3) Strain into a rocks glass or martini glass. Garnish with a pineapple leaf. Cocktail umbrellas and salted rims are optional.

For more cocktails and meals from our chef partners, sign up for a Blue Apron box delivered to your door.

The Perfect Hot Toddy Recipe

hot toddies with tea — The best way to warm up is with a hot, spiced drink

We should all drink more hot drinks. On winter nights, when the sun goes down early and the nights are really just so cold, a warm hot toddy with tea makes us feel unbelievably cozy.

What is a hot toddy?

At its most basic, a hot toddy contains only hot water, lemon, honey, and booze. It’s actually known as a remedy for the common cold, because of the combination of heat, citrus, and sweetness. But the hot toddy can be so much more.

To that warming formula, we add cinnamon sticks, Earl Grey tea, and apple cider.

Hot toddies are really easy to simmer on the stove. The combination of ingredients will make the house smell like the holidays, and they’re as easy to brew up for two people as for a larger crowd. Next time a chill hovers in your house, turn cocktail hour into hot toddy time.

Spice up Dry January with a Ginger Mocktail

For some, January is a time to take a break from boozy cocktails and powerful wines. Others may choose to abstain from alcohol all year round, while some might choose to spend their evenings with a ginger mocktail in one hand and a beer in the other. We’re not here to judge!

No matter what your relationship to alcohol is, you’ll love this zero-proof cocktail created by Chef Lili Dagan. Chef Lili describes this concoction as refreshing, healing, cooling, warming, and relaxing all at once.

This recipe makes a quart, but Chef Lili has been known to make this gallons at a time. If you have extra, just keep it in the fridge in a covered pitcher or a jar with a lid. Your mocktail will be good for up to one week.

Chef Lili’s Ginger Mocktail

2” piece of ginger (about the size of your palm), thinly sliced
2 lemons, sliced , plus more for garnish
2 bags tea of your choice (peppermint, chamomile, earl grey are all good choices)
Pinch of cayenne
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup mint leaves
Ginger soda, for serving

1. In a quart jar, combine the ginger, lemon, cayenne, turmeric, and mint leaves. Muddle until fragrant and slightly broken down. Add the tea bags and fill the jar with boiling water. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. The longer the mixture stands, the more flavorful it will be.

2. When ready to serve, strain the mixture, keeping the liquid and discarding the solids. If you don’t intend to serve all the tea mixture immediately, strain out your desired amount and continue to let the rest of the mixture steep.

3. Fill a glass with ice, then fill half the glass with the tea mixture. Add enough ginger soda to fill the glass. Taste, then add additional lemon juice if desired. Garnish with a sliced lemon and mint sprig, if desired.

Test Kitchen Tip: If you’d like to add alcohol to this drink, vodka and tequila will work nicely.

Still thirsty? Try another one of Chef Lili’s cocktail creations.

7 Festive New Year’s Eve Drinks

Champagne is synonymous with New Year’s Eve, but the night is long, and variety is the spice of life. To make your celebration extra special, try kicking off the night with one of these festive New Year’s Eve drinks. These 7 cocktail recipes have something for everyone.

For the spice-lover: Cozy Cran-Apple Cider

1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
8 ounces apple cider
4 ounces spiced rum
2 dashes cranberry bitters
Whole nutmeg (for garnish)
Fresh cranberries (for garnish)
1 apple (for garnish)

Heat the apple cider on low, but do not boil. While the cider heats, divide the lemon juice and rum between 2 glasses. Add a dash of cranberry bitters to each glass. Divide warmed cider between the glasses and grate a little nutmeg on top of each. Garnish with cranberries and a piece of apple.

For the sour candy fan: Meyer Lemon Champagne Cocktail

1 ounce freshly-squeezed Meyer Lemon juice
1.5 ounces elderflower syrup or liquor
10 ounces Champagne
2 pieces Meyer Lemon rind (for garnish)

Divide the Meyer Lemon juice and elderflower syrup between 2 Champagne flutes. Top with Champagne. Garnish with the Meyer lemon rind. Note: be sure to pour Champagne slowly in multiple rounds to let the bubbles settle.

If you love Dark and Stormies: Ginger Mule

3 ounces vodka
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
8 ounces ginger beer
Candied ginger (for garnish)
1 lime (for garnish)

Fill a traditional copper mule mug with crushed ice. Divide the vodka and lime juice between the mugs. Top each with ginger beer, and garnish with a lime wedge and piece of candied ginger. Top with more crushed ice if desired.

For the party-lover: Festive Gin Fizz

2 Ounces fresh yuzu juice
3/4 ounce honey
4 ounces gin
2 pasteurized egg whites
Club soda

In a cocktail shaker, combine the yuzu juice and honey. Stir to thoroughly dissolve the honey. Add the gin and egg whites and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Add 2 handfuls of ice and shake for additional 10 seconds until very cold and the mixture is frothy. Using a strainer, divide the chilled gin mixture between 2 glasses. Top each with club soda. Garnish with yuzu rind if desired.

For the fruit-lover: Blood Orange Margarita

4 ounces freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
2 ounces Cointreau or Triple Sec
4 ounces Tequila blanco
1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Salt (for garnish)
Blood orange (for garnish)

Place the salt on a dry, flat surface. Wet the outside rim of a glass with water and roll the rim of glass around in the salt to cover. Carefully fill each glass with ice. In a shaker, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, Cointreau or Triple Sec and Tequila. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Add 2 handfuls of ice. Shake vigorously for another 10 seconds until very cold. Divide the chilled mixture between the prepared glasses. Garnish with thin slice of blood orange.

If you’re craving something light: Winter Mint Swizzle

2 ounces freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce honey
4 ounces Bourbon
5 dashes citrus bitters
6 sprigs fresh mint

In a shaker combine the honey, lemon juice and 4 of the mint sprigs. Muddle until the herbs are fragrant and the honey has dissolved. Add the bourbon and shake vigorously for 5 seconds. Add 2 handfuls of ice, and shake for an additional 10 seconds, or until very cold. Using a strainer, divide between 2 glasses. Top with crushed ice and garnish with the remaining mint sprigs.

If you have leftover Christmas candy: Candy Cane Cooler

5 ounces Kahlua
4 ounces half and half
2 ounce vodka
2 to 3 drops peppermint extract
3 Candy Canes (for garnish)

Carefully crush one candy cane (to prevent it from flying everywhere, you can put it in plastic bag). Transfer the crushed candy cane to a dry, flat surface. Wet the rim of a glass with water and roll the rim of glass around in the crushed candy cane to cover. Carefully fill each glass with ice. In a shaker, combine the vodka, half and half, peppermint extract, 1 ounce of the Kahlua and ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds or until very cold. Divide the remaining Kahlua between the prepared glasses. Top with the chilled half and half mixture. Garnish each with a candy cane.

Once you have your New Year’s Eve drinks selected, don’t forget about the snacks. Try creating a beautiful cheese plate for a sense of occasion.

Gin & Ginger Ale Punch

Gin and ginger ale going forces to make this spicy, refreshing gin punch.

This gingery punch will be beloved by all—even those who claim to not like gin-based drinks! The angostura bitters turn this punch a gorgeous shade of blush, and the massive ice cube, shaped by a bundt pan, cools the festive drink without making it watery.

The ingredient list is simple. You’ll need limes, ginger root, and ginger all. The ginger root gets minced into pieces and made into a sweet, spicy syrup that gives this cocktail a special kick.

Ginger ale blends all the flavors together and adds pizzazz with some bubbles. To garnish, try frozen lime slices. Freezing them before helps the slices maintain their shape in the punch. Once everything’s all mixed in together, the punch is ready, and your work is done.

Read on for the full recipe

Make Mulled Wine with This Easy Recipe

Winter may be cold, but at least it’s cozy. These dark months offer up unlimited opportunities to pile on the blankets, grab a book, and fill up a mug with your favorite hot drink. This year we’ll be sipping on this mulled wine that we’re cooking up with this easy mulled wine recipe.

This warming drink is spiked with spices and simmered until it’s deliciously fragrant. If you’re concerned about any alcohol boiling off, follow Chef Tim Kemp’s advice and add in some brandy while your beverage is brewing. Once you finish off the pot, try making a hot toddy for the next round.

If you’re looking for the best wines for mulled wine, we’ve got you covered. Our mulled wine favorites package is full of perfect reds.

mulled wine spices — Cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and oranges can all be used to flavor mulled wine

Easy Mulled Wine Recipe

Serves: 2-3, Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 (500ml) bottle of any of red Blue Apron wine
1 orange
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 (2-inch) piece of unpeeled ginger
¼ cup maple syrup
A pinch of salt
½ cup of brandy (optional)

1. Slice the orange into four sections, and stud each slice with two cloves. Just press the whole clove into the white of the orange.

2. Cut the ginger into 4 slices.

3. In a small pot, combine one bottle of BA wine, the sliced ginger, the studded orange slices, two cinnamon sticks, ¼ cup maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. If you want a little extra oomph, add in the ½ cup of brandy.

4. Heat on medium heat to bubbling, then turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Divide the warm wine into mugs (discarding the used orange, ginger, and cloves). Cozy up and enjoy!

An Apple Bourbon Cocktail for a Sweet New Year

Apples and honey are traditional food symbols of Rosh Hashanah in the Ashkenazic Jewish tradition. The apples are a celebration of the recent harvest, and the honey is a symbol of hope for a sweet new year; the two are enjoyed together as an acknowledgement of the full cycle of the year.

This recipe is based on a cocktail that John Adler, Blue Apron’s head chef, created with the former head bartender during his time at Franny’s. One day, John came to work with two cases of crab apples. One case went to the kitchen, the second went to the bar. The bartender thought for a second and said “let’s bury them in bourbon!”

Apple bourbon is incredibly versatile. It’s delicious in this recipe, and also works well for a seasonal twist on a manhattan (in place of rye), added to a hot toddy, on the rocks, or mixed with lemon and ginger for a fun play on a Gold Rush. If you can’t find crab apples, try making yours with Granny Smith apples. If you love the sound of the cocktail, but don’t have the patience to infuse your own bourbon, try decreasing the bourbon by .5 oz, and adding in 1 oz apple cider. Chef John’s take incorporates cardamom, which pairs beautifully with the spice of the bourbon and the sweetness of the apples.

For the Apple Bourbon

2 ½ pounds crab apples (or Granny Smith apples), washed and cut into 6 wedges
1 gala or Honeycrisp apples, washed and thinly sliced
2 Cups bourbon
2 lemons, washed and peeled (peels reserved)

Combine the apples, bourbon and lemon peels in a tightly lidded jar. Store upside down (to prevent oxidation) for five days. Strain, discarding apples and lemon zest, and store in the fridge.

For the Honey Cardamom Syrup

½ Cup honey
½ Cup water
3 fresh cardamom pods

Combine the ingredients in a small pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat you want it to come up slowly to maximize the time the cardamom infuses. Strain out the cardamom pods, cool and store in the fridge.

For the Cocktail

Serves 2

5 ounces Apple Bourbon
1 ounce bitter liqueur (Meletti Amaro, Montenegro Amaro, Campari)
1 teaspoon honey-cardamom syrup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cocktail glasses (chilled in fridge)
2 thin slices of gala apple

Fill a cocktail shaker 2/3 of the way with ice. Add the bourbon, bitters, honey-cardamom syrup and lemon juice. Stir for 20 seconds and then strain into the chilled cocktail glasses. Garnish the rim of the glass with the apple wedges and toast to a sweet and delicious new year!

A Peachy Pimm’s Cup for Easy Summer Drinking

This seasonal twist on a Pimm’s Cup is what chef Lili Dagan likes to call a ”slow sipper;” a low-alcohol drink that can be enjoyed in abundance without overdoing it.

Have you ever tried to spend a day drinking in New Orleans? It is not an easy feat. This is probably why Big Easyans have invented so many creative cocktails that are perfect to enjoy out of a to-go cup as a parade marches on, basking in the buzz of the city’s famously relaxed drinking laws. Too tired to keep on? Have a frozen Irish coffee drink! Need to commit to an all-day affair but don’t have the tolerance required? The low-alcohol and delightfully refreshing classic Pimm’s Cup is your pal.

Popularized in the states by the Napolean House, a beloved New Orleans establishment, the classic Pimm’s Cup is Pimm’s No1, lemonade, and 7-up with a cucumber garnish. When I visited a few winters ago, a seasonally appropriate satsuma mandarin Pimm’s was on the specials menu. A seasonal Pimm’s Cup! What a thought!

When I stopped by the farmers market this week, both peaches and cucumbers were bountiful. The heat was suffocating, and I was craving something refreshing to drink whilst watering my plants. Pimm’s is already a low-alcohol spirit, and after mixing it with sparkling sodas, the Pimm’s Cup transforms into a smooth-jazz kind of drinking experience. Why, it’s even possible to enjoy three while tending to the stoop plants. In that spirit, please enjoy this peachy cucumber Pimm’s Cup responsibly, and laissez les bons temps roule!

Pimm's Cup with an umbrella — Works well as a grab-and-go cocktail

Le Bon Tom Roulle Peach Pimm’s Cup

Makes 2 Tall Drinks

1 Peach
1 Cucumber
Mint
Ginger
4 Oz Pimm’s No1.
2 Oz lemon soda **We recommend Fentiman’s Lemonade as the botanical flavors complement this drink wonderfully.
2 Oz ginger beer

In a cocktail shaker, muddle ½ the peach, 2 slices of cucumber (about ¼ inch thick), two springs of mint, and a coin of ginger.
Fill the shaker with ice and add 4 oz Pimm’s. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.
Fill a tall glass with ice cubes. Strain the shaker contents into the glass. Top with 2 oz lemon soda and 2 oz ginger beer and stir to combine.
Top off with equal amounts of lemon soda and ginger beer as the remaining space in your glass allows.Garnish your cocktail with mint, peach slices, and cucumber slices. Add a fun umbrella if you have one leftover from your piña colada.

Cool Down with a Frozen Daiquiri on a Stick

Chef Lili Dagan might not have air conditioning, but luckily she found a more delicious way to cool down. Here’s her recipe for a frozen daiquiri popsicle.

frozen daiquiri popsicle — Cool and boozy

There is a particular joy found in a surprise beach snack. Stealthily packed beach juice, Nutcrackers (sold by the hardest working cooler toters on NYC’s beaches), and jello shots are all delightful, but undeniably, the best surprise is the mango. Cut like a beautiful piece of origami and served on a stick, these flowery treats are sold all over the streets of NYC, and customized to your liking with hot sauce, lime juice, spicy salt, or a combination of all of the above.

Enter, the Snaiquiri. Part street mango, part frozen daiquiri, part “idk my face is melting off” — these boozy treats on a stick would fetch at least $10 on an NYC beach, but are free if you are a guest on my stoop, aptly named by my coworkers Lili’s Tiki Pops & Audubon Club (yes, when not making cocktails, I enjoy birdwatching.)

To make these, you’ll need popsicle molds and sticks of your choice. I used a 10 pop silicone mold with wooden sticks.

Note: This recipe doesn’t call for sugar! I used very ripe fruit, which was plenty sweet on its own. If you prefer your drinks sweeter, add sugar or simple syrup as desired.

Frozen Daiquiri Popsicles

For the mango layer:

2 Cup frozen cubed mango
2 oz rum
1 oz water, plus more as needed (if the mixture needs more liquid to blend, add a Tbsp at a time until smoothie consistency)
Juice of 1 lime
¼ Cup mint, thinly sliced

For the strawberry layer:

2 cups frozen strawberries
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 oz rum
1 oz water, plus more as needed (if the mixture needs more liquid to blend, add a Tbsp at a time until smoothie consistency)

1. Combine all mango layer ingredients except mint in the blender and blend until just combined. When you’ve reached your desired texture (small pieces of fruit are optional), add the mint and blend lightly so that the mixture is thoroughly mixed but whole ribbons of mint remain.

2. Divide evenly amongst the popsicle molds (about 2 Tbsp per mold) and place in the freezer to firm up while you make the strawberry layer.

3. Blend all strawberry layer ingredients until combined.

4. Divide evenly into the molds on top of the mango layer. Add sticks and freeze at least 6 hours, ideally 24.

5. Enjoy on their own or with Tajin, Chamoy, and lime juice in any combination desired.

If you love this, try Chef Lili’s recipe for a melon margarita.

This Piña Colada is Like a Drinkable Vacation

Chef Lili Dagan knows her way around a tropical drink. Here’s her tried and true recipe for making a delicious piña colada.

I was working on an urban farm down in Red Hook the year that a leak at the maraschino factory turned all the local beehives honey red. The story only got more bizarre after that, but that summer I decided to avoid those electric red maraschino cherries until they got that under control.

Fast forward a few years. Brooklyn bartenders are now mixologists, and the cherry garnish of choice becomes the undeniably fancier Luxardo cherry. A luxury garnish since 1821 (!!!), these sour cherries are candied and steeped in syrup made of cherry juice and sugar. Besides being 100% delicious as a garnish, their syrup makes for great use in cocktails.

Before you get started, put your glass in the freezer for the frosty effect.

If using fresh pineapple, cube and freeze, reserving a few wedges for garnish.

Makes 2 Large Piña Coladas

4 cups frozen pineapple
4 oz light rum
.5 oz Luxardo cherry syrup
4 oz full-fat coconut milk
2 oz coconut water
1 oz maraschino liqueur

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on medium speed until combined and frothy.

Pour into your frosty glass. Garnish with lime zest, a few maraschino cherries, a wedge of pineapple and a fun umbrella.