Herb Cocktails

Welcome To The Herb Garden

“When life gives you lemons, then make Limoncello.”

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I have a few cocktails here that I wanted to share with you.

These are for spring and summer and to be served with fresh herbs grown from your very own garden. Some as a garnish and other’s with the herbs infused into the drink. I’ll be adding more cocktail’s in the future but here are a few for now.

Just Picking Some Shiso, a Japanese Herb

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Our Cocktails:

Our Shiso/Pineapple/Pineapple Herb Cocktail

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Our Cucumber Herbal Lime Cocktail

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Julie’s Apple Julep

If you are a Kentucky Derby fan.

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Our Garden Mojitos

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My Mother’s Day Limoncello Cocktail

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But first I want to start here…..

Limoncello Lemonade

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I love lemons, and I love lemonade, and I love alcohol…..

So, Limoncello Lemonade it is!

Just a nice cocktail to have outside by your very own potting bench. 🙂

I just eyeball this but I use an entire bottle of any brand of Limoncello liquor, a 2 liter bottle of lemon/lime sparkling water, about a cup of 100% organic lemon juice from Italy. It’s a volcanic lemon juice. Then I add various lemon flavored waters depending on what I find at the store. Pour in some sugar just to get rid of all the tartness.

Sliced lemons and limes with some fresh lemon balm herb as a garnish.

Mason jars with lids and straws were perfect for this.

Our Limoncello Lemonade

Put On Ice

It was Perfect for our Easter Refreshment Outside

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Julie’s Apple Julep

This cocktail is based on the horses of the Kentucky Derby, not the jockey’s, owner’s, etc…. I don’t care about any of them. I wanted to create something really nice to drink that symbolized what the horse would want.

Maker’s Mark, Kentucky WhiskeyIn order to make an excellent Mint Julep you do need a really good Kentucky Whiskey.

The Ingredients:Apple Flavored VodkaSour Apple LiquorKentucky WhiskeyOrganic Apple JuiceAppleFresh MintI used a cocktail shaker here and I added a shot of Apple Flavored Vodka, and a shot of Sour Apple Liquor, a shot of Kentucky Whiskey, and 3 -4 shots of the Organic Apple Juice. I added the ice to the shaker, shook it up, and then poured it into my little red and silver cup.For the garnish I cut the top off of an apple, then cut the top in half, then pressed the apple top on to the cup rim, and then placed a tiny horse there. I also added some fresh mint from my herb garden.

I wanted some nuts to eat with this for me, but I should have placed some sugar cubes around the table for a horses treat. 🙂

Oh, and something healthy for the horse, an apple. I have fed many a horse half an apple out of my hand since I was a child. Just keep your hand totally flat or they could bite off your fingers. 🙂————————————————-Memorial Day Mojitos

Me, gathering mint from my herb garden for our mojitos.

Click Here for: Julie’s Herb Garden

My original Herb Garden link above. And my new Herb Garden Here:

Click Here For: Julie’s NEW Herb Garden

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I also have my Herb Garden Redo

An Herb Garden Redo

I always have an herb garden in one form or another.

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Ready for my Blackberry/Raspberry and Mint Mojito

The mint is an herb and a cancer killer. The berries are loaded with anti-oxidents and very good for you.

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I love spring here in Florida as it is always the perfect temperature to be outside. Not too hot, not too cool, just right. So we do tend to spend a lot of time outside, last night was no different. Mojitos in the garden with our own mint and some farmer’s market blackberries that I picked up on Saturday. Notice the pretty floral headband that I have around my glass? It is a child’s headband that I picked up at the Dollar Tree, I thought it was cute but I would never use it if we had children here. It was just me and Gordon so I placed it on the glass to distinguish which one was mine. I do think that if a child were here and saw that it might tempt the child to drink it. So I don’t recommend making alcoholic drinks look “fun” when children are around.

In both photos top, you can see our mint. In the photo top left in back of our little table you can see our spearmint, that mint was used in our mojitos. In the photo top right, we have a big pot full of chocolate mint, great in drinks and desserts. The old black metal chair belonged to my great-grandfather. I think at one point it was red because red paint is showing through. It’s old and rusty but I love it.

Mojitos aren’t that hard to make.

Just buy a ready made mix and add a good rum, some herbs and some berries.

We’re using a Shellback brand rum here.

When a Mojito ready made mix is good then there is no reason to go to a lot of trouble and create one yourself. (I believe in saving time.) 🙂

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A Perfect Hibiscus in my Garden

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Our Shiso/Pineapple/Pineapple Herb Cocktail

Ingredients:

2 Shots Drillaud Pineapple Liqueur

1 Shot Malibu Rum

~1 Cup Premium French Sparkling Lemonade

Garnish with Shiso Leaves, Pineapple Mint, and a Pineapple to section with outer skin attached

2 Long Wooden Skewers

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To cut the pineapple, twist off the crown or leafy top. Now, slice the pineapple in half lengthwise as shown.

Then slice off an inch of the curved section of the top of the pineapple.

Set aside for later use.

You can then slice off the skin of the rest of the pineapple. Slice the pineapple half, in half again then slice off the core. Once this is done, you can then slice the pineapple in chunks.

Pictured are the Shiso leaves or (Perilla) on the left, and the Pineapple Mint on the right. We recently discovered these great plants. Shiso is Japanese and is what the plastic piece in sushi is supposed to represent. If you turn the leaf on its side, you can see the triangular ridges just like the plastic. The Shiso leaves were paired with Sushi as the leaf is a cure for an upset stomach which a piece of not so fresh fish would cure. The leaves are widely used in traditional medicine practices to alleviate nausea and vomiting symptoms, treat abdominal cramps, food poisoning and infections and provide relief for cough and headaches. Japanese Sushi restaurants still provide these leaves to customers at the end of the meal. The Shiso leaves contain large amounts of calcium, iron, carotene, antioxidants and are a great source of vitamin A, making them a great, healthy addition to salads, soups and stews.

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Start out making the drink using a large glass with some crushed ice. Pour your shot of Malibu Rum then two shots of Pineapple Liqueur.

Now, add your Sparkling Lemonade to the glass. Garnish the drink with a long stem of Pineapple Mint…

…then place your skewer into the Pineapple wedge as shown, placing it into the glass. You may have to break off some of the skewer to have it fit into the glass. Now add some of the Shiso leaves! Shiso leaves bring a refreshing taste with hints of mint, and basil (which it is a relative of), cinnamon, and parsley.

Enjoy this very refreshing drink and the health benefits that come with it.

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Mother’s Day Cocktail

Very similar to our Limoncello Cocktail above.

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Limoncello Cocktails

Limoncello is a lemon liqueur imported from Italy. It can be a bit pricey but this was a special occasion…..

To create this cocktail we just chilled a bottle of Limoncello, (I do not have the bottle pictured here), then we added some lemon-lime sparkling water, and the last of our Italian volanic lemon juice (pictured above with a sprig of our lemon tree leaves from our backyard coming out of it). I sliced a few limes and lemons and added them to the pitcher, as well as some sprigs of our new lemon thyme herbs.

I like using the Italian Volcano 100% organic lemon juice because it has an excellent taste. Made from the organic Sicilian lemons that grow near Mt. Etna Volcano in Italy.

Shh……. That’s our secret ingredient.

Looks Very Pretty and Summery

Not to mention, refreshing.

I also added some basil to the drink. Not just for decoration, be sure to eat it as well..

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Our Cucumber Herbal Lime Cocktail

Ingredients: Makes 2 Drinks

~5 Tbsp. Mint Sauce

8 Ice Cubes

4 Shots Cucumber Mint Vodka

4 Tbsp. Lime Juice Concentrate

~ 1 Cup Lemon Lime Sparkling Water

Small Cucumber – sliced into wedges

Fresh Mint

Fresh Rosemary

MINT SAUCE

Place enough Mint Sauce into a small bowl to coat the top of each glass, then dip the top of each glass into the sauce. Some of the sauce may run down the glass a little. Coating the top of the glass will enhance the mint’s smell and taste for the guest.

Add eight ice cubes and four shots of the Cucumber Mint Vodka into the shaker.

Add one Tbsp. of Mint Sauce and four Tbsp. of the Lime Juice Concentrate to the shaker. Place the lid on the Shaker and shake the mixture until it becomes too cold to handle.

Pour the mixture evenly into each glass then top each glass with Lemon Lime Sparkling Water.

Lemon/Lime Sparkling Water

Cucumbers and Herbs

Garnish each glass with some sprigs of Mint and Rosemary, then add a wedge of cucumber!

Enjoy!

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Lemon/Lime Limoncello Cocktails

Afternoon Delight

Blueberries, lemons, limes and mint. I am extending my ‘green and yellow’ into the inside of my house as well with this ‘afternoon delight.’ My lovely lemon tile serving tray that my cousin Susan gave me many years ago. A Sunday afternoon reward for a very hard week of work, work, work.