Start with the Best Ice
- Cubed - It melts and dilutes cocktails when used with drinks on the rocks - i.e., a good scotch that you don't want watered down.
- Cracked - It gives you a 50/50 ratio balance of dilution and chilling your drink. It works best with shaken or stirred cocktails - martinis come to mind.
- Crushed - It melts fast. But, it also cools a cocktail the fastest. Works perfectly with a cocktail like a mojito, which can use a little watering down.
Summer Specialties For Fun Parties
For Cinco de Mayo serve a good margarita.
Massive Margaritas
Serves 24 people
(Printable Recipe)
7 cups tequila
3 cups Cointreau
2 and 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 cup simple syrup (mix superfine sugar and water in equal quantities)
Coarse Kosher salt
Fresh limes slices or wedges
1.) Mix ingredients in a punch bowl
2.) Ladle into margarita glasses
Cater-Hater Tip: Have coarse salt, a lime or lemon juice soaked margarita salt rimmer, and a bowl of sliced lime slices or wedges available for your guests.
For dinner: Serve easy grilled steak tacos with bowls of blue and lemon-lime corn chips, along with sides of guacamole and salsa.
The music: - "Cinco de Mayo" by War and anything by the Buena Vista Social Club
For the Kentucky Derby serve a delicious Mint Julep.
K.D.M.J.'s by the Punch Bowl
Kentucky Derby Mint Julep's
Serves 20 to 24 people
(Printable Recipe)
4 ounces water
4 ounces bourbon or dark rum
1/2 cup superfine sugar
3 large bundles of fresh mint
1.) Chop mint until fine (strain any juice from the chopped mint into the punch bowl)
2.) Add ice to punch bowl
3.) Add water and sugar to punch bowl, mix well
4.) Pour in two - 750 ml bottles bourbon or dark rum, stir thoroughly
5.) Garnish with a float of a few mint sprigs
For dinner: Serve with barbecue pulled pork sandwiches with sides of creamy coleslaw and baked beans.
The music: Anything by Frank Sinatra, The Contours, and Etta James
Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day serve a tangy Whiskey Sour.
Whiskey Sours by the Punch Bowl
Serves 20 to 24 people
(Printable Recipe)
One - 750 ml whiskey
6 ounces fresh squeezed and strained lemon juice
6 ounces simple syrup (see Massive Margaritas)
Ice
Maraschino cherries
Fresh orange slices
1.) Add whiskey, lemon juice and simple syrup to punch bowl, mix well
2.) Pour 3 oz. per person into glasses of ice
3.) Garnish with a Maraschino cherry and an orange slice
For dinner: Serve with Southern fried chicken and traditional potato salad
The music: Play all of the latest Top 40 music
Image source: nerdling
Summer holidays, Cocktail, Kentucky Derby, Syrup, Home, Cooking, Beverages, Frank Sinatra, Margaritas, Mint Julep, Whiskey sour, Punch bowl drinks, Lime juice: Technorati Tags
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