In Delhi, the summer is here and ready to thrive (read: melt) for the next 6 months. This means a lot of ice cream, more time spent inside, and obviously for me, spending more time in the kitchen finding ways to cool down. With this in mind, I decided on dedicating some time on the drinks that I have made in past and the drinks I order when I’m out. Most of the recipes have a special story or anecdote so at least it doesn’t break the continuity of the blog and you get a bunch of drinks to try on!

Honestly, this was one of the hardest things to shoot because shooting all glass with natural light is very hard (also it didn’t help that I had to drink 5 drinks one after the other *hic* hehe). It took two days but I am happy with what came out of it! Have look, make the cocktails, and don’t forget to send me pictures :)

Rum & Coke Float

College was technically the first time I drank alcohol (or at least drank without peer pressure). My bestie Morgan and I started drinking together and this was the drink we made first. By the end of the semester we were rum and coke aficionados. We used to add lime and Diet Coke (for the fizz) and realised that the only rum to use was Captain Morgan’s Spiced Dark Rum which really complimented that cinnamon-y freshness of the classic Coke flavour. The float was created on a day when it was snowing so much on campus that professors couldn’t literally making to classes. This resulted in the first “snow day” in the last 30 years of the college. With nothing to do, we decided on sitting inside our dorms and all of our friends came together to watch Frozen and make Rum and Coke Floats. Ps. I can’t stand Frozen as a movie because of the PTSD I had of moving from a country that had an average temperature of 40 Celsius to moving to one that has occasionally had temps drop to -40 celsius.

Ingredients

60 ml Dark Rum

120 ml Diet Coke

1 Scoop Ice cream

Method

Add ice, rum, coke, and then top it with ice cream.

Frozen Lime Margaritas

My dad makes very few things, but everything he makes is perfection. Including this lime frozen margarita. Its a perfect blend of sweet and not to sweet. Plus the mix of tequila and triple sec makes the best mix. To be honest, he has never not made a great drink and I never asked how he made them since he loves making the drink so much. Last weekend was the first time I asked him the recipe and I was surprised to know that he adds 120 ml of alcohol. No wonder we loved them so much haha!

Ingredients

60 ml Tequila

60 ml Triple Sec (or any orange liqueur)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

30 ml of simple syrup (1:1 ratio of water and sugar)

Handful of mint leaves

Ice

Method

In a blender, mix all the ingredients for about 30 seconds. Pour into salt rimmed glasses and keep in the freezer for 5 minutes before serving!

Cold Brew GinTo

If you don’t know me already, I LOVE cold brews (and G&Ts). So this combo just seemed like a natural next step. Use a light coffee for the brew to really get those caramel flavours that bubble through the tonic water and floral gin. Get the cold brew recipe from here, and then go right ahead make this beauty.

Ingredients

60 ml Dry Gin

30 ml Cold brew

100 ml Tonic Water

Ice

Method

In a glass, add ice, gin, and tonic water. Slowly add the cold brew

Boozy Watermelon Granita

I started making this granita not by thinking about this fond memory but just of creating a quick, easy, dessert with tropical fruit. It was the process of continuously scraping and slowly freezing ice and the constant taste testing that reminded me of continuously opening the fridge and sneaking a piece of watermelon out as dinner was getting ready. The added rock salt was also more to do with my familiarity with the taste than something that I explicitly thought about. As I tasted the granita with every bi-hourly scraping, I would realise the increasing sweetness of the simple syrup overpowering the fruit. And it was that realisation that made me want to add the rock salt. Click the button below for the recipe!

Honey Whiskey Sour

I have never liked whiskey until I got my hands on Jack Daniels’ Tennessee Honey Whiskey. Whiskey’s tend to have this damp taste. Like, if the smell of an old attic could be converted into a taste. But the added honey flavor makes the attic surprisingly delicious. The first time I had this drink was on my birthday this year (a decision aggressively pushed by Aakanksha). Slowly, I have been experimenting with more whiskey based drinks. This honey whiskey sour made with a touch of orange juice and a grate of nutmeg is the drink you need! Ps: the foam is made of egg whites but dont worry about the whole raw thing because alcohol sterilises everything!

Ingredients

60 ml Tennessee Honey Whiskey

15 ml lime juice

15 ml orange juice

1 egg white

Shaved fresh nutmeg

Ice

Method

In a tumbler add all the ingredients other than the egg white. Mix well. Add the whites and shake very well until the whites begin to foam. Strain the mix through to a glass filled with ice. Garnish with orange ring and grated nutmeg.