Brittany Anas Contributor Travel I cover travel, specializing in adventure and the great outdoors.
With travel on hold for the foreseeable future, you’re missing out on those champagne sabering rituals in hotel lobbies, rum punches served at the swim-up bars and finely crafted Italian cocktails. So, to lend a cosmopolitan twist to your next at-home happy hour, we asked bartenders around the world to share their favorite cocktails with a caveat that the recipes not be too obvious! (You already know how to make a margarita, right?) Here’s 8 cocktail recipes, all inspired by travel destinations.
Mexico: Dove Love Paloma
Actually, margaritas are an Americanized cocktail, explains Neil Grosscup, CEO of Tanteo Spirits. “ The Paloma (Dove in Spanish) is the classic Mexican drink,” he says. “We do a slight twist by using fresh grapefruit juice and Tanteo Jalapeño for a little extra kick.»
Ingredients:
2 oz Tanteo Jalapeño Tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz agave nectar
Directions: Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a lime or jalapeño slice.
Anguilla: Rhum Old Fashioned
A boutique resort on the shore of Shoal Bay in Anguilla, the Zemi Beach House has a swanky “Rhum Room,” with spirits from all over the world, including the Caribbean. This cocktail puts a rum twist on an old fashioned, and will hold you over until you can sink into a leather chair and light a cigar while enjoying a rum flight in the actual Rhum Room.
Ingredients:
1.25 oz Mount Gay XO
0.33 oz Port wine, (Zemi makes its own with orange shrub and bitters, so if you’ve got orange bitters on hand, a drop will lend some extra zest; otherwise expressing the oils from your orange peel should do the trick when you go to garnish the cocktail).
3 dashes of angostura bitters
1 brown sugar cube
Splash of club soda
Directions: Add your first three ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain and pour into a lowball glass with a large ice cube; add your brown sugar cube and stir. Top with the splash of club soda. Garnish with an expressed orange.
Saint Lucia: The Harbor Express
At the Harbor Club in St. Lucia, all local rum is used for this cocktail. The mixologist who created it tops it off with an orange shaped like a pirate ship and that’s inspired by Rodney Bay Marina, says Chef Christian Rebolledo, with The Harbor Club.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz light rum
1.5 oz coconut rum
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
2 oz blue curacao
Ginger ale
Directions: Pour all of the ingredients except the ginger ale into a glass mug. Fill with crushed ice. Top off with gingeral ane garnish with an orange. We dare you to try and emulate the pirate ship shape.
Senegal: Le Bissap
This cocktail is inspired by traditional Senegalese hibiscus tea, which is typically offered to guests and served with spices, mint or citrus. Le French — a Parisian bistro in Denver that was founded by Senegalese French sisters Aminata and Rougui Dia — spikes the tea with tequila to make it a cocktail.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Hibiscus leaves
2 Cups Cold water
1 Cups sugar cane
1/2 Tbsp. Nutmeg
1 Orange (zest)
4 Cups Pineapple juice
2 Tbsp. Vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Orange blossom water
Directions: Rinse the hibiscus in cold water. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, add sugar, nutmeg, and cook for another 5 mins. Remove from heat and add orange zest. Let it infuse for 5 minutes. Strain, add pineapple juice and vanilla. Let it cool. To make it a cocktail, add rum, vodka or tequila and shake in a glass with ice then strain into a couple glass and garnish with fresh mint.
Italy: Vodka Espresso
Belinis, lemon spritzes, negronis. Some of the best cocktails come from Italy. As we’re hunkered down at home, enjoy an espresso cocktail (this one comes courtesy of Illy) as a post-dinner drink.
Ingredients:
1 oz Illy espresso
0.33 oz liquid sugar
0.33 oz coffee liqueur
.75 oz vodka
Instructions: Prepare the espresso. In a separate glass, add your liquid sugar, coffee liqueur, vodka and then espresso. Cool by mixing the ingredients. Pour into a glass ice cubes.
Florida: Florida Fizz
A signature cocktail straight from the Sunshine State and courtesy of Hilton Orlando brings a bright citrus burst.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz tequila (or vodka or rum if you prefer)
0.25 oz St. Germain
0.50 oz grenadine
0.50 oz lime juice
1.5 oz grapefruit juice
2 oz club soda
Instructions: Combine all ingredients except the club soda in a shaker glass with ice. Strain over a glass with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with an orange.
Hawaii: Kona Lime Cocktail
Four Seasons Hualalai, which is located on the Big Island’s North Kona Coast, sources local island rum from Kuleana Rum Works for a signature cocktail. But, it can be made with any dark rum you may have on your bar cart.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Kuleana Rum (or substitute any dark rum)
0.75 oz Kalamansi/Lilikoi (Passion fruit) puree. You can substitute fruit puree like strawberry or peach by simmering the fruit on low for 15 minutes and then blending it in a food processor.
1.5 oz lime juice
Instructions:Combine all ingredients, stir, pour into a highball glass over ice. Garnish with a sugar cane stick if available. At the resort, Makrut lime leaves on a bamboo skewer are served with the drink. At home, basil or mint leaves will work!
Jamaica: Rum Punch
Throughout the Caribbean islands, you’ll find slight variations of rum punch. For the Jamaican take, here’s a recipe from Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Montego Bay. This is the exact recipe they use in their signature cocktail when welcoming guests. Until you can get there, welcome your weekend with this island cocktail.
Ingredients:
2 oz overproof rum (or a white rum of your choice. Overproof rum is an especially high-proof rum).
1 oz Myers Rum
3 oz pineapple juice
Splash of lime juice
1 teaspoon of grenadine
Instructions: Fill a glass with ice; combine ingredients. Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry.
