Palomas

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It was Jamie’s birthday this weekend, and to celebrate we had palomas on repeat all weekend long. We are admittedly not big cocktail drinkers, but were first introduced to palomas a few years ago at a restaurant in Nashville called Butchertown Hall. The menu is a bit Mexican, a bit barbecue, and they have an amazing happy hour that we frequented regularly that baseball season. The cocktail that tied everything from brisket to queso and guac together was their paloma. If you are unfamiliar, a paloma is a cocktail traditionally made from tequila and grapefruit soda. The punch of the tequila with the citrus of the grapefruit was the perfect balance to offset rich and smoky brisket. We make ours with a combination of fresh grapefruit juice, La Croix grapefruit club soda, agave, and lots of lime to give them an extra kick of citrusy flavor. It’s a great way to celebrate spring and we would love to share one with you virtually to celebrate Jamie’s birthday!

Palomas

  • Servings: 2
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  If you love a citrusy cocktail, this paloma is for you! We love the mix of the grapefruit with tequila for the ultimate citrusy spring cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 4 oz of your favorite tequila blanco
  • 3 oz fresh grapefruit juice
  • juice from one lime
  • 1 tbs agave
  • 3 oz La Croix pamplemousse club soda
  • additional lime and grapefruit segments, for garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. Combine the tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and agave in a cocktail shaker. Shake well to combine.
  2. Pour a few ice cubes into each of two cocktail glasses. Divide the tequila cocktail mix into each of the glasses and top with the grapefruit club soda. Serve immediately with additional grapefruit and lime segments, if desired.

Caramel Apple Mimosas

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We always like to have a cocktail for Thanksgiving to help get in the spirit for our favorite holiday. There is something about a signature cocktail that sets a nice tone for the evening and is always a mood booster. Even though we aren’t having guests for Thanksgiving this year, feeling “in the spirit” is more important than ever. What better way to kick off a holiday with a bang than a morning Caramel Apple Mimosa? We’ve combined our love of bubbly champagne, our fall favorite apple cider, and a dash of caramel vodka for a sweet, decadent mimosa. It’s a great beverage to jumpstart Thanksgiving morning and makes a great dessert night cap for later at night.

Caramel Apple Mimosas

  • Servings: 4
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A sweet & bubbly treat for Thanksgiving morning!

Ingredients

  • 8 oz apple cider
  • 3 oz Smirnoff caramel vodka
  • 12 oz chilled, dry champagne
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • caramel for drizzling on the glasses, optional

Directions

  1. If you are dipping the champagne flutes in caramel, put a few tablespoons of caramel onto a plate or a flat bowl and dip each glass rim into the caramel. Let it set for a minute before adding the cocktail.
  2. In a pitcher, combine the apple cider, vodka, and lemon juice. Give it a good stir before dividing evenly amongst the champagne flutes.
  3. Fill the rest of each champagne flute with champagne. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Lemon Rose Sangria

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As we move into the hot weather of summer we love transitioning from red wines to roses. One of our favorite pickups on the weekends is to sample a new type, as there are hundreds to choose from. We bought a bottle of Loves Me Not Rose and upon drinking it, realized that it was way too sweet for us. Instead of tossing the bottle we decided to use it to make a sangria! We balanced the sweetness of the wine by adding sliced lemons, limoncello, and a little club soda. The result was a really refreshing summer cocktail. We suggest that you pick a sweeter rose for this recipe- if you use a dry rose you might want to adjust the amount of lemon you add or even adding a bit of lemonade. This recipe can be made a day ahead of time (minus the club soda) and left in the refrigerator for all of the ingredients to meld together. If you are willing to wait that long we think it tastes even better!

Strawberry Lemon Rose Sangria

Makes: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle rose (we used Loves Me Not)
  • 6 oz limoncello
  • 12 strawberries, stems removed and sliced
  • 1 lemon
  • 16 oz club soda

Directions:

  1. Use a large pitcher to combine the rose, limoncello, and sliced strawberries.
  2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon. Thinly slice the zest and add it to the pitcher. Depending on how sweet your rose is, you can slice the lemon and add that to the pitcher as well. The rose we used was quite sweet, so we added the whole lemon. If your rose is on the dry side, you can just use the zest and limoncello.
  3. Steps 1 and 2 can be done ahead of time, even overnight, and refrigerated.
  4. To serve, add the club soda to the rose mixture. Serve the cocktail over ice with a garnish of strawberry or lemon, if desired.

Lemon Raspberry Fizz

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While we love a good afternoon happy hour beverage, we are admittedly not the best when it comes to making cocktails. We usually stick to our rotation of wines and beers and call it a day. We had some extra fruit laying around and decided to play bartender and mix ourselves a grown up cocktail. This cocktail has cooked raspberry syrup and is balanced it out with a zing of lemon for a refreshing afternoon treat.

Lemon Raspberry Fizz

Makes: 2 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbs sugar, separated
  • 3 oz vodka
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 cup club soda

Directions:

  1. Heat a small pot over medium heat. Add the raspberries, water, and 1 tbs sugar to the pot. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberries are starting to break down- about 4 minutes. Use a fork or rubber spatula to break the raspberries apart so that the juices mix. Remove from the heat and cool.
  2. Pour 1 tbs of sugar onto a flat plate. Dip each of the serving glass rims in water and then onto the plate to coat the rims in sugar.
  3. Add a few ice cubes to each glass. Strain the raspberry mix through a sieve or mesh slotted spoon to remove any seeds. Divide the raspberry juice between the two glasses.
  4. Use a vegetable peeler to peel a few slices of zest and put them into each glass. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half into each glass.
  5. Add one shot of vodka (1.5 oz) to each glass. Top with club soda and serve immediately.

Cucumber Lemonade Gin Fizz

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We don’t know about you but some of these work from home, parent from home, dog sit from home, never leave your home days have us feeling drained. Instead of grabbing a glass of wine or a beer, we wanted to celebrate the sunshine with these Cucumber Lemonade Gin Fizz Cocktails. The cucumber and lemonade are super refreshing and easy to find at the grocery store these days. And for those of you expecting or who have little ones that want in on the happy hour, simply exclude the gin and you will still love the taste!

Cucumber Lemonade Gin Fizz 
Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes    Total Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 English cucumber 
  • 8 oz gin (we used Hendrick’s) 
  • 16 oz lemonade 
  • 16 oz club soda 
  • Ice 

Directions: 

  1. Cut the 8 thin slices of cucumber for garnish. Use a grater to grate the rest of the cucumber into a small mixing bowl. 
  2. Mix the cucumber pulp, gin, lemonade, and club soda in a large pitcher. Stir well to combine. 
  3. Fill 8 high ball glasses with ice. Add the gin fizz mix to each of the glasses. Serve immediately with a cucumber slice for garnish. 

Watermelon Margaritas

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The cocktail for our Golden Globes 2020 Menu is in honor of this year’s Carol Burnett Award winner: Ellen Degeneres. While Mellen Degeneres Margaritas aren’t exactly seasonal for January, they were a perfect fit for our menu because Ellen loves herself some tequila. If you can’t find good watermelon this time of the year, check the beverage section of your grocery store for bottled watermelon juice. We love these cocktails because they can be made in advance and poured for your guests when they arrive. 

Watermelon Margaritas (WatermEllen Degeneres Margaritas)
Makes: 8 cocktails 
Prep Time: 5 minutes   Total Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 24 oz (3 cups) watermelon juice or watermelon, cubed 
  • 16 oz (2 cups) tequila- we used Don Julio 
  • 4 oz cointreau
  • 4 limes, separated 
  • sea salt for a rim on the glass, optional 

Directions: 

  1. If you are using fresh watermelon, cut the watermelon into large chunks. Place a fine sieve over a large mixing bowl and grate the watermelon to strain out the juice. Pour the juice into a large serving pitcher. 
  2. Add the tequila, cointreau, and juice of three of the limes to the watermelon juice. Stir well to combine. 
  3. Serve chilled in margarita glasses with a bit of salt on the rim if you like and a slice of lime. 

Cranberry Lime Moscow Mules

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If you have been following along with us here at Tuck & Tate, you know we love a festive cocktail. Having a themed cocktail ready for our guests really sets a positive tone for the evening. When prepping for our New Year’s Eve menu, we wanted to stray away from the traditional champagne option and send the holidays off with a bang. Tate’s mom has an extraordinary number of cocktail glasses, and we decided to break out the copper mugs and give Moscow Mules a little holiday twist. 

A traditional Moscow Mule consists of ginger beer, vodka, and fresh limes. We have given them a holiday glow up by adding fresh cranberries, Trader Joe’s Winter Wassail, and fresh rosemary. This makes the mules taste like they have been mixed with spiced wine. We love this recipe because it can be made ahead of time and set out for guests in a big pitcher. 

Cranberry Lime Moscow Mules 
Makes: 12 servings 
Prep Time: 5 minutes    Total Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • A fifth of vodka (25 oz) – we prefer Tito’s 
  • 2 bottles (12 oz each) ginger beer 
  • 3 cups (24 oz) of Trader Joe’s Winter Wassail **
  • 4 limes, separated 
  • 3 springs rosemary, separated 
  • 1 bag fresh cranberries
  • Crushed ice 

Directions: 

  1. Combine the vodka, ginger beer, and Winter Wassail in a large serving pitcher. 
  2. Cut three of the limes in half and add the juice to the vodka pitcher. Add the limes to the pitcher to add extra lime flavor to the cocktail. 
  3. Use your fingers to gently bend and rub two of the rosemary sprigs- this helps release their aroma in the cocktail. Add to the vodka mix. 
  4. Gently give the cranberries a light crush and add them to the vodka pitcher as well. Stir well so that all of the flavors combine. 
  5. Serve the cocktails with copper mugs and crushed ice. Garnish with a slice of the remaining lime, a few fresh cranberries, and a sprig of rosemary. 

** If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, the Winter Wassail is described as a “festive blend of apple, black currant, and lemon juice” which gives the mules a spiced wine taste. You can add lemon juice, orange zest, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg to apple cider or cranberry cocktail. 

Prosec Ho Ho Ho Mimosas

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Here at Tuck & Tate we love a festive cocktail. We think it’s a small touch that adds a lot to any celebration, even breakfast! We chose to put a spin on a traditional mimosa by making these Prosec Ho Ho Ho cocktails with prosecco and kombucha. We chose to use Elossa Hard Kombucha, partly because the ginger would keep the cocktails from being too sweet, and also for the fact that it would help turn the cocktails red. We also didn’t mind that this brand has a alcohol content to it…. Merry Christmas morning!! If you can’t find Elossa’s at your grocery store, any berry, pomegranate, or beet flavored kombucha will work fine! 

Prosec Ho Ho Ho Cocktails
Makes: 6 servings 
Prep Time: 5 minutes      Total Time: 5 minutes 


Ingredients: 

  • 1 bottle prosecco, chilled 
  • 12 oz kombucha
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds 
  • red sugar for the glass rim, optional 

Directions: 

  1. To create the red sugar rim on the champagne flutes, fill one small ramekin with enough water to cover the bottom of the ramekin. Fill another with red sugar (sprinkles), so that the red sugar just covers the bottom of the second ramekin. Dip the top of each glass in the water and then the sprinkles, shaking off any extra sugar before filling each glass. 
  2. Combine the prosecco and kombucha in a pitcher and lightly stir to combine. You want to be sure not to stir too much as the prosecco will lose its carbonation.
  3. Put 1 tbs of pomegranate seeds in the bottom of each champagne flute. Fill with the kombucha/prosecco mix. Serve immediately. 

Whiskey Cider Cocktails

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When hosting a big party or get together like Thanksgiving dinner, we always like to have a pre-made cocktail on hand when guests arrive. This does a few things: 1) helps get everyone situated and makes them feel welcome — 2) eliminates us from having to be bartender the entire evening — 3) sets the mood that we are here to have a good time. 

For a fall cocktail, the first place we turn to is the beautiful marriage of whiskey and apple cider. We have made and tweaked this recipe a number of times over the years and finally feel like we have the blend just right. Whiskey, apple cider, lemon juice and champagne combine to make the perfect chilled whiskey cocktail. It’s a little sweet from the cider, sparkling from the champagne, and has a nice twist of lemon to make it refreshing. Make a big batch to have on hand this Thanksgiving or for any other fall event- it’s a hit even with whiskey haters. 

Whiskey Cider Cocktails
Serving Size: 10 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes      Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whiskey 
  • 6 cups apple cider
  • 3 lemons, sliced 
  • 1 bottle of chilled champagne- choose a dry variety so the drink isn’t too sweet
  • cinnamon sticks for garnish- optional 

Directions: 

  1. Make the cocktail by combining all of the ingredients in a large beverage dispenser. Give it a good stir so that the flavors combine. If you want to make this ahead of time, combine all of the ingredients except for the champagne. Add that just before serving so that the drink keeps some carbonation. 
  2. Serve chilled, over ice.