Pineapple Refresher

It’s week 3 of “Cocktail Month” and I am excited to share a concoction that is new to me – but is sure to be an ongoing favorite.  This Pineapple Refresher couldn’t be easier to make and excellent on the palate during these hot summer months! 

A friend of mine told me about this and I may be hooked!  I’m sure you could use any flavored vodka to make this drink – I even saw a strawberry lemonade vodka at the store that might just be impeccable as well! 

I used a pineapple vodka made by New Amsterdam that I purchased at my local Safeway.  Topped off with some carbonated water and garnished with a slice of pineapple, it is the perfect drink for summer.  

Seltzer water was my choice, you could certainly use a mineral water such as Perrier or San Pellegrino – I just try to stick with something that doesn’t have sodium.

Another new product I tried while making this drink are silicone ice cube trays that produce perfectly square 1-inch cubes.  These were super easy to get out of the tray and the cubes look great in the glass.  There are bigger 2-inch trays you can purchase, but those are more for whiskey on the rocks – allowing for a slower rate of melting.  The name of the trays I purchased is called Elbee Silicone Ice Tray – 15 cube set of 2 and I bought them through Amazon for a mere $8.99.  These will see plenty of use!

Enjoy this one while the temperatures are warm – I’m sure you will love it!  Hint:  It’s even better in a chilled glass.

Pineapple Refresher

Makes 1 cocktail
Ice Cubes 
1 ½ ounces Pineapple Vodka 
Carbonated Water 
Sliced pineapple, for garnish

Fill chilled rocks glass with ice cubes.  Add 1 ½ ounces of pineapple vodka.  Top with carbonated water, stir, garnish and serve immediately.  

Garden of Eden Cocktail

I wanted to create a cocktail recipe for my friend Elizabeth Dehn over at Beauty Bets.  If you haven't already, you need to check out her site.   I love it - she's got great ideas about style, beauty, wellness and overall happiness.  Not to mention that she has almost 3 million....yes, MILLION (and counting!) followers on Pinterest. 

Knowing how much she loves Prosecco, I decided to work on something that added a few more ingredients to the glass - giving the drink a little something extra special.....just like Elizabeth Dehn.

This cocktail would be delicious at brunch - or on a Sunday afternoon when I chose to drink it during our standing weekend "let's try new cocktails" date with friends.  I'm obviously a huge fan of sparkling wines, I personally can't think of a time when I wouldn't want to enjoy this refreshing cocktail! 

We decided to call it the Garden of Eden (fully recognizing that this isn't a 100% original cocktail name!) but there were two traits of this drink that led us here.  For starters, once we started to feel the effects of it, it made us very happy - never wanting to leave it's warm embrace.  Secondly, we were tempted to have more than what was probably necessary.....and gave into the temptation. Either way - it's a tasty one.  Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

Beauty Bets, cheers to you - I hope you love this!

 

 

 

Garden of Eden

Makes 2 cocktails

 

Bottle of Prosecco (we used Lamarca) 

2 parts Absolut Mandrin

1 part Cointreau

1 part peach puree (Note: you can either make your own, just add water to the puree to thin it or buy some like Finest Call's Peach Puree)

 

Garnish:

Raspberries

Peach slices

Orange slices

 

Chill the champagne glasses in the freezer.  To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the Absolut Mandrin, the Cointreau, and the peach puree.  Shake.  Pour strained mixture through shaker into the champagne glasses - fill between 1/3 to 1/2 full, depending how much "kick" you want.  Top with Prosecco.  Garnish by floating a raspberry in the drink and adding the peach and orange slices to the rim of the glass.  Cheers!