i am pouring my drink extra tall and extra stiff today my friends. what a crazy day. 

this week was pretty much planned downed to the second due to a full week of teaching at two different studios, three different pools and my new class at volcom. to cap it off, i had seven cakes on order for the weekend. starting off strong with three on friday. 

last night, i was up into the wee hours of the morning getting lemon, chocolate and carrot cakes baked off to fill todays orders. i woke up around seven-thirty this morning to get all my frosting, decor and chilling done before my cakes were off for a three pm pick up and a seven-thirty pm drop off. or so i thought. 

until i got THE call. i was enjoying my morning coffee, setting up my cake, station when an unknown number called. i had a gut feeling to answer even though i usually let unknown calls (they are way to commonly solicitors) go to voicemail. it was my seven-thirty client. calling to ask me where i was. because the delivery was actually for seven-thirty in the MORNING. as in, about forty minutes ago. 

luckily, she was amazingly understanding and we chuckled at the miscommunication. i was able to bust the cake out and get it to her by their lunchtime celebration, but it sent my whole day into a downward spiral of rushing, stress and flying frosting. 

but i made it to the finish line. and so did you. so let's celebrate with a drink that tastes good, requires little effort and will get you buzzed. we earned it. 

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.

start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. 

place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass.

press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. 

top the drink off with club soda. 

garnish with the lime wheel and serve. 

xo, a

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.
start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass. place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. top the drink off with club soda. garnish with the lime wheel and serve. 

the season of the fig is finally upon us. and i CAN'T GET ENOUGH of the mildly sweet fruit. 

every time i hit the produce store (you know, pretty much every day at this point) i pick up another pack. which means, i'm putting them in and on EVERYTHING these days. and cocktails are no exception. 

not going to lie. when i came up with this combo, i wasn't sure if all the ingredients would sing together as i hoped. but wow. i mean WOW. wes and i both agreed this is in the top five cocktails i've made. and i have made A LOT of cocktails. if you are looking for something that's a smokey, sweet, kick in the pants, this is your new jam. fig season is fleeting, so whip this up ASAP!

spicy figarita
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz mescal. 1 oz fresh lime juice. 1 oz triple sec. 1 tsp sugar. 8 thin slices serrano pepper. 2 black figs, diced + 1 fig slic for garnish. 1 cup ice. shaker. strainer. muddler. 

combine the mescal, diced figs, 5 of the serrano slices and the sugar in the base of a shaker. 

muddle everything together till the figs and serranos are pretty smashed, about 30 seconds. 

pour in the triple sec and lime juice. fill the shaker with ice. 

shake till well combine, about 30 seconds. 

put a very small slice in your fig garnish and place it on the edge of your glass. place the remaining 3 peppers in the base of the cocktail glass. 

strain into the glass and served chilled.

enjoy!

xo, a

spicy figarita
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz mescal. 1 oz fresh lime juice. 1 oz triple sec. 1 tsp sugar. 8 thin slices serrano pepper. 2 black figs, diced + 1 fig slic for garnish. 1 cup ice. shaker. strainer. muddler. combine the mescal, diced figs, 5 of the serrano slices and the sugar in the base of a shaker. muddle everything together till the figs and serranos are pretty smashed, about 30 seconds. pour in the triple sec and lime juice. fill the shaker with ice. shake till well combine, about 30 seconds. put a very small slice in your fig garnish and place it on the edge of your glass. place the remaining 3 peppers in the base of the cocktail glass. strain into the glass and served chilled.