it's another cold and drizzly day in socal, but it is not dampening my friday mood! we made it through another hectic week and it's time to warm up with a nice, stiff drink. 

every time i stumble upon some blood oranges at the store i pick them up, just in case they are the last of the season. so of course i've got twenty blood oranges that now need homes. 

enter the classic old fashioned. it's sweet spiciness is the perfect compliment to the mild but vibrant blood orange. they are a match made in cocktail heaven. 

blood orange old fashioned
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz bourbon (you can sub other whiskey you have on hand). 1 tsp sugar. 1 tsp blood orange juice. 3 dashes aromatic bitters. 1 tbs water. 1 large ice cube or 1 cup of ice. blood orange twist & violas for garnish. old fashioned glass. 

start by combining the sugar, blood orange juice and bitters in the bottom of your old fashioned glass. 

combine the sugar and liquid till the sugar dissolves. 

if you are having trouble dissolving the sugar, add a bit of your water a little at a time until the sugar dissolves. 

pour the whiskey into your dissolved sugar mixture and mix well to combine.

add in your blood orange twist and ice. 

garnish with violas and serve. 

xo, a

blood orange old fashioned
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz bourbon (you can sub other whiskey you have on hand). 1 tsp sugar. 1 tsp blood orange juice. 3 dashes aromatic bitters. 1 tbs water. 1 large ice cube or 1 cup of ice. blood orange twist & violas for garnish. old fashioned glass.
start by combining the sugar, blood orange juice and bitters in the bottom of your old fashioned glass.
combine the sugar and liquid till the sugar dissolves. if you are having trouble dissolving the sugar, add a bit of your water a little at a time until the sugar dissolves.
pour the whiskey into your dissolved sugar mixture and mix well to combine.
add in your blood orange twist and ice.
garnish with violas and serve. 

real talk. it is freaking cold outside. most of the country is being drenched by winter rain at the moment and socal is no exception. it's been raining buckets all day, and i feel like i'm battling a cold so i need a bit of a pick me up. a warming, kick in the pants kind of pick me up. and i know the perfect thing...

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.

while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it. 

using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.

take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.

once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.

place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. 

stir well to combine.

add your clove studded twist to the mug. 

pour in the lemon juice and whiskey.

stir well to combine.

serve hot.

xo, a

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.
while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it.
using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.
take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.
once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.
place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. stir well to combine.
add your clove studded twist to the mug. pour in the lemon juice and whiskey. stir well to combine.
serve hot.