Blueberry Shrub: An Easy Fresh Fruit Cordial You Can Make!

Our Friday happy hour cocktail, the Blue Friday, features a homemade cordial that's a nod to colonial America. The great news is that it's really easy to make!

All you do is combine 1 cup of sliced blueberries with 1/8 of a cup of sugar:

Allow to sit overnight and render juice. Push the juice and remaining berries through a strainer or a mill until the solids are completely separated from the liquids.

It looks weird, but you can use the remaining solids to top ice cream, oatmeal or anything else that would benefit from a sweet and fruity topping!

After you have your liquid, add one 1 TBSP red wine vinegar. Some folks will tell you to add more vinegar, but I think 1 TBSP is plenty and won't make your cocktail taste like salad dressing.

That's it! Now you're ready to make your Blue Friday (or any other) cocktail!

Blue Friday Cocktail

2 oz light rum

1 oz blueberry shrub

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Good For What Ails You

There are so many reasons you might have a headache. Traffic, deadlines, encounters with low-quality individuals, non-stop politics - it all seems tailor-made for cranial pain. Never fear, though! My studies show that this lovely libation washes away the tension on a gentle tide of rum.

All better...

The Spotless Mind

2 oz light rum (I like El Dorado 3 year old)

1/2 oz ginger liqueur

3/4 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

A dash of cherry bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Good luck!

Tropical AIDS Walk Cocktails

AIDS Walk New York may be done for 2016, but we have lots more cocktails to create for our fabulous sponsors! Here are three more, all with a tropical/rum theme. Cheers!

The Offering

The Offering (created for Dennis)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz amber rum

1 oz tamarind syrup (click here to learn how to make your own)

1/2 oz grapefruit juice

1/2 oz cranberry juice

2 dashes of plum bitters

Shake with ice and pour into a tiki mug or highball glass.

Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise (created for Ruth)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz brandy

1/2 oz Chambord

1 oz guava nectar

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

Chilled Prosecco

Combine all ingredients except the Prosecco in an old-fashioned glass with ice. Top with wine and stir gently.

Bitter Passion

Bitter Passion (created for Alan)

2 oz amber rum

1/2 oz passionfruit syrup

3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz Aperitivo Cappelletti

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

More Cocktails For Our Fabulous AIDS Walk Sponsors!

The Test Bar has been humming away, creating cocktails in honor of our fabulous AIDS Walk sponsors! Today we're featuring libations inspired by Christine and Donna!

Wonder Woman (created for Donna)

Wonder Woman (created for Donna)

2 oz gold tequila

1/2 oz Galliano Ristretto liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz pineapple juice

8 dashes of Angostura orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Spicy Sailor (created for Christine)

Spicy Sailor (created for Christine)

2 oz spiced rum

1/2 oz pomegranate juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

1/4 oz ginger liqueur

1/4 oz allspice dram

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or serve on the rocks in a small tiki mug!

We'll have more soon! We already have two more ready to go (get ready, Doug and Tammy), which will be featured in upcoming Friday happy hour episodes. Look for them starting April 22! 

If you'd like to sponsor us and receive your own cocktail, click here for our fundraising page. $25 gets you a cocktail created in your honor. For $50 we'll feature it on the show and for $100 you get to choose the theme of an upcoming episode!

The Macadamia Gallery

In Saturday's Periscope live broadcast I created a cocktail for the peanut gallery, which loves to leave us nitpicky comments. Since we didn't have peanut liqueur, I used macadamia and the Macadamia Gallery Daiquiri was born!

Macadamia Gallery Daiquiri

2 oz dark Jamaican rum

1/2 oz macadamia liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass whenever you're distracted by the peanut gallery!