A very different, refreshing cocktail that I found the recipe for in a really cool book given to me by a very eccentric friend.
So the recipe for this drink is from the Playboy Bartenders Guide by Thomas Mario. Originally from the 1970’s, my book was reprinted in 2003. It’s a really interesting informative book and I have many recipes earmarked to try out for the blog. My friend George bought me this book one year for either Christmas or my birthday. We became friends when I was bartending. He always gave the best/craziest/weirdest gifts. He was really into thrift stores, flea markets, etc… So he would collect a bunch of things throughout the year and then put all of his findings into a big box and when I got home from work it was always fun to open his gift to see what kind of cool stuff he found. The above mentioned book being one of them.
So I have a funny story about this drink. I decided to make this particular one because it had some different ingredients in it and it was whiskey based. I don’t drink a lot of whiskey (bourbon not included) so this particular drink intrigued me. It calls for powdered sugar which I had in a container in my cabinet. Or so I thought. After mixing everything together, I tasted it and thought that something was off. So I added more grenadine and club soda and tried it again. Maybe this drink just isn’t for me I thought. Something just isn’t right. It was then that I realized that it wasn’t powdered sugar in the container, it was corn starch. Ewww gross. So I mixed everything up again and was pleasantly surprised by how good and refreshing the drink tastes. Moral of the story- label your containers!
California Lemonade
2 oz blended whiskey
juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
1/4 tsp grenadine
1 TBSP powdered sugar
club soda to fill
lemon slice, orange slice, 1 cherry
Shake whiskey, lemon and lime juices, sugar, and grenadine well with ice. Strain into a tall glass with ice. Top with club soda. Stir. Garnish with orange and lemon slices. Drop in a cherry and serve.
