The Club Cocktail Book
“Now that’s what I call ‘The Buzz'”
Julie’s Kick-in-the-Mule Mule.
John and Angela’s Classic Margarita.
Eric’s Good Day / Bad Day Cocktails.
Michelle’s Three-Continents Cocktail:
LuAnne’s Cruise-Out Margarita.
Debbie’s Summery Passionfruit Cocktail
Robin and Kathryn’s Cruiser’s Margarita.
Thanks to:
Michelle Bothof, Debbie Goodland, LuAnne Graves, Julie Parker, Bob and Connie Puccetti, Eric Stang, Robin and Kathryn Weber, and John and Angela Zucker
Julie’s Kick-in-the-Mule Mule
Ingredients
16 oz (500 ml) Ginger Beer
6 oz (200 ml) Vodka
1 oz (30 ml) Lime juice
one fresh lime and a sprig of fresh mint for a garnish
Serves 4 – OK serves two twice!
Bundaberg Ginger Beer is perfect and made from locally sourced ginger and brewed extra long for a deep, lasting ginger zing.
I like to use Chopin, it is one of the world’s last remaining potato vodkas, and it is so smooth and full. Honestly, any vodka will do, we’re going to dilute it anyway,
However, DO NOT skimp on the fresh lime juice. Ideally from the tree in your garden (if not go out there now and plant one – we can wait). Freshly squeezed – that truly makes a difference.
Why this recipe?
There are times when you get your mule kicked.
And there are times when you kick mule.
This is for those times.
Method
Combine vodka and ginger beer in glass jug filled with ice. Pour, with the ice, into a copper mug or highball glass f. Add lime juice to taste. Stir gently and garnish with a lime slice.
Specs
Served on the rocks
In a copper mug or highball glass
Garnish with a slice of fresh lime and fresh mint
John and Angela’s Classic Margarita
Ingredients
4 to 8 oz (120 to 240 ml) of your favorite tequila
4 oz (120 ml) of triple sec
4 oz (120 ml) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
4 oz (120 ml) fresh-squeezed lime juice
4 oz (120 ml) of simple syrup and salt to taste
Ice
An extra slice of lemon or lime to moisten the outside rim of the glass
Serves 4 – Ok one-person sheltering-in-place who is new to Netflix
Why this recipe?
This is a very pleasant version of the classic drink. In our visits to Mexico, we’ve seen lots of limes and very few lemons, so south of the border this may not be considered authentic.
Method
This drink is great on the rocks or blended.
- On the rocks – just combine the ingredients and pour over ice
- Smooth and cold – combine the ingredients in a blender and add a cup of ice cubes per serving
- Blend until you don’t hear pieces of ice hitting the blade
- Frozen – Use a little more ice
Margarita glass preparation: moisten the outside of the rim with lemon or lime and then salt the rim. Water doesn’t work very well. It’s not sticky enough. If you don’t have a margarita salt dish, just sprinkle some salt on a flat surface and roll the glass rim on it. Avoid table salt. It’s too fine. Sea salt works better.
Master mixer tips
Rather than using a top-shelf sipping tequila, we like a mid-range version such as Jose Cuervo Gold for the taste.
- Hiram Walker triple sec never disappoints
- It’s okay to add any residual lemon and lime pulp to the mix
- For simple syrup, just combine equal amounts of sugar and water. A half-cup of each for a few drinks or one cup of each for several. Stir while heating until it’s clear
Specs
Served on the rocks, blended or frozen
In a Margarita Glass
Garnish with a slice of fresh lime
John and Angela Zucker
Eric’s Good Day / Bad Day Cocktails
 Bad Day BourbonIngredientsAny good Bourbon 1oz (30ml) Cherry bourbon bitters – a splash Two Luxardo cherries.Why this recipeLuxardo maraschino cherries are sour marasca cherries that are candied and steeped in syrup made of cherry juice and sugar. Their firm texture and thick, rich syrup make them ideal for use as a cocktail garnish, for topping ice cream sundaes, and for use in baking – every pantry needs a jar or two.MethodIn a whiskey glass, slowly pour your favorite Bourbon. Add a splash (feel free to experiment here) of Cherry Bourbon bitters. This will deepen the flavor of the Bourbon and make the Luxardo cherries pop. Add the cherries. Sit back. Inhale the aromas and say out loud “Ahhhhh!” It’s a pretty stiff drink – you’ve been warned. Specs Served neat |
Good Day Martini Ingredients Any vodka 4-5oz (120-150ml) Why this recipe What brightens a day more than an artisanal liqueur made from elderflower in the French style. C’est votre monde, vos règles donc! Method Check the weather outside – the more sun the better – but any weather will do. In a chilled highball glass add the ingredients over ice. Sip and adjust to taste with soda. Very drinkable – you’ve been encouraged. Specs Served chilled, outside, portant un béret |
Eric Stang
Puccetti’s Italian Spritz
The Spritz is a drink from Northern Italy, particularly Venice and the Veneto region where it is pronounced “spriss.” The word comes from the German “spritzen”, meaning to spray or splash.
What gives this cocktail its “pop” is the incredible color of Aperol. This classic Italian bitter apéritif is made from gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona, among other ingredients. It has a vibrant orange hue, the color of a Tuscan sunset, which is why it is often popular during the summer. Its name comes from the French slang word for an aperitif, which is “apero”.
Ingredients
1/3 cup (80ml) of Aperol
2/3 cup (160ml) of Prosecco
Ice
Orange wedges
Serves 1 – last all afternoon while watching the gondolas pass under the Rialto Bridge
Why this recipe
Really? You have to ask – we’re the Puccettis.
This is our go-to cocktail of late. It tastes of Italy.
Method
Into a stemless wine glass half full of ice cubes, pour the Aperol. Then slowly pour in the Prosecco.
Now take a sip. Does it need a little “spritz” of sparkling water? Add to taste.
Garnish with orange wedges.
Delish and refreshing
Specs
Served cold, sparkling, and refreshing
In a Stemless Wine Glass (plastic if on deck!)
Garnished with fresh orange wedges
Connie and Bob Puccetti
Michelle’s Three-Continents Cocktail
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Asia: In its native China, it was primarily a decorative houseplant. A cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, the Meyer lemon has smooth golden skin the color of a fresh egg yolk. It also has a thin edible rind, a high volume of juice, and none of the tartness of a regular lemon. |
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Europe: Perhaps the most stunning variety of citrus, blood oranges are considered one of Sicily’s most treasured crops. Because of their opulent appearance and singular flavor, blood oranges initially were reserved for royalty. |
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South America: Passion fruit comes from the passion fruit vine, a climbing vine with spectacular flowers. The color of passion fruit is purple or golden yellow. Purple passion fruit is native to Brazil, Paraguay, and parts of Argentina. It is rich in antioxidants. |
Ingredients
1 or 2 shots (40 or 80ml) of a fun tequila
2 fresh blood oranges and 2 Meyer lemons
1 passion fruit
Ice
Why this recipe
We all need a refreshing and healthy start to the day.
But remember, cocktails are not just a breakfast drink
Method
Use a spoon to scoop out the passion fruit pulp. Blend for about 30 seconds to separate the seeds from the pulp. Use a sieve (a chinois works best) to squeeze the passion fruit pulp and juice into a container.
Squeeze the juice from the lemons and the oranges. If you like it, a little pulp is a good thing.
Pour all the ingredients over ice. Add your shot(s). Gently stir.
Absolutely refreshing and healthy!
Cheers!
Specs
Served cold, juicy, with your breakfast
In a tall glass
Garnished with blood orange segments
Michelle Bothof
LuAnne’s Cruise-Out Margarita
Hornitos Reposado is a tequila is made from 100 percent blue 
agave, which is baked in small ovens, mashed, fermented, and double-distilled. This pale straw-colored tequila ages (Reposado) for anywhere from two months to a year, typically in former bourbon barrels, before being bottled. Hornitos Reposado is 80-proof, so this tequila definitely packs a punch.
Agave Nectar, aka agave syrup or maguey syrup, is a sweetener that is 1.5 to 2 times sweeter than sugar. It is commercially produced in Mexico from several species of agave, including Agave tequilana and Agave salmiana.
Ingredients
2 oz (80ml) Blanco Tequila
I use Hornitos Reposado 100% Puro de Agave
3/4 oz (30ml) Cointreau (or Triple Sec)
1 oz (40ml) Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz (10ml) Agave Nectar
Serves 1 – so make a cocktail shaker full and go sit on the deck!
Why this recipe
Being afloat is special.
So, it needs a special margarita.
It is not just the exceptional ingredients
but it is the way they play together.
Like the ocean, this margarita is at once familiar and delightful
but at the same time full of surprises.
Method
Combine all the ingredients into your favorite nautical cocktail shaker.
Shake with ice.
Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice cubes and rimmed with kosher salt.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Specs
Serve sitting down – this one gets your attention
In a Margarita Glass
Garnished with a salt rim (if you like) and lime slices
LuAnne Graves
Debbie’s Summery Passionfruit Cocktail
With its rustic, Italian-inspired fare, Amano Bakery and Restaurant across from Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand is all about serving seasonal, sustainable, and local produce from New Zealand growers and farmers. This is their signature summer cocktail.
Ingredients
1/4 (60ml) cup Gin
1/4 (60ml) cup Pimm’s
1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (120ml) Passionfruit Syrup (Simple Syrup with Passionfruit pulp)
8 mint leaves
Soda Water (to top with)
Why this recipe
When you are in the mood for humble, attentive service, this is where I want to be. It’s about being in a space that is relaxed and purposefully connected to its place and the food sources around it.
Method
Shake all ingredients (except soda) in a cocktail shaker and double strain
Add the mint leaves back into two large wine glasses
Pour over ice
Top with soda & drink with a straw
Serves 1
Specs
Serve over ice with a straw
In a wide tall glass
Garnished with the mint
Debbie Goodland
Robin and Kathryn’s Cruiser’s Margarita
Grand Marnier is a French brand of liqueurs. The brand’s best-known product is Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge (Red Ribbon), an orange-flavored liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar.
Reposado (“rested” or more closely “aged”) Tequila is a relatively new idea introduced in the 1950s. Tequilas that are Reposado rest between two and twelve months in oak (often former Bourbon) barrels before bottling. Añejo (Vintage) Tequilas are rested for one to three years before bottling.
Ingredients
2 oz (80ml) Reposado Tequila
1 oz (40ml) Triple Sec
1 oz (40ml) Roses Lime Juice
1/2 oz (20ml) Grand Marnier
Why this recipe
This recipe has all the hallmarks of the Old World but is an unabashed New World cocktail. With brandy from France, and oranges from Spain (in the Grand Marnier), and yet more Oranges from the Dutch Island of Curaçao (Triple Sec), and Roses Lime Juice (as English as Strawberries at Wimbledon) you’re thinking this is a European beverage. But it is the Reposado Tequila is the Matador of this cocktail!
Method
In a shaker filled with ice, combine all the ingredients.
Shake the mix in broad strokes in the style of Zoro while exclaiming “I do things in my own way!”
Strain and serve
Master mixer tips
For something a little sweeter add 1 oz (40ml) blended pineapple chunks
For something a little healthier add 1 oz (40ml) blended watermelon
Specs
Serve with a flourish and an “Olé!”
In a margarita glass – of course
Garnished with a lime wedge and a salted rim
Robin and Kathryn Weber
Deb’s South Bay Coconut Buttered Rum
< This is a mug shot!
Metal mugs were produced from bronze, silver, gold, and even lead, starting from roughly 2000 BCE, but were hard to use with hot drinks.
Have you ever wondered why we use metal mugs for cocktails? The rim of the mug becomes chilly or hot almost instantly the cocktail is poured in, offering a frozen or warm sensation on your lips.
Metal is highly effective at insulating the cold temperature of any liquid, especially good for summertime drinking, and deflecting heat from the sun. Or for retaining the heat of a winter warming toddy keep both the cocktail and the cocktail drinker warm against the winter chill.
Ingredients
3 oz (100 ml) Rum
6 oz (200 ml) Water
¾ oz (20g) Coconut Butter
1 Blood Orange zested and juiced
4 Cloves
1 Star Anise
1 tsp (5ml) Ground Cinnamon
1 Bay Leaf
1 ts (5ml) Maple Syrup
Why this recipe
In the United States, Hot Buttered Rum drinks have a venerable history dating back to colonial days. During that time many families had their own individual recipes, and early Americans believed rum to be nutritious and a strengthener of the body.
Method
Heat and stir all the ingredients in a pan until hot but not boiling.
Let sit for a few minutes then strain into a mug.
Specs
Serve hot with a steamy aroma wafting spicy goodness to you nose
In a metal mug, as above
Garnished with a slice of blood orange
Deb Blackmore
