On a cold winter’s night what can beat sipping some mixed drinks while listening to Frightened Rabbit on the stereo? For me, not much. So
recently, I decided to try a bunch of new cocktail recipes. I even made some mocktails for the kids. It made for a very festive evening.

This guy probably had a drink when he got home.

The Daisy

Ingredients:

2 oz ruby port
1 1/4 oz aged rum
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 Tbs grenadine

Directions:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the ingredients and shake.

2. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Serves 1

Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail

Ingredients:

2 cups ice
1/2 cup strawberry daiquiri cocktail mixer

Directions:

1. In a blender combine ice and mixer. Process until smooth. That’s it.

Serves 1

Onto the gin…my personal favorite.

French 75

Ingredients:

1 oz gin
1/4 oz lemon juice
1 tsp confectioners’ sugar
sparkling wine

Directions:

1. In a cocktail shaker combine gin, lemon juice and sugar. Shake with ice for 30 seconds.

2. Strain into a flute and top with sparkling wine.

Serves 1

Gibson

Ingredients:

3 oz gin
1/2 oz vermouth
cocktail onions

Directions:

1. Combine gin and vermouth in a cocktail shaker. Shake with ice for 30 seconds.

2. Strain into a chilled martini glass and drop in a few cocktail onions.

Serves 1

Bronx

Ingredients:

1 oz gin
2 oz orange juice
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz dry vermouth

Directions:

1. In a cocktail shaker combine the ingredients with ice and shake for 30 seconds.

2. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Serves 1

This last one was the most interesting of the lot. Definitely packs a spicy punch.

Jalapeño Margaritas

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 whole sliced, seeded jalapeño
1 1/4 cups tequila
Lime
Coarse Salt
1/2 cup lime juice
3 Tbs orange liqueur
2 Tbs superfine sugar
Cilantro

Directions:

1. Mix jalapeño and tequila together in a glass. Let stand 1 hour. (I let one batch sit overnight. Holy Hot Pepper!. Too long.)

2. Rub the rim of 4 glasses with lime and dip into the coarse salt. Fill each 3/4 of the way with ice.

3. In a cocktail shaker combine the jalapeño tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, and sugar. Shake well.

4. Pour into prepared glasses and garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4

Now that we have our drinks let’s put on some Frightened Rabbit. Swim Until You Can’t See Land is from their last album ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’. Wow! What a coincidence.
Frightened Rabbit-Swim Until You Can’t See Land

‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ is an incredible album. Sad, dark, and desperate with a thread of optimism woven through. The lyrics are pure magic. I always want to cry while listening to My Backwards Walk. The despair in The Modern Leper is palpable. Heads Roll Off, singer Scott Hutchison notes is about “dying and leaving something behind.” With regards to the song’s atheist tone, Hutchison states that: “you can still believe in God. What matters most is what you do whilst you are alive.” Amen.
Frightened Rabbit-Heads Roll Off

Finally, good advice for all of us.
Frightened Rabbit-Be Less Rude

Raise your glass….Cheers!