Mixing Things Up at Home!

FOR CHRISTMAS I WAS GIFTED the El Guapo Craft Cocktail Mixer Set from a friend. It is packaged as 5 glass bottles with all the ingredients to make a single drink. The set is zero proof with all fresh ingredients, so all you need to do is add your favorite spirits. El Guapo is a local, woman-owned company best known for their amazing bitters. I love creating hand crafted cocktails using their bitters every day at Briquette. My favorite El Guapo bitter is the Holiday Pie. If you know me, lol, I could not wait to experience these mixers. The set contained mixes for Bloody Mary, Hurricane, Salted Paloma, Lemon Drop, and Mojito cocktails.

First up was the Lemon Drop. I poured the contents of the Lemon Drop bottle into a cocktail shaker full of ice and added 2 ounces of Skyy vodka. After shaking up all the ingredients, I strained them into a coupe glass with a sugar rim and garnished with a lemon twist. I personally loved it. I like my Lemon Dmore on the tarter side, but if you like them sweeter then just add some simple syrup.

Next up was the Salted Paloma. I mixed the contents of that bottle into a cocktail shaker full of ice and added 2 ounces of Espolon Cristalino. After shaking up all the ingredients I strained them into a coupe glass rimmed with salt and garnished with lime and orange wedge. Voila! Perfection _ a nice combination of flavors. Pro tip: this one was delicious mixed in a blender.

Third in the lineup was the Bloody Mary. I was curious about this one because El Guapo used their Crawfish boil bitters in it. Again, I went with Skyy vodka, and added 2 ounces in a shaker tin filled with ice, along with the bottle of mixer. I poured the contents into a tall glass filled with ice and rimmed with a Cajun salt and. garnished with lime, lemon, and olives. This one did not fill up my tall glass and lacked the rich bloody mary flavor that I’m accustomed to. No problem, I added some olive juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon, and lime juice.

Hurricane, a New Orleans original was on the books next. For this one I used a Louisiana Rum from Bayou Distillery. I poured 2 ounces of the Bayou Rum and the bottle of El Guapo mixer into a shaker tin filled with ice and then tumbled a few times. I then strained the contents into a glass filled with ice and garnished with an orange wedge and a Boudreaux cherry. I really love El Guapo’s Polynesian Kiss Bitters for all my Tiki inspired cocktails, so I was excited to try this in the Hurricane. Pro Tip: this one was also delicious blended.

Finally, the Mojito. For this one I used some personal techniques. In a mixing glass I muddled mint and lime wedges with 2 ounces of Don Q Cristal rum. Next, I poured in the bottle of Mojito mixer and tumbled. After I tasted, it needed more lime juice, so I squeezed another ½ ounce , and added ¼ ounce of my mint simple syrup. I shook all the ingredients, poured into a tall glass, and filled it with ice. I then garnished it with a lime wedge and additional mint. Perfection for a hot NOLA Summer day - refreshing and easy. Pro Tip: You can easily muddle strawberries, blueberries, or pineapple to Jazz up this amazing Cuban creation.

The El Guapo cocktail mixers are fun, easy, and best of all you can take them anywhere (even on the parade route). They are perfect if you want to make fun creative cocktails at home with little mess and zero skill level. Impress your friends at your next get together with these mixers. They are available to purchase in the gift set, or as individual bottles. These mixers are zero proof, and perfect by themselves. If you want more information or to purchase visit: www.elguapobitters.com

Cheers!