hungry hound

Become a mixologist in your own home with these cocktail recipes

Sunday, April 5, 2020

With bars and restaurants closed through at least the end of the month, several bars are selling complete cocktail kits. But with a few tools, you can recreate some classic drinks at home.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- With bars and restaurants closed through at least the end of the month, several bars are selling complete cocktail kits so you can be your own mixologist at home.

At places like Three Dots and a Dash and Bub City, you can just pick it up and make stuff at home. But our Hungry Hound says with a few tools, you can recreate some classic cocktails in your own home, and save a few bucks in the process.

ABC7's Steve Dolinsky likes to dabble in cocktails, and he's ready to show you how to make one of his favorites. It's a classic cocktail: the Hemingway Daiquiri, named for the pride of Oak Park, Ernest Hemingway. He loved this drink at the El Floridita when he lived in Cuba.

It has got five ingredients, and you'll need four tools: a strainer, a shaker, a jigger and a juicer.

First thing you've got to do is measure what you're going to be making in your cocktail. I like the jiggers with a two-ounce side and a one-ounce side. It's easy to measure. I'm going to do two ounces of light rum. You could use a dark rum, it'll be more nutty and rounded, but the light rum is bright and refreshing (try a Flor de Caña 4 yr. if you can find).

Then 3/4 ounce of fresh lime juice. To make fresh lime juice, roll the lime on the counter to separate the flesh from the rind, make an equatorial cut - that is, a cut along the equator/mid-line of the lime, then cut side down into the juicer and squeeze. Please don't use Rose's lime juice or any other bottled lime. Fresh lime juice always.

Then 3/4 ounce of fresh grapefruit juice. By the way, you can get these handy plastic squeeze bottles at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Then simple syrup. It's just sugar water. You add equal amounts of sugar and water to a pot on the stove, heat until the sugar is dissolved, then chill and it keeps for weeks in the refrigerator. Just use a 1/2 ounce of simple syrup.

Then the secret key: Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur. It's a distillate from the Marasca cherries on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. Just 1/4 ounce. It gives the drink some roundness, and a really unique character.

Then ice - this will chill the drink immediately, it's also going to dilute it a bit so don't let the ice sit too long. You could use a shaker with a strainer already built-in, that would save you from having to buy a strainer. But a Hawthorne strainer is a very important tool to have in your bar. Dolinsky uses a Boston shaker - it's a glass and a shaker tin. Shake! You want to shake until the sides of the tin get cold. Not too much, then strain into a coupe, or glass (you can find them at Crate & Barrel). The strainer is key, as you don't want too much ice, which will dilute the drink.

It's totally optional to have a zester. Dolinsky takes off a small piece of the lime zest, twists it over the drink and tosses it in. Cheers!

Below, find the recipe for the daiquiri, along with information about where to buy cocktail kits in town:

Dolinsky's Hemingway Daiquiri

2 oz. light rum (prefer 4 yr. Flor de Caña)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice

1/2 oz simple syrup (heat equal parts sugar & water until sugar is dissolved; chill)

1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker

Add ice, shake until sides of shaker are well-chilled

Strain into coupe/glass

Cocktails to-go (kits, mixes and bottled drinks):