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Wanted to make an adult version of the Shamrock Shake, and very please with how this one came out. Yes, I know its not a martini, but for lack of a better term that's what I'm calling it. Recipe: Shamrock Martini Ingredients: 1.5 oz vanilla vodka (Absolut Vodka recommended) 0.5 oz green crème de menthe 1 oz Irish cream 1 oz half & half Build: Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake well to chill and combine. Strain into a martini glass, coupe, or Nick & Nora. Enjoy!

Today’s Mocktail Monday is an early nod to spring, because if we can’t control the weather, we can at least control what’s in the glass. Lemon brings the vibrant sour, lavender adds those soft floral notes, and the egg white gives it that silky, cocktail-bar foam moment. It’s light, refreshing, and a just a little bougie(without the booze). Recipe: Lavender Sour(N/A) Ingredients: 1 oz lavender syrup 1 oz fresh lemon juice 3 oz cold water 1 egg white 4 dashes lavender bitters(I used El Guapo's Cucumber Lavender Bitters) Build: Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake hard to chill and whip that egg white nice and frothy. Double strain into a chilled coupe, or Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a sprig of lavender(or if like me you couldn't find lavender today, some purple sugar sprinkles would be nice) and enjoy.

Today’s Mocktail is inspired by a cocktail I had on my first trip to Colombia with my wife, a trip that definitely holds a special place in my heart. The passion fruit brings bright, tropical acidity and that unmistakable tang, while the orgeat rounds everything out with a smooth, nutty sweetness. It’s vibrant, refreshing, and balanced, the kind of drink that instantly transports you somewhere warm. (Which with the cold front that just rolled through is definitely a plus) Recipe: The Golden Hour Ingredients: 1 oz passion fruit pulp 1 oz orgeat ½ oz fresh lime juice 4 oz cold water 4 dashes toasted almond bitters (6.6% ABV)* Build: Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake well to chill. Double strain into a rocks glass over a large cube. Garnish with a lime wheel and enjoy. Note: *Even with the toasted almond bitters, the final ABV remains well below the 0.5% non-alcoholic threshold. However if that is still too much for your liking, something like an imitation almond flavoring would work well.

Happy (Belated) Mocktail Monday This week’s mocktail is perfect for hosting. It’s completely batchable, ready to pour, and keeps really well for a couple of days, so you’re not stuck behind a shaker while everyone else is having fun. Recipe: King Cake Nitro Coffee Mocktini Yields: 1 quart (about 4–5 martini servings) Special Equipment: 1 Liter iSi whipping canister N₂ cartridge(s) nitro tip (optional but recommended) Ingredients: 2 tablespoons freeze-dried coffee** ¾ cup half & half ½ cup cinnamon-vanilla brown sugar simple syrup* 2¾ cups cold water 1 teaspoon imitation rum extract Build: Add all ingredients to your iSi canister. Secure the top and charge with an N₂ cartridge. Shake well to combine and ensure the coffee crystals fully dissolve. Dispense into a chilled martini glass. Garnish: Freshly grated cinnamon or Tri-color sprinkles for that full King Cake effect Three coffee beans for Health, Wealth, and Happiness Notes: *You can substitute Monin or Torani Brown Sugar Cinnamon syrup if preferred, just add a splash of vanilla extract to round out the flavor. **You may swap the water and freeze-dried coffee for cold brew or chilled brewed coffee. We love freeze-dried coffee here because it makes this recipe doable at a moment’s notice.

Bright, bubbly, and booze-free. This week’s Mocktail Monday is an antioxidant powerhouse that’s sure to be a hit. Recipe: Hibiscus Bliss Yields: ~1 quart Special Equipment: 1-quart soda siphon or 1-quart iSi whipper 8-gram CO₂ cartridge Ingredients: 2¼ cups strong hibiscus tea, chilled ¾ cup pineapple juice, chilled ¾ cup pomegranate juice, chilled Build: Add all ingredients to your soda siphon or iSi canister. Secure the top and charge with one CO₂ cartridge. Shake gently to fully infuse the carbonation, then let rest for about 1 minute to settle. If using a soda siphon, skip ahead to Step 5. Holding the canister upright, slowly begin opening the top until you hear the gas release. Once the hissing stops, continue opening carefully. Serve immediately in a wine glass. Recap and refrigerate any remaining soda for up to 3 days. It should retain carbonation, but can be re-carbonated with an additional CO₂ cartridge if needed.

Been a long week and was feeling exceptionally lazy so you all get the Lazy Man's Hattan. Recipe: 2 parts Bulleit Rye 1 part Carpano Antica 1 part Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco Build: Pour straight into a rocks glass Top with your best fridge ice Garnish with 3 black cherries, and enjoy.

Recipe: Crimson Sangría Single Serve: 2 oz beet juice 2 oz cranberry juice 2 oz hibiscus tea 10 drops (≈1/8 tsp) saline solution Ginger beer, to top Chopped fruit, for garnish Pitcher Batch: 1 cup beet juice 1 cup cranberry juice 1 cup hibiscus tea 1/2 tsp saline solution (or a pinch of salt) Ginger beer, added to each glass when serving Chopped fruit, for garnish Build In a glass (or pitcher), add the beet juice, cranberry juice, hibiscus tea, and saline over ice. Stir to chill and combine. When serving, top each portion with about 2 oz of ginger beer and a scoop of fresh fruit. Sip back and enjoy.

One reason I love this recipe is that its proportions make it super easy to scale up or down depending on your needs. Recipe: Dutch Baby Pancake Ingredients: For the Batter: ½ cup all-purpose flour 2 Tbsp sugar Pinch of kosher salt 2 Tbsp melted butter 2 eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten ½ cup whole milk, at room temperature ½ tsp vanilla extract For the Skillet 1 Tbsp butter For Serving: 2 Tbsp powdered sugar (for dusting) Build: Preheat your oven, and a 10-inch cast iron skillet to 425°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla, then whisk thoroughly until smooth and well combined. Once the oven and skillet are preheated, carefully remove the skillet and add 1 Tbsp of butter, swirling to coat the surface as it melts. Pour the batter directly into the hot skillet. Return to the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes. Start checking at the 10-minute mark, but look through the window only, opening the door can cause it to deflate. It’s done when the edges are golden brown and the center is puffed and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and immediately dust with powdered sugar. Serve as-is, or top with jam, syrup, fresh lemon, mixed berries, whatever your heart desires. Story: Dutch in name only, this breakfast classic actually hails from German (Deutsch) descent. Its roots trace back to the Pfannkuchen and Apfelpfannkuchen which were giant, oven-baked pancakes that made their way to the U.S. with early German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. Somewhere along the way, Deutsch got swapped for Dutch, and the name simply stuck. Fast forward to the early 1900s and the birth of the modern Dutch Baby. Victor Manca, owner of Manca’s Café in Seattle, began making smaller versions of the traditional German pancakes for his children. They affectionately called them “Dutch Babies," and just like that, the breakfast treat was born. Crisp on the edges, soft in the center, and best served straight from a hot skillet the Dutch Baby proves that sometimes the simplest things rise to the occasion.

In honor of the upcoming reboot of Scrubs premiering in less than 10 days, we made a non-alcoholic version of JD’s signature order: the “Appletini – Easy on the Tini.” This mocktail delivers that bright, tart green-apple punch that defined the appletinis of the early 2000s. Recipe: “Appletini - Hold the Tini” (Non-Alcoholic) Ingredients: 2 oz acid-adjusted apple juice 2 oz green-apple flavored, and green colored drink (I used green apple Powerade) Build: Add both ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass (do not double strain). Garnish with a maraschino cherry and serve.

The Improved Appletini - A grown up version of the classic appletini from the 90s, still sour, but with a more refined taste and feel. Garnished with an apple slice and a dark cocktail cherry. Recipe: Improved Appletini Ingredients: 2 oz apple brandy (preferably Laird’s Applejack or Laird’s Bottled in Bond) 1 oz acid-adjusted apple juice 1 oz regular apple juice Build: Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake well to chill. Double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a black cocktail cherry and a thin slice of apple. Enjoy!

It's a busy Mocktail Monday, so we are uncomplicating things and drawing some inspiration from that acronym so many of us probably remember from the '90s and early 2000s, K.I.S.S., or "Keep It Simple, Stupid," to make what I am calling the Cucumber K.I.S.S. and Tonic. It's refreshing, delicious, complex in flavor but not in build, and a reminder that a good mocktail doesn't have to be complicated. Recipe: Cucumber K.I.S.S. Ingredients: 4-5 cucumber slices Tonic water Optional: Bitters (whichever you like. Play around with these and have some fun. I used a couple of dashes each of Gin Barrel-Aged Orange Bitters*, N/A Love Potion Bitters, and N/A Herb Garden Bitters.) Build: In a rocks glass, muddle cucumbers. Add ice, tonic, and bitters (if using). Gently stir and serve, garnished with a cucumber slice if you are so inclined. Notes: *The Gin Barrel Orange Bitters are 9% ABV. However, a couple of dashes is not enough to bring the drink anywhere close to the 0.5% ABV threshold to be considered non-alcoholic. That said, everyone's tolerances and reasons for abstaining are different, so feel free to omit if you like.

We are missing the beach, so today's mocktail is an N/A take on a classic, the Painkiller. What is effectively a more complex piña colada, we're following the OG recipe pretty closely, but since we're not using dark rum, we're going to add back some of that funk and depth that the rum brings with a couple of different bitters. Recipe: N/A Painkiller Ingredients: 4 oz pineapple juice 1 oz orange juice 1 oz cream of coconut 4 dashes Molasses Bitters* 2 dashes N/A Aromatic Bitters Nutmeg Build: Add all ingredients, except the nutmeg, to a shaker tin with ice and shake well to chill. Pour the entire contents of the shaker into a hurricane glass, or rocks glass, or whatever you have. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg over the top, then garnish with a pineapple wedge and an umbrella (if you're feeling fancy). Note: *The Molasses Bitters do contain some alcohol (about 2.4% ABV). However, the amount we're using is so small that the final drink is still considered "non-alcoholic." If this is a concern for you feel free to omit them from the recipe. The resulting drink will still be great.

Getting back into our Mocktail Monday series with another one of my go-tos, and for lack of a better name, we're just going to go with "Cherry (Diet) Coke, All Grown Up." This one keeps it simple. It's getting built right in the glass, and we're not even going to measure anything, but I'll give you some rough measurements in the recipe below. Recipe: Cherry (Diet) Coke, All Grown Up! Ingredients: 3–4 dashes of N/A or low-ABV bitters (I really like Spiced Cherry bitters in this, but you could use any bitters you like, in fact I would encourage you to experiment with different flavors) 6–8 oz Diet Coke 2–3 oz tart cherry juice Build: Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add your bitters, then pour in the Diet Coke, leaving enough room at the top for the cherry juice (about 2 inches of headspace). Top with the cherry juice and gently stir to combine. Garnish with a few dark cocktail cherries and enjoy!

Yes, it's another Mocktail Monday, and since you can't make a mocktail without breaking a few eggs... or something like that. Today we were going to make a pineapple sour, but in the interest of sticking with the long drink format that we love for summer, we are going to add a little club soda and make a pineapple fizz instead. Recipe: Pineapple Fizz Ingredients: 3 oz pineapple ginger juice* 0.5 oz lemon juice 0.75 oz hot honey simple syrup 2 dashes N/A aromatic bitters 1 egg white (or 1 oz aquafaba) ~2oz club soda Build: Add the juice, lemon juice, hot honey simple syrup, bitters, and egg white to a shaker with ice. Shake gently, and very briefly to chill and combine.(5-10 seconds) You do not want to over aerate the egg whites. Add club soda to a Collins glass and (gently) pour entire contents of shaker into glass.** Garnish with a pineapple wedge and enjoy! Notes: * You can absolutely use regular pineapple juice for this, or just muddle a little ginger into some pineapple juice. While the ginger is not required, I do think it adds a nice subtle bite. ** Slow pouring is key, expect this to fizz pretty significantly when you pour the drink over the club soda. Alternatively you can top with club soda, but I find this method yields a more well incorporated drink.

It's another Mocktail Monday, and we are back from our short little hiatus thanks to gallbladder surgery. This week we are making what we're calling the Triple C Tonic, because supposedly carrot juice, coconut water, and cucumber juice are all good for recovery, and conveniently they also go really well together. The freshness of the cucumber, a little salinity from the coconut water, and a touch of earthiness and sweetness from the carrot all play nicely against the slight bitterness of the tonic and those floral notes from the bitters, which give you a well rounded mocktail. That said, if you find tonic water a little too bitter, feel free to substitute plain soda water instead. Recipe: Triple C Tonic Ingredients: 0.5 oz lime juice 1 oz carrot juice 2 oz cucumber juice 2 oz coconut water 5 dashes floral bitters ~4 oz tonic water Build: Add the lime juice, carrot juice, cucumber juice, coconut water, and bitters to a shaker tin with ice. Shake well to combine and chill. Simultaneously pour the tonic water and strain the mixture into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice. Pouring them in tandem helps everything mix evenly. Garnish with a cucumber ribbon and a lime wheel, and enjoy!