Jessie on the Rocks

Month 1 - Bulleit Bourbon Happy 2019 Everyone!  I know we have solidly been into the new year for several weeks now, but I'm finally getting my act together on my new drink project for 2019.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my 2018 margarita adventure, but I think that project ran it's course, so  I feel like I have to move outside my comfort zone again to grow as a drink maker.  I have given this quite a bit of thought, and have decided to focus on bourbon for 2019!  Why bourbon?  Well, I don't know anything about it...like couldn't pick it out of a crowd, maybe tasted it twice in my life, do not know anything about it:)  So I present you my 2019 adventure:  not throwing up drinking Bourbon! I admit that making one drink a week (like I did in 2018) got to be too much for me, especially with my work schedule.  Because of this, I have modified my plan for this year.  For 2019, I plan to select one bourbon each month.  I will taste the bourbon by itself and in a mixed drin

Week 52 - The Classic Margarita I made it!  Week 52 is upon us and I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started my Margarita adventure. On one hand it seems like I just started.  On the other hand, it feels like I've lived a lifetime since last January.  This year has been filled with exciting achievements, travel to great places, drink making adventures and also some of the greatest heartache I have ever experienced.  Life is an interesting journey and this year has taught me that you have to stop and smell the roses more.   It's important to make that drink and have time to sit down and enjoy it.  If you don't, you will blink and life will have passed right on by you.  I have a tendency to think more about tomorrow than I do today.  While this is sometimes helpful, I sometimes miss what's happening right in front of me.  This is something I've decided to work on in my life.  I'm going to start today, with my week 52 drink - The Classic

Week 51 - The Coconut Margarita  I'm almost done with my Margarita journey!  I've hit the home stretch and I'm feeling pretty good about my week 51 drink - The Coconut Margarita. I love all things coconut, so I was pretty confident I was going to like this drink.  However, I prefer drinks that shaken over ice, not blended, so I wasn't sure the frozen coconut drink was going to be one of my favorites. I was in for a surprise when it turned out that this was one of my favorite drinks all year! In addition to tequila, this  drink calls for coconut rum, coconut milk and sweetened coconut cream (Coco Lopez).  Throw these ingredients in the blender with ice and viola!  I found that I really liked this drink.  However, you have to be all in on coconut or this will not be for you.  It's a perfect summer drink, though I used it over the holidays and that worked too! Lesson learned - Sometimes drinks are exactly what you think they will be.  That was the case this w

Week 50 - The Brunch Margarita Brunch, a beloved past time of many.  I like a good brunch myself, but if i'm being honest, I LOVE breakfast as soon as I get up.  It's my favorite meal of the day and waiting until 10:00 am for it is torture.   However, I won't hold that against this drink.  I did not have many expectations for my week 49 drink.   I figured I’d like it, but wasn’t sure it would be a stand out for the year.   However, I found it to be better than I anticipated.    This is the perfect drink to make for a party or as the name indicates, brunch! The drink is easy to put together and has a light fruity taste.   I particularly enjoyed the addition of the champagne to the drink.  It gave the drink a little punch of bubbles and flavor.  While I followed the recipe closely, I think you could probably throw in any juices you have around the house to make this drink.   It’s a great drink that can be made up ahead of time and in large quantities.   You could put

Week 49 - The Pineapple Margarita  I have been looking forward to this drink since I started this adventure.   I even bought the ingredients several months ago, but it’s one of those drinks that I just didn’t get around to.   Each week I considered it, but went with a different choice.  This week I decided to go for it.   The only thing I can say to myself is, why did I wait so long? This was definitely one of the best I have tried all year.   Other than cutting up the pineapple, which I find to be a feat of epic proportions (luckily my mom was in town and took pity on me and cut it up) I found this to be a pretty easy drink to make. I did have to use the blender, but the pineapple itself gave the drink great consistency, so it was pretty easy to get right. The drink was sweet and smooth with just enough froth at the top.   I highly recommend this drink.   I do think it’s likely more of a summertime drink, but I do not apologize for enjoying it in December‼ Lesson learn

Week 48 - The Anejo Margarita I have been interested in trying this margarita since I started the year.   It’s one that was suggested to me as it is supposed to take a traditional margarita to the next level.   Like a fancy version of a margarita.   I decided to give it a try. This drink is a play on the Grand Gold Margarita recipe from Week 11 .   If you recall, this has been one of my favorite drinks so far this year.   I was eager to give this recipe another try and spice it up with Anejo tequila.   An Anejo tequila is known to be an “aged” or Vintage” tequila.   It is aged for a minimum of 1-3 years in oak barrels.   The flavor is known to be more smoother and more subtle.   The drink was easy to put together.   In addition the the recipe from week 11, The Anejo Margarita calls for a substitution of Anejo tequila for traditional tequila and it adds a splash of Orange juice.   The recipe did suggest that you could switch out Damiana (a sweet herbal Mexican liqueur)