Activated charcoal meets booze in this eerie black cocktail recipe, which is bound to throw you into the holiday spirit.

If alcohol can’t do it, what will? This festive alcoholic beverage spooks and delights your senses with each and every sip. It is sweetened with agave, boosted with bitters, and even benefits your health! Have an extra piece of candy knowing that the activated charcoal in this cocktail is working overtime to detox your system!

Activated charcoal is quite popular these days, particularly for its detoxification benefits. Activated charcoal traps toxins and other chemicals into its millions of tiny pores. In fact, it can adsorb thousands of times its own weight, and not only in particles but also in gas. Because of this adsorptive power, it helps to shepherd poisons and other harmful substances from the body in an effective manner, leaving you less bloated, lighter and feeling less toxic.

When paired with alcohol, activated charcoal helps to negate the effects of acidic liquor on your body. Whether it succeeds in doing so or not may still be up for debate, but at least the idea sounds inspiring enough to try. And, don’t worry, activated charcoal doesn’t taste like anything, so it won’t add any off-kilter flavor to your drink.

I personally like the Bulletproof activated charcoal for this cocktail recipe because the powder is sourced from coconut shells. You can use whatever charcoal you find at your local health store or online–but please don’t pull charcoals from your barbecue! Not at all the same thing!

Activated Charcoal Black Cocktail Recipe

Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 capsule (500 mg) activated charcoal powder (twist open the capsule for the powder)
• 2 ounces tequila
• 1-ounce red grapefruit juice
• ¾ ounce agave
• ½ ounce lime juice
• 3 ounces club soda

Directions

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake to combine. Pour through a sieve into a tall glass. Enjoy!

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The following 4 cocktail recipes are perfect for warm weather and will excite your senses and those of your guests all season long.

Your summer cocktail concoctions should reflect the season’s light, refreshing ways. But instead of attaining flavor rushes by overdoing the sugar, artificial ingredients, and other not-so-body-friendly additives, opt for cocktail ingredients that showcase the inherent deliciousness and bounty of summer’s true flavors.

4 Summer Cocktail Recipes

1. Orange Peach Mimosa Slush

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 orange
• 1 cup frozen peach slices
• 2 cups ice cubes
• ¼ freshly squeezed orange juice
• ½ cup Champagne
• Orange slices for garnish

Directions

Slice the orange in half, remove the seeds, and cut off the peel. Add the orange flesh, frozen peach slices, ice cubes, orange juice, and Champagne to a high-speed blender and mix until slushy and smooth.

Pour the mixture into four wine glasses and garnish with orange slices.

2. Honeydew Basil Margarita

Serves 4

Ingredients

• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
• 4 cups chopped honeydew melon, frozen
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons blanco tequila
• 1 cup fresh lime juice

Directions

In a high-speed blender, add all the ingredients together and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with basil leaves.

3. Summer Punch

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup bourbon
• 1 cup white vermouth
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 ½ cups chilled ginger beer

Directions

Combine all ingredients into a punch bowl. Serve over ice.

4. Lemon Drop

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup vodka
• 2 ounces triple sec
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup lemon juice

Directions

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until cool and then filter into glasses.

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Tasty Cocktail Image from Shutterstock

The post 4 Summer Cocktail Recipes (Cool Down and Buzz Up All Season Long) appeared first on EcoSalon.

EcoSalon recently interviewed Jon Yeager from PourTaste. He discussed his company’s cocktail app, what makes a cocktail divine and shared a killer cocktail recipe.

Jon and Lindsey Yeager know drinks. The duo owns and operates PourTaste, a cocktail finding app and everything-cocktail company. EcoSalon got in touch with Jon and asked him how he and Lindsey created PourTaste, and asked them to share some cocktail secrets.

EcoSalon: When and how was PourTaste founded? And what sparked the idea?

Jon Yeager: We went full time in 2011. I worked as a bartender at Nashville’s Holland House in 2010. They were one of the first places to introduce (or reintroduce, I should say) craft cocktails to Nashville. I left after a year and people around town started recognizing me and asking for my advice on their events, menus, etc. It snowballed from there. And the idea started with a TV show, which we’re still working on

ES: Tell us about the PourTaste app.

JY: The app is America’s first craft cocktail house locator. It curates, city to city, and through all 50 states, the best cocktail joints. What we started seeing (and still experience) is that a lot of places will advertise “cocktails” and even worse, some places will boast about their “mixology program,” but at the end of the day, the drinks suck. What we suggest is that the places on our app are truly the best in their given category. While we were waiting on the TV show to happen the first time, we developed the app to forward our brand. The app got us a lot of street cred and here we are, three years later and people are interested in the TV pilot again!

ES: Why craft cocktails rather than other spirits?

JY: The craft of the cocktail is a culinary art. It’s the artistic process that all can get behind. When you start to peg yourself on specifics, you loose people quick. It would be like consulting a landscaper who only dealt with one kind of bush.

ES: What makes a cocktail great? Is it all about the ingredients, or the maker?

JY: More often than not, it’s the maker. There are many ingredients that are, on their own, amazing, that totally lend quality to the end libation. However, just like any other art form, a true cocktail great can wow you with anything they find. My training analogy is this: Imagine Steven Spielberg making a movie filmed with an iPad and me making one with the top of the line film camera used in Hollywood. We know whose would be better. It’s about the maker

ES: What are some of your favorite fresh ingredients to use?
JY: Wow, so hard. We love ginger and fresh ground cardamom. We love plums, figs and persimmon, as well.

ES: Could you share a simple, seasonal recipe with our readers?

Fox Hollow
1 1/2oz Armagnac
1 oz apple butter syrup
3/4oz lemon juice
1/2oz ginger syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice for 15 seconds. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with apple slice.

ES: Also: I see that writing is a big part of the business — why did you choose to also write about what you both do?

JY: The world is not short on people’s opinions for sure and we wanted to offer something useful. What we noticed, however, were recipes and methods that maybe could’ve been better, or possibly never tested at all, things that looked good on paper. We hope our writings might invigorate people and challenge the way we perceive cocktails as a whole. It’s an art form. There’s no “right” way, but just like music, paying attention to what our forefathers did can shape our approach.

ES: Feel free to also expand on the future plans for the business and what people can expect from PourTaste.

JY: We’ll be selling our tonic line soon, featuring seasonal flavor changes. Our TV show is in the hands of some influential people right now so we’re crossing our fingers for that. We are also the creators of Music City Spirits & Cocktail Festival in Nashville. {It’s our second year}. We have access to some wonderfully respected people in our field, which Nashville is getting really excited about. People can expect that to grow along with our new partnership with the World Food Championships.

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Image: PourTaste Facebook page

The post PourTaste’s Jon Yeager on Intoxicating Ingredients and His Cocktail App appeared first on EcoSalon.

Make the puree for this poached pear and gin cocktail the day before so your happy hour can be truly happy.

The delicate sweetness of pear juice is enhanced in a fool-proof simple syrup. Simple syrup is simply sugar and water. Many recipes call for one part sugar and one part water but I don’t like my cocktails to be extremely sweet. This recipe calls for less sugar and relies on the natural sweetness of the pear.

As for the pears, I like to use over ripe Boscs or Bartletts in a pinch. Bosc pears are usually thinner than the more common and plump Anjou pears. Bosc pears are usually light brown with textured skin. Use very ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears if you can and by poaching the pears in syrup you’ll preserve the flavor without adding too much sweetness.

Gin is a sweet liquor to begin with so I recommend using a more aromatic gin like Hendricks which will add herbal notes. Sometimes I find that too many herbal notes make a cocktail taste like a bubble bath, but you should be okay with this one. Plus, adding a lemon peel balances the sweetness and ads a pop of color.

Pear Gin Cocktail

Makes 4 cocktails

Ingredients

1 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 Bosc pear
1 lemon
4 oz Hendricks Gin 

Directions 

Peel and slice the pear into small pieces. Add to a medium sauce pan with the water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a slight boil (about 5 minutes) and then simmer over low heat for 10 minutes to poach the pear.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then puree in a blender or food processor.

Add 2 oz. pear puree and 1 oz gin to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake for 20 seconds and pour into a champagne flute. Use a vegetable peeler to peel a 2 inch strip of lemon peel and add to each glass.

Note: this recipe can be easily doubled or tripled for more guests.

Related on Eco Salon

4 Retro Cocktail Recipes 

Vegan Pear Bread 

9 Homemade Cocktail Mixers 

Photo credit: Ally Jane Grossan

The post Delicious Gin Cocktail Recipe with Poached Pear Simple Syrup appeared first on EcoSalon.

More than just mimosas.

Mother’s Day is the day to celebrate not only your mother, but any maternal figure in your life. And what better way to celebrate than with food and drink? If your Mother’s Day celebration involves a brunch – and it should – add a few of these creative cocktails to the menu and toast the women that make a difference.

1. Kir Royale

This one is simple and classic, just mix 1 part creme de cassis with 5 parts champagne. Score a bottle of organic champagne and make it an eco-friendly drink while you’re at it. Although the drink is classically made with creme de cassis, you can also try it with any type of berry liqueur or cordial. Or if you really want a homemade drink, muddle some berries and mix.

2. Mimosa

1 Wild Hibiscus Flower

1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice

1/2 oz Wild Hibiscus Syrup

5 oz Dry Sparkling Wine

Place flower in champagne flute.  Shake next 3 ingredients on ice and carefully strain into champagne flute. Top with dry sparkling wine.  Garnish with long grapefruit zest.

3. Blood Peach Bellini

A twist on the regular bellini involves adding a splash of grenadine. A colorful and tasty drink.

4. Honey Ginger Lemonade Spritzer

This recipe works well on its own, or with a dash of bourbon or vodka. Get creative or keep it simple and serve as a non-alcoholic beverage.

5. Blackberry Herb Cocktail

Prosecco, blackberries and rosemary; what’s not to love? Revamp this recipe by making your own rosemary simple syrup.

6. Cardamom Rose Cocktail

Cardamom in a drink? You simply can’t go wrong. DesignSponge has a recipe for a cardamom cocktail that involves rose syrup and grapefruit juice and is sure to please mother dearest.

7. Lillet Basil Cocktail

Put some greenery in your mother’s drink with this recipe that you can make with fresh basil from the market or your garden.

8. French 75

A French 75 is a classic drink that can replace a mimosa at a brunch. It’s a little stiffer, but very delicious.

9. Elderflower and Lemon Sparkling Sipper

The combination of elderflower and lemon make for an elegant drink that’s full of bubbles.

Images: Joe Shlabotnick, toolmantim, Wild Hibiscus Flower Co., Anna Brones, Apothecary/DesignSponge,

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