Best North American Alcoholic Mixed Drink Types
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Coquito is a traditional cocktail similar to eggnog. It is typically prepared and consumed during the festive Christmas season. The cocktail is made with a combination of coconut milk, rum, condensed milk, and vanilla, although every family has their own variation.
In order to prepare it, all ingredients should be blended, then chilled and served in small glasses. It is recommended to garnish coquito with nutmeg on top. The name of this drink means little coconut. In Cuba, they serve it with scoops of coconut ice cream, while the Spanish people serve it with turron.
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Lava Flow is a Hawaiian cocktail with numerous variations. It can be blended or shaken. The blended version is typically made with a combination of coconut rum, light rum, pineapple juice, coconut cream, bananas, and frozen strawberries.
In order to prepare it, rums and strawberries are blended separately from other ingredients, but they are later combined in a collins or hurricane glass so that the strawberries swirl in the drink, creating an effect similar to that of lava flow. If shaken, strawberries and a slice of banana should be muddled in the bottom of a glass, then combined with ice and shaken coconut cream, pineapple juice, and rum.
The cocktail is then garnished with a pineapple wedge and a paper parasol, if desired.
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Sugary, refreshing, and herbaceous, Mojito is a traditional cocktail based on rum as the key ingredient. It has a relatively low alcohol content (about 10%). Although Havana is considered its birthplace, the origin of this simple cocktail is still disputed.
The original Cuban cocktail recipe includes white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and spearmint yerba buena that grows on the island, but almost every mint variety can be used in the mix if yerba buena is not available. The components of the cocktail are added in a particular order: sugar and lime juice are gently mashed before mint and rum are added to the combination; the cocktail is then briefly stirred and topped with ice and sparkling soda water.
VARIATIONS OF Mojito
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Rum Punch is a classic Caribbean cocktail made with rum, fruit juice, sugar syrup, and water. To prepare it, all you need to do is remember this Caribbean saying: “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, and four of weak.” A shot of fruit juice, two shots of sugar syrup, three shots of rum, and four shots of water are combined in a big glass or a jug, then poured into a glass over ice.
It is recommended to add a few drops of bitters or some freshly grated nutmeg to elevate the flavors even further. Garnish it with a pineapple wedge for the best possible experience.
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Frozen daiquiri is a variation of a classic shaken daiquiri, which typically incorporates rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar. This frozen version is mostly blended and usually includes pulverized ice and frozen fruit to mix, creating a sweet slurry with a texture similar to a slushie.
Frozen daiquiris probably first appeared at the legendary El Floridita in Havana, sometime around the time of Prohibition. They were initially made with crushed ice and electric blenders, but their popularity skyrocketed in the second half of the 20th century after the invention of commercial machines.
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Ramos Gin Fizz is an American cocktail made with a combination of gin, sugar syrup, lime juice, lemon juice, cream, egg whites, orange flower water, vanilla extract, and soda water. All ingredients except soda are poured in a mixing glass and dry shaken without ice for 2 minutes.
Ice is then added to the combination, and the cocktail is hard shaken for an additional minute. The cocktail should be strained into a highball glass without ice, then topped with soda. Due to the fact that vigorous shaking is required to reach the right texture, Ramos Gin Fizz is loathed by many bartenders.
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Daiquiri is a group of cocktails prepared with rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar as the key ingredients. Supposedly, it was invented in the late 19th century by Jennings Cox, an American mining engineer who was staying in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
The cocktail was named after the beach and an iron mine near Santiago de Cuba. The drink was probably introduced to high-class New Yorkers in 1902 by a US congressman who purchased the Santiago iron mines, but it gained fame during World War II when trade and travel relations with Latin America opened up due to Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor policy, so Latin America became fashionable.
VARIATIONS OF Daiquiri
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A classic cocktail that was created in New York City in the 1940s, Moscow Mule consists of vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice. Because it contains ginger beer, Moscow Mule is a type of buck (a mixed drink with ginger beer or ale, spirit, and citrus), so it is often referred to as Vodka Buck.
The cocktail is traditionally served in a copper mug, on the rocks, with a lime wheel garnish. Vodka is typically associated with Russia, while mule was supposedly added to the name because ginger beer adds a kick of flavor, hence the name Moscow Mule.
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Known as the specialty drink of New Orleans, where it was invented in 1887 as the first beverage in the fizz family, Gin Fizz is a cocktail made with gin, Gomme syrup or sugar, lemon juice, and soda water. The cocktail is prepared by shaking gin, lemon juice, and sweet syrup with ice.
When strained in a glass, it is topped with sparkling water which provides it with a bubbly effect, hence the fizz in its name. The drink is very similar to Tom Collins, a cocktail that is traditionally made with a slightly sweeter gin called Old Tom.
VARIATIONS OF Gin Fizz
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Probably the most famous tequila-based cocktail in the world, Margarita is made with a combination of Cointreau, lime juice, and tequila. The cocktail can be made in a few varieties: straight up (chilled with ice, then strained), frozen Margarita (with blended ice), or on the rocks (over ice).
Regardless of the style, it is usually served in a margarita glass characterized by its rim which is rubbed with lime or lemon, then spun in salt or sugar. Some say that the inventor of the cocktail is Carlos Danny Herrera, who supposedly created it in 1938 in Mexico for Marjorie King, a dancer who was allergic to almost every spirit except tequila, although others claim that it was named after Margarita Cansino, also known as the famous actress Rita Hayworth.
VARIATIONS OF Margarita
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