Sayso Cocktails

Last Summer's Fancy Food Show in NYC introduced me to several new favorites, one of which is Sayso Cocktails.

I am a big fan of mixed drinks but I'm usually too lazy to make one at home. I'll toss stuff together without measuring--various liqueurs that are on hand, some juice, seltzer--and end up with something quaffable, but not worth remaking. (I will never claim to have any mixology talents.) Sayso lured me immediately with the ease of making a tasty cocktail with only three ingredients: a Sayso "tea bag" (which I prefer to call a "sachet,"), water, and alcohol. The sachet contains all-natural flavorings and a blend of no-aftertaste low-calorie sweeteners that turn water into the cocktail mixer of your choice. You can stop right there, adding a bit more water and ice to your glass and enjoy it a mocktail, or you can add your favorite hooch. Sayso comes in four flavors so far: rosemary honey moscow mule, old fashioned, skinny cardamom paloma, and skinny spicy margarita.

Cocktails can be super sweet, but Sayso drinks are not. If you like sugar, you can certainly add some simple syrup to taste! You can also use Sayso as a starting point and create variations on a theme. For instance, when I remembered we had a container of Talenti Mango Sorbetto in the freezer, I realized I could make a spicy mango margarita. 

Spicy Mango Margarita

1 sachet Sayso skinny spicy margarita

4 ounces warm water

2 ounces blanco tequila

1/4 cup Talenti mango sorbetto

Ice

Seltzer (I used a tropical fruit-flavored one)

Fresh Mint

In a highball glass, steep the sachet in the water for 5 minutes. Wring all the goodness out of the sachet and discard. Add the tequila and sorbetto and give it a stir. Add a few ice cubes and top with a splash or two of seltzer. Garnish with fresh mint.

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I prefer the old fashioned and Moscow mule flavors in the colder months, when I'm more likely to drink brown liquor like bourbon and dark rum. But all four flavors are great any time of the year.

Order Sayso directly from the company, or from Amazon. I received samples of all four varieties from the company, but I will definitely be purchasing these again, particularly the spicy marg version. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Crafted Cocktails

I love a good cocktail, and fortunately for me, there are some restaurants in Baltimore with really good cocktail programs. But I don't always want to go out to drink. Sometimes I just want to pour myself some good booze and sip it in the privacy of my own home while watching the Orioles blow another game (nobody needs to see me cry in public). Although I like to think I'm a pretty good cook with some understanding of ingredients and flavors, that doesn't carry over to my cocktail-making abilities. They're pretty sad, so I appreciate all the assistance I can get in the form of bottled pre-mixed cocktail helpers.

I like the products from Crafted Cocktails--they're all-natural, sweetened with agave syrup (which we use all the time), and come in flavors like spicy watermelon and jalapeno pineapple. They also offer shrubs, which are old-fashioned sweet vinegar syrups that can be used in a cocktail or mixed with sparkling water to make a refreshing soda-type beverage. I was excited when the company was willing to send me bottles of the Moonlight Spicy Watermelon Mix, the Lanai Jalapeño Pineapple Mix, and both the blackberry and ginger shrubs. The ginger shrub is actually still unopened--Crafted Cocktail products come in really generously-proportioned bottles that need to be refrigerated after opening, so I am savoring them one at a time while conserving fridge space. I think the ginger flavor will be a great asset for cocktails closer to the holidays, so expect more posts to come toward the end of the year.

Right now, I'd like to share three cocktail recipes with you using the products I have tried. More can be found at http://www.craftedcocktails.net/recipes.html.

Blackberry Bramble

Blackberries
1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz fresh lemon juice
.75 oz agave syrup
1/2 ounce Crafted Cocktails Blackberry Shrub
Ginger beer

Muddle 6 blackberries with the gin, lemon, and agave until they have broken and released their juices. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and add the shrub. Top off with a splash of ginger beer. Garnish with blackberries and lemon.

Jalapeño Pineapple Margarita

1 part blanco tequila
3 parts Lanai Jalapeño Pineapple Mix
Lime wedge or sliced jalapeno

Pour into a martini glass. Garnish with lime and or jalapeno.

La Jefa

1 part blanco tequila
3 parts Moonlight Spicy Watermelon Mix
Squeeze of fresh lime

Pour into a margarita glass with salted rim. Garnish with fresh lime wedge and sliced jalapeno

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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The Boathouse Canton

 (photo: Downtown Diane)

For two decades, the Bay Cafe used to be the place to hang out on the water in Canton. It's gone now, but its replacement, the Boathouse, looks like an even better place to be.

Owners Gene Singleton and Maureen McEnerney put quite a bit of money into renovating the building at Tindeco Wharf; the result is airy and modern, feeling like a place on the water should feel, without being overtly nautical. Al fresco dining on the new outdoor patio is the big draw in warm weather, but the food should be a draw all year long.

Chef Matt Campbell, a Virginia native, works hard to make sure the food he serves is what the customer wants to eat. This being Baltimore, that means plenty of seafood and lots of things that taste good with a tall drink in hand.

We were introduced to the Boathouse's fall menu at a media tasting, and were impressed with the food, the starters especially. We tasted the seared ahi tuna on won ton crisps, and loved the hint of sesame oil in the dressing. We also enjoyed the pimento cheese, a southern specialty that's not seen in these parts too often. Chef Campbell's version is packed into small crocks, baked to an appealing crustiness, and served with crostini and crudite.

Oysters  (photo: Downtown Diane)

The rest of our dinner spread included some very fresh oysters, both local and otherwise...

Chicken Chesapeake  (photo: Downtown Diane)

and interpretations of classic fare like chicken Chesapeake and steak frites.

The chicken Chesapeake included thin slices of prosciutto sandwiched between a moist chicken breast cutlet and a mini crab cake, the whole thing topped with an Old Bay Gruyere cream sauce. The steak dish featured hanger steak cooked to a rosy medium, served with crisp fries.

One of the more popular dishes we sampled, judging from the speed the dish disappeared from the buffet, was the lobster mac and cheese. In addition to nicely sized bites of lobster, the dish contains four cheeses, andouille sausage, plus peas and roasted tomatoes. It's got vegetables, so it's healthy, right?

Lobster Mac & Cheese (photo: Jess Mayhugh)

My favorite dish was the grilled salmon. The salmon itself was fine, but the accompanying pan-seared brussels sprouts with caramelized pearl onions, bacon lardons, and rosemary balsamic butter were So. Good. And, the sprouts are available by themselves, as a side dish. Gimme.

Steak frites, fried cod (the "fish" portion of fish and chips), chicken Chesapeake

We also sampled two desserts, the seasonal fruit crisp, which featured apples (but in the summer contains peaches), and what was billed as a flourless chocolate cake, but was more like a rich classic chocolate cake. Both were pleasant ways to add a sweet finish to our meal.

Flourless chocolate cakelets (photo: Downtown Diane)

Let's not forget the beverages here. We tasted a sangria made with rosé, ruby port, triple sec, and cinnamon spice syrup that was quite nice and a change from the normal. There are also about a dozen beers on draft, with selections from local breweries Union, Heavy Seas, and Brewer's Art, plus bottled selections, wines, and crushes in several flavors. All this, including food to please many palates, seems like a pretty good reason to check out the Boathouse.



* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.

Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.