3 Cosmic cocktails

We all like a theme party, and for us today is all with the delicious cosmic like cocktails. The universe is a huge place for inspiration and we took a dive in it as well.

Enjoy our 3 mixes!

If you feel overwhelmed by the techniques or terms that we are using check out the free course on bartending. 

Let’s get to it! 

Mercury

Ingredients 

  • 2oz Vodka/gin 
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • 1oz orange liqueur 
  • Half a teaspoon of edible gray glitter
  • Garnish: twisted lemon peel/ pickled onion

Tools 

  • Bar spoon 
  • Martini glass/ coupe glass 
  • Mixing glass
  • Cocktail strainer

The how to 

  1. In your mixing glass add ice to the top. Put in the vodka, orange liqueur and orange bitters. 
  2. Add your glitter and stir well. (about 30 seconds) 
  3. Starin you mix in your glas with no ice
  4. Twist the orange peel on top if the glass and run it around the rim. You can drop it in the glass or add the pickled onion

Venus

Ingredients 

  • 2oz vodka 
  • 1oz blue curacao 
  • 1oz orchata
  • ½ oz simple syrup 
  • Ice
  • Garnish: rose petals/ purple flowers(lavender)

Tools 

  • Shaker
  • Jigger(to measure) 
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer 
  • Collins glass 

The how to 

  1. In shaker add ice, vodka, blue curacao, orchata and simple syrup. Shake well
  2. Double strain the mix in your glass over ice. 
  3. Add the rose petals on top or 3 long lavender branches. You can also clip them on the rim .

Earth

Ingredients 

  • 2oz vodka
  • 2 lime wedges 
  • ½ oz lime juice 
  • 1oz blue curacao 
  • Apple juice 
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: lime wheel

Tools 

  • Collins glass
  • Bar spoon

The how to 

  1. In your glass add the lime juice and the brown sugar and stir. 
  2. Squeeze the lime wedges in and leave then in the glass. 
  3. Add your ice to the top. Pour in the vodka, and give it a stir without going with the spoon all the way down so you don’t disturb the lime.
  4. Add your blue curacao
  5. Using the back of the spoon pour slowly the apple juice to fill the glass.

All about Matcha

What is Matcha besides a green fairy dust?

Matcha is a powder, really fine grounded, made out of specially grown and processed green tea. The green tea plants used for matcha are shade-grown for three to four weeks before harvest, and the stems and veins are removed during processing. During this process, the plant produces more theanine and caffeine. 

The way people are using this powder is different, some will make a tea with it, others will prefer a matcha latte. Some will use the powder in cooking and others will use it because of the bright green color.

History of Matcha

Although the matcha fever started just recently worldwide, this tea powder was discovered centuries ago. You can trace the origins of matcha back to a China ruled by dynasties and a Japan ruled by Shogun clans

The origins of matcha can be traced all the way back to the Tang Dynasty, however, the ones that made the matcha that we see today popular were the Kamakura Shogun. A Japanese Buddhist Monk spent the better part of his life studying Buddhism in China, his name was Eisai. He brought to Japan tea seeds and the knowledge of the  Zen Buddhist methods of preparing powdered green tea. Although having this knowledge, the Zen Buddhists, developed a new method for cultivating the green tea plant. They started growing the green tea plant in shaded conditions so that the health benefits of matcha will maximize. 

During the Kamakura Shogun  period, limited amounts were being produced in Japan, thus matcha was considered to be a luxurious item. 

The Ritual of Matcha

It has its roots  in the 1500’s when a Zen student named Murata Juko brought together fragmented pillars of the tea ceremony to form a ritual that included the cultivation, consumption and ceremony.

The most well-known and revered historical figure of the Japanese Tea Ceremony has to be Zen Master Sen-no-Rikyu. He was the one that made Juko’s tea ceremony ritual known. 

The four basic principles of the Japanese Tea Ceremony:

  • Harmony (wa)
  • Respect (kei)
  • Purity (sei)
  • Tranquility (jaku)

The Japanese Tea Ceremony is called “Chado” or “Sado.” Translated, this means “The Way of Tea.”

Uses of Matcha

Nowadays you can find almost everything that you can imagine with matcha. This powder is now used for coloring foods as well as giving a special taste to them. You can create a whole new category of matcha food that can include ice cream, pancakes, beagles, lattes, cocktails, oats, lemonades, creams and so on. Creativity is the limit. 

3 Health benefits of matcha

  1. Antioxidants queen!

Matcha tea is that it delivers a mega dose of antioxidants in every sip. It has 10 times more than a regular cup of green tea. This will help fortify your immune system as well. The special catechin antioxidant called EGCg is effective in fighting and protecting the body against various bacterial and viral infections.

  1. Better than coffee

The caffeine in matcha provides a stable and extended boost of energy without the anxious jitters or side effects. You can switch from your usual latte to a matcha latte and see for yourself. A better way is to switch from coffee to tea, cut this might be hard for some of you. My favorite way to have a matcha latte is with or without ice(depends on the temperature outside) and add coconut milk. Those two flavors complement themselves amazingly.

Photo by Eunice Lui on Pexels.com
  1. Weight loss

EGCg and caffeine work together to naturally boost your metabolism and increase the number of calories you burn on a daily basis.

3 Vintage Rum Cocktails

This month is all about Rum and we will begin by sharing a piece of history.

Even though we love making our own recipes, we like to share with you some classic, vintage old vodka cocktails.

You might be surprised by what you will find here. You might know these cocktails already, you should be surprised by how old they are.

Let’s get to it! 

Cuba libre

Cuba libre

Ingredients 

  • 50 ml rum  
  • 25 ml lime juice 
  • Coke
  • Ice
  • Garnish: lime wheel or lime wedges

Tools 

  • Bar spoon
  • Collins glass

The how to 

In your add the rum, lime juice and ice to the top. Top the glass with the coke and stir well. Garnish with the lime wheels or wedges, whatever you prefer.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Ingredients 

  • 50 ml rum
  • 15 ml lime juice
  • 15 ml honey 
  • Ice: cubes
  • Garnish: thin cut lime wheel

Tools 

  • Shaker
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer
  • Coupe glass

The how to 

In your shaker add the rum, lime juice, honey and ice. Shake well. Double strain in your glass with no ice. Add the lime wheel and let if float freely in the glass.

El presidente

El presidente

Ingredients 

  • 50 ml Rum
  • 15 ml orange liqueur 
  • 10 ml dry Vermouth 
  • Splash grenadine
  • Ice
  • Garnish: orange peel

Tools 

  • Mixing glass
  • Bar spoon 
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer  
  • Coupe glass- chilled 

The how to 

In your mixing glass add ice to the top.  Add the rum, orange liqueur, dry vermouth and a splash of grenadine. Stir for 20 second, until well chilled. Double strain in your chilled coupe glass. Squeeze the orange peel on top of the glass and dump in.

Make money outside the job- workers style

Those are strange times we are living in now. For this industry is especially hard in this corona time, but this can be changed. Of course those methods can be used in less stressful and uncertain times for some extra money, depending on how much you wanna work for it, if you really like this job and you want to invest your time try some of these alternative activities. 

To be honest, you won’t suddenly become famous or swim in a pool of money, but you will see some improvement in your budget. 

Keep in mind that taking a break and caring for your mental health is really important as well, so don’t overwork yourself to the point of destruction.

You can do this as a bartender, chef, barista, waiter, you name it. Adjust the ideas to your style and go from there. 

Let’s make more money!

1. Parties or events 

Maybe you already have a location that you are working at, but you still have some free time and want to make more money. Apply to events and/ or parties. I used to do this in my free weekends or evenings. Parties and events pay a lot of money for one day or just some hours of work. Also for bigger events like festivals sometimes I would take a free weekend.  

Keep in mind, sometimes they will not pay you with money but you can have free access to the festival, food, a hotel room and so on. So if you are into that kind of lifestyle, applying for a festival will also make some beautiful memories. 

Photo by Paul Efe on Pexels.com

Personally, I like getting paid so I never worked a festival that only paid in “ everything else but money”. 

A tip, make sure you have a written agreement, you don’t  want to have problems collecting your benefits. 

2. Create recipes

Use your imagination to your own advantage. If you do not want to create a special platform for this, you can use some of the existing ones like Fiverr. Explain what you can do, what experience you have, post your profile and wait. 

Again, you ain’t getting rich like this but it’s a nice side income. 

You can check my profile here for some references.  

Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV on Pexels.com

3. Trainings

If you are really good at your job, share your experience with others and make some extra money with this. Either have an online training or rent a location and get to work. It does take some preparation and logistics before, like creating a subscription or event for this and seeing how many people would be interested. You can give at the end a diploma, or proof that a training was done, but this depends on what you want to offer.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

 

4. Online content 

Welcome to the easiest one, but time consuming. Have a blog, create videos about your job, how to create cocktails, talk about the difficulties of the profession, share funny stories. Use whatever platform you feel more comfortable with. Share it with you friends and grow from there. 

Depending on the platform you use, subscription type, view, number of subscribers you can monetize the content. Although this might be hard it is rewarding. Even if you do not get this far, using this method will create a lot of visibility that you can use to get a better job in a better location, for example. 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Good luck out there and never give up! 

3 best Ginger Beers for cocktails

I will start by saying that this is a personal view on the specific taste of each ginger beer. Again, personal taste, that means no snarky comments on how my personal taste is “wrong”. 

Keep in mind if you want a drink that is strong do not use a ginger beer as a mixer, this drink takes a lot from the power of the liquor that you would use.

Lets start and see what we got. 

3. Bundaberg

This is a popular ginger beer. It comes from a family owned business back in Australia. Nowadays you can find it almost everywhere. 

This drink is the definition of balance. The ginger flavor is nor overwhelming but it will leave a little tingle in your tongue. Also, it is not sour. This is why I like it so much. 

I would use this to make a moscow mule, with strawberries, because we like a drink with a twist. 

2. Aqua Monaco hot ginger 

Now, in this one you can feel the hotness of the ginger root. It is a really potent drink. The fizz is also stronger, but this might be a false perception just because it is spicier. Again, like the one just presented, Aqua Monaco hot ginger is not a sour drink. Unfortunately you can’t find it that easy, but if you do, try one! You wont regret it. You can also order it if you are curious, they have a large variety of mixers for cocktails. 

I would use this to make a spicy Dark and stormy. 

1. Herbal  Moscow  

This is my favorite, because of its unique taste. It is not just ginger, it’s a whole bouquet of flavors. It has a lot of other herbs and flavors, and a persistent taste of cucumber, also it is not a sour drink. 

Unfortunately it is not an easy to find drink(in the Netherlands), but is definitely something that you should try!

I would use this to make a gin and “tonic” or a mojito with a twist. They are delicious. 

About bartending schools- yes or no?

In my opinion bartending schools are a no, paying a lot of money for getting the basics is not something you should do. 

Instead of paying money for someone to train 10- 20 people and couldn’t offer you specific attention, try finding a job where the bartender can train you one on one. 

Bartending courses/schools can be useful but they will not replace experience 

Of course there are exceptions, you can go and train in flaring, meet new people, create new connections and sometimes win contests that the schools are putting out.

Use free tools to learn about the basics of this job. First you should check our free course for beginners right here. You can also check YouTube, Udemy has some free bartending courses, you can follow bartenders on TikTok, you can Google “how to be a bartender” and I am sure you will find something!

Again, all this information might overwhelm you in the beginning that is why I am saying practice will help you more. Even if you just make some of the basic drinks at home. 

We got you covered there as well. We put together a list of recipes that a bartender should know and you can see it here.

Pros of bartending schools:

  • Networking space filled with people that have the same goals, hobbies, vision that you do
  • If you are a lazy person that doesn’t want to do research on their own, bartending schools have a curriculum and they will go through all the steps that you need to know to start being a bartender
  • Job hunting support 
  • Gets you a certification 

Cons of bartending schools 

  • Cost time
  • Cost money, usually a lot of money
  • For a lot of locations and managers their certifications are irrelevant 
  • It’s not required, you don’t have to do it and because it is something optional, a lot of employers thing the same
  • Experience is more relevant 

Instead of paying 400$ to 800$ to be in a group and not being able to have one-on-one training, if you really want to follow this path in your life, look for free courses, find a willing bartender to teach you and work together with. 

Yes it might be difficult, and a lot of locations will say you don’t have experience so they can’t hire you and in that moment you should tell them in their face that you will not get any experience if they will not give you a chance. It will be hard and frustrating at first. 


Starting from the bottom up it’s always hard but it is worth it!

Rehydrate with a lemonade

3 tasty lemonades to battle your hangover, cuz we all know how hard it is to bounce back sometimes. 

If you want to find out how to get better faster after a night of drinking you should read our article about how to battle a hangover. 

We know that making lemonade is not that hard, but sometimes you might want some inspiration. 

Let’s get to it. 

If you feel overwhelmed by the techniques or terms that we are using check out the free course on bartending. 

For the first lemonade we have to ways to make it: 

Berry lemonade

Ingredients 

  • 75 ml lemon juice 
  • 25 lime juice 
  • 10 ml simple syrup 
  • 50 ml water
  • Soda water 
  • 5 mint leaves
  • 3 raspberries
  • 2 blackberries 
  • 5 blueberries
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: red currants

Tools 

  • Muddler 
  • Spoon 
  • Collins glass

The how to 

In your glass add the mint leaves and all the berries except the garnish. With your muddler press them gently, until you see they are mixing. Add you lemon and lime juice, simple syrup and you 50 ml of water and give it a stir. Add your ice and top the glass with the sparkling water. Garnish with the red currants and enjoy.

Pro Berry lemonade

Ingredients 

  • 75 ml lemon juice 
  • 25 lime juice 
  • 10 ml simple syrup 
  • 50 ml water
  • Soda water 
  • 5 mint leaves
  • 3 raspberries
  • 2 blackberries 
  • 5 blueberries
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: red currants

Tools 

  • Shaker
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer
  • Bar spoon
  • Collins glass

The how to 

In your shaker add the mint  leaves and the berries, except the garnish. Pour in the lemon and lime juice and your simple syrup. Add 50 ml water and your ice and shake well. Double strain your mix over ice in your glass and top the glass with your soda water. Garnish with your red currants.

Spicy lemonade

Ingredients 

  • 75 ml lemon juice 
  • 25 lime juice 
  • 10 ml simple syrup 
  • 5-6 fresh ginger splices 
  • 5 mint leaves 
  • Soda water
  • Ice
  • Garnish: lime and lemon wheel, mint leaves.

Tools 

  • Muddler
  • Spoon
  • Collins glass

The how to 

In your glass add the ginger and press it firmly with your muddler. Add the mint leaves and press them gently. Pour in your lemon and lime juice, simple syrup and stir. Add ice to the glass and your soda water. Stir well and garnish as much as you want.

Orange vibe lemo

Ingredients 

  • 50 ml lemon juice 
  • 25 lime juice 
  • 50 ml orange juice 
  • 25 ml mandarin juice 
  • 10 ml simple syrup 
  • Soda water 
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: orange wheel

Tools 

  • Spoon
  • Collins glass

The how to 

In your glass all your juices and syrup. Stir well, add your ice and top the glass with your soda water. Garnish and enjoy.

3 Best Champagne Brunch Cocktail

For the times you are hosting brunch and you want to impress your friends we have made the best drinks for exactly this occasion. We will have something different than Mimosa or Bellini, both delicious but already known. 

Let’s get to it. 

If you feel overwhelmed by the techniques or terms that we are using check out the free course on bartending. 

Sparkling watermelon

Ingredients 

  • 25 ml Watermelon syrup
  • 25 ml Lime juice
  • 200 ml Champagne 
  • Garnish : 1 small watermelon triangle/ lime wheel

Tools 

  • Flute glass
  • Bar spoon

The how to 

In your chilled flute glass add all your ingredients except the garnish. Stir gently and garnish with water you have at hand from the watermelon cube or lime wheel.

Tipsy cherry

Ingredients 

  • 25 ml Maraschino cherry syrup
  • 50 ml Gin 
  • 175 ml Champagne 
  • Garnish : 1 maraschino cherry

Tools 

  • Flute glass

The how to 

In your chilled flute glass add all your gin and champagne. Pour the syrup and let your garnish sink in.

Under the sea

Ingredients 

  • 10 ml blue curacao syrup
  • 25 ml lime juice
  • 1 brown sugar cube
  • 200 ml Champagne 
  • Garnish : ½ lime wheel

Tools 

  • Flute glass
  • Bar spoon

The how to 

In your chilled flute glass add the sugar cube. Pour lime juice and the blue curacao syrup. Add the champagne, stir gently and garnish.

3 Bubble tea recipes

About bubble tea: 

  • tea-based drink originating in Taichung, Taiwan in the early 1980s
  • includes chewy tapioca balls or a wide range of other toppings
  • there are many varieties of the drink with a wide range of flavors

You can find them almost everywhere now. From the traditional ones all the way to the slushy type of bubble tea. 

The boba  balls you can make on your own or you can buy them already made. If you choose the tapioca calls you should definitely make a brown sugar syrup from then and if you go with the popping boba just choose your favourite flavour. 

Let’s get to it. 

Depending on the coup size the ratio of boba to liquid is 1 to 6. For a 500 ml cup is 83 ml. 

Tiger boba tea 

Ingredients 

  • 50 ml coconut vodka 
  • 25 ml coconut rum 
  • 75 ml cold coconut milk 
  • 75 ml matcha 
  • Ice: cubes and crushed 
  • Garnish: coconut flakes, corn syrup

Tools 

  • Shaker 
  • Cocktail strainer 
  • Tea strainer 
  • Rocks glass

The how to 

In your glass add the boba. Tilt your glass when you do that so the boba will leave a trail on the glass. 

Add your tea, milk and ice in your shaker and shake well.

Strain the mix in your serving glass. 

Green lavender 

Ingredients 

  • 85 g of green apple popping boba 
  • 450 ml green tea 
  • 25 ml lavender syrup 
  • 10 ml fresh lime juice 
  • Ice 

Tools 

  • Cup
  • Spoon
  • Shaker 
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer

The how to 

In your glass add the boba.

In your shaker add the green tea, the lavender syrup, lime juice and ice. Shake well, you need to form foam. 

Double strain the mix in the serving glass.

Just Peachy 

Ingredients 

  • 85 g of peach popping boba  
  • 250 ml black tea 
  • 25 ml peach syrup 
  • 25 ml orange juice 
  • 3 mint leaves 
  • 100 ml soda water(cold)

Tools 

  • Cup
  • Spoon
  • Shaker 
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer

The how to 

In your glass add the boba.

In your shaker add the black tea, peach syrup, orange juice, mint leaves . Add ice and shake well. 

Double strain the mix in the serving glass. Top the glass with the sparkling soda, poor it slowly using the walls of the glass. Do not mix.

3 After work cocktails

Did you have a stressful day at work and can’t get home fast enough? Want to chill on the couch with something nice and forget everything? We got you! 

There is nobody that knows better than us how a good cocktail can influence the day and make the stress melt away.

If you feel overwhelmed by the techniques or terms that we are using check out the free course on bartending. 

Let’s get to it! 

Pear and sour

Ingredients 

  • 2 oz whiskey 
  • 0.5 oz pear syrup 
  • 1 oz pear juice 
  • 0.5 oz lime juice 
  • 0.5 oz lemon juice 
  • 0.5 oz sambuca/ absinthe 
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: dry pear slice/ fresh thin pear slice

Tools 

  • Shaker 
  • Cocktail strainer 
  • Tea strainer 
  • Jigger 
  • Coupe glass

The how to 

  1. First we prepare your glass. Add ice until serving to cool it down.  
  2. In your shaker add the whiskey, pear syrup, pear juice lime juice, lemon juice and ice
  3. Shake well
  4. Dump the ice from your serving glass.
  5. Add the sambuca in and coat the walls of the glass with it. Throw it before serving. 
  6. Double strain the mix in your glass with no ice
  7. Add the thin pear slice in as garnish.

Basil fusion

Ingredients 

  • 5 basil leaves
  • 0.5 oz watermelon syrup
  • 1 oz orange liqueur 
  • 2 oz tequila 
  • 0.5 oz lime juice 
  • 0/5 oz grapefruit juice 
  • Ice 
  • Lime wedge 
  • Garnish: lime zest & salt, thin watermelon triangle

Tools 

  • Rocks glass
  • Jigger 
  • Shaker
  • Cocktail strainer 
  • Tea strainer

The how to 

  1. First we prepare the serving glass. Go around the rim with your lime wedge to make it sticky and tap it in a small pile of lime zest all around. 
  2. In your shaker add the watermelon syrup, tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, grapefruit juice, basil leaves and ice. 
  3. Shake well 
  4. Double strain the mix in your glass over ice
  5. Garnish with the extra basil leaves and watermelon triangle.

Mr. M Paradise

Ingredients 

  • 1 oz Pineapple juice 
  • 1 oz Mango nectar/ juice 
  • 0.5 oz Raspberry syrup 
  • 2 oz Rum
  • 0.5 oz Lime juice 
  • Ice 
  • Garnish: mint leaves, 2 extra raspberries

Tools 

  • Collins glass 
  • Shaker 
  • Cocktail strainer
  • Tea strainer

The how to 

  1. Add the raspberry syrup in your serving glass
  2. In your shaker add the pineapple juice, mango nectar, rum and lime juice.
  3. Add ice and shake well
  4. Double strain the mix in your glass over ice
  5. Garnish with the extra raspberries and mint leaves.