Thai Tea Recipe

The only difference in our recipe is that we’re using a little less sugar. But really, once you get the basics down on making Thai iced tea you can customize the flavors and concentration the way you like. It’s one of those recipes that is great no matter how you make it because it’s just so decadent and satisfying.

One of the key factors in making it like the restaurants is using authentic Thai tea mixes. These Thai tea mixes are normally dyed with yellow food coloring (look on the package) and that’s what gives it it’s bright orange color. Also, Thai tea has a vanilla aroma to it. So if you want to have the brilliant orange color and flavors like most of the Thai restaurants, then this is one of the brands of thai tea to buy : Panthai.

Ingredients:

Thai Tea Mix Ingredients:

• 1 cup (80g) Pantai Thai Tea Mix or 4 Black Tea bags
• 4 cups (950ml) Water
• 3/4 cup (150g) Sugar

Thai Tea Assembly:

• Pre-made Thai tea mix (see above)
• half and half (some folks also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk)
• ice

Directions:

Thai Tea Mix directions

1. Bring water to boil and add the thai tea mix or the 4 black tea bags. Add sugar and gently stir to completely dissolve sugar. Gently boil tea for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Allow tea to steep for at least 30 minutes and allow it to cool. The more concentrated the tea flavor, the better the Thai tea tastes.
3. If you are using the Thai tea mix, strain the tea leaves. Set finished Thai tea aside to cool.
4. If you are using black tea bags, remove the tea bags and set aside finished Thai tea to cool.
5. You can make this ahead of time and have the Thai tea chilling in the fridge.

Assembly directions

1. Fill glasses with ice.
2. Fill glass with about 3/4 full of the Thai tea mix. Then top off remainder of glass with half and half.
3. Stir and enjoy.

Beer's Knees Cocktail

Beer cocktails are all the rage right now, and we've found they're a great way to convince "beer only" drinkers that they might be cocktail people after all. We like this combination of Aviation gin, lemon, honey and Hefeweizen - we imagine it's floral, tart and sweet without being overwhelming. The Aviation folks say it pairs well with Buffalo chicken and football, so who are we to question that?

Ingredients:

1½ oz. Aviation American Gin
1 oz. Lemon juice
1 oz. Honey syrup*
3 oz. Widmer Hefeweizen

Directions:

In a pint glass, add spirits and mixers (through beer). Fill with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a collins glass filled with or without ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
*To make honey syrup: Combine equal portions of honey and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil until all the sugar has dissolved. Let cool.

Easy Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe with Espresso

Chances are if you walk into our house or work with us in our studio, you’ll end up sipping on some of our favorite coffee drinks. For the morning, a manual pressed espresso or cappuccino will start the day. In the afternoon when we start feeling sluggish, a Vietnamese iced coffee is the perfect “pick-me-up”. If you’ve never had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, it’s a combination of strong coffee and a hit of sweetened condensed milk, add iced and a super refreshing “ahh”.

It’s been a super busy summer and when the two o’clock hour rolls along, we’re reaching for the iced coffee like it’s going out of style.

Speaking of Summer, we still can’t believe August is already here and we’re heading towards the holidays. Isn’t that terrible to already be thinking of the holidays?! We’re in no rush in any way to be pushing Summer away, but when we were shopping for some Summer props the other day, the stores were already stocking their shelves with faux pumpkins, autumn leaves and some Halloween items. We’re not ready to be giving up sweet corn, stone fruit and watermelon just yet, so why drop all this bounty and hang faux pumpkins? It just doesn’t feel right.

So in continuous celebration of this glorious warm weather and longer days on the beach, we’re sharing with you our easy method of making Vietnamese Iced Coffee.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoon Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 oz. Espresso
• Ice

Directions:

1. Pour the sweetened condensed milk in a glass. Add the hot espresso and stir to combine.
2. Taste and adjust to preference. Add ice and serve.

Margarita Recipe and The Magic Formula – Bitters

Call me suckered, hoodwinked, or duped. I believe in magic potions. A man hawking small bottles of potion, proclaiming outlandish results. Out of curiosity, I skeptically try the potion.

A few shakes in a cocktail drink. A cocktail I am very familiar with, but with a mere few dashes of this elixir it became something new. Better. Incredibly delicious.

Cocktail Bitters have been known to many much more savvy than I, but for me it is an exciting new world. A mystical potion which marries the ingredients of a cocktail together. Just about anytime I find a bar making exceptional cocktails drinks, it is almost a guarantee that they have a beautiful stock of bitters frequently reached for behind the bar. Often times, there are bitters they are making themselves amongst the bottles.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz Resposada or Anejo Tequila
• 1 1/2 oz fresh Lime Juice
• 1 oz Simple Syrup
• 3 dashes Orange Bitters
• kosher salt or sea salt for the rim

Directions:

1. Rub the rim of an old fashioned glass (or whatever glass you prefer) with an edge of a lime slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of kosher or sea salt to salt the rim. Add one or two large cubes into the glass.
2. Combine tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, and bitters in an ice filled shaker.
3. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds, then strain into the salted glass. Serve or drink immediately and with leisure.
*a basic simple syrup is simply a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. One cup sugar dissolved in one cup of water. This can always be modified for preferred taste and experimentation, but this is a good starting point.

Calcutta’s Taxi

I just read in the India Times that the color of the iconic taxis in Kolkata is to be shortly changed from yellow to blue and white.

Imagine! Although there are new models in the taxi business, most of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated yellow painted Hindustan Ambassadors and I wager their owners and drivers are raising hue and cry at the government's decision. To add further insult to injury, the West Bengal government is reported to be planning to introduce a new fleet of 2,000 cabs in the city which could never refuse passengers, citing late hours, inclement weather or whatever pretext.

So perhaps as a swan's song to these venerable workhorses and for the 'fiddled-with' meters,I often used these yellow taxis to travel from one end of Kolkata to the other during my Durga Puja Photo Expedition-Workshop in October 2011, and I recall an occasion when seated in the front seat alongside the driver, I almost passed out from the heat spewed out by the motor's heat of the old and ill-maintained Ambassador. Obviously there was no air conditioning, nor were the open windows any help whatsoever in Kolkata's heat and humidity.

Drink Up! Spring Cocktail Recipes

Peeling off my coat and feeling the sun on my skin for the first time in months are just two of my favorite things about spring. My all-time favorite springtime happenings are the first gatherings with friends, where we relax al fresco, catch up on conversation and breathe in the fresh air. What is the perfect cocktail for an outdoor spring fete? Funny you should ask! Party Bluprints Moscow Mule Sit outside on the new green grass and sip! The twist is substituting fresh squeezed juice from an orange instead of the traditional lime. The combination of the orange, ginger and fizz makes for a fun, light and springy cocktail that is sure to tickle your guests’ taste buds and appetite.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 oz. vodka
• 4 oz. ginger beer
• 1 orange slice (garnish)

Preparation

Juice oranges and set juice aside. Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add fresh juice, followed by the vodka. Top with ginger beer and garnish with an orange slice.

The Original Margarita – Party Bluprints Blog

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz. 100% blue agave plata tequila
• 3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1-1/4 oz. Cointreau

Preparation

Shake together all ingredients with fresh ice cubes in a cocktail shaker until well chilled, about a count of 10. Take one of the lime rinds and run it around the outside edge of a cocktail glass (Be careful to avoid the inside of the glass, or you’ll have salt in your drink.) Dip the edge of the glass into Kosher salt (iodized table salt just won’t work) so that half of the outside edge of the glass is coated. Strain the drink into the glass. You can also mix up a pitcher and serve in a rock glass with ice.

Tropical Sangria Recipe

Yield: 1 cocktail

Cook Time: 2 min.

This recipe is based off of what we had at the workshop (apples, mango, and mint) and came together in a delicious sangria. To compliment the mango and mint, we used a touch of white rum and lime to fortify the sangria. This gets even better if made in large batches and allowed to combined flavors over a couple hours before serving.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. White Wine (Sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or other crisp white)
• 1 oz. White Rum
• 1/2 oz. fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon diced Apples
• 1 Tablespoon diced Mango
• 2 lrg Mint leaves, chopped
• 2 oz. Club Soda

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except club soda and mix until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. When ready to serve, pour over ice and finish with club soda.