Rooibos Cocktail at The Aviary In Chicago.

Like a mad scientist's hot toddy, the Rooibos is a mix of Rooibos tea, lemon peel, orange peel, almond, vanilla, lemon verbena, mint, saffron, lavender, peppercorn, cardamom, Hendrick's gin, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, citric acid, simple syrup, and water. A vac pot, which has an upper and a lower chamber is placed at the table, dry ingredients in the top chamber and wet in the bottom. And because playing with fire at a table full of booze has to be the most dangerously fun idea ever, a small gas burner is placed under the lower chamber to bring it to a boil. Once boiling, it forms a vacuum, drawing the liquid into the top chamber and is flash infused, turning a cheery orange and filling the air with citrus and aromatics. After a quick stir with a cinnamon stick the burner is turned off, the liquid drops back into the pot and the cocktail gets poured. It's redolent of citrus, with a solid herbal punch from the gin and a nice subtle spice underlying the whole thing. It's the perfect antidote for chilly spring evenings and as it cools it gets an almost old school orange candy flavor. Plus, it's far more fun to watch than anyone could expect, especially under dim lounge lighting.

Ginger & Cardamom Sugar

Next Time you Make a Mojito Try it with Ginger and Cardamom Sugar,
It will blow away your taste buds. 

Ingredients: 


Dissolve 2 cups of sugar in 2 cups of hot water
Add 1lb. peeled Ginger, Sliced (Wafer-thin)
Add 2 Cinnamon Sticks
Add 1/4 cup of Cardamom Pods
Add 1 tbsp. of Chili Powder

Spice up your Cocktails with Cardamom. IV

CARDAMOM PEAR MARTINI

INGREDIENTS:

• Quarter of a pear
• 1 Cardamom pod
• 2 oz Vodka
• .33 oz Simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water)
• 1 dash Lemon bitters
• .5 oz Fresh lemon juice

Garnish: Pear fan
Glass: Martini

PREPARATION:

In a shaker, muddle the pear and cardamom . Add the remaining ingredients and fill with ice. Shake, and double strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a pear fan.

spice up your Cocktails with Cardamom. III

Panaka Punch, submitted byPanfusine

1 oz chilled Lemon flavored Vodka
2 oz Domain de Canton Ginger liqueur
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon powdered dry ginger
2-3 pods Cardamom (seeds lightly crushed)
1/2 a lime ( juice squeezed )
3 ounces chilled sparkling water or lime flavored seltzer

Muddle the brown sugar, cardamom seeds, ginger powder and lime juice till the sugar dissolves. add the vodka, and ginger liqueur along with the seltzer/sparkling water. Strain into glasses (rimmed with sugar if desired) & serve chilled.

Spice up your Cocktails with Cardamom.

Taken from: http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/from-cardigans-to-cardamom-its-cardamom/#ixzz1b4WyrK3M

The best way to use cardamom in a cocktail is through an infused simple syrup, but now we are going to up the ante. We will "pile on" and make a rich simple syrup which is exactly how it sounds. Whereas simple syrup is one part sugar dissolved in one part water, rich simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water. Simple and sweet.

When making a cardamom simple syrup, boil one cup of water and 1/4 cup of cardamom seeds (not powder), and dissolve two cups of sugar in the water. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain to remove the seeds.

My first introduction to gin with that touch of cardamom was at the Tribeca Grand Lounge. Their Gin and Sin is a misnomer of a cocktail because there is no sin when there's gin.

Here is a close approximation to the Tribeca's Gin and Sin:

2 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. cardamom simple syrup
1 oz. blood orange juice

The more common navel orange will do just as well, but always remember to use fresh squeezed fruit juice, whether lemon or orange, in your drinks.

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake 'til a frost forms on the outside. Pour over a cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange wheel. Very easy and very summery. This is a cocktail you can make by the pitcher for entertaining. Feel free to change the name for the family picnic.

Another, more elaborate and even more flavorful, cardamom cocktail (oh, the alliteration!) is the South Sixth, an Adam Schuman creation, found at Fatty 'Cue, his Brooklyn restaurant. The drink was featured in a recent New York Times slideshow.

South Sixth:

2 oz. gin (or vodka)
2 cucumber slices (1/16 in. thick)
2 basil leaves
1 oz. cardamom simple syrup
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. ginger beer

Muddle cucumber, basil and simple syrup in a pint glass.

Add gin and lemon juice. Shake over ice for ten seconds. Double strain into iced highball glass. Top with ginger beer and garnish with cucumber wheel. Serve on patio.

This is another cocktail that benefits from sitting around on ice. Make a pitcherful for your guests. There is a lot of herbaceous flavor going on here between the cucumber and the basil. It's as if you wandered into the neighbor's garden.  There are gardens in Brooklyn, you know.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/from-cardigans-to-cardamom-its-cardamom/page-2/#ixzz1b4Xw2B7w