Beverage Recipes

I always seem to have a beverage beside me. Good hot strong coffee in the morning, (what would I do without my wonderful coffee?) A soda or ice water later in the day and some lemon honey tea sometimes in the evening. Some of the best beverages can only be consumed in the cold months.. like Hot Mulled Apple Cider, and hot chocolate! I am going to try to find some amazing recipes to add to the ones I already have. First things First.. Coffee! hugs Rainy

Beverage Recipes

1. Perfect coffee
2. Hot mulled apple cider with spiced butter
3. Homemade Lemonade
4. Sun Tea
5. Hit-The-Spot Lemon Water
6. Fizzy Mint Chocolate Soda


Candied Apples

buttonPerfect Coffee

To make a perfect cup of coffee
every time! You will need:

Source: Ezine Articles
  • A drip coffee maker
  • A Stainless steel or gold mesh coffee filter, brown
    unbleached paper if you are insistent on paper
  • A stash of vinegar and baking soda for cleaning
  • A good quality whole bean coffee bean
    not the 1.99 a pound kind
  • Fresh clean filtered water
  • 30 minutes of you time (start to finish)
First off, almost any drip coffee maker will work. The 19.99 one all the way to the 99.99 ones all do the same thing. They heat the water and siphon it over coffee grounds. As the water is soaked into the coffee, picking up the flavor it is then drained through a filter into a glass pot. Honestly the coffee pot is not what makes the cup of coffee. If what you are looking for is the best tasting cup of coffee for your money and time, here is how to do it yourself.

A clean glass coffee pot is what you need to start off with. To clean this well, you need to place about ¼ cup of baking soda into the glass pot and with your fingers add a few drops of water. Use your fingers to spread the baking soda all over the pot, up the sides and such. After you have used this as a mild abrasive, add 1 cup of vinegar. Swirl and swish allowing the baking soda and vinegar to bubble away. Next, use a clean cloth to wash the inside of the glass pot. Now, rinse well under hot water. When you think it has been thoroughly rinsed, give it one more good rinse. We are trying to make sure our pot is clean with no residues of soaps, coffee oils, or vinegar and baking soda. A clean pot will make a lot of difference. No more washing the pot once a week, or just running it under the water and calling it good.

Second step to a great cup of coffee is the filter you use. Most of us buy the cheap white 150 for 1.25 coffee filters. Why are they cheap? Because, they are not good. Not only are they paper, but they add chlorine and bleach, and starches to your coffee. How are you supposed to have a good cup of coffee if you add those things to it. I recommend a metal strainer. Gold mesh or stainless steel is good. These are a little more expensive, but are not disposable so you can reuse them for a good long time. Average cost for these run 12.99-19.99. Clean these the same as the coffee pot. Rinse well!

Third step to a great cup of coffee is using good filtered water. I am not saying you need to use bottled water. But getting a Brita filter and filtering your water before brewing will take the extra minerals and chlorine and any other extras often found in tap water. Since coffee is mainly water that is heated and flavored doesn't it make sense to use good quality clean water?

And of course the last step to a great cup of coffee is using a good whole bean coffee. No, coffee that is sitting on the shelf at Safeway will not do. You need to buy coffee beans from a good small company that buys their coffee in small batches, that are roasted daily or weekly. Only then can you be sure that the coffee you are getting is fresh. Choosing coffee this way runs about $12 a pound. But remember this is whole bean, you are getting a lot of coffee for the price. Grinding your own coffee bean at home is the best way to assure your very own perfect cup of coffee.

One more tip, do not reheat your brewed coffee, or leave it on for hours and hours. Brew only enough coffee that you will drink within the hour or so. Reheating and micro waving coffee just breaks the coffee down even faster. Yes, coffee does break down. When this happens you end up with a strong, sour taste. Not the perfect cup if you ask me. How do you brew just a few cups of coffee at a time? For every 6 ounces of water you add to your pot, add only 2 tablespoons of fresh ground coffee beans to the filter. When putting the ground coffee beans into the filter make sure it is level and spread evenly across the bottom of the filter. This assures even brewing. You now have no excuse to not enjoy your own perfect cup of coffee.


Hot Mulled Apple Cider

The photo above is without the spiced butter, so you
will have to imagine what it would look like with the butter!:)

buttonHot Mulled Apple Cider

One of lifes most pleasant experiences is sitting before a roaring fireplace on a cold Winter's night enjoying a wonderful steaming cup of Hot Mulled Apple Cider, the following recipes is one of the very best I have found, and if it's not already wonderful, the added spiced butter tops it off. I almost wish for a cold night! lol
  • 2 Qt fresh apple cider
  • 1/4 Cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/2 Tsp whole cloves
  • 1/2 Tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/2 Tsp grated nutmeg
  • Zest of 1 orange, Peeled In Spiral

Spiced Butter

  • 1/2 cups (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine the cider, light brown sugar, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and orange zest in a large pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Strain the spices from the mixture and discard. Return the cider to pan and keep warm. The cider is ready to be served as is.

If the cider is to be embellished with the spiced butter, cream the butter and dark brown sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the spices and continue beating 1 minute more. Float a heaping teaspoon of the butter on top of each serving of hot cider. Store any leftover butter in the refrigerator for future batches of mulled cider. Serves 8
Homemade Lemonade

buttonHomemade Lemonade

  • 6 juicy lemons
  • 1 Cup sugar
  • 6 Cup water
  • mint sprigs
Scrub the lemons well and cut into halves. Place in a heat-resistant 2- quart pitcher. Add the sugar. Bring the water to a boil in a suacepan. Pour it over the lemons, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cool for 30 minutes. Squeeze the juice from the lemons into the pitcher and discard the lemons. Serve over ice in tall glasses. Garnish with mint. Add a dash of grenadine for pink lemonade.




Beverages

Frrrozen Hot Choclate

buttonFrrrozen Hot Chocolate

NOTE : Recipe created by Serendipity 3
Restaurant Seen on Ophrah's Show

  • 6 1/2 Ounce Pieces Of A Variety
    Of Chocolate, 1/2 Ounces Pieces
  • 2 Tsp of store-bought hot chocolate mix
  • 1 1/2 Tbl sugar
  • 1 1/2 Cup milk
  • 3 Cup of cups of ice
  • Whipped cream
  • Chocolate shavings
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar. Stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and slowly add one half cup of milk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the room-temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Serve with Straws and ooohs and aaaahs!

One sip of this cool concoction had Oprah wanting to "dance on the chandeliers!" After 50 years of keeping the recipe for its Frrrozen Hot Chocolate a secret, Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City finally spills the beans on how to make this much-loved drink at home. And it's super-simple!

Suntea

YUMMY!

buttonSun Tea

Source: Simply Recipes

Put at least 6 tea bags into a clean 2 quart glass container. Fill with water (preferably filtered bottled water) and cap. Place outside where the sunlight can strike the container for about 3 to 5 hours. Move the container if necessary to keep it in the sun. When the tea has reached its desired strength, remove from sun and put it in the refrigerator. You may or may not want to remove the tea bags at this point. I usually don't.

The tea will probably taste more mellow than what you are used to from using boiling water. The slow seeping has a way of bringing out a slightly different flavor from the tea. Also, because you didn't use boiling water, you should refrigerate the tea and drink it up pretty quickly - a day or two. It will not keep as well as iced tea made from boiling water.

I usually make sun tea with various forms of herbal tea like Peach or Mango. Sometimes you can put in a few sprigs of fresh mint as well.
Hit-The-Spot Lemon Water

button Hit-The-Spot Lemon Water

  • 4 lemons, sliced
  • 1 1/2 Cups firmly packed fresh mint
  • 6 To 8 Cups bottled water
  • 6 To 8 Cups ice cubes
  • 1 1/2 Cups Fresh mint sprigs
Place lemon slices in a large pitcher. Carefully rub the 1-1/2 cups mint leaves between the palms of your hands to lightly bruise the leaves. Add to the pitcher with lemon. Pour in water. Cover and chill for 1 to 8 hours. Strain lemon-water mixture. Discard herbs. Divide lemon slices and additional fresh mint sprigs equally among 6 to 8 tall glasses or pint-sized canning jars. For each serving, add 1 cup of ice cubes; fill with the lemon water. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

buttonFizzy Mint Chocolate Soda

  • 4 Milk Chocolate Curls
  • 1/4 Cup Chocolate flavored Syrup
  • 2 Cup Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
  • 2 Cup Carbonated Water

Note: Look for carbonated Seltzer like the bartenders use

Prepare milk chocolate curls, set aside. For each serving, pour 1 tsp of chocolate syrup into tall glasses. Add 1 scoop ice cream, add another 2 tsp of chocolate syrup, top with another scoop of ice cream. Slowly pour 1/2 cup carbonated water into each glass. Garnish each glass with chocolate curls. Makes 4 Servings. Yummy!
Spicy hot chocolate.jpg

buttonSpicy Hot Chocolate

  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons ginger powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Whipped Cream for Top
  • Sweetened Cocoa for Top
Put first 6 ingredients together in a jar or container and shake to mix. Once ingredients are mixed, use a sifter to blend and break down lumps. Store in jar or container. Add (to taste) to a hot cup of your favorite milk, Top with whipped Cream and give it a sprinkle of Sweetened Cocoa. This recipe is not overly sweet, so if you like a sweeter cocoa be sure to add more sugar. The cayenne gives the drink a nice little kick!