Leo Season Cocktails

It’s Leo season! Here are three cocktail recipes the Leo in your life is sure to love. Don’t worry - we’re happy to make ourselves a drink and one for you if you are lucky enough to bask in our presence ;). All jokes aside, these cocktails are all crowd pleasers - try one of these cocktail recipes below!

BORN A STAR

You’re the star of the show, dear Leo!

via Imbibe by Adam Fournier, Fellow, Los Angeles

In your shaker, add:

1 oz vodka

1/2 oz vanilla syrup

3/4 oz passion fruit-mamey (or mango) syrup

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and double strain to a chilled coupe glass. Top with sparkling wine.

VANILLA SYRUP: Split the vanilla beans in half and scrape the insides. Steep the spent vanilla and beans in 2 1/4 cups of hot water for approximately ten minutes or to taste. Strain the vanilla out with a fine or mesh strainer. Whisk infused water together with 2 1/4 cups sugar until fully incorporated. Store in a clean glass container under refrigeration for up to 3 weeks.

PASSION FRUIT-MAMEY (or MANGO) SYRUP: Blend 2 1/2 cups of passion fruit puree, 1 3/4 cups of mamey, and 1 cup of sugar until fully mixed. Pass through a chinois. Keep in a clean glass container. Refridgerate for up to 3 weeks. If mamey is unavailable, mango can be substituted.

CHARTREUSE SWIZZLE

The sign of Leo is associated with the lucky green gemstone, peridot, which is naturally a similar shade to the famous French liqueur, Chartreuse.

Build in glass:

1 1/2 Green Chartreuse

1/2 oz Falernum liqueur

11/2 oz pineapple juice

3/4 oz lime juice

Fill about 3/4 full with crushed ice. Stir together with bar spoon or swizzle stick. Top with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

LION’S TAIL

An oldie but a goodie, this cocktail recipe appears in a 1937 cocktail book, “The Café Royal Cocktail Book”, but is rumored to have been created before Prohibition. Leos are bound to love this namesake cocktail. Garnish with a flamed orange zest to capture the Leo’s fiery heart.

In your shaker, add:

2 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz allspice dram

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Shake well with ice and double strain to a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist (or better yet, flamed orange zest!)

ENJOY!