Drinks Archives | GFF Magazine

Pink Paloma Cocktail

Erika — Tue, 21 May 2024 22:48:00 +0000

The Paloma, a vibrant tequila-based drink, is a Mexican staple perfect for any warm-weather occasion. Its name translates to “dove” in Spanish, hinting at its light and refreshing character. This crowd-pleasing gluten-free cocktail is a beautiful balance of tangy citrus and sweet grapefruit flavors, leaving you feeling cool and satisfied after every sip.

Traditionally made with tequila, grapefruit soda, lime juice, and a pinch of salt, the paloma offers endless possibilities for customization. Experiment with different tequilas, grapefruit sodas, and sweeteners to create your perfect version. Like what? Try these:

Fruity Twists: Swap grapefruit soda for other fruit sodas or juices like pineapple, blood orange, or even guava! For a more natural touch, use fresh-squeezed juices and adjust the sweetness with a touch of simple syrup.

Spicy Paloma: Add a kick to your gluten-free Paloma with muddled jalapeño slices or a splash of your favorite gluten-free hot sauce.

Smoky Paloma: For a deeper flavor profile, substitute naturally smoky mezcal for tequila. Gluten-free Ancho Reyes liqueur, a chile-infused poblano liqueur, can also add a subtle smoky layer.

Herbal Paloma: For a refreshing twist, muddle a few mint or rosemary leaves in your shaker for a touch of herbal intrigue.

So, grab your favorite highball glass, gather a few simple ingredients, and get ready to experience the magic of the Paloma!

Pink Paloma Cocktail

This perky pink traditional Mexican gluten-free cocktail by our Bay Area bartender friend Jeff Burkhart features tequila, grapefruit juice, bubbly water, and a hint of sweetness — perfect for brunch or a sunny happy hour. Bonus: provided you use good-quality tequila with no additives, it's naturally gluten-free.

Servings

Calories 152kcal

Ingredients

1 lime wedge
Kosher salt
1 1/2 ounces organic blanco tequila
2 ounces freshly squeezed red grapefruit juice
1/4 ounce organic agave syrup
1/2 ounce sparkling water
1/4 grapefruit wheel for garnish

Instructions

Salt the rim of a tall Collins glass by slitting a lime wedge in the middle and running the slit around the rim of the glass.
Dip the moistened rim in a small plate of kosher salt and shake off the excess.
Combine the tequila, grapefruit juice, and agave syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to combine and pour into the Collins glass. Top with the sparkling water and garnish with the grapefruit wheel.

Nutrition

Tropical Turmeric Smoothie Recipe

Erika — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:24:57 +0000

Pineapple and mango inject lively island flavor into this sexy-healthy turmeric smoothie recipe, while turmeric lends anti-inflammatory perks. For the best results, use very ripe fruit.

Tropical Turmeric Smoothie

Servings

Author Niki Ford

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups packed baby spinach leaves
1-1/2 cups coconut water, chilled
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 Granny Smith apple, seeded, stemmed, and chopped
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen mango cubes
1 cup frozen pineapple cubes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Blend the spinach and coconut water together until smooth. Add the turmeric, apple, banana, mango, pineapple, and lemon juice. Blend on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute.

Photography Paul Sirsalee

Stone Fence Cocktail

Erika — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 01:32:00 +0000

Embrace the autumnal spirit with this quintessential fall gluten-free rum cocktail, perfect for holiday gatherings. Crafted for us by chef Jessica Koslow of LA’s Sqirl restaurant and featuring a warming combo of dark rum, apple cider, and a touch of nutmeg, it’s all the coziness of the fall-winter season crafted into a delicious drink. Whether enjoyed on a crisp evening or shared at festive holiday parties, this pretty potion is perfect for the joyous celebrations of the season.

Stone Fence Cocktail

Rum, apple cider, and nutmeg converge to create the quintessential autumnal cocktail.

Servings

Ingredients

11/2 ounces dark rum brandy, or bourbon
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2 cup apple cider preferably fresh-pressed, chilled
Ice
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Instructions

In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum, bitters, apple cider, and 2 ice cubes. Shake, pour into a champagne flute, garnish with nutmeg, and serve.

Photo Aubrie Pick

Johnny’s Ginger Fizz Gluten-Free Recipe

Erika — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 20:04:00 +0000

Here’s reason to raise a glass! This gluten free cocktail by our friend John Gaines isn’t too sweet yet captures the flavors and festivity of the holidays.

Johnny’s Ginger Fizz Gluten-Free Recipe

MAKES 1 COCKTAIL

Author John Gaines

Ingredients

3/4 ounce ginger liqueur
3/4 ounce Amaro Averna
1-1/2 ounces sparkling apple juice, chilled
3 ounces dry sparkling wine, chilled
Cinnamon stick, for garnish
Orange peel twist, for garnish

Instructions

Pour the ginger liqueur and Averna into a champagne flute. For an ombré effect, pour the apple juice slowly down the inside of the glass, then do the same with the sparkling wine. Add a cinnamon stick and an orange twist and serve.

Photography Craig Lee

Sparkling Pomegranate-Rose Cocktail Recipe

Erika — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 21:20:00 +0000

This floral-scented, pink, Persian-inspired sipper is a celebration of juicy-tart elegance in the perfect gluten free cocktail.

Sparkling Pomegranate-Rose Cocktail

Servings

Calories 66kcal

Author Eric Lundy

Ingredients

750- milliliter bottle sparkling wine
1 cup pomegranate juice (such as POM Wonderful)
¼ cup rose water
24 pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)
1 tablespoon dried edible rose petals, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Fill a wine flute with 3 ounces sparkling wine, or about halfway. Add 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice, 1½ teaspoons rose water, 3 pomegranate seeds, and a pinch of rose petals. Repeat to make 8 drinks and serve.

Nutrition

Photography Aubrie Pick

Black Manhattan Cocktail

Erika — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 20:28:00 +0000

Many will agree there are few things greater than a well-made Manhattan cocktail. Slightly sweet and wholly seductive, they go down easy, which is both good and bad since they’re seriously potent. Still, everyone should know how to make a great gluten free Manhattan, and our friend and famed Bay Area bartender Jeff Burkhart shows you how it’s done.

But wait! Manhattans use whiskey. How can they be GF, you wonder? Here’s how: It’s widely agreed that grain alcohol’s distillation process eliminates any reaction-causing proteins found in gluten, so distilled alcohol is considered GF. The exception is when additional ingredients containing gluten have been added after the fact, which can be the case with flavored or blended spirits. Our advice? If you’re unsure, research before you revel.

Black Manhattan Cocktail

To get the fancy look of the cherry frozen in the ice cube requires you freeze the cherry in an ice cube tray with water before you make this drink. (Obviously, you will want to make a batch of these, rather than one, if you are including this step.) Too impatient (we know the feeling)? Skip the process, put a cherry in the bottom of the glass before you add the cocktail, carry on with the recipe, then drink up!

Servings

Equipment

1 6-cube ice cube tray

Ingredients

6 all-natural maraschino cherry with stem
2 ounces good rye whiskey
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce amaro an Italian digestif; try Averna Amaro or Fernet Branca

Instructions

Place the maraschino cherry in an ice cube tray with water and freeze it.
Place the ice cube in the bottom of a double old fashioned glass. Combine the whiskey, sweet vermouth, and amaro in a mixing glass with ice. Strain it over the cherry ice cube and serve.

Photo Maren Caruso

Cardamom-Spiked Pink Panther

Erika — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 17:35:00 +0000

Sometimes the simplest combinations are the most delicious. This is certainly true for this refreshing cocktail, which marries gin, grapefruit juice, and cardamom. It’s amazing how the addition of one simple spice can completely change and elevate a flavor profile. Make this brunch- or happy-hour-ready gluten free cocktail and taste for yourself.

Cardamom-Spiked Pink Panther Gluten-Free Recipe

This simple yet divine cocktail easily satisfies crowds, especially if you squeeze and refrigerate the juice in advance.

Servings

Calories 91kcal

Author Gayle Pirie and John Clark

Ingredients

1-1/2 ounces gin, chilled
4 ounces freshly squeezed pink-grapefruit juice, chilled
Pinch of ground cardamom
1 cardamom seed, pod discarded, lightly crushed, for garnish
1 strip Meyer lemon peel, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

In a chilled martini glass, combine the gin and grapefruit juice. Stir in the cardamom powder and garnish with the cardamom seed and lemon peel.

Nutrition

Photography Aubrie Pick

Blueberry-Rosemary Lemonade

Erika — Tue, 31 May 2022 13:55:00 +0000

Wow friends and neighbors at sidewalk sales, brunches, or picnics with this deliciously modern take on the warm-weather classic. Add vodka and sub bubbly water for the 2 cups water in this lemonade recipe and you’ve got the perfect happy hour thirst-quencher.

Blueberry-Rosemary Lemonade Gluten-Free Recipe

MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS

Ingredients

1 cup fresh blueberries
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 (2-inch) sprig rosemary
1-1/4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 15 lemons), strained
Ice

Instructions

In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, rosemary, and 1/4 cup water over medium-low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are soft and broken down, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
Strain the blueberry syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher, gently pressing down on the solids to extract the juice. Stir the lemon juice and 2 cups water into the pitcher. Add ice and serve.

Photography Erin Ng

Apricot-Ginger Mojito

Erika — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 14:27:19 +0000

A traditional mojito–also known as a Cuban highball–is made of white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and mint. This adaptation puts a particularly summery twist on the summer classic by adding the vibrant, jammy flavors of apricot and the spicy-exotic kick of ginger via a quick apricot-ginger syrup. Though the mint takes a back seat as a perky garnish, you can heighten its flavor by bruising it a bit (mashing it) in the cocktail.

Apricot-Ginger Mojito

For this bright, summery, and seductive recipe by GFF editor Cindy Rice’s son, Spencer, you make and use an apricot-ginger simple syrup. Feel free to make extra and use it as you wish. It’s lovely for virgin cocktails, too.

Servings

Calories 218kcal

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1 apricot seeded, peeled, and mashed
1- inch piece ginger cut into coins
Juice of 2 limes
6 ounces vodka
Seltzer water, plain or lime-flavored
Ice
Mint leaves for garnish
1 lemon sliced into wheels, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Make an apricot simple syrup: in a small pot, combine the sugar, ½ cup water, the mashed apricot, and the ginger. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain into a bowl, discarding the solids, and let cool.
To the cooled bowl of syrup, add the juice of 2 limes and the vodka. Mix well.
To serve, fill 4 glasses with ice, divide the vodka mixture among the glasses, top with seltzer, garnish with mint leaves and lemon wheels, and serve.

Nutrition

Foreign Cinema Restaurant’s Crazy Coffee

Erika — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:25:00 +0000

In the very early days of San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema restaurant, this coffee recipe — infused with heady notes of cardamom, allspice, and clove –fueled the restaurant team’s sixteen-hour shifts and fed their caffeine and spice appetites in one sip. To surprise your senses, do as they do and add ras el hanout (“top of the shop”) spice mix to your favorite coffee grinds before brewing.

Foreign Cinema Restaurant’s Crazy Coffee

The simple addition of an exotic spice blend can parlay everyday coffee into an experience. Try this recipe by the chef's of Foreign Cinema resturant to amp up your morning cup of joe.

Servings

Author Gayle Pirie and John Clark

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Ras el Hanout (below)
1-1/2 cups freshly ground medium-bodied coffee

Instructions

Combine the spice mix and the ground coffee. Use 5 cups of water to prepare the coffee using your preferred method.

Ras el Hanout

MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP Store this spice mix for up to 1 month in an airtight container, and add it to your coffee grounds before brewing for a potent, perky cup o’ joe.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ground cardamom
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons sumac
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground star anise
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground culinary lavender
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground white pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Instructions

Mix together all of the ingredients.

Photography Aubrie Pick