If you’ve never had a chocolate tequila cocktail, today’s the day: July 24th is National Tequila Day.

Since the Margarita cocktail has its own holiday (National Margarita Day is February 22nd), celebrate with a different tequila cocktail.

Beyond the Margarita, some of the most popular tequila cocktails are:

 
And now, the Mint Chocolate Black Barrel.
 
 
RECIPE: MINT CHOCOLATE BLACK BARREL COCKTAIL

The Mint Chocolate Black Barrel, developed by Hornitos Tequila, uses Hornitos Black Barrel tequila, a premium aged añejo (here are the different expressions of tequila).

First, the tequila is aged in traditional American Oak barrels for 12 months. Then, it spends four months in deep charred oak barrels (the “black barrels”).

Finally, it spends two more months in specially toasted barrels, which engender more depth and complexity.

All this aging produces a rich, smoky flavor and a golden amber color.

It’s Easy to drink and unforgettably smooth, it is an elegant sipping tequila. So if you don’t feel like chocolate today, just pour the tequila over ice.
 
Ingredients Per Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. LIGHTLY MUDDLE 3-5 mint leaves in a shaker. Add the remaining ingredients except the garnish, and shake vigorously.

2. STRAIN into a martini glass and garnish with a strawberry.

[1] Better for dessert than a pre-dinner drink (photo © Hornitos Tequila).

[2] Hornitos Black Barrel is an elegant sipping tequila (both photos © Beam Suntory).

[3] How about some chocolate-covered strawberries to serve with the cocktail (photo © Balducci’s).

A chocolate cocktail is too sweet to serve as an apéritif. We prefer it as an after-dinner drink.

If you want to pair it with dessert, keep the dessert simple. You don’t want flavors that compete with the cocktail, but flavors that complement it.

If you’re a chocoholic, you can serve it with a simple chocolate dessert, like a bundt. Otherwise, consider:

 
How about a plate with three small bites of different desserts?
 
 
>THE HISTORY OF TEQUILA

>THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEQUILA

[1] Framboise and raspberry club soda with fresh raspberries.

[2] Lemonade and limoncello with fresh lemon and mint (both photos © RawPixel.com | Pexels).

We were trying to clear out a pantry closet filled with alcohol, which included bottles and bottles of things we rarely use.

 
So what do do with half-filled bottles of scotch, unopened bottles of bourbon, and a dozen bottles of never-used liqueurs?

Give them away. Nobody we offered them to turned them down, even when there were just two inches left in the bottle.

But we did hold back a few bottles of liqueur to try out today’s tip: liqueur spritzers.

We had a mix-your-own cocktail party where the ingredients were:

 
We provided rocks glasses, even though these normally would be tall drinks. But in order to see if you like what you’ve mixed, smaller is better.
 
 
THE RESULTS

A good time was had by all.

 
And a party bonus: Everyone went home with one or more bottles of liqueurs and spirits.

Do you have bottles that are sitting around, gathering dust?

Now you have a plan, perfect for idling on the patio or around the pool.

Over the weekend, we made batches of these cocktail recipes from bartender Wells Adams of Bachelor in Paradise.

Wells partnered with Tropicana to craft two juicy cocktails: Tropicana’s Tequila Sunset and Wells’ Watermelon Spritz.

Both of our pitchers were emptied within an hour!

You can turn either cocktail into a mocktail by substituting ginger ale for the alcohol.
 
 
RECIPE #1: TROPICANA TEQUILA SUNSET

This cocktail is a riff on the Tequila Sunrise, a cocktail made of tequila, orange juice and grenadine and served unmixed in a tall glass. Unmixed, the gradations of orange and red resemble a sunrise.

The original was created in the 1930s at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in the 1930s. It contained tequila, creme de cassis, lime juice and soda water. The recipe was revised and popularized in Sausalito in the early 1970s [source].

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the juice and tequila in a Collins glass over ice. Stir well to combine.

2. TOP with grenadine and garnish with a fresh orange wedge.
 
 
RECIPE #2: WELLS’ WATERMELON SPRITZ WITH CUCUMBERS

Cucumbers and watermelons are first cousins. Both are from the binomial order Cucurbitales and family Cucurbitaceae, differing only at the genus level: Cucumis for cucumber (the common cucumber genus/species is C. sativus) and Citrullus for watermelon (C. lanatus).

That’s why you can eat the white portion of watermelon rind—it tastes just like cucumber—or turn it into pickled watermelon rind, a.k.a. watermelon pickles.

Kirby cucumbers, specified in this recipe, were once a particular species. Now, kirby has become a generic term for any small cucumber.

[1] A riff on the classic Tequila Sunrise, this recipe uses Pineapple Mango juice instead of orange juice (both photos © Tropicana).

[2] Watermelon Spritz. “Spritz” means that carbonated water (club soda, seltzer, etc.) has been added.

Kirby skins are not skins, which mean that the skin can be eaten. It also enables the cucumbers to be pickled, skin on.

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. ADD the cucumber wheels to a Collins glass. Add the vodka and the ice.

2. ADD the club soda and top with the watermelon drink. Garnish with the cucumber wheel.

[1] Strawberry gazpacho has vegetables, onion and herbs, like a basic vegetable gazpacho (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] The markets are filled with fresh strawberries, ready to enjoy plain or in recipes like this (photo © Good Eggs).

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog added strawberries to a classic gazpacho recipe to fight “an oppressive heatwave.”

It’s a soup course, or a main course with a salad or sandwich on the side.

“Balancing sweetness with savory undertones, the subtle bite of vinegar, and fresh verdant pop of basil, it’s a delicious study in contrasts,” says Hannah.

“Don’t let the fruity feature scare you off! It’s not a vegetable-forward smoothie, but you may still want to drink it straight from the blender.”

We’ll add a smiley icon to that: 🙂

Here’s her quick-and-easy recipe. Prep time is 10 minutes, plus an hour or more to chill.
 
 
RECIPE: SAVORY STRAWBERRY GAZPACHO

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the strawberries and vegetables, along with the basil, salt, crushed red pepper and vinegar, in a blender. Blend on high speed until thoroughly puréed.

3. ADJUST the seasonings to taste, if needed. Garnish bowls with pistachios, strawberries, cucumber, and/or basil, if desired. Also consider a dollop vanilla yogurt or plain Greek yogurt.
 
 
CHECK OUT THE
HISTORY OF STRAWBERRIES

Summer is the time to eat a homemade dessert without turning on the oven.

That means fruit salad, ice cream or no-bake cookies such as this recipe of cocoa, peanut butter and oats.

Ice box cakes have long been popular, too: a layering of chocolate or vanilla “wafer” cookies with whipped cream. The recipe was popularized on boxes of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies, which were first produced in the 1930s.

When we think of wafer cookies, we are just as likely to think of the rectangular, finger-sized sandwich cookies with a waffle pattern.

Our colleague, Hannah Kaminsky, was “inspired by the brilliant fresh flavor of real berries baked into Voortman Bakery Raspberry Wafers. Paired with fresh raspberries, those sweet wafer cookie sticks become the building blocks of even greater tastes.

“Stacking bright, vibrant layers of flavor with the greatest of ease, anyone can assemble this masterpiece in minutes.”

However, those who prefer the liqueur can enjoy a glass or small snifter of it with the cake, followed by a cup of tea or coffee.

Served immediately or within a couple of hours, the cookies will be crunchy for a resoundingly satisfying bite. After a day or overnight, they’ll become softer, like the ladyfingers in tiramisu.
 
 
RECIPE: RASPBERRY ICE BOX CAKE

forkful from top to bottom, easy to slice, serve, and fully embrace with an open mouth. Go ahead, prep well in advance, so you can be ready whenever your party springs to life.
Prep time is just 10 minutes, plus 2-4 hours chilling time.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

[1] This no-bake ice box cake is made without turning on the stove or oven (both photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Don’t like raspberry? Voortman makes wafer cookies filled with banana or blueberry, as well as chocolate, chocolate and caramel, chocolate and raspberry, cinnamon, coconut, cookies and cream, key lime, lemon, maple, peanut butter, s’mores, strawberry and banana, strawberry, and vanilla. There are also chocolate-coated and sugar-free varieties.

2. PLACE the cream cheese with in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat briefly to soften. Add in the sugar, potato starch, 2 tablespoons of the liqueur, and orange zest, mixing thoroughly to combine. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure that everything is smoothly incorporated.

3. ARRANGE half of of the wafer cookies in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Brush the cookies with 1 tablespoon of the liqueur and top with half of the raspberries, distributing them as equally as possible across the exposed surface.

4. SPOON half of the cream cheese mixture on top, carefully spreading it over the berries. Top with the remaining wafer cookies and press down firmly to make sure the layers are flush. You may crush some of the berries below, but it’s a small sacrifice to make for all the flavor they add.

5. BRUSH the cookies with the remaining tablespoon of liqueur, top with the final half of the raspberries, and finish with the last of the cream cheese mixture. Smooth out the cream and top with a light sprinkle of the freeze dried raspberry powder all over.

6. CHILL for at least 4 hours for the best, most sliceable results, but feel free to dig in sooner if you don’t mind dishing out messier but crunchier layers. Covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated, the cake will keep for up to 5 days, but will grow softer and more tiramisu-like.
 
 
CLASSIC ICE BOX CAKE RECIPES