Summer Cocktails and Halloween Treats!

Summer is coming to an end but there’s still time to highlight the best in refreshing seasonal cocktails. Below are some delicious Moet & Chandon brunch beverages as well as some SKKY recipes.

Done with summer? Here are some great Halloween drinks. Using All Natural SKYY Infusions and inspiration from HBO’s “True Blood,” these cocktails will definitely add some pizzazz to your Halloween celebration.

Be a perfectly welcoming hostess, or the ideal guest, by popping open a bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne to make refreshingly delicious summer brunch cocktails using locally grown ingredients. Cocktail expert, Kim Haasarud of Liquid Architecture, explains the appeal of fresh fruits and herbs during the warm summer months. “Fresh is best when it comes to summertime cocktails. There is a world of fresh ingredients at one’s fingertips anywhere around the country, especially in the warm summer months.” Delicious summer cocktails can be as simple as adding Moët & Chandon to muddled nectarines or blood oranges, creating delicious Bellini’s and Mimosas. For the more adventurous, pick up sorbet and herbs at your local farmer’s market to make the ideal poolside refreshers. No matter what fresh ingredients you have on hand, Moët & Chandon’s sophisticated and cooling cocktails are sure to enchant all mid-summer mornings and nights.

Blooming Fizz
From 101 Champagne Cocktails by Kim Haasarud (Wiley & Sons 2008)
1 scoop lemon sorbet, softened
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
Moët & Chandon Impérial champagne
Edible flowers, for garnish

Combine the lemon sorbet, softened, in a cocktail shaker with the elderflower liqueur. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a champagne flute and top with Moët & Chandon Impérial. Top with edible flowers, for garnish.

Raspberry Sorbet Bellini
From 101 Champagne Cocktails by Kim Haasarud (Wiley & Sons 2008)
1 scoop raspberry sorbet, softened
0.5 oz Belvedere Black Raspberry vodka
Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial champagne

Combine the raspberry sorbet and vodka in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into an empty champagne flute. Top off of with Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial champagne.

Orange Sunrise
From 101 Champagne Cocktails by Kim Haasarud (Wiley & Sons 2008)
1 scoop of guava sorbet (or 2 oz guava nectar), or in a pinch use orange sherbet and add a little guava nectar to it.
0.5 oz orange liqueur
Moët & Chandon (Impérial or Rosé ) champagne

Combine the sorbet (and/or nectar) with the orange liqueur in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a champagne flute. Top with Moët & Chandon champagne.

Cherry Chiller
From 101 Champagne Cocktails by Kim Haasarud (Wiley & Sons 2008)
2 basil leaves, sliced into thin strips
3 pitted bing cherries, plus 2 extra for garnish
0.5 oz gin (i.e. Plymouth)
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz lime juice
3-4 oz Moët & Chandon Rose Imperial

Combine the basil, cherries, lime juice, gin and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Muddle. Top with ice and shake vigorously. Pour contents into a highball glass and top with Moët & Chandon Rose Imperial.

Want to skip the champagne and head straight for the vodka? Uncover Ginger with New All Natural SKYY Infusions Ginger! Using SKYY’s signature infusion process, premium SKYY Vodka is carefully infused with real ginger for an all-natural and irresistibly fresh, sweet taste. One can easily recognize the delicious flavors of spiced and juiced ginger, roasted oranges and mild notes of cinnamon. SKYY Infusions Ginger is in stores now as the only nationally available ginger-infused vodka on the market

Fruit and Gingerly
Created by Adam Wilson of Beretta San Francisco
2 oz. SKYY Infusions Ginger
0.5 oz. Orange Juice
0.5 oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice
0.5 oz. Lime Juice
1.5 Tbsp Fresh Cranberries
3 Chunks Pineapple
Club Soda

Muddle cranberries and pineapple in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and rest of ingredients except soda and shake vigorously. Pour into a Collins glass with fresh ice and top with soda. Garnish with chunk of pineapple and/or three cranberries on a toothpick laid horizontally over rim of the glass.