My Sweet Vanilla Mint Cacao CBD Cocktail Recipe

Now that we have pretty much entered the cozy season, I wanted to create a cocktail fit for the occasion, but with a trendy, health-driven little twist.

It’s no question that CBD oil is insanely popular right now because of its incredible health benefits. I recently discovered Pure Bloom, an all-natural and organic hemp oil company. What is hemp oil might you ask? Hemp extract oil is comes from specialized hemp plants and contains various concentrations of extract and other natural compounds. Pure Bloom’s non-GMO hemp plants are sourced from certified organic farms in Oregon and Colorado.

I was really impressed overall by Pure Bloom’s simple and effective formula: To ensure the most purest hemp extract, the company only uses 4 natural ingredients to craft their unique formulations: High Concentrated Hemp Extract, Coconut Oil, Vitamin E and Organic Peppermint Essential Oil …that’s it!

The brand’s Sweet Vanilla and Fresh Mint flavors are everything. I knew I definitely wanted to incorporate them into a cocktail! Then I thought, I really want to make the cocktail a little creamy, but still be on the healthier side. I wanted to make the base of this cocktail with Milkadamia, my newest favorite vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free (and soooo delightfully creamy) milk!

Scroll down for how to make my:

Sweet Vanilla Mint Cacao CBD Cocktail

Step 1: Fill half a stemless glass (or glass of your choice) with Milkadamia milk.

Step 2: Add 1 scoop of organic cacao powder.

Step 3: Add a generous pour of organic maple syrup.

Step 4: Stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Step 5: Add generous amount of vodka. I prefer Absolut Elyx.

Note: This amount will vary depending on your glass!

Step 6: Drop 1 full dropper of Sweet Vanilla CBD oil.

Step 7: Drop 1 full dropper of Fresh Mint CBD Oil.

Step 8: Top with a dash of cinnamon.

Step 9: Garnish with fresh mint.

Step 10: Enjoy!

This was honestly my first time experimenting with CBD oil to make cocktails! I have been using Pure Bloom CBD oils and I’m truly impressed by how quickly they help to calm my anxiety. For those who don’t know, I have always struggled with anxiety and severe stress for most of my life but I have never been one to try to find a way to calm my nerves in an unnatural way. If you’re like me, I highly recommend trying it. Just a note, if you’re trying it for the first time, only take 3-5 drops from the dropper. If you take a whole dropper full in one sitting (especially on an empty stomach) you might be hitting the hay in minutes which is what happened to me the first time. Haha. But I am really glad to know I now have something that can moderately help.

I hope you all enjoy this cocktail! It was so fun to make, and I feel even better knowing that it’s made with ingredients a lot of people can trust. Let me know if you end up making it, I’d love to see what you think!

Photography by: Rebecca Gnasso

Thirst-Quenching Vodka Cocktails to Hydrate While You Booze This Summer

Alright, alright I may be getting ahead of myself here with already name dropping summer, but the higher temps are just around the corner and I am getting excited for a new season of imbibing! 

If there's one thing I love about a good summer cocktail, it's the freshness. I think that's the number one thing that wins me over! Not to mention, if it's a little more on the healthier side made with simple, farm-to-table ingredients, you kind of feel better about indulging a bit...

Koskenkorva Vodka has some pretty delish summer drink recipes right now that even my fellow tequila lovers would swoon over. Check out my favorites for the upcoming season that will surely quench your thirst! Cheers. X

WHITE RABBIT'S BREAKFAST

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Koskenkorva Vodka

.4 cups Carrot Juice

.5 oz Orange Juice

.2 oz Lemon Juice

.2 oz Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco

Salt & Pepper

Dash of White Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

Measure ingredients in a shaker and throw 3-4 times with ice. Strain on ice in a highball glass. Garnish & Serve.

RED RIVER PUNCH

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Koskenkorva Vodka

.5 oz lemon juice

.5 oz Simple Syrup

4 pcs Raspberry

Egg White (optional)

Soda Water

Directions:

Muddle raspberries in a shaker with the liquids and add egg white. Shake vigorously with ice and double strain in a wine glass.

VILLAGE SMASH

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Koskenkorva Vodka

.5 oz Lemon Juice

.2 oz simple syrup

6-10 pcs Mint Leaf

Egg White (optional)

Splash soda water

Directions:

Measure ingredients except soda water in a shaker. Shake vigorously with ice and double strain on the rocks.  Top with soda water, stir and garnish.

COFFEE MARTINI

Ingredients: 

.5oz Koskenkorva Vodka

.5 oz Homemade Recycled Coffee Liqueur

.2 oz. Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

Directions:

Measure ingredients and shake vigorously. Fine strain in a cocktail glass and serve.

Recycled coffee liqueur: After brewing coffee, take the grounds and add them in 2 cups of vodka. Let sit for 12 hours and filter 3 times. Add 3.5 ounces and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bottle in a heated bottle and keep in a cool and dark place. Keep for 6 months.  

FOREST TONIC

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces Koskenkorva Vodka

Tonic Water

Directions:

Fill glass with ice, measure vodka on the ice and fill glass with tonic.  Stir gently and garnish.

A Cocktail Worthy of an Award | The Golden Flutes

The Oscars may have passed this Sunday, but we all are still in very glamorous and star-studded moods. We all dream of living the celebrity lifestyle. While it is quite difficult to do, the least we can do is sip on fabulous cocktails like the A-Listers do!

Whether you've arranged an awards show watch party or are simply feeling like dazzling up your night after an ordinary work day, you will certainly feel like a celeb while enjoying an elit Vodka Golden Flutes Cocktail. The cocktail combines award winning elit Vodka, grapefruit, pineapple and ginger, blending into a crowd-pleasing concoction. 

The Golden Flutes

Ingredients:

1½ parts elit Vodka

½ part Dry Vermouth

2 dashes Grapefruit Bitters

1 part Lime Juice

½ part Gomme Syrup

4-6 muddled Pineapple Wedges

2 slices Ginger (Not Muddled)

Pinch of Salt

Champagne

Edible Flower

 Directions:

Shake all ingredients and fine strain into a chilled Champagne flute. Top with Champagne and garnish with an edible flower.

Ring in Award Season with Belvedere Cocktails

With award season upon us, it's like the holidays all over again! It started with The Golden Globes and we've got plenty more to look forward to in the coming months. As much as we'd all love to be on the red carpet with our favorite stars, realistically we will most likely be watching them with friends at viewing parties. The one thing you have over those golden hardware loving celebs? You're able to celebrate with red carpet approved cocktails the moment you turn on the TV watching pre-show coverage! What's better than hearing that? Oh yeah, if they're glamorous Belvedere cocktails!

Whether you're hosting a black tie viewing party or are just lounging on the couch with friends, here's two Belvedere cocktails fit for either occasion that any guest will love!

Pear & Rosemary Martini

Ingredients:

50ml/1.5 oz. Belvedere Vodka

25ml Pear Puree

10ml/ 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup

10ml/ 1/4 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary

Directions:

Gently muddle rosemary in the base of the shaker. Add remaining ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.

Polish Mule

Ingredients: 

50ml/1.5 oz. Belvedere Intense

1/2 Fresh Lime

Dash Elderflower Syrup

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Fever-Tree Ginger Beer 

Directions:

Shake all ingredients except for ginger beer. Fine strain over cubed ice into a highball glass. Top with Fever Tree and garnish with a wedge of lime.

The Perfect Low-Calorie Vodka Cocktail for National Vodka Day

Happy National Vodka Day!

The only way to celebrate this very festive holiday is with... well, vodka! The one downfall? Most vodka cocktails are packed with an insane amount of calories. Who needs that looming in the back of their minds when they're having a good time with friends and enjoying their drink?

Recently I've discovered Blue Ice Vodka, the #1 rated American-made potato vodka that is gluten-free, non-GMO and has only 52 calories per oz.! Aaaand, it has 25% fewer calories than most other distilled spirits.

I am always that person to feel guilty after drinking a cocktail loaded with sugar and empty calories, so this makes me so happy that there actually is a great vodka out there that I no longer have to feel bad about! Gift from the Vodka Gods? I think so!

One of my favorite cocktails using Blue Ice Vodka is the Blue Ice Vodka Gimlet!

Simple, refreshing and not packed with artificial, sugary ingredients to make this drink taste good. It just is! Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:

·         2 oz Blue Ice Vodka

·         1 oz fresh lime juice

·         6 Tablespoons Agave Nectar

·         Lime wedge for garnish

Directions:

·         Combine vodka, lime juice, agave nectar and ice and shake in a shaker.

·         Strain over a chilled coupe glass.

·         Garnish with lime wedge.

Cheers!