You deserve a celebration. I’m not talking birthdays, graduations, kids or anything like that. Those are all obvious things to celebrate. Nah, what I’m talking about is, “Hey, it’s Friday, let’s celebrate!” Or, “Hot diggity, we hit three green lights on the way home, let’s break out the good stuff!” I promise that the world can be a harsh enough place if you let it. It’s your job to celebrate the little things. To make a point to have some fun, toss out your worries and celebrate the every day. In honor of that, make a Feel This Cocktail for yourself!

For this one, we took our inspiration from Miami and their Cuban population. Because obviously.

A staple of Cuban cooking? Sour orange. That’s where I wanted to start thinking party cocktail. However, being in the wilds of California, finding an actual, authentic sour orange was kinda impossible. Luckily, a mixture of 50/50 orange juice (listen, you’re celebrating, squeeze it yourself) to lime juice and you’re pretty well set.

Then, sticking with Cuban, Caribbean flavors, we went with the same simple syrup that we used in the Caipirinha — which is a 50/50 mix of brown sugar to lime juice. This way, you’re going to get the rich flavor of molasses and lime as opposed to just sweet.

We knew that we needed a little something special to kick this party into overdrive; luckily, our friends over at Voli Vodka hooked us up with their Voli Black with the express agreement that we “Pump up the Voli.” Done and done. I promise, if Pitbull says it’ll help the party, it’s gonna help the party.

Finally, it was a matter of finishing off this celebration with some bubbles: champagne to the party!

A little mix, a little magic, a little funky and yes, you too can celebrate today.

Promise, you deserve it.

Now, let’s get this party started with the Feel This Cocktail!

August 14th, 2015 | by morgan