If you are like me you are as excited as I am that football season has arrived! From “College Game Day” on ESPN to a plethora of NFL pre and post game shows, to the actual games all weekend long, this is a great time of year….and a time that soon the seasons will change and cooler temperatures will settle onto the Boulevard as we prepare for SMU home games or through Frog Alley at TCU. And what goes better with football than great food and, of course, great spirits, lifting our mood when our favorite teams lose and to raise a toast high when they win. Here are a few ideas to indulge in to make game day that much more fun. A few spirit selections were sent for editorial consideration.
For Cowboys and Mustang fans, something blue to match our hometown teams….
Blue Margarita
1 1/2 oz Camarena Silver Tequila
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
1 oz lime juice
coarse salt
Directions: Rub rim of cocktail glass with lime juice. Dip rim in coarse salt. Shake tequila, blue curacao, and lime juice with ice, strain into the salt-rimmed glass, and serve.
Dallas Cowboys Starry Night
1 oz Van Gogh Acai-Blueberry Vodka
4 oz sparkling rosé like Segura Viudas Brut Rose
Directions: Chill both well before combining. Add vodka to a champagne flute and top with Rose. Stir gently.
For the purple Horned Frogs of TCU…I may have had a few of these in my days there…
Purple Hooter
1 ½ ounces Western Son Texas Vodka
Dash Chambord liqueur or other raspberry liqueur
½ freshly squeezed lime juice
Directions: Combine all ingredients together in an ice filled shaker and shake until very cold. Strain into a shot glass, or into a martini glass for sipping.
When your team is doing everything they should….
Touchdown
1 part Texas Silver Star Whiskey
1 part lemonade
1 part iced tea
Directions: Stir together ingredients in a tall glass over ice. Garnish with a slice of lemon.
Nolet’s First and Ten
1.5 oz Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin
1 oz orange juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz cranberry juice
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz lime juice
Dash grenadine
Splash soda water or seltzer
Float dark rum like Mount Gay Black Barrel
Directions: Combine all fruit juices and gin in a large shaker half-filled with ice. Shake and strain into two collins glasses filled with fresh ice. Top with grenadine, soda water and rum.
And when they are not….
The Black and Blue
Created by Tinika Green and Andrew Duncan of Blue Smoke, NY
2 ounce The Black Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky
½ ounce Calvados
½ ounce amaretto
¼ ounce Hazelnut liqueur
Directions: Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and shake until very cold. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a twist.
And a few to toast with if you are entertaining a crowd….
Passing Game Punch
1 1/2 cups Tequila Avión Silver
6 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 to 2 cups fresh fruit, sliced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup agave nectar
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher with ice and stir well. Serve in a tumbler with ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.
Pisco Punch
1 part Portón Pisco
1/4 part Hornitos Tequila
1/4 part Cruzan Raspberry Rum
1/2 part Float of Solerno Blood Orange Liqueuer
Squirt Monin Pink Grapefruit Syrup
2 Lemon wedges
Directions: Add Portón, tequila, rum and lemon wedges in a mixing glass; top with ice and shake vigorously. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and top with float of Solerno Blood Orange and squirt of Pink Grapefruit Syrup. Garnish with a cherry.
