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Here’s how to give classic cocktails a face-lift

We all have our go-to drink. The one you fall back on when nothing sounds good or when you want the comfort of something familiar.

Because I’m a bartender, I have a few go-to cocktails — ones I order and ones I offer. Below you will find recipes for my super special, even tastier twist on my current favorite go-to drinks, both to drink and to serve.

To drink: The Ruby Mule

Since the craft cocktail comeback, it’s a good bet you’ll find ginger beer at most bars. So it’s probably safe to order a Moscow Mule at most places. Copper mugs may not be as available as the ginger beer, and I admit a Moscow Mule isn’t quite the same without it, but the drink still satisfies sans copper, especially the mules I make.

Ruby Mule

– 1 lime
– 1 1/2 ounces Deep Eddy Ruby Red Vodka
– 1 bottle Cock and Bull ginger beer
– copper mug

Fill copper mug with ice and add Ruby Red vodka. Top with ginger beer (4-6 ounces depending on mug size), squeeze in half a lime, stir and enjoy. Notice that half a lime and remaining ginger beer? Have another!

To serve: The Big Tex Rum Fashioned

The Old Fashioned is one of the most classic of the classic cocktails. I’d say it’s in the top three most popular. Everyone seems to agree on the ingredients in an Old Fashioned — usually bourbon or rye (but some like whiskey or brandy), a slice of orange, cocktail cherry, some sugar, and Angostura bitters. Now ask any bartender, black book, or online search engine and you will find variations in preparation. Some like to muddle only the sugar and bitters leaving the fruit for garnish. Some add water, others finish it with a splash of soda. Try it a few ways until you find your favorite. Better yet, grab a seat at my bar and let me make it for you.

Big Tex Rum Fashioned

– 2 ounces Balcones Texas Rum
– 1/2 ounce cherry infused maraschino liqueur
– 1 teaspoon/packet/cube of sugar
– 2 dashes orange bitters
– 2 cocktail cherries
– orange wheel slice cut in half

In a rocks or Old Fashioned glass, muddle cherry maraschino liqueur and half of the orange wheel with one cocktail cherry and a teaspoon of sugar. Take care to muddle only fruit meat not rind. Add ice to the glass. Pour in Balcones Texas Rum and stir well. Then add orange bitters and garnish with remaining cherry and orange piece.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Forget what you hate about tequila — this pineapple basil infusion will rock your world

The pineapple basil tequila makes choosing favorites fun. (Joanna Bellomy)

“Which one is your favorite?”

This is a well worn out question coming across my bar. Guests, virgins and regulars alike, are always somewhat overwhelmed by my oak-aged and infused booze list. I make at least five new ones weekly and have about 10 standard offerings for a minimum of 15 up there. Thing is, until now, I haven’t played favorites. I birth all those boozy babies, and I didn’t think it possible for this proud mama to choose just one to love more than the others. But, as they say, there’s a first time for everything.

This week one infusion stood head and shoulders above the rest. And it’s a tequila infusion! Which is crazy because I don’t do tequila. Just like you, I have one of those youthful booze stories that kept me from drinking (or smelling) that particular spirit ever since. You know the story — it always involves ignoring your limits, or learning your limits, a dirty public toilet, or no toilet but a pair of shoes, possibly a girlfriend’s handbag, a fake ID, or birthday gone bad, maybe a parents liquor cabinet, or “Rooooooxxanne you don’t have to put on the red light!” (Don’t act like you don’t know that drinking game.)

Hell, just pick two or three of the previous options and insert my name somewhere — I don’t drink tequila. Until now. I made something simple and fabulous despite it being tequila.

Pineapple basil tequila

In a 1-quart mason jar combine half a pineapple that’s been washed, skinned, and cut into chunks with six to eight medium size fresh basil leaves, and one bottle of Man in Black plata tequila (or your favorite tequila). Then put the lid on and shake. Keep the jar in room temperature, shake it daily. Wait five to seven days before using.

Then try this drink…

Te-killa Bees Knees 

3 lemon wedges
Chamomile
2 slices fresh jalapeño (about the width and size of a nickel)
1/4 ounce of oak-aged smoked honey
2 1/2 ounces of pineapple basil tequila

In a rocks glass, squeeze the lemon wedges. Add a healthy pinch of chamomile, fresh jalapeño, and oak-aged smoked honey (see how I made that here). Muddle. Fill halfway with ice, include two smoked ice cubes (see how I made that here). Pour in pineapple basil tequila and stir until well mixed. Sip.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Holy smokes: 2 ways a smoker can transform cocktails

Imagine these, cured with honey and smoked. (Joanna Bellomy)

So my boss got a smoker for the kitchen a while back. It’s not one of those big outdoor grill looking things. This one looks quite a bit like a mini fridge, plugs in the wall, and is definitely indoor equipment. Bar equipment even. How can this be? Well, so far I’ve figured out two ways to use it.

Smokin’ barrels: I wrote that bit about mini oak barrel aging a while back. Around that same time I got a few new ones in. And I know this is gonna sound odd, but I smoked one of the mini oak barrels. I put it in the smoker for about six hours, then I filled it with three parts clover honey, one part water, and let it “honey cure” for eight weeks wrapped in plastic wrap, because it leaks a bit and honey is messy.

The other day I unwrapped it, drained the honey into a store-and-pour (plastic container with a lid), and I’ve been using it in cocktails. It’s delicious. The oak barrel smoothed out the super sweet bite, while the smoke and sweet married into honey decadence. But I didn’t stop there. I then put four stems of fresh rosemary in the now honey-cured, smoked oak barrel with a bottle and a half of the Texas bourbon called 1835. Here in about six weeks we will find out how amazing my Oak-Aged Honey Rosemary Bourbon is. Waiting is gonna suck.

Ice, ice, baby: Can’t do it? Can’t wait? I have another idea for ya. For this one, I loaded the smoker with apple wood chips, put about 64 ounces of water in a mixing bowl, and smoked it for a few hours. Then I poured the smoked water into ice trays and froze it overnight into a wonderful little creation — smoked ice.

I tested these cubes out on my guests in everything from tequila to rum to rye, both straight spirit and cocktails alike. It’s a great way to update and add mystery to classic cocktails or completely transform your favorite spirit anew. Try using one smoked cube at time mixed with regular ice so the smoke slowly unfolds the drink exposing the flavors of the spirit in a way you haven’t ever experienced. Smoked ice was a win every time.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Make the most of cherry season with these 3 liquor infusion recipes

Sour Cherry Vodka -- so good you can drink it straight. (Joanna Bellomy)

It’s no secret that I love to shop. I did own and operate a vintage boutique for five years, after all. It is however, a little out of the ordinary that I get to shop as part of my current job managing a pub. Scouring the farmers market for produce to use in cocktails and infusions is one of my very favorite duties. There are many fruits and berries stocked year round that I love to use, but cherries I only see a few months out of the year.

The cherry season winds down in July. I’m bummed because I love em all — Bing, Van, Lambert, Royal Ann, Rainier, yes! You only need look at my bar shelves, which are currently stocked with multiple cherry infusions. Below you will find some ideas that can keep this year’s batch of cherries around months after the season dies out. Feel free to use your favorite fresh cherry varietal.

Note: All recipes call for the same jar, amount of cherries and fruit prep.

Maraschino Cherries – for real

Let sit a week. (Joanna Bellomy)

Those neon red, atomic looking cherries that most bars stock and call maraschino cherries are an insult to the liqueur. And I suspect they may be carcinogens. I mean, they glow! Mamma always said not to put those glow sticks in my mouf, and I’m gonna apply the same logic to those “maraschino bar cherries.”

Try making your own — so easy, so tasty, a great way to keep them year round, and guaranteed to not cause tumors. These cherries are great muddled, in drinks like an Old Fashioned. Or you can use them as a garnish, like you would in a Manhattan. Don’t forget to use the juice too. I use the cherry-flavored Maraschino Liqueur as a substitute for sweet vermouth in almost all recipes that call for it. This entire concoction (booze and cherries both) make a great addition to a fruit salad. Seriously endless possibilities.

You’ll need…

1 quart-size mason jar (or other container with a lid of your choice)
1 bag or 1/2 pound ripe cherries (I prefer a dark sweet variety)
1 bottle of Maraschino liqueur

Wash the cherries well and pull out stems. You can pit them if you like. If you decide not to pit them, make sure to score them by cutting each one end-to-end while still leaving fully intact. (This way the liqueur doesn’t have to fight through the skin and the infusion will take far less time.) Put clean, pitted and/or scored cherries into the jar filling two-thirds of the way. Pour in the Maraschino Liqueur, filling to the top. Place the lid on and wait a week before opening. No need to refrigerate.

Simple and Straight Cherry Whisky

Cherry Whiskey (Joanna Bellomy)

Follow the same process as above, but fill with your favorite whiskey, bourbon, or rye. I use Rebecca Creek Whiskey because I keep it Texas all the time and I find that this whiskey takes the flavor of the cherries well while maintaining the taste of the spirit. Add two sprigs of fresh rosemary to the jar if this infusion is too simple. Real vanilla bean is a nice choice too.

Sour Cherry Vodka

This is my first attempt at a sour cherry spirit. I will continue to evolve this recipe and I would love your input. My goal is to create a very tart cherry spirit that can be used as a liqueur, sipped alone, or added to brews like a cider or saison to sort of mimic a sour.

Again, follow the first set of directions, but only fill the jar halfway with cherries. Then add three peeled lemons, and the rind of two of those lemons, plus two tablespoons sugar. Fill to the top with a vodka of your choice. I use Lone Star Vodka, a surprisingly clean tasting vodka, especially considering how inexpensive it is.

Let me know how it goes!

For infusion tips or clarification, read my previous Liquor Infusions 101 post here.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Recipe: Remedy summer sickness with something better (and boozier) than tea

Summer sickness can be total buzz kill. Try this remedy to numb the pain as well as take the edge off. (Joanna Bellomy)

The only thing worse than this ever increasing summer heat, is a summer cold. Last week I had the unfortunate luck of finding this out.

This megaladon of a cold hit on my days off, which, on the positive side, means I didn’t spread cooties to any of my bar guests. But, on the negative side, I was home bound. And my home bar was not fully stocked and prepared for the task at hand, i.e. numb my pain, knock me out, and/or make me care less. But, Grandma always said, “Look with your hands.” So I did. After a thorough raid of the tea cabinet, garden, medicine shelf, fruit bowl, and bar, I managed a cocktail that not only took the edge off my snotty situation, but tasted delicious too.

Better Than Tea home remedy

3 raspberries
3 mint leaves
Chamomile
1/2 of a lemon, juiced
Quarter-size dollop of Tupelo honey
2 ounces of your favorite whiskey, bourbon, or rye. (I use my aged vanilla whiskey.)
Ginger beer

Muddle raspberries, mint leaves, healthy bit of chamomile, with lemon juice and Tupelo honey. Fill with ice. Add 2 ounces of your choice poison and fill with ginger beer. Stir. Drink. Rinse. Repeat.

I tried this recipe with vodka and then with spiced rum after my cold passed. It works well with any of them. You choose your favorite spirit (hopefully sans summer cold) and let me know how it goes.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Negroni Week: It’s about the cocktail, not the beer Peroni

Find the recipe to my Cucumber Negroni below. (Joanna Bellomy)

Every time a guest orders a Negroni, something geeks in my brain and the word I hear is “Peroni.” And every single time I hear myself blurting out the ridiculous response, “We don’t serve import beer here, it’s all Texas craft beer.”

And by every time, I mean this has happened a good eight or 10 times … this year. And I get the look. You know the look. It’s the human version of the one your dog gives you when even he knows how ridiculous you’re behaving. The head cocked to the side, one eyebrow raised, while a low “Hmmm?” escapes from the throat look. It is this look that snaps me back into reality.

Really Joanna? Then I hear myself sheepishly say, “Wait, Negroni … the cocktail, not Peroni the beer, ya I got ya.” And I inevitably become the last person on Earth that this guest wants making their drink. So I have to convince them, not only do I know how to make a Negroni, I can make a damn good one, I can even make ‘em one better than that. As with most situations in life, confidence wins.

The following is my winning recipe great for beginner gin drinkers, beginner Negroni drinkers, or seasoned classic cocktail lovers looking for something with a sense of adventure.

Cucumber Nuegroni

  • 1.5 ounce cucumber-infused Waterloo Gin
  • 1 ounce Aperol
  • 3/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth

Pour over ice in a rocks glass. Top with a 1/2 ounce floater of St. Germaine. Rim then garnish with a healthy twist of orange.

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

10 ways to elevate your summer beer with a shot of booze

T-top and ya don't stop. (Joanna Bellomy)

This time of year brings about the lighter styles of beer, which I admit are not my favorites. Don’t get me wrong, I understand we live in Texas where it’s a sticky 100 and suck degrees outside nearly half the year. That temperature doesn’t leave you craving a stout, porter, or even a brown most of the time. Still, when drinking a blonde, lager, pilsner, kolsch or even a saison, I always feel like my beer is missing something. So I add a little sumpin-sumpin in.

This is a list of my top 10 personal and professional favorite Texas beer and booze blends. These are not really beer cocktails (I’ll write about those soon enough); most of these are simple two-ingredient concoctions great for the bar, couch, campsite, or boat. A few of these blends are well known in the area by these names. The others, created at my bar, will leave you to educate and amuse your bartender when ordering.

In most of these cases a 1-ounce shot of booze is all it takes to beef up 12-16 ounces of beer. But, don’t be afraid to be adventurous — if you want to modify the recipe and use more booze, a different flavor or different brand of beer, do it. Just let me know how it works out.

Bloodlust: Rabbit Hole Brewing Wonderlust (release party at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill June 4) + a shot of Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur

Dirtybird: Shiner Ruby Redbird + a shot of Deep Eddy Ruby Red vodka

Below the Belt: Armadillo Greenbelt Farmhouse Ale + a shot of Deep Eddy Ruby Red vodka

Kir Roy Ale: Franconia Brewing Co. Champagne Ale + a shot of Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur

Big Top: Austin Eastcider Gold Top + a shot Deep Eddy Cranberry vodka

T Top: Austin Eastcider Gold Top + a shot of Deep Eddy Sweet Tea

Blacktop: Austin Eastcider Gold Top + a shot of Black Raspberry or Chambord

Annything Gose: Real Ale Brewing Co. 18th anniversary Gose + a shot of any flavor of your choosing.
Ex: Peach Annything Gose is Real Ale Gose and shot of Western Son Peach

Don and Shandy: No Label Brewing Co. Don Jalapeño + a shot tequila (I use Man in Black plata) + a splash sweet ‘n sour or good tart lemon aid, served with lime.

Stock Broker: Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Boiler Room + a shot of Grey Goose Le Citron + a splash of coke

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Barrel-aging 101: How to turn even your $6 rot gut into sip-worthy spirit

Deep South barrels currently curing. (Joanna Bellomy)

In a previous post about booze infusing, I mentioned that I came into some oak barrels. Before they arrived at my bar I was thinking I would use them for infusions in them, but then I got my hands on them. Um, no. Silly girl, these barrels are obviously for aging booze, not infusing it.

It took a few days and as many brainstorming sessions to come up with my first few recipes. When those recipes proved to be super successful with my taste buds and bar patrons, I ordered a few more barrels. Now that I have six constantly-aging spirits I can hardly keep in stock and four more virgin barrels curing, I figure, why not share my booze-aging knowledge with someone other than the Angels?

I know what you’re thinking: “Where the hell do I have room for 55-gallon oak barrels?” The answer is, ya right! I don’t even have a closet for liquor storage at my joint. I do however have a counter top. One that stages six mini oak barrels, as well as rocks and shot glasses, for ease of use ya know.

The barrels I use range from one to three liters, but you can order them up to 20 liters from most of the mini barrel providers online (try www.deepsouthbarrels.com and www.oakbarrelsltd.com to get started). The advantages to using mini barrels, other than space of course, are time and money. The smaller, the barrel the quicker its contents will age and mellow.

Simply put, the main difference between a bottom shelf or “well” whiskey, bourbon, scotch, tequila, or wine and a top shelf or “premium” offering is age.

You can purchase a $6 liter of your usual party time rot gut and after aging it in a mini barrel for three months have a spirit worthy of sipping straight. Leave it in that barrel for a full year and you’ve put as much color and age on it as eight years in a professional full size 55-gallon barrel. Or that’s the theory at least. I mean, who can wait a full year to get into that booze?

Another tasty option is to mix up a classic cocktail in the barrel, like my Sidecar recipe below or the Martinez I can barely keep in stock. I also totally approve of the aged Manhattan at East Side Denton in Denton.

It’s been widely accepted that white oak is the wood of choice for aging these days. These barrels are handmade without glue, nails, or varnishing. The wood is held together by its own desire to straighten back out and some nifty metal hoops. Mini barrels arrive already toasted to “medium,” “medium plus,” or “charred” so all you need to do before using them is cure them, a simple process where you fill the barrel with water so it can swell any leaks away. Seventy-two hours filled with water with a daily 90 degree rotation works best for me, but if you still notice leaks after 72 hours, then let them cure for as long as a week. No more leaks means you’re ready to dump the water out, rinse a handful of times with hot water, then fill with ingredients of your choosing.

Keep in mind, you will lose a small amount of booze to Angels Share — this is what we call the booze that evaporates. I deal with this by adding a little booze every week.

Shot on left Man in Black Plata, shot on right same tequila aged 7 weeks with vanilla. Barrels from Oak Barrels Ltd. (Bennie Brown)

Some of my favorite and well-received recipes to get you started aging or brainstorming:

(Keep in mind I specialize in Texas products so all of my recipes tend to start with Texas booze, you feel free to use your favorite.)

Vanilla tequila: 10 vanilla beans (do not substitute vanilla extract) cut open length wise and stuffed in whole with two liters of Man in Black Plata Tequila. Wait at least four weeks before imbibing, but seven weeks is excellent. The picture above shows the color difference between pre-aged Man in Black plata and the seven-week vanilla version.

Vanilla Whiskey: Same as tequila, but use Rebecca Creek Whiskey. Now this whisky is not my pick for straight sipping, but add some age to it or infuse it and it’s excellent.

Sidecar: I put a twist on this classic cocktail by using both Rebecca Creek Whiskey and E&J Brandy, with the Solerno Blood Orange liqueur in a 3 to 1.5 to 1 mix.

For the next batch of barrels I am working over a smoked honey and lavender recipe, an amaretto cured barrel recipe, and even contemplating aging a Texas wine. Hit me up with your aging ideas, trial and error recipes, questions, or suppliers you think highly of.

Go, age, drink and be merry!

Joanna Bellomy is bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.

Liquor infusions 101: How to make and what to mix with


Optimal steeping time for infusions is between four and seven days. Nine or more days is unnecessary.

Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, may have opened with a full bar, but the focus was primarily Texas craft beer. So when I began managing the bar there, it was a bit of a struggle to start infusing booze.

The owner ordered some oak barrels for me to play with. While anticipating their arrival I brainstormed fruity concoctions. Upon their arrival however, I realized these barrels were made for aging booze, not infusing it. It was a palm-to-the-forehead realization, I assure you. While the oak barrels cured and I thought up the swills they would hold, another order was placed — for glass vessels in various sizes with spickets and removable lids, ones that could and would hold actual infusions.

These swills quickly became the base of most of my craft cocktails and the topic of many guest inquiries. Something about those big, beautiful, glass tea vessels and the down home mason jars filled with brightly colored goodies call out to people, tempting taste buds and piquing curiosities. The questions are always the same ones — what, what? Then how and how?

What are those? What would you mix it with? How do you make them? How long before they are ready?

What are those?

Merriam Webster online defines “infusion” this way: in·fu·sion noun \in-ˈfyü-zhən\: a drink made by allowing something (such as tea) to stay in a liquid (such as hot water)

Joanna Bellomy defines “infusion” in this way: anything eatable such as fruit, veg, nuts, herbs, spices, or candy steeped in booze of your choosing.

How to make

Since Cinco De Mayo is fast approaching, let’s make a quick spicy pineapple and mango tequila that will be ready just in time for those backyard gatherings and next day hangovers. You will need a container large enough to hold all the ingredients. Ideally it will be glass with a lid, and one you can steep in, keep in, and serve from, like a pitcher, lemon aid or tea container, even a mason jar (or three).

I’m going to use the Texas tequila Kinky Friedman makes, Man in Black Plata 750ml.

Now, gather the produce — one small jalapeño, half a ripe pineapple, one average size ripe mango. After washing the produce, cut the skin from the mango and pineapple, discard it. Then cut the produce into medium size chunks (both pits or cores are usable here) and toss into your container. Remember, only half the pineapple is needed for this infusion.

Then fill up the container with the tequila, completely covering all fruit and close it up tight. Store in room temperature and shake or stir a couple times a day.

How long before it’s ready?

Let the infusion steep for four days minimum, but seven is ideal. More than nine days is unnecessary.

What would you mix it with?

Infusions are just like any other liquor, good for sipping, shooting, pouring over ice, or mixing with the ingredients you normally enjoy that spirit with. This specific infusion will be great served in a salted glass on the rocks with half a fresh lemon and lime squeezed on top. Or give it a go in a margarita. Better yet, shake it with triple sec, fresh lime and cranberry juice then strain it in a fancy glass over a slice of cucumber. You can also start simple with soda or 7-Up while you think up your own adventurous concoctions.

Joanna Bellomy has spent 16 years managing and tending all sorts of bars from corporate to nightclub to comedy club to music venue. She is currently the bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill.

Meet Joanna Bellomy, Craft Cocktail Insider

Hello, my name is Joanna Bellomy. Say it: jo-ann-uh or jo-awe-nuh.

I have a Texas-sized personality, humble nature, two sewing machines, eight siblings, an amazing vintage clothing collection, and a dog named Lady Day. I believe Bob Dylan is God, breakfast is best eaten for dinner, and Kill Your TV. I like my pizza like me, thin and saucy. I like to laugh often and loud, but I also believe in the power of a good, ugly cry.

I prefer beer dark like my soul or bitter like my grandmother. And I like my men the same way I like my cocktails — tasty and interesting, complex, with a touch of mystery — or whisky — strong, neat, aged well. I’m a creative, as in writer, fashion stylist, designer, and craft cocktail concoctor.

In the last 16 years I’ve managed and tended all sorts of bars from corporate to nightclub to comedy club to music venue. But I’m happiest doing what I currently do as the bar manager at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a great lil Dallas pub specializing in house-made infusions, Texas craft beer, liquor, and wine.