Looking for that extra special something to bring your Valentine’s Day over the top? A romantic cocktail can help set the mood and put the evening over the top. And just in time for Valentine’s Day are our Love Potions.
Styled after Tiki drinks with levels – like the Painkiller and Bastards – the Love Potions come in 3 strengths:
- Love Potion #1: Netflix & Chill
- Love Potion #2: Going Steady
- Love Potion #3: Marry Me
The difference between these love potions is complexity, and in the case of the last one, a little more booze to help you set the mood.
Love Potions
Love Potion #1: Netflix & Chill
2 oz
White Rum
0.75 oz
Velvet Falernum
0.5 oz
Passion Fruit Simple
0.5 oz
Aperitivo Cappelletti
1 oz
Lime Juice
1.5 oz
Fresh Orange Juice
Garnish
Orange Twist, 2 Cherries, and all Tiki kit you care to add
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Meanwhile, fill a Lewis Bag with ice and beat until snow like (feel free to use a machine to make your snow ice if you have it). Fill a Tiki Mug or Hurricane Glass with the fresh snow ice. Add ice to your vessel and shake. Strain over the snow ice – top up as needed for any melt. Garnish with an orange twist, two cherries, and all the Tiki garnish you care to throw at it.
Love Potion #2: Going Steady
1 oz
White Rum
1 oz
Moderately Aged Rum
0.75 oz
Velvet Falernum
0.5 oz
Passion Fruit Simple
0.5 oz
Aperitivo Cappelletti
1 oz
Lime Juice
1.5 oz
Fresh Orange Juice
Garnish
Orange Twist, 2 Cherries, and all Tiki kit you care to add
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Meanwhile, fill a Lewis Bag with ice and beat until snow like (feel free to use a machine to make your snow ice if you have it). Fill a Tiki Mug or Hurricane Glass with the fresh snow ice. Add ice to your vessel and shake. Strain over the snow ice – top up as needed for any melt. Garnish with an orange twist, two cherries, and all the Tiki garnish you care to throw at it.
Love Potion #3: Marry Me
1 oz
White Rum
1 oz
Moderately Aged Rum
0.5 oz
Dark Overproof Rum
0.75 oz
Velvet Falernum
0.5 oz
Passion Fruit Simple
0.5 oz
Aperitivo Cappelletti
1 oz
Lime Juice
1.5 oz
Fresh Orange Juice
Garnish
Orange Twist, 2 Cherries, and all Tiki kit you care to add
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Meanwhile, fill a Lewis Bag with ice and beat until snow like (feel free to use a machine to make your snow ice if you have it). Fill a Tiki Mug or Hurricane Glass with the fresh snow ice. Add ice to your vessel and shake. Strain over the snow ice – top up as needed for any melt. Garnish with an orange twist, two cherries, and all the Tiki garnish you care to throw at it.
The foundation of the Love Potions is an easy going blend of tropical flavors sure to help you beat the winter doldrums. Passionfruit syrup and falernum add a mysterious island sweetness and touches of spice, while bright limes and fresh orange juice give an alluring brightness to the mix. Cappelletti adds just the right mix of bitterness and complex orange, while the rums create a complex mix flavors ranging from simple vanilla and plantain to complex brown sugars and dates. The snow ice helps bring it all together, allowing the flavors to marry and stay chilled. Like you and your drinking partner.
Drink Notes:
- Rums: The secret to escalating levels is changing the mix of rums and the amount of rum. In this case, we stack 3 different rums over the iterations to create similar but evolving drinks.
- White Rums – For this application we like Plantation 3 Star (fruitier), El Dorado 3 (vanilla and plantains), and Western Reserve Distillery (similar to El Dorado 3).
- Moderately Aged Dark Rums – We greatly enjoyed Plantation Xaymaca (fruity, funky), Pussers (Molasses, Spice, Musk), and Bacardi 8 (caramel, oak).
- Dark Overproof Rum – We’re sticking with our go to – Plantation O.F.T.D. but feel free to sub in Goslings Overproof.
- Our original mix was Western Reserve, Plantation Xaymaca, and Plantation O.F.T.D.
- Falernum – A sweet, slightly acidic, and delightfully spicy sweetener. We use John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum, but feel free to look into making your own. We’ve also heard great things about Maggie’s Farm if you happen to have access.
- Aperitivo Cappelletti – This bitter orange aromatized wine adds a lot of complexity thanks to it’s wine base. If it’s too hard to find – grab a bottle of Aperol. Reduce the Falernum by a 0.25 oz if you do this.
- Orange & Lime Juice – Your tiki drinks just won’t taste right if you don’t squeeze it fresh. Besides – you wouldn’t do that to someone you love – would you? Our old standby has been this Amco Squeezer*
- Passion Fruit Syrup – Combine 1 cup of Passion Fruit Puree or Drink (FOCO Passion Fruit Drink) with 2 cups of white sugar in a sauce pan. Heat until all sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. If using puree – strain through coffee filter. Bottle and add 0.5 oz of Everclear or Neutral Grain Alcohol as a perservative (optional). Store in fridge – discard in the event of clouding.
- For this recipe – we used FOCO.
Two recommendations on making Snow Ice:
- Lewis Bag & Mallet – This is the lowest cost and easiest option to store. It also provide a great stress relief moment as you take out the day’s frustrations. It will take longer to make snow ice this way. Our Lewis Bag is this one*, and you can also buy a mallet. Although we’ve found that a pan or $5 rubber mallet from home depot also works.
- Snow Ice Maker – This is by far faster, but will take up more space in your kitchen or bar. However, you can make beau coup snow ice, and make sno cones on command. We’ve been using this Zeny Ice Shaver* – which works well despite it’s very unrefined commercial appearance.