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Drink of the Day Blog - Enchantment 5/25/20-5/29/20


melmar02

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Last week, my husband and I were supposed to embark on a 4 day date-cation on Enchantment of the Seas. My mother-in-law graciously offered to watch our kids so we could have a nice little vacation all on our own. We would have left out of Galveston and visited Cozumel. Of course, this sailing was cancelled, but to honor it (or perhaps drown our sorrows about it), we’ve decided to have a drink of the day at home for every day that we were supposed to be onboard. DH is working right now and I am with the kids all day, so we won’t be taking full advantage of our at home deluxe beverage package. It was hard to narrow down our favorites to just 4 drinks, but this is a work week for DH after all. We will be having a different one of our ship favorites every night this week as we put out positive vibes that we’ll be sailing on Liberty in 153 days. I’ll let you know how our concoctions compare to the real thing.

Taking advantage of my DBP means drinking Diet Coke in my souvenir cup until the kids go to bed and we can have our REAL DoD. In case you were curious, a 12 oz can with ice fills up this particular style of cup. We’ve actually never used these on the ships before since we like the usual flavors of soda available at the bars. We just bring them home still in their wrappers or leave them on the ship. Up tonight is the first drink we had on embarkation day of our last cruise…a Mai Tai.

souvenir cup.jpg

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At some point in every cruise we have been on, the Mai Tai was one of the drinks of the day. On our last cruise, smiling crew members were happily waiting for us with trays of the glistening jewel colored beverages as we entered the Windjammer on embarkation day. There is so much excitement that surrounds that first drink and meal onboard, and because I wanted to relive that first day experience, I selected the Mai Tai as my first at home experience too. Nothing says you’re on vacation like a fruity drink!

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I used the Mai Tai recipe @Matt listed about in his 38 Royal Caribbean Drink Recipes post, and it was pretty spot on flavor wise with what we had onboard in February. I did not go with the Ultimate Mai Tai version because I’m pretty sure they only use house rum in the passed version. My home made concoction was quite a bit darker than those on the ship, but I mainly attribute that to the ice having partially melted in those the server was carrying around. I also used Kraken for my dark rum, and it may be darker than whatever house rum they use onboard. And my kitchen at night is really dark for photos.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 1 ¼ oz Dark rum
  • ¾ oz Disaronno
  • 3 oz Pineapple juice
  • 1 oz Orange juice
  • ¼ oz Grenadine     

Shake the rum, Disaronno, pineapple, and orange juice with ice. Strain into a glass with ice and grenadine. Add garnish.

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You are supposed to garnish with a pineapple or orange slice and a maraschino cherry. I only had the cherry. And no good bar glass. Hence the poor presentation. But…It. Was. Glorious! We were transported back to all the good feels of those first few moments you step onboard. All that was missing was the tropical sun shining down on our couch.

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On a side note – we moved three years ago, and the box with a lot of our bar stuff went missing. I usually just eyeball it when I make a cocktail because we tend to go pretty basic (rum and coke, gin and tonic, etc.). We mostly drink wine so we haven’t had the need really to replace things like a shaker and jigger. Good news though - my sports shaker bottle worked in a pinch last night, and in case you find yourself in the same situation, 2 Tablespoons is equivalent to 1 oz.

Tonight, we visit the Suite Lounge where I’ll be having a Lemon Drop and DH will be having a Gin and Tonic. The kid’s may even get in on the fun with a couple Shirley Temples.

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We’ve been fortunate enough to sail in a suite on our last two cruises, and one of the perks, of course, is access to the Suite Lounge. I didn’t think it would be a big benefit for us since we purchase a DBP anyway, but man was I wrong. There’s something special about feeling pampered every night. Having refills of your drink magically appear as you savor the last sip of the one before. Relaxing in a spot that has tidbits to nibble on as you wait in comfort for your dinner reservation. Connecting with a Concierge who goes out of their way to make sure everything is perfect for you. For us, it’s an amazing change from the day to day, self-serve lifestyle we lead, and we have a hard time considering booking a non-suite cabin after feeling so spoiled. Service is great all over the ships we have been on, but this on a whole other level. I'll own it... I'm a suite snob!

DH’s drink of choice in the Suite Lounge is a Gin & Tonic. As I said in a previous post, I don’t really measure, so here’s what I do:

Fill a glass about half way with ice, add gin to be about level with the top of the ice, add tonic to fill the glass, and squeeze in a lime wedge. Stir and enjoy. DH says they’re great, so I guess I’m close on the ratios.

I prefer something a little sweeter and go with a Lemon Drop Martini. I didn’t have a recipe for one, so I found one on Smirnoff’s website. Here's the photo and recipe from their website:

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  • 1 oz Vodka
  • ½ oz Triple Sec
  • ¾ oz Fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ oz Simple syrup

Rim martini glass with sugar. Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into the martini glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Here's what mine looked like (and DH's G&T). 

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After making it, I’m pretty sure this recipe was for a shot and not a full martini, even though their recipe specifically says to use a martini glass. Looking back at their photo, that lemon seems pretty big for that glass. I know my glass is a lot bigger than a typical martini glass, but it was a little underwhelming, and I would not have been happy if I had been served this at a local a bar for $12+. This morning, I found a recipe on liquor. com that looks like a much better glass filler. Next time, I’ll be trying this one. Or feel free to suggest another to me if this looks off - I don't mind doing a little research. ???

  • 2 oz Vodka
  • ½ oz Triple Sec
  • 1 oz Simple Syrup
  • 1 oz Fresh lemon juice

Simple syrup is really easy to make – you just boil equal parts water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. It will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks, and you can even make it in the microwave. To make a lemon simple syrup, which would elevate these recipes a little, replace half the water with lemon juice.

This evening we’re using our imaginations and sitting poolside with a frozen beverage.

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1 minute ago, ellcee said:

I made this for a few people last week. We turned it into shots.  Loved it. I went slightly lighter on the simple syrup because I had a sugar rim and i don't like drinking candy.

Did you make a big batch at once? I have a hard time with pitcher based portion control. My glass always seems to get more than everyone else's. ?

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Ahh… the Lava Flow. This frozen delight is what my tropical drink dreams are made of! When I was deciding which drinks to include this week, the Lava Flow made the top of the list, and, to be honest, I may have decided to hold this week of celebratory libations just because I wanted one. My happy place is sitting by Splashaway Bay (so the kids are occupied) with one Lava Flow in hand and a pool side server on his way to get another for me.

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A Lava Flow is basically part strawberry daiquiri, part pina colada, and I love the idea of the recipe Matt has posted here. The thought of making the pina colada from scratch sounds so refreshing! But, I’ve never actually seen one made this way on a ship. On the cruises I have been on, the bartenders have always just reached for the Oasis drink mixes. I’ll have to add coconut cream to the grocery list and do a side by side comparison sometime.

I went with the quick version because I wanted the flavor to be as close as possible to what I have had onboard.

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  • 2 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Mix
  • 1 oz Kraken

Blend with ice and pour into a glass. (see mistake 1 below) Rinse blender.

  • 3 oz Pina Colada Mix
  • 1 ½ oz Light Rum

Blend with ice and slowly pour on top of strawberry so it creeps up the side.

I made a lot of mistakes so I almost hate to post this photo, but the flavor was absolutely perfect!

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Here’s where I went wrong. 1) My liquor store doesn’t carry Oasis which is a LOT thicker than Zing Zang, which is about as viscous as water. On the ships, I’ve even seen them sometimes just put the Strawberry Oasis in the bottom of the glass without blending it with ice. It still works because of the consistency. Because I was so excited about having one of these at home, I didn’t even think about how thin my mix was, and I too just poured it into the glass. As you can tell from my photo, you will not get the signature, creeping up the glass, pretty version this way. 2) You need a good blender that is a beast when it comes to ice for a frozen drink. Mine is great for smoothies, but I think my guy has found his match in ice. 3) Good rum (cough…Kraken…cough) makes all the difference, and it’s so much better when you find a bartender that mixes the dark rum into the strawberry at the bottom of the mix instead of just floating the liquor on top of the drink. I find my favorites onboard and tip them well! Ok, I didn’t make a mistake on that last point, but it is important to note.

Terrible presentation aside (looks like this is my thing), the at home version tasted just like the real deal. I’m planning a do over on Friday night to see if I can get it to look better. Tonight, I’ll be attempting the Habanero Grapefruit Daiquiri from the Schooner Bar.

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I just had a thought. Bacardi (I think it was Bacardi anyway) used to make frozen drink mixes you could find over with the frozen orange juice concentrate at the grocery store. This would probably work a lot better, at least for the strawberry portion of the drink, to get the same drink visually since my blender basically sucks. I'm not sure if these are still available, but I'll add that next to the coconut cream on my grocery list, and we'll see what happens.

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If the Lava Flow is my favorite pool side drink, the Habanero & Grapefruit Daiquiri has to be my favorite indoor cruise ship drink. It hints at tropical because of the citrus, and has just a kiss of heat. I get one any time we play trivia, listen to the piano player, or just walk through the Schooner Bar for that matter. This is one of those specialty drinks that is only available in one place onboard, and my husband may have even accused me of making the Schooner Bar part of our route to whatever indoor activity we were headed to on our last couple cruises. #notsorry The Hanabero & Grapefruit Daiquiri is listed on the Schooner Bar's Rum page.

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I could not find a copy cat recipe for this drink anywhere…I’ve been looking since I first had one in September. I was able to find a grapefruit daiquiri recipe and a habanero margarita recipe. I combined and tweaked them to create my own version of Royal’s Habanero & Grapefruit Daiquiri.

First the simple syrup.   

  • Zest from ½ Grapefruit
  • ½ cup Grapefruit Juice
  • ½ Habanero, sliced
  • ½ cup Sugar

Bring all ingredients to boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Once at a boil, turn off the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Let cool, strain, and store in refrigerator.

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For the daiquiri:

  • 2 oz White Rum
  • 2 oz Habanero Grapefruit Simple Syrup
  • ¾ oz Lime Juice
  • ¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a glass.

I had not seen Miami Club Rum before, which is listed as the rum used in Royal’s menu, so I went to their website. It’s a white rum, and I had Bacardi on hand. I also had Kirschwasser which I used for the maraschino liqueur, and it worked well. This drink was so good, and really close to the original. It probably would have been good even without having the trivia mood set by listening to Jeopardy in the background. I’m just sad that I only had enough simple syrup to make about 3 of these. I used a Ruby Red grapefruit, and it resulted in a deep coral-y, orange-y simple syrup, so it was a little darker than what they serve onboard which leans more toward pink. I'll be making these again, and I don't plan to change a thing. 

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I felt really bad about how the Lava Flow looked, so I upped my presentation game on this one. The ice didn’t get strained out because I’m still using my sports blender bottle to mix drinks. ? They didn't last long enough for the cubes to melt though. I actually feel so bad about that pitiful looking Lava Flow, that I think it deserves a do-over, and I’m going to give it another try tonight. I mean...we drink with our eyes, right? ?

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It's not perfect, but I feel like I've been redeemed! I remembered to blend the Strawberry Daiquiri mix with ice this time, and it made all the difference. I also ran the blender a bit longer, and overall it's closer to the right consistency. 

This has been fun, and I can definitely see myself making a couple of these drinks when I'm missing being on a ship. Since our cruise was only a 4 day, that's all the drinks I planned on making. Now someone else needs to go on a drinking at home cruise. I don't know what a BBC is supposed to taste like, and I would really like to get it right the first time. ?

20200607_204609.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/2/2020 at 10:51 AM, melmar02 said:

At some point in every cruise we have been on, the Mai Tai was one of the drinks of the day. On our last cruise, smiling crew members were happily waiting for us with trays of the glistening jewel colored beverages as we entered the Windjammer on embarkation day. There is so much excitement that surrounds that first drink and meal onboard, and because I wanted to relive that first day experience, I selected the Mai Tai as my first at home experience too. Nothing says you’re on vacation like a fruity drink!

image.thumb.png.72dad2bc6c6e3a3781e9d2874af30d65.png

I used the Mai Tai recipe @Matt listed about in his 38 Royal Caribbean Drink Recipes post, and it was pretty spot on flavor wise with what we had onboard in February. I did not go with the Ultimate Mai Tai version because I’m pretty sure they only use house rum in the passed version. My home made concoction was quite a bit darker than those on the ship, but I mainly attribute that to the ice having partially melted in those the server was carrying around. I also used Kraken for my dark rum, and it may be darker than whatever house rum they use onboard. And my kitchen at night is really dark for photos.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 1 ¼ oz Dark rum
  • ¾ oz Disaronno
  • 3 oz Pineapple juice
  • 1 oz Orange juice
  • ¼ oz Grenadine     

Shake the rum, Disaronno, pineapple, and orange juice with ice. Strain into a glass with ice and grenadine. Add garnish.

image.png.167a7d3306bf9708a6999d28fa02f9e8.png

You are supposed to garnish with a pineapple or orange slice and a maraschino cherry. I only had the cherry. And no good bar glass. Hence the poor presentation. But…It. Was. Glorious! We were transported back to all the good feels of those first few moments you step onboard. All that was missing was the tropical sun shining down on our couch.

image.png.f3cd6b2cd7ff43c6ed5d399bbd308348.png

On a side note – we moved three years ago, and the box with a lot of our bar stuff went missing. I usually just eyeball it when I make a cocktail because we tend to go pretty basic (rum and coke, gin and tonic, etc.). We mostly drink wine so we haven’t had the need really to replace things like a shaker and jigger. Good news though - my sports shaker bottle worked in a pinch last night, and in case you find yourself in the same situation, 2 Tablespoons is equivalent to 1 oz.

Tonight, we visit the Suite Lounge where I’ll be having a Lemon Drop and DH will be having a Gin and Tonic. The kid’s may even get in on the fun with a couple Shirley Temples.

Mai Tai has been my "2020 Drink" since it puts me in a good mental place. CHEERS! 

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4 hours ago, SteveinSC said:

Mai Tai has been my "2020 Drink" since it puts me in a good mental place. CHEERS! 

I may be making them again tonight for this very reason. Woke up to a fridge that had stopped working, and this afternoon my shorts got caught on a kitchen cabinet door handle...ripping it right off the hinges. ??‍♀️ On the bright side, yesterday I got a $2000 price drop on our January cruise. Bring on the drink package! 

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20 hours ago, melmar02 said:

this afternoon my shorts got caught on a kitchen cabinet door handle...ripping it right off the hinges. ??‍♀️

Depending on whether there was company in the house at the moment, that might have been the better of the two possible outcomes for something being torn off!

My wife just got a cocktail shaker with jigger. Told her that just means that I now have to go out and buy some sour mix, anejo tequila, and the other ingredients to make a Mango Melon 'Rita like in Boleros!

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3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Depending on whether there was company in the house at the moment, that might have been the better of the two possible outcomes for something being torn off!

My wife just got a cocktail shaker with jigger. Told her that just means that I now have to go out and buy some sour mix, anejo tequila, and the other ingredients to make a Mango Melon 'Rita like in Boleros!

Could have been embarrassing! Fortunately it was just my kids...who unfortunately overheard a nice set of new vocabulary words. ? I'm sure they'll wait to repeat them until we're at grandma's. ?

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  • 4 weeks later...
16 hours ago, JLMoran said:

So it’s nothing special, but finally made my favorite DotD — a margarita!! With Patron Añejo, natch!

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No salted rim, no fresh lime, but I’m taking what I can get. 

Does anyone actually drink frozen margaritas? Im an on the rocks, slice of lime, no salt guy.....

 

This past weekend: I dont know what youd call it...a pina colada variation, i suppose.....but Saturday by the pool i drank a good amount of coconut rum, white rum, pinapple juice, and coconut water with a lime slice, followed by a few Trulys from the wifes citrus pack. I credit the coconut water and hard seltzers with no hangover the next morning....WIN! 

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3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

I can't say I've ever seen anyone have a frozen one. I'm like you, except for the salted rim. I like that and always request it.

Heres something for ya....my wife, when she gets a Pumpkin Ale, always asks for brown sugar and cinnamon on the rim of her glass. 

halloween dancing GIF

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21 minutes ago, twangster said:

From what I gather on groups cruises you like the Patron without the margarita.  Rumors are you put Shotsberg to shame.  But those are just unfounded rumors.  

I'm not fussy.  Patron with or without the margarita is all good! The mix is extra calories anyway! ?

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  • 9 months later...

Wanna also share my deink of the day. I discovered it like a week ago. Vanilla Latte Cocktail, I've heard of it, but never tried to make it myself. The result is worth a try. 

For ingredients I had 2 ounces cream liqueur, 1 ounce vanilla vodka and 3 ounces chilled coffee (for coffee I used latte made from capsules). 

Put all the ingredients in a highball glass and stir it. 
image.png.bffa43a133b156a2162ef743bf8fec4c.png

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19 hours ago, StillC said:

Wanna also share my deink of the day. I discovered it like a week ago. Vanilla Latte Cocktail, I've heard of it, but never tried to make it myself. The result is worth a try. 

For ingredients I had 2 ounces cream liqueur, 1 ounce vanilla vodka and 3 ounces chilled coffee (for coffee I used latte made from capsules). 

Put all the ingredients in a highball glass and stir it. 
 

Since I'm my own boss, I could totally make these for breakfast!

Bom Dia Hello GIF

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  • 4 months later...

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