Drink Recipes
Nine drinks you can build in minutes from what is on the shelves at Emporium Liquor, 3900 147th St, Midlothian, IL 60445 — and for each one, the bottle we would hand you.
Michelada
A michelada is a cold Mexican lager built over ice with lime, Clamato, hot sauce and a chilli-salt rim. It takes about three minutes and everything in it is on our shelves.
What you need
- Cold Mexican lager — Modelo, Pacífico or Victoria
- Clamato or a bottled michelada mix
- Tajín for the rim
- Fresh limes
- Hot sauce and Worcestershire
- Chamoy, if you want it sweet
How to build it
- 1Rim a chilled pint glass with lime, then dip it in Tajín.
- 2Add ice, the juice of one lime, and a few dashes of hot sauce.
- 3Pour in about 4oz of Clamato, then a splash of Worcestershire and soy sauce.
- 4Top slowly with a cold Mexican lager — Modelo, Pacífico or Victoria.
- 5Drizzle chamoy down the inside of the glass if you want it sweet and sour.
What we’d pour
Modelo Especial
The lager most micheladas around here are built on — clean enough that the Clamato and lime do the talking.
See the shelf →
Paloma
The paloma is tequila and grapefruit soda over ice with lime and a salted rim — the drink most people in Mexico order instead of a margarita, and it is two ingredients easier.
What you need
- Blanco tequila
- Grapefruit soda — Squirt, Jarritos or Fresca
- Fresh limes
- Coarse salt
- Ice
How to build it
- 1Rim a highball with lime and coarse salt.
- 2Fill it with ice and pour 2oz of blanco tequila.
- 3Add the juice of half a lime.
- 4Top with grapefruit soda and stir once — no more.
- 5Garnish with a grapefruit or lime wedge.
What we’d pour
G4 Blanco
Additive-free, rainwater-distilled, and it tastes like actual agave — which is the whole point when there are only two other ingredients.
See the shelf →
Margarita
A real margarita is three things: tequila, lime and orange liqueur. No mixer, no bottle of green syrup. It is the shortest ingredient list of any drink worth making.
What you need
- Blanco tequila
- Triple sec or Cointreau
- Fresh limes — several
- Coarse salt
- Ice
How to build it
- 1Rim half the glass with lime and coarse salt, so there is a side to drink from without it.
- 2Shake 2oz tequila, 1oz orange liqueur and 1oz fresh lime juice with ice, hard, for ten seconds.
- 3Strain over fresh ice, or serve it up in a chilled coupe.
- 4Garnish with a lime wheel.
- 5If it tastes thin, it wants more lime, not more tequila.
What we’d pour
LALO Blanco
Made by the grandson of the man who created Don Julio, and built for exactly this drink — bright, peppery, no added sugar.
See the shelf →
Sangría
Sangría is the one to make when people are coming over — a bottle of red, chopped fruit and an hour in the fridge does more work than anything you could stir to order.
What you need
- A bottle of dry red — garnacha, tempranillo or a cheap cabernet
- Brandy or orange liqueur
- Oranges, apples and lemons
- Soda water or lemon-lime soda
- Ice
How to build it
- 1Chop one orange, one apple and one lemon into rough chunks and drop them in a pitcher.
- 2Pour in the whole bottle of red and about 3oz of brandy or orange liqueur.
- 3Stir, cover, and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour — this is the step people skip and it is the one that matters.
- 4Just before serving, top with soda water and stir once.
- 5Serve over ice, with some of the fruit in every glass.
What we’d pour
A Spanish garnacha
Fruity and soft enough to take the brandy and the fruit without turning thin. Ask us which one is open on the shelf.
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Moscow Mule
Vodka, ginger beer and lime over crushed ice. Three ingredients, no shaking, and the copper mug is tradition rather than a requirement.
What you need
- Vodka
- Ginger beer — not ginger ale, they are different drinks
- Fresh limes
- Crushed or cubed ice
How to build it
- 1Fill a copper mug or a highball to the top with ice.
- 2Pour 2oz of vodka.
- 3Add the juice of half a lime.
- 4Top with ginger beer and give it one gentle stir.
- 5Drop the spent lime shell in and serve.
What we’d pour
Grey Goose
Soft and clean, so the ginger stays the loudest thing in the mug. If you want the value pick instead, ask for Tito’s.
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Old Fashioned
Bourbon, sugar, bitters and one big piece of ice. The oldest cocktail there is, and the one that shows most plainly what is in the bottle.
What you need
- Bourbon
- Angostura bitters
- Sugar cubes or simple syrup
- An orange
- Ice — the biggest cubes you have
How to build it
- 1Put a sugar cube in the glass and soak it with three dashes of bitters.
- 2Muddle it into a paste with a splash of water.
- 3Add 2oz of bourbon and one large ice cube.
- 4Stir for about thirty seconds — longer than feels necessary. That dilution is part of the recipe.
- 5Twist a strip of orange peel over the glass to release the oil, then drop it in.
What we’d pour
Buffalo Trace
The sweet spot for this drink — enough body to stand up to the sugar and the ice without costing what a sipping bourbon costs.
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Whiskey Sour
Whiskey, lemon and sugar, shaken hard. Rye makes it snap; bourbon makes it round. Either way it is the easiest way to find out whether you like a whiskey.
What you need
- Rye or bourbon
- Lemons
- Simple syrup or sugar
- Ice
- An egg, if you want the foam
How to build it
- 1Shake 2oz whiskey, 3/4oz fresh lemon juice and 3/4oz simple syrup with ice for ten seconds.
- 2For the foam: shake the same thing with an egg white first, with no ice, then again with ice.
- 3Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, or up into a coupe.
- 4Three dashes of bitters on top of the foam if you made it.
- 5Garnish with a lemon wheel or a cherry.
What we’d pour
Bulleit Rye
High rye, so it cuts through the lemon and the sugar instead of disappearing under them.
See the shelf →
Gin & Tonic
Two ingredients, and almost everybody gets the ratio wrong. More tonic than you think, colder than you think, and a glass with room for ice.
What you need
- Gin
- Tonic water — a small bottle or can, never a flat two-litre
- A lime, or a cucumber
- Plenty of ice
How to build it
- 1Fill the glass entirely with ice. Half-filling it is why warm gin and tonics exist.
- 2Pour 2oz of gin.
- 3Top with about 4oz of tonic, poured down the side of the glass to keep the bubbles.
- 4Do not stir more than once.
- 5Squeeze a lime wedge over the top, or lay a ribbon of cucumber along the inside.
What we’d pour
Tanqueray
Juniper-forward and dry, which is what a tonic needs to push against. A softer gin gets buried.
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Mojito
White rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda. The trick is not to shred the mint — press it, do not pulverise it, or the drink turns bitter and green.
What you need
- White rum
- Fresh mint — a real bunch, not a garnish sprig
- Limes
- Sugar or simple syrup
- Soda water
- Crushed ice
How to build it
- 1Put eight to ten mint leaves in the glass with the juice of one lime and two teaspoons of sugar.
- 2Press the mint gently against the side of the glass. Do not tear it.
- 3Add 2oz of white rum and fill with crushed ice.
- 4Top with soda water and stir from the bottom up so the mint moves through the drink.
- 5Slap a sprig of mint between your hands and lay it on top.
What we’d pour
Bacardí Superior
Light and dry, which is exactly what you want under this much lime and mint. This is the drink it was made for.
See the shelf →
Everything above is in the store. See what we carry or call (708) 597-8888.