Joe G's Cocktails at Three

07/08/2020

It's 3 With Joe G. Time to Celebrate my wife Monica's birthday with a Blood Orange Paloma. Hope you enjoy!

31/07/2020

To kick it up a notch were putting on an Aperol Class 3 drinks at 3! A Aperol Spritz, Boulevardier, and a Apertini.

24/07/2020

Looking for sothing sweet and refreshing on this warm sunny summer day? Look no further, Joe G and the Mac nut gallery has you covered. It's three and time for some cocktail fun. Photos and video by JP Van Swae

17/07/2020

Joe G's cocktails at 3. It's the only way to remember it's FRIDAY!

17/07/2020

Joe G and his Cocktails with a twist! Thanks for the Suggestion Ann Greenberg!

10/07/2020

10/07/2020

Josh McD....Cocktails at 3!!!
“Don’t You Judge Me”
Vodka, Amaro, Lemon & Grapefruit Radler

26/06/2020

Blackberry Sage Manhattan!!!

19/06/2020

19/06/2020

You don't want to miss this one.... this ain't your traditional Strawberry Daiquiri, this one's got a twist!!!

19/06/2020

Happy Friday! Let's get this party started with a Strawberry Daiquiri..... this one's got a twist!

05/06/2020

Enjoy Joe's version of a Whiskey Sour...... If you know, you know!

04/06/2020

Hey guys.... hope you're having as much fun with Joe's spectacular creations as we are!!! Don't forget to tune in tomorrow at 3:00pm where Joe will be serving up a Whiskey Sour. Want to follow along? You'll want the following ingredients on hand: Whiskey, Simple Syrup with Turmeric, Lemon Juice and Fernet Francisco.
See you tomorrow!!!!
- Photos and video

22/05/2020

Coctails at Three with Joe G
It's Friday.... why not enjoy a Li Hing Mui with us!

19/05/2020

“Boulevardier”

Equal parts
1.5oz Bourbon
1.5oz Campari
1.5oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir don’t shake
Rinse glass with orange bitters
Garnish with an orange peel

This is basically a Negroni, sub bourbon for gin. One of my favorite go to cocktails when we were able to go out to a nice dinner. I prefer to sub Aperol for Campari. It’s definitely a nice change for Manhattan drinkers. I feel like I can enjoy an additional one of these cocktails since the aperol is lower in proof and basically lowers the overall alcohol content of a straight up Manhattan.

Enjoy!!!

19/05/2020

“Boulevardier”

Equal parts
1.5oz Bourbon
1.5oz Campari
1.5oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir don’t shake
Rinse glass with orange bitters
Garnish with an orange peel

This is basically a Negroni, sub bourbon for gin. One of my favorite go to cocktails when we were able to go out to a nice dinner. I prefer to sub Aperol for Campari. It’s definitely a nice change for Manhattan drinkers. I feel like I can enjoy an additional one of these cocktails since the aperol is lower in proof and basically lowers the overall alcohol content of a straight up Manhattan.

Enjoy!!!

19/05/2020

Mother’s Day Cocktail
“Opal Basil-Cucumber Cooler”

2oz. Ketel One Botanical
2oz. Cucumber Water
1oz. Opal Basil Simple Syrup
1oz. Ginger Purée
1 egg white

Shake all ingredients with no ice for 1-minute
Add ice and shake 30-seconds.

Strain, Pour, Garnish Repeat

19/05/2020

Joe G...Cocktails at 3!!!
May 8th 2020
Hawaiian Edition
The Royal Mai Tai

19/05/2020

The Royal Mai Tai

19/05/2020

The Perfect Margarita...

19/05/2020

The Perfect Margarita.....

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 30
“Peridot Punch”

2oz Green Chartreuse
1oz RumHaven Coconut Liqueur
1oz Pineapple Juice
3/4oz Lime Juice
Bar spoon Organic kiawe honey
Top with Shaken Coconut Milk

In Cocktail Shaker, combine first four ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled martini glass.
In empty cocktail shaker, dry Shake canned coconut milk (like you’d use in Thai cooking) and honey. We had some kiawe honey from our last trip to Hawai’i. This shaken milk will sit right on top of the rest of the cocktail.

OK...I wanted to do something with green chartreuse, but didn’t have all the ingredients for a classic cocktail called a Chartreuse Swizzle. Decided to wing it and combine a few things we had left in the cabinet after this 30-day challenge. The result had a brilliant greenish color. Monica said it looked like her birthstone Peridot and just like that we had a name.

Some little known facts about peridot is that it is also known as The Hawaiian Diamond and is a mineral deposited on Oahu’s famous landmark volcano, Diamond Head. Peridot forms as lava cools and is treasured in the islands, known to some as the tears of Pele, Goddess of lightning, volcanos and fire (attributes also commonly known to describe my wife). If you know the “G-Family” then you know our love of Hawaiian Culture. We thought this would be a nice drink to say Aloha with, especially in honor of Lei Day tomorrow, May 1st.

We hope you have enjoyed our 30-day presentation of fun cocktails. We still have a few cocktails up our sleeve, so I’ve been working with to do a couple video tutorials that we’ll drop on Facebook Friday afternoons at 3pm. I look forward to your feedback and hope you are all hanging in there. Hopefully we’ll all be back to work really soon. Take Care...

Aloha🌈🤙🏼,

The G-Family

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 29
“The Joey Molinari”

2.5oz Sambuca Molinari
1.5oz Half & Half

Ok...so I took a couple days off. My heart wasn’t in it. The difficult decision to permanently close Watermarc in Laguna Beach was made by our ownership team on Monday. We’ve spent the last two days cleaning up, informing our loyal staff (some since day 1), and closing the books on our 12-year run.
So now I’m here to share with you one of my all-time favorite cocktails!!!! It is the easiest and most simple drink you’ll ever pour outside of a shot of tequila or whiskey neat. If we’ve worked together long enough or you know me very well, you’ve seen me knock off my fair share of these bad boys or end my night with one of these stomach soothers. It was my routine that at the end of a long weekend managing the crazy crowds in Huntington Beach at Chimayo, my boys or would know instinctively to have one of these cocktails ready for me as we closed down the restaurant. It carried on to future restaurants and I can still hear my boy Jude yelling out “Joey Molinari” whenever I would enter the building at Rouge Bistro in Newport Beach.
This is my last drink of the night when I am done with everything else. It settles my stomach and let’s me know that the night is over. If you love black licorice this will be a nice treat. If you don’t appreciate the flavors of anise, then this is not for you.
The feeling of saying goodbye to Watermarc and all my friends & guests is like coming to the end of a very long shift. No better cocktail to share with you than this one right here. I had no intention of using this on my 30-day cocktail post because of its simplicity. But now it seems appropriate given the circumstances. Let me know if you ever try this out as a nightcap. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Aloha...joeG!

# # #

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 25
Brunch Edition
“BLT Bloody Mary”

You already know the recipe.
Favorite Vodka + Mary Mix

*This is drink is personal to most people. Everyone has a secret Bloody Mary mix recipe, so I’m not even gonna go there. However, I think the garnish makes the Bloody Mary. I like a clean and simple garnish. This is how we do it at 230 Forest Avenue in Laguna Beach.

-Fried Pork Belly
-Romaine Heart
-Heirloom Cherry Tomato
-Partial Salt Rim

For the record, here are some nice additions to your Bloody Mary mix: Horseradish, Pickle Juice, all the debris from the bottom of a pickle jar, mustard seeds, sriracha, peppercorns, Worcestershire, Tabasco & celery salt. My only rule for making a Bloody Mary is that you should always “roll” it in a mixing cup to incorporate the vodka & mix. Nothing worse than a straw full of vodka on the first sip. (Have at it ladies...I’m sure a lot of moms out there will disagree with my straw full of vodka comment).

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!!!

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 25
“Blood Orange Paloma”
aka Tequila Mockingbird

1.5 oz Casamigos Silver
1/2oz Blood Orange Syrup
1/2oz Fresh Lime
1/2oz Ruby Red Grapefruit
1oz Sq**rt Grapefruit Soda
Splash Grapefruit Bitters

I picked up To Kill A Mockingbird the other day and tried to catch up to Marisol and thought this would make a fun name for a drink. I’m sure it’s already taken. So I reverted back to Blood Orange Paloma. Got to enjoy these in the drive way with a good friend Shelley Westmore Hoss. Super refreshing and the perfect cocktail for the hot days we’ve been having.

Hope you all got a chance to catch Jack Johnson’s on-line Kokua Festival today. Brought back so many great memories.

Enjoy!!!

19/05/2020

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 24
“The Rattlesnake”

2oz Rye Whiskey
1oz Fresh Lemon
1oz Simple Syrup
1 egg white
Absinthe
Angostura Bitters
(See video for details)

Enjoy the joe G Cocktail at 3 video tutorial. I’m sure Jean-Paul Van Swae & I will shorten it up for the next time. Were still figuring a few things out. Anyway, we’re gonna try and do this for the next few Fridays during the quarantine and possibly beyond. . . Because 3 is the new 5!!!

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 23
“South Coast Sidecar”

Orange Bitters
3oz Wine Shine Orange Brandy
1/2oz Fresh Orange Juice
1/2oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Bar spoon honey

The Sidecar is traditionally more lemon based. It’s actually cognac, lemon and Cointreau. Living in Orange County, home of South Coast Plaza I took some liberties here and pivoted more toward the Orange citrus flavors.
Start with an orange bitters glass rinse. Discard bitters.
In mixing glass combine a liberal amount of orange brandy, honey, orange & lemon juices. Add ice & Stir until chilled.
Serve in a chilled coupe glass with a partially sugared rim. You can even flame an orange peel or use a little orange zest if you want. I was thinking of using my blood orange for this, but decided to save it for a Paloma this weekend. I know this side car is legit because already finished her cocktail before I could get this post out. I serve a version of this at Opah Seafood Grill in Aliso Viejo. Keep an eye out for Wine Shine it is definitely a good addition to your liquor cabinet and more versatile than you might think.

Enjoy...see you tomorrow for
JoeG! Cocktails at 3
& I will be doing a whiskey drink called “Rattlesnake”.

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19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 22
“Aviation Grounded”

2oz Gin (Vodka)
1/2oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/2oz Crème de Violette
1/2oz Lemon Juice
Flamed Lemon Peel
*purple protective gloves optional

The “Aviation” is an old classic cocktail. Revived during the craft cocktail movement, it is quite possibly the oldest known purple cocktail. It is a Gin based drink, but I have run out so I substituted vodka in place of gin and added the word “grounded” to its name. I felt it was appropriate given these times we are in. Make sure to flame the back of a lemon peel into the drink...it definitely adds a layer to the cocktail. This is Monica Guillena approved. Color & flavor are both spot on. Hope you all enjoy!!!

joeG!

joeglibationr&d

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 21
“Mission Fig Margarita”

2oz Silver Tequila
1oz Fresh Lime Juice
1oz House Made Fig Syrup

Sugar rim garnish & Trader Joe’s Dried Figs.

In honor of Taco Tuesday, thought I’d share our most popular cocktail at 230 Forest Avenue in Laguna Beach. This drink is pure collaboration. I fell in love with the idea of doing a fig margarita, but couldn’t pull off the right color and sweetness. Chef Marc Cohen tried several different variations of a fig syrup before landing on this. Sorry, can’t share the recipe for the Sizzurp. I feel like we were one of the first doing a drink like this and I want to make sure you all have a reason to come back once the gloves and surgical masks come off. Photo credit to my good friend jean Paul Van swae helps me photograph the menu items at the restaurant. This is way better than the shot I took.

Enjoy...

&d

19/05/2020

I’ve been having tons of fun sharing some daily cocktail recipes. My buddy JP Van Swae made this fun logo. Thought I’d share. We are gonna try and video a cocktail this Friday at 3pm for a social distancing happy hour at an undisclosed location known only as “The Hyde-Away” in San Juan Capistrano/Dana Point. Keep an eye out for a video that we’ll drop Friday afternoon. We’ll be making an awesome whiskey drink called a “Rattlesnake”. You’ll need Rye Whiskey, Absinthe, Lemon, Simple Syrup, egg whites and bitters. Look forward to seeing you.

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 20
“The Royal Mai Tai”

1 tsp. Cherry-Vanilla Purée
2 oz. Flor de Caña Extra Dry Rum
2.5 oz. P.O.G Juice
1.5 oz. Whaler’s Hawaiian Dark Rum
Squeeze of Lime

I love this drink. It’s a simple build. Plant some homemade cherry-vanilla purée at the bottom. Add ice, light rum & POG juice (Pineapple/Orange/Guava). Then float the dark rum, squeeze a lime for acidity and garnish.
You can go crazy with this garnish if you want to. We used these Libby Mai Tai glasses at Hula Grill in Waikiki & I found them here on the mainland and use them at Opah Seafood Grill . I also poached the cherry-vanilla purée from the world famous Mai Tai Bar @ The Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach. We had an entire menu of Mai Tai variations when we reopened as A Luxury Collection Resort back in 2008-ish. Shout out to Joey Gottesman, mixologist and beverage director extraordinaire Had many laughs with him, Jim Weisiger and Michael Swerdloff! Miss you guys and much of the Royal Ohana.

(The purée is easy to make and is a welcome substitution for bottled grenadine. Just blend equal amounts of red maraschino cherries, sugar and water. Add a cap full of vanilla extract and strain. Use it in place of grenadine).

Aloha,

joeG!

&d

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 19
“Balsamic-Strawberry Daquiri”

2oz Light Rum
1oz Fresh Squeezed Lime
1oz Strawberry Purée
1oz Egg White
Balsamic Pearls

Combine first four ingredients into a shaker without ice and dry shake for 30-seconds. Add ice and shake to chill drink. Pour into chilled coupe glass and garnish.

This is a fun one we serve at 230 Forest Avenue. Strawberries and balsamic vinegar are a classic combination, but not often thought of for a cocktail.
Not sure you could pull off the balsamic pearls at home, but they make a very unique garnish. I float them on a dried lime chip. The egg whites provide a nice foam to float the lime chip. As the balsamic pearls/boba fall into the drink they provide a nice acidity to balance the sweetness of the strawberry purée. I’d be happy to share the details on making them. Just pm me. It’s a little too involved to get into here.

Enjoy!!!

&d

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 18
“The AntiGin” (Antigen)

2oz Any Vodka
1oz Gray Whale California Gin
2oz Chin Chin Lychee Juice Drink
1/4oz Reduced Aperol Syrup

Just having fun with this crazy fruit. Marisol used to eat these like crazy when we lived in Honolulu. They are called Rambutan and I thought they looked like the Coronavirus animations we’ve been seeing. Anyway, I hope this doesn’t offend anyone. Wanted to try something different tonight. I even boiled down some aperol with a little sugar to plant at the bottom of the cocktail. Pretty sure the gin wins the flavor battle here. Extra Lychee Fruit juice drink is a crowd pleaser with the kids as a mocktail as long as you use the rambutan to garnish. Hope you enjoy & hope we all get back to work soon.

*Chin Chin Lychee Fruit drink may be hard to find, but I get it at Seafood City in Irvine/Tustin. It’s a Filipino Supermarket with locations in California & Hawaii. Also found the Rambutans there along with some other fun stuff like Mangosteens, avocado ice cream & Li Hing Mui. Things might get weird this week!!!

Aloha

&d

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 17
“Lavender-Mint Lemon Drop”

3oz Ketel One Vodka
2oz Lemonade
1oz Sq**rt (for effervescence)
1oz Lavender-Mint Syrup
Lavender Sugar Rim

Made a Lavender-Mint Simple Syrup to brighten up this variation of a lemon drop. Also used a little Sq**rt soda to give it some gas.

Combine vodka & lemonade.
Shake vigorously
Add sq**rt and strain into martini glass
Use a spoon to slowly add lavender-mint simple syrup. It’s heavy enough to sink to the bottom. Nothing tricky here. Just had some dried lavender sitting in the kitchen. The aromatics of the simple syrup are wonderful.

Enjoy!!!

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 16
“Amalfi Coast”

This is a popular drink from our menu at 230 Forest Avenue in Laguna Beach. I needed a quick liver break.

1.5oz. Limoncello5oz. Fresh Lemon juice
Fill with Prosecco.

Photo credit my buddy JP Van Jean-Paul Van Swae jpvsphoto.com

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 15
Raspberry-Serrano Margarita

The best margarita is ALWAYS
2-1-1
Two parts Tequila (blanco)
One part Fresh Lime
One part Sugar or Agave

I made a raspberry-Serrano simple syrup and used it in place of agave. It’s got a nice balance between sweet & heat. Perfect for the beautiful weather today. I prefer blanco tequila in margaritas and I always shake ‘em to wake ‘em up.

I’m running out of glassware and areas of the house to shoot, but I like the way this one turned out.

Enjoy!!!

&d

19/05/2020

April Cocktail Challenge
Day 14
“Hemingway Daquiri”

Although there is much lore surrounding the origin of this cocktail, I like to believe that it provided a low-glycemic alternative for the famous author who struggled with diabetes later in life. The substitution of grapefruit juice and Luxardo maraschino liqueur instead of sugar makes this a drink low in carbs and free of sugar. So feel free to indulge!!!

2oz. Havana Club Light Rum
1/2oz. Luxardo Liqueur
1/2oz. Pink Grapefruit Juice
3/4oz. Fresh Squeezed Lime

*Garnish & Enjoy

&d