Classic Drinks_Modern Girl

Classic Drinks_Modern Girl Classic cocktails mixed and imbibed with enthusiasm, by a lady.

What a weather week we've had in Iowa. Sunday; blizzard. Monday; single digit temps. Thursday; we made it over 70 degree...
03/20/2026

What a weather week we've had in Iowa. Sunday; blizzard. Monday; single digit temps. Thursday; we made it over 70 degrees. That's a big swing, and these tropical temps have me thinking about beach drinks. The question...do i want rum or tequila??
Better question...why should I have to choose??

Sunny & Seventy

▪️ 1.5 oz tequila blanco
▪️ 1 oz Jamaican rum
▪️ .5 oz dry curacao
▪️ 1 oz lime juice
▪️ 2 oz orange juice
▪️ .5 oz grenadine
▪️ .25 oz demerara syrup

Everything goes in the shaker with a couple ice cubes. Shook it all up good and then dirty dumped it into a glass filled with crushed ice.

Faur warning; this one is boozy. This would be a yummy drink even without the rum, but the Jamaican rum gives a nice funky note that elevates it from just a fruity tequila drink into something a little deeper. Also, it makes me get all nostalgic for the trip we took to Jamaica last summer 🇯🇲😍

Cheers, everyone. 🥂 Hope your weather is being as kind to you this weekend as Iowa's is.

On another note, I'd love to get back into regular cocktail posts, but I need a theme; preferably something that mixes drinks with costumes/vintage clothing. Shoot me your ideas. 😊

Look at that thing! I really didn't want to post this cause it turned out such a hideous color; like a glass full of tom...
03/11/2026

Look at that thing! I really didn't want to post this cause it turned out such a hideous color; like a glass full of tomato soup at best. I didn't even attempt to make that first photo pretty. But damn, the drink is just so delicious, I decided to share it with the world anyway. We can't all be photogenic!!

This one is inspired by a recipe in this 1967 printing of Better Homes & Gardens Dessert Cook Book.

Orange Spice Bar

▪️ 1.5 oz cognac
▪️ .5 oz triple sec
▪️ .75 oz spiced port syrup
▪️ 2 oz orange juice
▪️ .5 oz lemon juice
▪️ a few walnut pieces

Everything goes in a shaker. I very lightly muddled the walnuts and then added ice and shook her all up. Fine strained into a chilled coupe and SURPRISE!! It looks horrible. Fortunately it tastes like a yummy spiced orange dessert. Definitely an after dinner drink.

Side note, the port syrup was made as you might imagine; port, sugar, whole allspice, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, star anise.

Tonight's cocktail continues on a theme, I guess. Two themes really. Another vintage Better Homes & Gardens recipe for i...
02/04/2026

Tonight's cocktail continues on a theme, I guess. Two themes really. Another vintage Better Homes & Gardens recipe for inspiration, and another tea based punch is the result.

Fruited Tea-quila Punch

▪️ 1.5 oz honey tequila
▪️ .5 oz triple sec
▪️ .5 oz lime juice
▪️ .25 oz lemon juice
▪️ .25 oz turbinado syrup
▪️ .25 oz maraschino cherry juice
▪️ 2.5 oz green tea

Absolutely everything into a shaker of ice for the shake-up, then strain into a pretty glass of crushed ice. I garnished with a lime wheel and a couple of cherries.

Delicious. That's all; just yum. The honey tequila really shines in this. If you are able to get Cazcabel, I highly recommend.

Side note, you may notice in the first photo a puddle forming next to the glass. I thought my glass had sprung a leak. Turns out my garnish on the rim was siphoning my drink out onto the counter. Science!! 🤣

It's been awhile since I got serious and truly creative with a cocktail. So here goes...I am obsessed with collecting vi...
01/11/2026

It's been awhile since I got serious and truly creative with a cocktail. So here goes...

I am obsessed with collecting vintage Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks, especially 50's, 60's, and 70's vintage. Mid-century recipes are fascinating. They are also apparently a great place to find cocktail inspiration. You will find the harvest punch recipe inspiration for this cocktail in the 3rd photo. It's also my first stab at a cognac cocktail.

Even Better Homes & Gardens Punch

▪️ .75 oz lemon juice
▪️ 1.5 oz cranberry orange ginger syrup
▪️ .75 oz dry curacao
▪️ 1.5 oz cognac
▪️ 3 oz spiced & sweetened Earl Grey tea

All of these ingredients went into a shaker of ice to get shook. I used a meat cleaver to crush some ice in a bag and dumped it in my chilled glass. The strained my cocktail into it and added some more crushed ice and a twist of orange on top.

I made the syrup with as you would imagine with water, white sugar, fresh cranberries, fresh ginger and orange peel on the stove for about 10 minutes and then strained. The tea was an Earl Grey Supreme steeped for 5 minutes with allspice, nutmeg and orange peel, then a teaspoon of sugar was added.

Long story long, this drink is freaking DELICIOUS!! And soooo worth all the work. Cheers!

It's almost Thanksgiving, y'all, so let's get cranberry "sauced". 😉😁 Cranberries abound in our house right now in prepar...
11/20/2025

It's almost Thanksgiving, y'all, so let's get cranberry "sauced". 😉😁 Cranberries abound in our house right now in preparation for the coming holiday, so I stole some from the stash to go in my drinks.

I didn't know what I was making here, but when I was done, Ibasically ended up with and elderflower margarita. I ain't mad about it.

St. Rita Bonita

▪️1.5 oz tequila blanco
▪️1 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
▪️1 oz lime juice
▪️1 oz cranberry ginger orange syrup
▪️pinch of kosher salt

Everything into a shaker of ice for the shaking part, then strain over ice. I gave it a jaunty lime hat and threw in the candied cranberries and orange peel that were byproducts of the syrup making.

It's sharp and sweet, tart and tasty, and supremely delicious.

White Claws are offensive to my taste buds, but for my son's graduation party, we bought a 12 pack of them for the non-b...
09/25/2025

White Claws are offensive to my taste buds, but for my son's graduation party, we bought a 12 pack of them for the non-beer drinkers. And at the end of the party, we still had 12 of them. We dumped out the majority but kept the lemon and passion fruit in case they would work as a cocktail topper. Finally, I'm giving it a try.

"Well, I Tried"

▪️1 oz Jamaican rum
▪️.5 oz white rum
▪️.5 oz turbinado syrup
▪️2 oz pineapple juice
▪️.5 oz lime juice
▪️.25 oz grenadine
▪️3 oz passion fruit White Claw

The first 5 ingredients go into a shaker of ice and get all shook up and poured into a glass of ice. Drizzle the grenadine over top, then top up with the White Claw.

I tried. I really did. And it's not terrible. I mean, I'm drinking it, but through all the booze and syrup and juice, I can still taste the weirdness of that White Claw.

In July, we hopped a plane bound for Jamaica for a 5 night stay in paradise. The sand, the surf, the sun, the RUM!! Amaz...
09/15/2025

In July, we hopped a plane bound for Jamaica for a 5 night stay in paradise. The sand, the surf, the sun, the RUM!! Amazing. So, of course, we came home with some bottles. This one is an ode to our all-inclusive resort that kept us fat and happy with rum drinks.

Montego Beach Bird

▪️1.25 oz Cuban rum
▪️.75 oz mango rum cream
▪️2.5 oz pineapple juice
▪️.75 oz lime juice
▪️.25 oz turbinado syrup

Everything into a shaker of ice and shake vigorously. Then pour into your glass of crushed ice. I just garnished simply with lime wheels.

Yes, I brought home Jamaican rum but I had exactly 1.25 oz of the Cuban stuff left that I was tired of looking at so I went with that. 😁 I used to think I was a tequila girl, but I think I'm a rum girl at heart.

Are people even still making drinks on instagram??? It's been soooo long.It's HOT out here today so I dusted off a coupl...
09/11/2025

Are people even still making drinks on instagram??? It's been soooo long.

It's HOT out here today so I dusted off a couple of bottles to make a swizzle. So easy peasy and so so cold and refreshing.

Chartreuse Swizzle

▪️1.5 oz chartreuse
▪️.5 oz velvet falernum
▪️2 oz pineapple juice
▪️.75 oz lime juice

All the liquids into a collins glass and add some crushed ice until your glass is like 3/4 full, then swiiiiizzzzzle. I used a bar spoon cause I ain't gotta swizzle thingy-majig. Then fill the glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a chunk of pineapple and a cherry on top.

You can tell by the puddle that I got overzealous with the crushed ice. And although I DO have a pineapple in my house, I was too lazy to cut it up, so all you get is the cherry. Thanks for the inspo!!

Heyyyyy. Remember me? I still love to make cocktais and drink them. I'm just too lazy to take pictures of them and write...
09/02/2024

Heyyyyy. Remember me? I still love to make cocktais and drink them. I'm just too lazy to take pictures of them and write you a story about them. 😅 Anyway...

"Honey Sauce"

▪️2 oz. Honey Liqueur
▪️1 oz. Triple Sec
▪️1 oz. Lime Juice
▪️.5 oz. Orgeat
▪️Pinch of salt
▪️Mexican lager

First 5 ingredients go into your shaker of ice for the shaking. Pour over ice and top with your favorite Mexican style lager.

I'm not usually one to tag a brand in my posts but I did here because if you have a way to get your hands on this honey liqueur made with tequila, you need to grab it. I'm in love with it.

I have patio drinks on the brain, but the more I think about patio drinks, the more it freaking rains, and the further I...
05/03/2024

I have patio drinks on the brain, but the more I think about patio drinks, the more it freaking rains, and the further I get from drinks on a patio. But I soldier on, drinking the patio drinks anyway, regardless of where I actually drink them. I found this cocktail on Pinterest called a Pineapple Princess. It wasn't quite right for me though so I tweaked.

"Pineapple Queen"

▪️1.5 oz tequila blanco
▪️.75 oz triple sec
▪️.75 oz aperol
▪️1.5 oz lime juice
▪️.25 oz agave syrup
▪️3 oz pineapple juice

Everything goes into a shaker of ice for the shaking then I dirty dumped it into a big glass of ice.

As you can see, this is kind of a long drink. Share it with a friend or keep it all to yourself like I do. Now if the sun would just come out, damn it!

Record high temperatures over the weekend definitely had me thinking about patio drinks. Lately I've been on a Paloma ki...
04/17/2024

Record high temperatures over the weekend definitely had me thinking about patio drinks. Lately I've been on a Paloma kick so I have grapefruit on the brain and also I happened to actually have a grapefruit in the house. 😁

"Patio Drink"

▪️1.5 oz coconut rum (not liqueur)
▪️1 oz Jamaican rum
▪️.75 oz orgeat
▪️2 oz grapefruit juice
▪️club soda

Shake the first four ingredients with ice. Strain into your glass of ice. Then top off with the club soda.

Find yourself a patio and enjoy. Or just drink it on your couch. That's what I'm doing 🤷‍♀️😁

Address

Des Moines, IA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Classic Drinks_Modern Girl posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category