A Touch of Coffee, Goji and Quinoa

It´s always inspiring to try out new great products and here´s 3 great products from Fair Trade Spirits. It`s organic coffee and goji liqueurs and quinoa vodka. Fair Trade is the first brand in the world that is Fair Trade Certified which means they use Fair Trade Certified ingredients and organic farming methods. I like that!

The three products i trying out from Fair are these:

Fair Coffee liqueur – Made from Fair Trade and organic coffee beans grown high up in the volcanic mountains of Mexico and Fair Trade sugarcane from Malawi. I love coffee and i love a good coffee liqueur which i often use as a drink ingredient in tiki drinks.(coffee and pineapple anyone? or coffee and grapefruit….)

When you open the bottle and smell it, on the nose it´s like freshly roasted coffee beans. The flavor is even better, it´s the closest to real freshly roasted coffee beans that i`ve ever tasted and it has depth. The sweetness is just perfect and the sugarcane flavor very natural. This is a seriously good coffee liqueur! and actually i don´t think i want any other after i´ve tried this.

Fair Goji liqueur – I assume you`ve heard of the goji berries? loaded with antioxidants they are sold in various health shops. Goji is the first Goji berry liqueur ever made and is the only one on the market as far as i know.

The goji liqueur has a somewhat mixed flavors of cranberries and plum. It´s an interesting flavor and it can be used in cocktails like grenadine for example. It`s simply a very interesing product.

Fair – Quinoa vodka – is the first vodka in the world using grains of quinoa in its formula.The quinoa used is comng from the Andes where the incas grew it 5000 years ago and the vodka is made in France.

The flavor of the vodka, and yes it takes that it has flavor to get me interested – it´s kinda dry and has some slight hints of grain, fruit and white pepper. The quinoa grains are brewed and distilled in the Cognac region in France.

It actually won Gold Medal at the Chicago Beverage Tasting Institute with 93 points and was voted the best tasting vodka at the New York Spirits Awards in June 2009.

That´s not bad! and when me who is a devoted rum fanatic say that about a vodka, well peeps…

I think Fair Trade makes very pleasing products and it feels better to know they are made with Fair Trade certified products and farming methods in a world where more and more of what we put into our bodies are more or less poisoned and stripped of natural flavors, minerals and vitamins.

As i write this the coffee flavor is still there in my mouth, it has a very long aftertaste…

QUINOA SOUR

2 oz Fair Trade Quinoa Vodka

0.5 oz homemade passionfruit syrup ( or please – use t B.G Reynolds (former Trader Tiki), it´s awesome)

0.5 oz fresh lemon juice

1 egg white

0.5 oz sugarcane syrup

Shake very hard to emulsify the egg white (dry shake first without ice and then with ice or use blender) and pour into an old fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

GOJI PLANTER

1 oz white rum (I used Banks Five islands white rum)

1 oz dark rum (I used Havana Club 7)

0.5 oz Fair Trade Goji liqueur

0.5 oz fresh lemon and lime juices

0.25 oz sugarcane syrup (or more if you like)

1 oz grapefruit juice (white grapefruit)

1 oz fresh orange juice

Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass with crushed ice and garnish with a lime spiral or twist. (Maybe an orange slice too would be nice.)

And finally, the last drinks, i made two with the coffee..the first is a little bit more elaborate – it´s a tiki drink after all.

MOUA-ROA

1.5 oz dark rum (Coruba)

0.5 oz aged rhum agricole (Clemént VSOP)

0.5 os Fair Trade Coffee liqueur

1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice

0.25 oz sugarcane syrup – (if you like it sweeter)

Pineapple and muscovado burn off

Crushed ice

Garnish with pineapple and mint

Start making the pineapple and muscovado burn-off. Cut a few chunks from a pineapple and place in a pan, top with medium dark muscovado sugar (about a tsp) and a little dark rum and heat it up and get going for a little while on the stove until the pineapple is soft.

Then add some dark overproof rum to burn, i don´t like to burn LH151 since it´s so precious but it really does taste best! Flambeè the mix and then leave to cool. Add to shaker and muddle it a bit, add the rest of ingredients and shake with ice. Double strain into a zombie glass or tiki mug filled with crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple and mint.

DARK DECADENCE

2 oz good quality dark rum such as Appleton Extra

0.5 oz Fair Trade Coffee liqueur

2 dashes Mozart Chocolate bitters

Cocoa rimmed cocktail glass

Stir in mixing glass and strain into a chilled coupe glass that is rimmed with very fine cocoa.

It has been a pleasure working with these products, i can assure you that, they are all very good! And i`m not saying this to please anyone, this is my honest opinion.

Now you may guess my favorite of the three…