Yes, the title of this post was created to grab your Halloween-obsessed attention.  I’m not creating any magic potions this month, unless you consider homemade sweet and sour mix and horchata as magic!  Hmmmm, let me think about this one……

I really think there is something wrong with me, though.  As you’ve read previously, I hate to cook.  I also like to keep drink preparations simple, as evidenced by most of my earlier cocktail recipes.  But based on a couple of suggestions, one from my good friend Susie and one from my neice Erika, in the last couple of weeks, I have prepared both a homemade sweet and sour mix and homemade horchata.  I’m assuming all of you know what sweet and sour mix is, but in case you’ve never heard of horchata, it is a deliciously sweet milk made with rice and cinnamon.  In the process I’ve discovered that a little bit of extra effort pays off in many, many ways.  Both of these homemade treats can transform your average cocktails into a superior drinking experience.

SO- once you decide you want to use homemade ingredients, then you have to figure out in what kinds of cocktails you want to drink them.  Unless you did it the other way around and had a cocktail in mind, THEN decided you wanted homemade mixers.  In any event, perhaps with the cocktail suggestions I am about to provide, you will be inspired (as I was) to go all Martha Stewart and enjoy a full-fledged homespun beverage.  If you can’t bring yourself to do the extra work, no worries!  Sour mix is sold everywhere, and horchata can be found in pretty much any Mexican restaurant.

First, how about a Spiced Rum Amaretto Stone Sour?  Here’s the recipe-

2 oz spiced rum

1 oz amaretto

2-3 oz homemade sweet and sour mix

1 oz orange juice

Pour all ingredients into a glass with ice and enjoy.  The spiced rum and amaretto blend together so well.  The sweet and sour mix is so fresh compared to the bottled variety; there really is no comparison.  It also creates a fairly sweet cocktail, but with depth, and the orange juice adds another dimension to the drink.  These flavors all come together for a tasty, not too strong libation.  Here’s the sweet and sour recipe I used- http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2012/11/12/homemade-sweet-and-sour-bar-mix/

Next, how about a Coconut Vanilla Rum Horchata?  Here you go-

1 ½ oz coconut rum

1 oz vanilla rum

3-4 oz horchata

Pour all ingredients into a glass with ice and enjoy.  This drink reminds me of a cinnamon vanilla milkshake.  It’s sweet but not overly so, and not heavy as you may think.  It seems like a spiked milk, and something I want to drink in the Fall.  Here’s the horchata recipe- http://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/2016/04/horchata.html.  (Although I would suggest using only ½ to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons was way too much)

Caution- These drinks both go down WAY too fast!  Consider yourself warned.