Image by Cathy G

It seems only natural to end “Drunk Week” with a bevy of cocktails – screwdrivers, to be exact. There are endless variations on the standard screwdriver cocktail; I’ve listed the most common ones below. I hope you all enjoyed this week as much as I have – I’m off to find the orange juice!

The CTS Ultimate Screwdriver Compendium

To your basic screwdriver (whatever ratio of orange juice to vodka suits your fancy), add:

• 1 ounce Southern Comfort for a Comfortable Screw
• 1 ounce peach schnapps for a Fuzzy Screw
• 1 ounce sloe gin for a Slow Screw
• A splash of galliano for a Screw Against the Wall
• A splash of amaretto for a Screw with a Kiss
• Ice for a Cold, Hard Screw
• Lemon-lime soda for a Screw Up

Combine any of the above to make “compound screws”. For example:

• Slow Comfortable Screw with a Kiss (sloe gin, Southern Comfort, amaretto)
• Cold, Hard Screw Up Against the Wall ( ice, lemon-lime soda, galliano)

You could, of course, combine them all into a Slow, Comfortable, Fuzzy, Cold, Hard Screw Up Against a Wall with a Kiss, but I can’t imagine it would taste very good.
If you have a favorite variant that I missed, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the list!

Image by PussNBoots

The three components of this dish, cherry, lime, and bourbon, complement each other so well that I’m surprised this drink isn’t a standard summertime picnic fare. To add some sparkle to your drink, substitute sparkling water for plain. On hot August evenings, add extra ice and run it through a blender for a frozen treat.

Cherry-Bourbon Limeade

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeeze lime juice
• 1 cup simple syrup
• 4 cups ice water
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups bourbon

In a small bowl, toss cherries and sugar. Set aside to macerate at room temperature for 1 hour.

In a tall pitcher, stir lime juice, syrup, bourbon, and water. Add cherries with their juices and mix well. Serve immediately in tall glasses or champagne flutes.

Serves 6-8.

In my late teenage years, my best friend Topher and I frequented the local Olive Garden; we were such regulars that we had a favorite waitress. (A decade later, the “Hospitaliano!” pin she gave us is still pinned to lapel of my leather jacket.) Their Sicilian Splash was my beverage of choice, and served as a nice refreshing balance to the heaviness of the entrees. I picked apart the flavors for years before I finally hit on this combination of ingredients. I don’t know if they still serve this drink, but the “impostor” recipe below is close enough to my memories that it takes me right back to those lazy afternoons spent with a dear friend.

Citrus Sparkle

Ingredients:

• 3 cups ice cubes
• 1 1/2 cups white grape juice
• 1 1/2 cups orange soda or orange sparkling water
• 2 cups club soda
• Lemon wedges for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a tall pitcher and stir gently. Pour into tall glasses and garnish with lemon. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

I’m not ashamed to admit that first-run Sex and the City episodes sparked my interest in Cosmopolitans. I enjoy a bit more body to my beverage, however, and was thrilled to find exactly what I needed in the South Beach Cosmopolitan. The addition of raspberry liqueur adds an unctuous quality that raises this drink to new heights of sophistication.

South Beach Cosmopolitan

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce cranberry juice
• 3 ounces citrus vodka
• 1 ounce raspberry liqueur
• 1 maraschino cherry

Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker and agitate gently. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a cherry.

Serves 1.