Bramble Boom cocktail recipe

A burst? A blitz? A blast? A boom? Yes, a definite boom. This cocktail recipe by our bartender Alyvia Cain booms with lush berry flavor from our Bramble black raspberry vodka and fresh citrus juices, plus it's flecked with bits of garden mint. 

BRAMBLE BOOM

By Alyvia Cain of Cardinal Spirits

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Bramble
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce grapefruit juice
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
Fresh mint

 

Add all ingredients and ice to shaker. Shake well, then strain over ice in large rocks glass. Garnish with mint sprig.
 

 

Kickstart My Heart cocktail recipe

Two of our bartenders — Chris Resnick and Baylee Pruitt — got married recently, and their wedding felt so true to them, right down to the cocktails. 

You might know Chris and Baylee as the masterminds of Tiki Tuesday at the distillery. They collect rum and hunt online for cool tiki vessels and they even have matching pineapple tattoos on their arms. They are living la vida tiki. 

So, it was fitting that their wedding had the most perfect tiki touches: elegant birds of paradise bouquets, a delicious curry bar for dinner, tiki mugs shaped like giant pink elephants for the wedding party, pineapple sew-on patches as favors...

...and to drink...

Punch! Three delightful punches, in fact. One with rum, another with tequila and a third with gin. Punch glasses were set out on the tables, and guests took them up to the bar to be filled (and refilled, because you gotta try all three) at their leisure. It felt relaxed and fun and thoughtful, just like the rest of their wedding.

If you're wondering what these two bartenders would drink at their own wedding with a room full of their bartender friends (NO PRESSURE, GUYS!), here it is — the recipe for Kickstart My Heart, Chris and Baylee's herbal gin punch. It's adapted for a single cocktail, but feel free to batch it.

KICKSTART MY HEART

By Chris Resnick of Cardinal Spirits

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Standard Dry Gin
1/8 ounce green chartreuse
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce Batavia Arrack
1 ounce green tea
1/4 ounce simple syrup

Add ingredients to a Collins glass with ice. Stir, then top with a splash of club soda.

Craftpack, Vol. 33

How to make a cocktail look like a sunset.

Loving these punch glasses from Dave Wondrich's new barware line.

This mojito recipe is anything but the usual suspect. 

A guide to American pét-nat — aka naturally sparkling, freestyle wines, aka the hot new-new.

This list of Saveur's annual blog awards nominees is a great cheat-sheet for food & drink blogs you should be reading.

Blackberry Mojito recipe

This mojito by our bartender Alyvia Cai is anything but the usual suspect — bursting with blackberries, plus our terrific, handcrafted Tiki Rum, fresh-squeezed lime juice and summer mint.

BLACKBERRY MOJITO

By Alyvia Cain of Cardinal Spirits

2 oz Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
4 blackberries
Fresh mint
Club soda

In a shaker, muddle 3 blackberries and simple syrup. Add the rum, lime juice, and mint to the shaker, and then add ice. Shake well, then double-strain over ice in a Collins glass. Top with club soda, then garnish with a blackberry and mint sprig.

3 things you need to know about our Pride Vodka

This bottle of vodka won’t solve the world’s problems, but it will directly support the LGBTQ community, and that’s a damn good start.

Here's the deal: When you buy a bottle of our Pride Vodka, we donate 10 percent of the proceeds to Bloomington Pride so that it can continue to celebrate, educate and strengthen our community in countless ways.

Bottles are sold at the distillery and other retailers in Indiana and Kentucky. 

Let’s raise a glass to allies, activists, friends and family who believe in equity and liberty and justice and glitter! Be proud and drink Pride! Here's three fun facts about Pride Vodka:

Bottle #1

ONE

We filled the first bottle of Pride Vodka on Friday, June 26, 2015 — the landmark day that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

SM57, a cocktail at Pioneer in Indianapolis, made with our Pride Vodka

TWO

Bars and restaurants are creating cocktails using Pride Vodka, and giving it a shout-out on their menus — how great is that?

At Pioneer in Indianapolis, for example, try the SM57 cocktail (above) made with our Pride Vodka plus gin, triple sec, liqueur de violette, lemon, orange bitters and lavender bitters. 

Bloomington Pride board members (L to R): Kyle Hayes, Justin Ford, Kristina Simmonds and Sarah Gordon.

THREE

Pride Vodka is a special bottling of our signature Vodka, which earned an impressive 93 points from Wine Enthusiast.  

Our Vodka is made from white grapes, and it is fermented, distilled and bottled entirely on-site at Cardinal Spirits in Bloomington, Indiana. This is not your average tasteless, odorless vodka. It has character by design, with a very light entry and a bright floral finish. It's some of the smoothest vodka around.

Craftpack, Vol. 32

Links that make you go Hmmm...

First things first: We're hiring an Editorial Intern. Are you the superstar we're looking for?

Stranger Things drinking game

Cardinal Spirits and our Bramble Mules get a shout-out in this travel guide to Bloomington

The ultimate Midwestern summer job used to be ... what?!

Tasting notes for hemp vodkas if you're into that sort of thing

Why blender drinks are back (plus recipes)

Cardinal Spirits on Earth Eats

Have you ever noticed a shelf behind our bar, to the right and waaay up high, holding a bunch of mason jars with handwritten labels and filled with who-knows-what?

What's in those jars, anyway?

Earth Eats, a wonderful podcast about local food, got us to climb up on the counter to reach the shelf, pull the jars down and crack them open.

Listen to Cardinal Spirits co-founder Adam Quirk reveal what's inside.  

Four fun things happening at the distillery

ONE

Our head distiller Justin Hughey distilled rye whiskey on our small test still on Monday afternoon — just an experiment for the moment...

TWO

Hellooooo new red chairs...

THREE

This was the very first person to buy a Mules to Go kit, as a thank you gift for her babysitter. How fun is that! Our Mules to Go kits have everything you need to make Moscow Mules with our spirits in a snap. It's the easy way to bring craft cocktails to a party. And, it's an awesome gift. $35 at the distillery.

FOUR

Here's a fresh batch of plum syrup that goes into Little Jack Horner, a cocktail on our summer menu made with vanilla-hazelnut-infused White Oak Whiskey, lemon, egg white, whiskey barrel bitters, and yes, plum syrup.

Craftpack, Vol. 31

Don't you think this phenomenal series (which is back for a 3rd season on Sept. 2) could do a spinoff on bartenders? 

You loved Rabble Rouser when it was on our cocktail menu months ago. Now try making it at home. 

Lava bitters, Birkir and sheep dung: a fascinating look at Iceland's craft cocktail movement 

A behind-the-scenes peek at Cardinal Spirits 

Aaaaah-what? Matthew McConaughey is the new creative director for this bourbon brand.