Apricot Strawberry Mojito for Sparkling Himalayan Mocktail Contest

It has been weeks that we had the gala Indian Food Bloggers Meet, yet there seems no end to possibilities of winning stuff. Some of the sponsors who generously gave away their products to the participants also contributed for prizes for contests held. Some of those contests are yet open to us and we are being tempted to try and win.
One such sponsor Tata Group Sparkling Himalayan announced a contest to recreate their signature mocktails. They had dropped in to the goodies bag, a bottle of  Sparkling Himalayan.

Sparkling Himalayan with its unique, distinct taste is pristine source water with added carbonation.
Have sparkling on the rocks with ice and lemon or mix it up in your own flavour combination!

The contest rules are thus : follow one of the mocktails that Ms. Shatbhi Basu created, give it your own twist and share it. Simple and interesting, isn't it? They also provided us with the few video links to help us.
As part of the above mentioned SPARKLING HIMALAYAN CONTEST, I chose to make the peach apricot mojito. I replaced the peach with fresh strawberries and using fresh apricots to make the juice at home. I added a tiny dash of green chilli and a slice of ginger to give the already sweet, tangy drink a pep with flavours.

It was a dull day with overcast skies that one is not inclined to step out and do any outdoor activity. When the sun made an appearance by mid evening, it was nice to sit out and sip the drink while reading a book.

Apricot strawberry mojito:
Adapted from Ms. Shatbhi Basu's Peach Apricot Mojito

Ingredients:
Serves TWO large servings
1 cup Apricot-strawberry juice (I blended the fruits in the blender and strained them)
6 small limes
1 cup sweetened lemonade
2 tablespoons light brown sugar (optional/ if your lime are too sour)
1/2" fresh ginger sliced fine
1 centimeter long piece of green chilli(optional)
1 fist full mint leaves
Lots of crushed ice
1/2 of a bottle of Sparkling Himalayan

For the garnish:
1 sprig fresh mint leaves
Lime rind

To coat the rim of the glasses:
A small wedge of a lime
A few teaspoons powdered sugar

Method:
Take two high ball glasses.
Squeeze the wedge of lime over the edges, and dip the rim of the glasses in the powdered sugar. This will coat the rim with sugar. I powdered strawberry flavoured Menthos poppins to coat the rims.
If using fresh fruits, blend them in a blender with some water and strain them. Also squeeze out juice from one lime and mix to the juice. Add sugar to the juice to make it sweet enough. If you happen to use ready and packed juice, this step is not necessary.
Slice the limes in fours.
Slice the ginger thin. And slit the chilli, remove membrane and seeds.We just need a very small slice of it.
Take some wedges of lime in the glass, squeezing the juice and dropping the rind along. This will give that oil and slight bitterness to the drink.
Drop with those half of the ginger and the slice of chilli.
Top this with fresh mint leaves and crush them well using a crusher.
Top the crushed ice all the way up.
Pour into this the fruits juice.
Finally add the Sparkling Himalyan to top it all the way to the rim.

Serve garnished with more mint and a lime rind.
Best served chill and freshly combined. As the ice melts and the flavours dominate, the drink gets more refreshing.
Enjoy adding twists, the possibilities are so many that you will want to try more.

Iced Caramel Machiatto

This month the free spirit bloggers take on something that every coffee lover would want to have. Deepti put us on this Cafe trail, suggesting that we try to clone one coffee shop drink as best as we could.
Well, I am not a coffee person...tea is what I would opt, given the preference. Hence, my coffee making skills are limited (for I do not want to use 'pathetic'). I started having coffee once in a while after I started working; my manager then was so addicted that he would order coffee for all his staff if he were in the mood for one!
The entire side of my father's family are coffee drinkers, to put it light! In the early years of her marriage my mother has had the privilege of her father-in-law making the morning coffee for her! They kept cows and hence he would prepare the filter just when the cowherd would milk the cow. It was that fresh!

My father, would even feed an infant few drops of coffee, and having gotten in that habit for just a little under a year, my daughter has taken after him. She can relish anything that is related to coffee!
Thus when Deepti gave us this challange, I naturally asked Niki to taste, click and ask for the recipe from wherever possible, that I can make at home!

Here's the recipe she gave me:
Source: Pulse Coffee Shop
(this coffee shop is a KU dining services brand)

Iced Caramel Machiatto

Made in a 16 oz cup:

Ingredients:

2 shots of espresso (figure out how much you put into a normal cup of coffee and scale according to the size of the cup you are using... basically just depends on how strong you want the coffee.. the caramel makes it very sweet, so do not make the coffee too light!)

2 "pumps" of vanilla syrup (1oz)

2 "pumps" of caramel syrup (1oz)

milk (boiled, and then chilled)

ice cubes

Method:

Put expresso and flavouring syrups into cup. Fill about halfway with milk. Mix them a bit so that the syrups don't sit at the base.

Add ice till the cup is about 3/4ths full. (do not add the ice before the milk, because ice will shock the plain espresso and make it bitter)

Top up the glass with milk the rest of the way.

Top up with whipped cream, and drizzle caramel on top. (for the drizzle, you will need caramel sauce, not syrup)
I used Pure ground coffee powder that I buy from an estate in Saklespur, India to make the decoction.
Now, I made sugar syrup and added vanilla for the vanilla syrup.
Just when I was wondering if I shall buy caramel sauce (Hershley's sells a bit pricey here), Deepti's post on home made caramel sauce was up and I rejoiced! I could make the caramel sauce at home too!
I bought the whipping cream to top the drink...and I had something that looked very nearly the same as what my daughter sent! I can not compare the taste though, I may admit that even I liked it.

I served this with home made eggless apple cinnamon muffins. (recipe coming up soon)
Few (read many) trials to get the near coffee shop effect has turned me into a coffee taster - tester.

Now head on to other Free Spirit Bloggers' exclusive home coffee-shop and enjoy a total coffee experience!