Happy New Year’s my Beard and Bonnet friends! I hope that you all have enjoyed meeting a few new gluten-free bloggers here over the last couple of weeks and that seeing their top recipes of 2012 has inspired you to try a few new dishes. I have missed posting on here, but we did enjoy a fun filled 10 day trip to Southern California to visit family and friends! We ate amazing food, had a few really great cocktails, and lots of one on one time with the people we love.

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Joy of Mixed with Joy, is hands down the best bartender in Long Beach. When we went to visit I took a few cans of Cascal’s Berry Cassis for her to try. I knew it was perfect for a cocktail with the flavors of black currant, tangerine, and lemon all infused into one spectacularly fizzy can of gluten-free soda! I just didn’t really know how to pull it all together, I knew Joy would nail it and I would have a new favorite beverage to sip on in 2013! Like a magician she whipped up this super simple, amazingly tasty cocktail that I just can’t get enough of. *Side note: This was Todd’s least favorite flavor of Cascal to start with and thanks to Joy’s new Castaway Splash he is totally excited about the case that I have sitting in our pantry! 

If you happen to live in or around Long Beach and you are looking for an awesome bartender for your next event you can contact my favorite LBC bartender here! She has a passion for mixology like I do for food…maybe that is one of the reasons why we get along so well.

Castaway Splash Cocktail
1.5 oz. Coconut Rum
Cascal Berry Cassis
Fresh Lime Juice
Ice
Lime wheel garnish

Fill a 9oz. high ball glass with ice and pour in the coconut rum; top with Cascal: Berry Cassis until the glass is almost full. Squeeze the juice of a quarter of a lime on top of the drink, do not stir. Garnish with a lime wheel.

In case you didn’t already know about my crush on Cascal you can find out more about the beverages here. I have posted links to purchase Cascal through our Amazon store since for some reason their website has been taken down during the last few weeks. I have a feeling that they are about to break my heart so I am stocking up through Amazon just in case. You can also pick up Cascal at Whole Foods if there is a location near you!

We are happy to have shared this post at the Gluten-Free Friday’s link up party hosted by Vegetarian Mama, Eat.Live.Make, and Gluten Freed R.D.!  Hop on over to find more great gf recipes.