Because Chinese New Year 2016  and Mardi Gras fall together this year, a few cocktails to celebrate both.  These come from BourbonBlog.com’s friends at HKB Baijiu and Jade 1901 Absinthe.

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Monkey Mule

1.5 oz HKB Baijiu
1 oz goji berry ginger syrup
.75 oz fresh lime juice
Top with sparkling water or club soda

Method: Build in shaking tin. Pour the Baijiu, goji berries ginger syrup, and the lime juice into a shaking tin for a quick dry shake. Add ice, shake and strain over Collin glass top with sparkling water or club soda.

Garnish: Skewer candied ginger, and 4-5 goji berries

Goji berry Ginger Syrup

1/4 cup of gojiberries
32 ounces / 4 to 5 quart of fresh peeled ginger root, cut into half inch chunks.
24 ounces fine sugar
Juice blender

Directions:
1. Soak gojiberries in room temperature water for 10 minutes.
2. Place fresh ginger into a juice presser, press the fresh ginger juice into a quart container.
3. Stir sugar into ginger juice until sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Add 32 ounces Ginger syrup and 1/4 cup of gojiberries into the blender and liquid blend. Strain over fine strainer into a quart and can be store up to 1 month

The Hidden Dragon – Kris Baljak, Clement in The Peninsula hotel, NYC

1 ¼ oz HKB
¾ oz Jade 1901 Absinthe
½ oz Midori
¾ oz lemon juice
6 dashes lemon oleo-saccharum

Method: In an N2O-charged ISI canister, combine 1 oz lemon juice, 6 dashes lemon oleo-saccharum, 3 egg whites, and 1 oz simple syrup. In a cocktail shaker, combine HKB, Jade 1901 Absinthe Supérieur, Midori, lemon juice, and lemon oleo-saccharum. Shake. Lay the ISI foam foundation on the bottom of a cocktail glass about 1 ½ inches deep. Slowly pour the contents of the shaker down the side of the glass so the liquid lies under the foam foundation. Garnish with viola flowers.

Kowloon Moon – Natalie Bovis, The Liquid Muse

2 ounces HKB
1 ½ ounces OM Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Liqueur
½ ounce OM Cranberry Blood Orange Liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters

Method: Stir with ice. Strain into cocktail glass

And for Mardi Gras…

Nouvelle-Orleans Frappe

1 ½ -3 oz. Jade Nouvelle-Orleans

Dash of simple syrup
6-8 mint leaves and sprig
Splash of club soda

Method:

Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a frappe style glass.  Add the absinthe,
simple syrup and fill with crushed ice.  Pour the mixture into a shaker and
shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker begins to frost.  Pour
contents into the glass, top with a splash of club soda and garnish with a
mint sprig.

Marco Polo – Shawn Chen, Red Farm

1.25 ounces Dassai Nigori Sake
.75 ounce HKB Baijiu
1 cherry tomato
3 to 4 leaves Italian basil
.75 ounce fresh lemon
.5 ounce tomato water
.5 ounce cane syrup
.30 rice vinegar

Method: Build in mixing tin. Muddle 1 piece cherry tomato and basil, add all ingredients into mixing tin. shake and double strain over iced glass garnish with skewer 1 leaf of basil and 1/4 piece of cherry tomato.
Garnish: Skewer cherry tomato and basil