Kick a Grammy party up an octave with off-the-charts sips from STK mixologists. Try out these six easy-to-make and delicious cocktails inspired by some of your favorite artists such as Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar for the 58th annual Grammys, which air on Monday, February 15, on CBS at 8 p.m. EST.
Weeknd
In honor of Record of the Year nominee “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd, this boozy blend helps celebrate “a long, hard week,” says Evan Puchalsky, STK Restaurants’ director of national beverage and bar programs.
Ingredients
Blackberries
1 oz jalapeño tequila
3/4 oz Aperol
1/2 oz mezcal
3/4 oz lime juice
Splash agave nectar
In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 blackberries. Add the remaining ingredients and shake. Pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with blackberries.
White Gold
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” would-be Record of the Year, spurred a “glitzy” drink “funked up with spicy ginger,” notes the pro at the restaurant chain, where Halle Berry and 50 Cent have dined.
Ingredients
1 oz Ketel One Citroen Vodka
1 oz Canton Ginger Liqueur
1/2 oz lime juice
1 oz white cranberry juice
Candied ginger
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients except the candied ginger and shake. Strain into a freshly chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a piece of the ginger.
Young and Reckless
“They’re sweet and Southern,” Puchalsky says of both this bourbon mix and the muse behind it: Taylor Swift, whose “Blank Space” has nods for Record and Song of the Year.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon
1 1/2 oz apricot juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
Lemon wheel
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients except lemon wheel. Add ice and shake. Pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Strawberry Crush
The pro’s team crafted the “fruity libation,” as he puts it, for Little Big Town’s thrice-nominated country jam “Girl Crush,” with lead lyrics by Karen Fairchild.
Ingredients
4 strawberry halves
2 oz Belvedere vodka
3/4 oz simple syrup
Graham crackers, crushed
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries. Add the vodka, simple syrup and lemon juice and shake hard. Coat the rim of a martini glass with lemon juice. Place glass upside down in a dish filled with graham crackers to set a rim. Strain cocktail into rimmed glass.
Evergreen
In “Thinking Out Loud,” tapped for Record and Song of the Year, Ed Sheeran calls the soul “evergreen.” STK’s spirits employ the trio of lime, basil and jalapeño.
Ingredients
2 1/2 oz Grey Goose vodka
1/2 oz simple syrup*
1/2 oz lime juice
4 basil leaves
1 thin jalapeño slice
In a shaker, combine all ingredients except the jalapeño slice, and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the jalapeño.
Pimp a Butterfly
Named for the jazzy-rap album containing Kendrick Lamar’s quadruple nominee “Alright,” this classic cocktail, says Puchalsky, also has an “edge.”
Ingredients
3 oz Jameson Black Barrel whiskey
1/2 oz Sugar in the Raw simple syrup*
2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange Twist
Combine the whiskey, simple syrup and bitters in a rocks glass. Squeeze orange over top and around rim. Garnish with twist.
*For simple syrup: In a small saucepan, boil 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Cool. All recipes serve 1.