Today my Local Love column branches out a bit. Its not a store or a restaurant or a bar, it is a wonderful product that is made right here in the Orlando area. I was first introduced to Bungalow 23 cocktail mixers at a Yelp event. I was really impressed with the one drink I had and decided that I needed to learn more about the product and the company behind it.
Bungalow 23 mixers come in three unique flavors – Blueberry Lemon Drop, Pear Ginger Martini, and Prickly Pear Margarita. These mixers are full of fresh fruit purees, real fruit juices, and homemade extracts made from fresh cut herbs. Each ingredient has been hand-selected for taste. One of my favorite things about them? You can read/pronounce everything on the label. You aren’t left wondering “what in the world is that?!”
In these mixers you’ll find blueberries grown in the fertile soil of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, pears picked from Washington’s Wenatchee Valley, prickly pear cactus harvested from California’s Salinas Valley, agave from Mexico and lavender from France. You aren’t going to find added sugars, corn syrup, or yellow #5 in these bottles. No sir!
I love the idea of making fancy cocktails at home, but keeping everything on hand to make them is close to impossible. With Bungalow 23 you just have to add spirits and you are good to go. You can serve them on the rocks, as a martini, or add the mixers to champagne for a fun sparkling drink.
For my first at home cocktail I decided to go with the Blueberry Lemon Drop. Making my martini was super easy. Add 1.5 oz of vodka (or your favorite spirit), 4 oz of Bungalow 23, and ice to a cocktail shaker and shake your way around the kitchen. Just make sure not to be a dork like me and have the top of your shaker come flying off and end up with pretty purple spots all over your kitchen. Make sure to keep a finger or two on the lid people! After you are done dancing around the kitchen poor your drink into a fancy martini glass and enjoy!
If you want to shake things up a bit (ha ha, see what I did there?), try adding a flavored vodka to your drink. Add cake and vanilla vodka to the Blueberry Lemon drop to make a Blueberry Lemon Cake martini. Or how about some citrus vodka to give it a little extra kick?
To sum things up I thought I’d do a little pro/con run down for you…
Pros:
– All natural ingredients
– Locally made
– Just add alcohol
– Amazing flavors
– Good shelf life (unopened)
– Easy to find
Cons:
– Average shelf life (opened) – these will last about 2 weeks in the fridge once you open them. Not a long time, but definitely longer than the ingredients used to make them would last in your fridge.
I can’t wait to try out the other flavors this weekend when I head over to my friend Karen’s place to celebrate her new home. I think we’ll be trying out the Prickly Pear Margaritas!
*Disclosure: I was provided samples of Bungalow 23 mixers for use in this review/post. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
