Cara Sposa

This dessert drink is named after an Italian romantic comedy from the seventies. The name translates to "dear wife."

The intended drinker must like coffee, because Cara Sposa is a coffee and orange liqueur cocktail with an ounce of half-and-half. But to keep it a little drier, I used Belle Isle cold brew coffee moonshine. This spirit is heavy on real coffee taste and stronger than coffee liqueurs. I relied on the Cointreau to do the sweetening, as it should. The effect was a rich cocktail that tasted a little like a holiday treat with fresh oranges and real coffee with cream.

• 1 1/2 oz. coffee liqueur (Belle Isle coffee moonshine used)
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. half-and-half

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Pink Panther

This is a sweet drink with creme de cassis and vodka as well as dry vermouth and orange juice. It's not as citrusy as the Clover Club which has a similar look to it. Done right it has a nice egg white foam and a sweet liqueur center that's not at all tangy or spicy but a bit like blood orange juice.

So the Pink Panther is a vodka drink, but I chose Belle Isle moonshine. Triple distilled and bottled at 80 proof, the white spirit is all but vodka in name, and the distillers sometimes refer to their flagship spirit as vodka. The only difference is a slightly sweet scent and flavor like cereal grains.

• 2 oz. vodka (Belle Isle moonshine used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. creme de cassis (G. E. Messenez used)
• egg white

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.