Mardi Gras Drinks with Domino® Sugar

This post is brought to you by Domino® Sugar. While this was a sponsored opportunity, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

It’s no secret that I’m a health nut when it comes to ingredients in my food and drinks.  With Mardi Gras weekend and Mardi Gras day coming up, I wanted to give you some fun drink recipes with a healthy twist!  So since I used to be a bartender, I teamed up with Domino® Sugar to use their organic raw cane sugar for some cocktails, so let’s chat Mardi Gras Drinks with Domino® Sugar!  Oh, and I will also give a little Mardi Gras travel guide at the end :).  Btw, I wonder how many of you knew I used to be a bartender. 🙂

Fun fact, I’m pretty honored to partner with Domino® Sugar because my grandpa worked for them for 27 years and, in my opinion, he was one of the coolest people I ever knew!  Even better, when Hurricane Betsy hit and they had to evacuate, they went to the Domino Sugar warehouse and slept on beds made of all the bags stacked of sugar. How crazy, right?  I have lots of appreciation for Domino® Sugar taking such good care of my family!

Top from @shoptecnola

 

Mardi Gras Mambo

Ingredients:

• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz light rum
• 3 oz organic grapefruit juice (can substitute with pineapple juice if preferred)
• 1 oz organic cranberry juice
• Domino® Organic Raw Cane Sugar(can also use the light or dark brown sugar)
• 1 lime slice
• Simple syrup (for the rim of the glass only)
• 1 glass ice
• Purple, green, and yellow food coloring.  I typically do not use food coloring but, for the sake of showing the festive sugar in the blog and for a Mardi Gras party, I used Mardi Gras colors.

Directions:

• Put the simple syrup on a plate.
• If you use food coloring, put the food coloring and sugar in each desired dish and mix separately to keep the colors separate.
• Roll the rim of the glass in simple syrup, then roll it in the sugar.
• Fill your glass with ice.
• In a shaker, mix your liquors and juices over ice.  Then, shake, obvi 🙂
• Pour over ice.
• Enjoy!

King Caketini

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Rum Chata
• 2 oz King Cake vodka
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz Amaretto
• Simple syrup (for rim of glass only)
• Domino® Organic Raw Cane Sugar (can also use the light or dark brown sugar)
• Purple, green, and yellow food coloring.  I typically do not use food coloring but for the sake of showing the festive sugar in the blog and for a Mardi Gras party, I used Mardi Gras colors.
• 1 cup ice

Directions:

• Put the simple syrup on a plate.
• If you use food coloring, put the food coloring and sugar in each desired dish and mix separately to keep the colors separate.
• Roll the rim of the glass in simple syrup, then roll it in the sugar.
• Fill your shaker with ice.
• In a shaker, pour your liquors over ice and shake well.
• Strain into martini glass.
• Enjoy!

 

If you’re prepping for your Mardi Gras Party, these drinks will be a great addition and make you the hostess with the mostess!  If you’re not local, give them a try anyway to get a little taste of Mardi Gras so you’re here in spirit.  Speaking of being here, if you haven’t visited for Mardi Gras yet, you MUST experience it at least once in life so here’s my best advice for getting the best out of Mardi Gras!

Side note: each parade has its own name so when I say Krewe of (parade name), that’s the parade that is rolling that night.  Also, sometimes, a parade Krewe has a signature item that they throw from the floats that’s a must catch as a souvenir of Mardi Gras.  Here’s your cheat sheet:

 

Mardi Gras Guide:

The most fun parades are actually the weekend and days leading up to Mardi Gras.  Don’t get me wrong, Mardi Gras day is fun too, but the days leading up are better!  It’s best to arrive in New Orleans on either the Thursday or Friday before Mardi Gras and get settled in.  Locally, it’s a three week celebration but, if you’re traveling in, definitely catch the last week.

If you arrive on Thursday, you have to catch Krewe of Muses, which is usually the last parade of the night.  It’s an all-female parade and they hand-make some of the most elaborate shoes, which is the one thing you definitely want to walk away with from this parade!  Btw, not shoes that you wear, but shoes that you will display with pride if you’re lucky enough to catch one.  Some have shelves of them from catching one each year.  Mardi Gras is serious here lol!

Friday is when the momentum picks up!  They have three parades in New Orleans that will all follow each other – Krewe of Hermes, Krewe of d’Etat, and Krewe of Morpheus.

Saturday starts pretty early for Mardi Gras!  In the morning, you want to be uptown for the Krewe of Iris, followed by the Krewe of Tucks, which my dad and brothers used to ride in.  Then, that evening you want to make sure you watch the Krewe of Endymion, founded by Harry Connick Sr., which is the largest parade of Mardi Gras having 3,000 riders with the largest crowd.  It’s known as a Super Krewe.  It starts in mid-city and ends in New Orleans so it’s a long route!  This is one of the most beautiful (if not THE MOST beautiful) parades of Mardi Gras.  The floats are sometimes triple deckers and three floats long and the lights on them are spectacular.  It’s one of my favs.  Plus, this one is the one that always has a celebrity as the Monarch as well as celebrity entertainment.

Sunday is my other favorite day!  The morning starts off with Krewe of Okeanos, followed by Krewe of Mid-City, and Krewe of Thoth.  While these are happening, there is a huge block party, called Bacchus Bash, happening with bands, food, and drinks to await the arrival of the Krewe of Bacchus, one of the most innovative parades in Mardi Gras history, later that evening.

Monday, Lundi Gras, morning is a little bit of a break but later that evening Krewe of Proteus starts off the night followed by Krewe of Orpheus, another Super Krewe, with celebrity riders and entertainment.

Tuesday!!!  Mardi Gras Day!  It’s a quick turn-around because Mardi Gras Day starts rolling bright and early at 8am with the Krewe of Zulu!  The most popular items from this parade are Zulu coconuts, which are usually hand painted and/or decorated.  It’s actually more popular than the Muses shoes!  We had three growing up but we lost them in Hurricane Katrina, so I need to go catch some new ones!  Following Zulu is the Krewe of Rex, Krewe of Elks Orleans, and Krewe of Crescent City.  There are so many floats in these parades that they usually don’t end until 3 or 4pm so it’s a long day but totally worth the fun!

If you have any questions or need any recommendations for Mardi Gras, always feel free to comment below and I’ll answer as best as I can!  Oh, and when you come to experience Mardi Gras, don’t plan to see the city of New Orleans.  Mardi Gras is ongoing and crazy crowded.  Plan to just experience Mardi Gras in its entirety, then come back another time to see the beautiful city of New Orleans and its attractions!

XOXO,

Michelle

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