Drinks on Bruce loves to cook

Homemade Baileys Irish cream

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We call this camping cream, but it’s equally comforting around Christmas when the weather is miserable.

Mechanic

Sweetened condensed milk carries both the sweetness and the body; regular milk is too thin, and evaporated milk won’t thicken the same way. Blend everything on low speed. A high-speed blender whips air into the cream and can curdle it as the whiskey’s alcohol hits the dairy.

Bruce’s cold-brewed iced tea

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is my lazier iced tea recipe. The cold brew process gets a smoother overall flavour, though it takes an extra day or so to get there.

Ingredients

2 L cold tap water
6 bags Ceylon black tea
1 bag flavoured tea, peach or raspberry (optional)
100 g (½ cup) white sugar
80 ml (⅓ cup) lime juice, lemon juice, or a mix

Method

Put the tea and water in a 2 L glass or plastic jug. Steep in the fridge for 24–48 hours.

Bruce’s iced tea

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My working-day tea: sweet, tart, and calming.

Ingredients

6 bags high-quality black tea
1 L boiled water
½ cup granulated white sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 pinch of kosher salt

Method

Pour the boiled water over the tea bags in a large heat-safe container (I use a 2.5 L Pyrex). Steep 4–5 minutes, but no longer, then lift out the bags with a spider or slotted spoon.

Prosecco sangria

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The best sangria I’ve ever had was made by my Auntie Diane when Jay and I visited Calgary during a Junior Roller Derby trip and we were staying with the Pattersons. This is the way my Auntie Di made it, and it’s still one of the recipes I like best.

Lemon-lime iced tea

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is my favourite spring and summer drink.

Ingredients

400 ml cold brewed tea
3 heaping tsp sugar
15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lime juice
10 ml (2 tsp) fresh lemon juice
ice

Method

Put the sugar, lime juice, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker (or a pint glass, with a second one to cap it) with ice. Add the tea and shake until cold and slightly frothy.

Chai

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is my favourite tea towards the end of fall. It’s warming and mellow.

Mechanic

This breaks English tea rules on purpose. Boiling the tea with spices for 5 minutes and then “boiling over” the milk three times produces a different flavour than standard steep-and-strain: more caramelized, less grassy, with the spices fully integrated. The goal colour is caramel sauce.

Essence of cola

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Who doesn’t like cola? This is a great mixer or addition to a glaze.

Mechanic

A concentrated syrup of citrus oils, warm spices, and caramel notes that forms the flavour base of a homemade cola. Gum arabic is the traditional emulsifier that gives cola its characteristic mouthfeel; it’s optional but worth including. The browning sauce adds the dark colour without bitterness.