Cocktail Hour in the summer

You know what I haven't published in a long time? Cocktail recipes!  And let's be honest, you're totally going to make all of these tonight, even though no one's coming over...

Each recipe serves 1

Slojito
1.5 oz.Sloe gin
Soda water to taste
Crushed ice with
4 wedges of lime, plus one to garnish
One teaspoon of brown sugar
10 basil leaves

Take a chilled rocks glass, throw in 9 basil leaves, 4 wedges of lime and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Muddle until the lime juice is soaking the other ingredients. Fill the glass with ice and pour over the Sloe gin. Top with chilled soda and stir. Garnish the cocktail with a wedge of lime and a basil leaf, for  best Instagram results.

Jan Collins
3/4 ounce vodka 

1/4 ounce triple sec 

1/2 ounce club soda 

3/4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 

1/4 ounce simple syrup 

Orange wheel for garnish

Combine vodka, triple sec, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a glass, top with club soda, and garnish with half an orange wheel. Then tell people it's not a girly drink.

Astoria Bianco
1 1/4 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Italian (sweet) vermouth 1 dash orange bitters
Orange twist for garnish

Combine gin, vermouth, and orange bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake contents and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Rusty Nail
3/4 oz Drambuie 

1 1/2 oz Scotch Whisky

Pour all ingredients directly into old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Celebrating summer's simplicity

Fresh fruit and vegetables, cooking hunks of raw meat over an unpredictable open fire, and a cooler full of beer--I wonder why everyone loves summer?  Here are some of my favorite ways to be lazy in the backyard this weekend:

a simple watermelon salad: chunks of watermelon, fresh strawberries, and torn mint leaves.

Pimm's Cup: Muddle cucumber and lemon slices in a tall glass. Pour in 2 oz. Pimm’s and 3 oz. ginger ale, and stir to combine. Add ice to fill the glass and garnish with lemon and mint.

grilled salmon: marinate hunks of salmon in equal parts soy sauce and brown sugar for 30 minutes, then cook on a well-oiled grill until just done.

Scotsman's Gin and Tonic

The name for this drink is derived from the original homeland of Hendrick's Gin, a lovely concoction that adds rose and cucumber essence to an otherwise very traditional, juniper-heavy gin.  It is a tad expensive, and I am very cheap.  So, I use New Amsterdam gin, which has a lighter, more citrusy flavor, and add the rose and cucumber myself.  I think the result is fresher, and it's certainly easy to make.

Scotsman’s G & T

Serves 1

2 oz. gin
2 slices cucumber
1 scant tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon rose water
Tonic water
Lemon slice for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber with the sugar.  Add the gin, rosewater, and some ice and shake vigorously.  Pour into a glass over a couple of ice cubes, top with tonic water, and float a lemon slice on top.

Lavender Lemonade

I stole the basic idea for this cocktail from Root Down in downtown Denver.  Like everything else I had that night, it seemed like a good idea that was executed in a rather bland fashion, and I suspected I could do it better at home.  And of course, I'm using my own lemon-infused vodka, which helps give it a little more oompf.

Lavender Lemonade


Serves 1

1 oz. lemon vodka
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup
Four sprigs fresh lavender
4 mint leaves

Muddle the lavender and mint in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.  Add remaining ingredients and plenty of ice; shake vigorously and strain into a glass over fresh ice.

Rose water + gin = delicious.

I don't know why, but I've really been getting into rose water lately--perhaps because I snagged a bottle at TJ Maxx for $1.99 a couple of months ago?  Yeah, I'm classy.  And here's a drink that's even classier!


Rosey Gin

Makes 2 drinks

1 scant teaspoon ground cardamom
4 oz. gin
½ oz. lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon rose water
Few dashes bitters

Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice.  Serve in short tumblers neat or on the rocks.

A blender and tequila can fix anything.

I suck at buying melons.  I know this about myself, but when I recently offered to bring a watermelon and feta salad to a get-together, I threw caution to the wind and picked out what I thought would be edible at the local natural foods store.  Apparently all that thumping, sniffing, and turning in my hands was ineffective, because when I cut into the damn thing, it tasted like almost nothing and had the consistency of felt in my mouth.  The salad was definitely not happening. 

But I hate to waste food, and I still liked the thought of having watermelon on a hot, stinky day.  I sprinkled some sugar on it and it tasted a bit more like watermelon.  I sprinkled some lime juice on it and it was better yet.  And then a drink was born...

Watermelon Mojitos

Makes 4 drink

[You could be a purist and stick with mint and rum, but I like this variation very much.]

1/2 of one small watermelon, remove from rind and cut into chunks
juice of 1 lime
4 tablespoons sugar
generous handful of fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup tequila

Combine all ingredients in blend and liquify.  Pour it into a glass and drink it.

Cocktail time with gin and basil

This is a great way to use up fresh basil that's past its prime (but still tasty), and a great excuse to mix up a gin cocktail on a hot summer day.

Basil-Gin Mojito

Serves 1

10 basil leaves
½ oz. simple syrup
2 oz. gin
1 oz. water

Place basil leaves in a cocktail shaker and muddle until fragrant.  Add all other ingredients plus generous helping of ice and shake vigorously.  Strain into a short glass neat or on the rocks.

Fun with Rhubarb, Part 2

I was touched by your enthusiasm for my first Fun with Rhubarb post (I'm wondering what fanciful compositions it may have inspired), and so I reward you with booze!  Well, actually, it's a beautiful, perfect simple syrup you can use in booze, or you can pour it on ice cream, yogurt, or mix with soda water for the kiddies and recovering alcoholics at your parties.  I, however, love this with gin and a little DRY cucumber soda over ice.

Rhubarb-Lime Syrup

4 large (1 pound) rhubarb stalks, chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar2 cups water4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste

Combine the rhubarb and sugar in a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan. Stir well, and leave for 45 minutes or so (unheated), stirring now and then.

Add the water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until the rhubarb starts to break down. Carefully strain into a bowl through a fine strainer. Transfer back to the saucepan, stir in the lime juice, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer over medium heat for another 15 minutes or until the syrup has reduced quite a bit and thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Lightening up a Bloody Mary

I do not believe I am the only one who thinks the classic Bloody Mary is excessive; who can commit to a pint glass full of tomato juice without gakking?  Like a Bloody Mary but less like a heavy meal, this drink satisfies my occasional longing for the lazy drunkenness of the Big Easy without having to skip eating for the next 24 hours.

Cajun Martini

Serves 1

2 oz. lemon vodka (make your own--it's better)
1 tablespoon dry vermouth
1.5 oz. V-8 spicy vegetable juice
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Spicy pickled okra or blanched asparagus spear for garnish

Combine all ingredients, except garnish, in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice; shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish with pickled okra or asparagus.

Cocktail Time!

I love the idea of combining flavorful alcohol with fresh ingredients from the garden, and I wanted to come up with something creative by myself.  It seemed beyond my amateur palate's abilities at first, but once you start experimenting, you figure it out.  This one uses very common household ingredients but seems all fancy and gourmet or whatever.  I've already had two, so shut up.

Blueberry Tonic

Makes 2 drinks

¼ cup blueberries (fresh or thawed)

2 tablespoons sugar

4 oz. gin

2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons lime juice

Tonic water (optional)

Place basil leave and sugar in a cocktail shaker and muddle with a wooden spoon.  Add blueberries and crush fruit into herb mixture.  Add the gin, lime juice, and plenty of ice and shaker vigorously to incorporate.  Strain into 2 old fashioned or Tom Collins glasses over ice and top with tonic water.

I hope that the lovely cartoonist Natalie Dee
won't mind being associated with this post.

Fun with tequila

Ain't it the truth, brother!

Funny story--I lived for a summer in southern Germany as a poor musician (as opposed to my current occupation of poor musician in Colorado).  I was young then, and my body metabolized toxins more efficiently. For some reason, tequila was very cheap in the tiny provinces south of Munich, and my friends and I often used it to quiet our growling stomachs in place of actual, nutritious food. It was generally consumed as shots, often just before opera rehearsals (in my opinion, playing in an orchestra backing an entire cast of divas requires alcohol, and we earned it).  At the end of that summer, and a good number of hangovers later, I had developed a bit of an intolerance, you might say, to the liquid gold and didn't touch it for about 10 years.  Even the smell would send me running.  I'm proud to say I have gotten over that childishness and am back on the tequila bandwagon.  Cutting it with other ingredients helps.

This is one of my favorite recent additions to the rotating cocktail hour menu at our house; the flavors of sage and tequila make me think of the Southwest, my (almost) adopted home.  This drink is earthy, refreshing, and the best part: it has tequila.


Tumbleweed

Makes 1 drink

1 oz. lemon juice
6 fresh sage leaves
2 oz. tequila
1 oz. honey syrup*
Ice

Place sage leaves in a cocktail shaker and muddle with a wooden spoon.  Add all remaining ingredients and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker becomes too cold to hold.  Strain into old fashioned glasses over ice.


*Honey syrup: combine equal parts honey and hot water; whisk to incorporate.