Spirited Cocktails

I’ve been on the hunt lately for new summer cocktails. I’m hoping that, in a tribute to mind over matter, the imbibing of summer cocktails will actually cause summer to materialize (which, as those of you enduring the incessant rain along with me in New York know, is long-overdue).

So recently when the folks at Bulldog Gin sent me their list of new summer cocktails, Friday I’m In Love jumped out at me (you’ll see why in just a moment). It also gave me a good opportunity to give Bulldog a try.

Bulldog itself is very well suited to summer cocktails. It’s on the drier side with some nice hints of citrus and pine. It’s also got some interesting ingredients like poppy and Dragon Eye (which is related to lychee). I’ll admit though, I had trouble picking out the Dragon Eye in the flavor, but hey, I’m still an amateur taster :-)

In any case, here’s what you’re going to need to give Friday I’m In Love a try:

2oz dry gin (I used Bulldog, obviously, which worked very well)
2oz white cranberry juice
1/2oz lemon juice
club soda
lemon wedge to garnish

Combine the gin, cranberry juice, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice. Add club soda to top and a lemon wedge for garnish.

The crisp, citrusy flavor of the gin combined with the tart white cranberry and just a hint of lemon gave me exactly what I was looking for – a light, refreshing summer cocktail; the perfect choice to enjoy outdoors on a warm summer day (if we ever have one).

Plus, any cocktail named after a song by The Cure gets extra points in my book.

Cheers!

Last week, I told you about a mistake I made in preparing the Queens Park Swizzle (I used gin instead of rum, but I learned a lesson!) Well, since I teased you with one of my favorite rum cocktails, I thought it was time we walked through it for real.

A quick aside: this is the first cocktail I ever had prepared for me at a “real” cocktail bar – Milk & Honey (of London and New York City fame). Milk & Honey is largely credited (and rightfully so) with reigniting the love for the classic cocktail in New York, and whether or not that’s true, they definitely lit the spark in me. The staff and Milk & Honey are infamous for matching their customers with their ideal cocktail. Before serving you, they ask insightful questions about preferred spirits, flavors, and even mood. The first time I went to Milk & Honey, this is the cocktail they prepared for me, so it will always hold a special place in my heart :-)

So let’s get started. Here’s what you’re going to need:

2oz aged white rum
1/2 of a lime
1/2oz simple syrup
2-3 sprigs of mint
A few dashes of Angostura bitters
Club soda
Plenty of crushed ice

The technique for this cocktail is a little different than anything we’ve used in the past. There’s no shaking involved, so we’re going to build the entire cocktail right in the glass. Start by squeezing half a lime into the glass. (Some people will choose to drop the shell of the lime in once you’ve squeezed it – your choice.) Next add the simple syrup, and the leaves of 2-3 sprigs of mint. Finally, add the rum, and fill the glass with crushed ice. The use of crushed ice here versus cubes is important – you want the ice to really mix with the ingredients. Once you’ve added the crushed ice, use a swizzle stick to – yes – swizzle the cocktail. That is, use the swizzle stick to agitate the ingredients along with the ice, which will not only help mix everything, but also chill it (you’ll notice a nice frost form on the outside of the glass within 30-60 seconds.)

After swizzling, top off the glass with some fresh crushed ice, an ounce or two of club soda, and a few dashes of Angostura bitters.

So this cocktail is slightly more work than some of the others we’ve tried so far, but I guarantee you it’s worth it. I’m anxious to hear what you think.

Cheers!

Those of you who know me well, know that my father is a die-hard fan of Frank Sinatra. And as much as I tried to prevent it from happening as a child, my father’s love of the Chairman of the Board has been passed down to me. So when I heard the waitress at Raines Law Room mention a cocktail called The Tramp while listing their specials a little while back, I’ll admit, the lyrics “She gets to hungry / for dinner at eight…” started playing in my head immediately. Thus, I had to try the drink.

The Tramp is a simple, tasty little cocktail. Here’s what you’re going to need.

1.5oz gin
1.5oz sloe gin
1.5oz apricot brandy
Club soda
A lime wedge for garnish

Combine your ingredients in a shaker along with ice, shake well, and strain into a tall glass over fresh ice. Top with club soda, and garnish with a slice of lime.

Where this recipe might need some adjusting largely has to do with your apricot brandy.  Not all apricot brandy is made the same, and strength and flavor can (and will) vary. I found that the particular brand I chose here was quite strong in flavor, which may have warranted dialing the amount back a bit (perhaps to 1oz instead of 1.5oz). Using equal measure of all three core ingredients, though, should give you a good place to start, and you can experiment and adjust to suit your taste.

So, now we know why that lady was a tramp. It wasn’t because she liked the theatre, or never bothered with people she hates… it was too much sloe gin!

Here’s to Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Cheers!

I’ve been wanting to experiment with Sloe Gin for some time now. It seems to be making a bit of a comeback – so much so, that when I stopped by my favorite liquor store, they were limiting its purchase to one bottle per customer.

For those unfamiliar with Sloe Gin, you can read more about it on Wikipedia. The basic gist though is that it’s gin infused with sloe berries, which are the fruit of the blackthorn (a relative of the plum). It’s pretty tasty stuff!

I figured I’d start with a very standard cocktail, and one of the most prolific for sloe gin – the Sloe Gin Fizz. After researching the cocktail a bit, I was surprised to find just how controversial the recipe seems to be. It’s not at all uncommon for variation in a cocktail recipe; as we’ve discussed before, a cocktail can and should be adjusted to taste. Generally though, a consensus recipe seems to emerge to provide a starting point. Not so here.

So I’ve decided to start slow (buh-dump-bump) and use a fairly standard set of proportions. Over the coming weeks, I’ll continue to experiment with sloe gin (now that I have my allotted supply), and I’ll provide updates and variations for you to try as well.

To get started, here’s what you’re going to need:

1oz sloe gin
1oz London dry gin
3/4oz fresh lemon juice
3/4oz simple syrup
Club soda

Combine all of the ingredients (except the club soda) in a shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into a long glass over fresh ice. Top with club soda.

You’ll notice I used a mix of dry gin and sloe gin in this recipe. This was definitely the largest source of controversy during my research. Some used all sloe gin; some used a mix. I started with a mix to mellow the flavor a bit, but it’s definitely worth trying both ways! Most of the recipes I’ve seen that use sloe gin exclusively, however, omit the simple syrup. That’s because sloe gin itself is on the sweeter side, so added sugar generally isn’t necessary.

I’ve also seen recipes that use blueberries, mint, and a variety of other accoutrements. Like I said, I’m going to keep playing, and let you know what I find. Suggestions (and your own findings) more than welcome. Leave comments here, or tweet them to me @cocktailspirit.

Cheers!

The Tom Collins is the classic gin-based sour. It follows the traditional formula of 2oz base spirit, 3/4oz sour and 3/4oz sweet, topped off with a bit of club soda for some fizz. The best thing about a Tom Collins is that it’s not only tasty and refreshing in its own right, but one might consider it the blank canvas of cocktails – it’s very easy to create variations to suit your tastes and impress your guests.

To make the basic Tom Collins, here’s what you’re going to need:

2oz gin (I like to use a particularly high quality gin here, like Plymouth, since it’s the main flavor)
3/4oz fresh lemon juice
3/4oz simple syrup
Club soda
A cherry and lemon or orange slice to garnish

Combine the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in your shaker, and add ice. Shake well, and strain into a Collins glass (of course). Top with club soda, and add your cherry and citrus for garnish.

At this point, you could easily be done. With absolutely no modification, this is one of my favorite cocktails (as long as quality gin is used). But there’s so much more you could do.

Variations

-In place of gin, you could use bourbon, in which case this would be a John Collins.
-If you were to serve this in a highball glass with no garnish, it would be a Fizz.
-You can easily add any fruit of your choice. Berries (blackberries, raspberries, etc.) tend to work best. For example, to make a Blackberry Tom Collins, combine 2-3 blackberries with my simple syrup, and muddle them well. Then just add the lemon juice, gin and ice, and continue per the method above. As an added touch, consider using your fruit of choice as your garnish.

So much better than the over-consumed gin & tonic, the Tom Collins is the perfect primer for the new gin drinker. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

If you do any reading at all about the art of cocktails (and I assume you do, since you’ve ended up here!), you’ve probably come across the name Dale DeGroff. If you haven’t, you need to read more! And you should start with Dale’s book, The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks.

Anyway, Dale is commonly known as the King of Cocktails (rightfully so), and you really can’t go wrong mixing one of his recipes. Among my favorite is his take on the classic Gin Sling.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 1/2oz gin
1oz fresh lemon juice
3/4oz simple syrup
1/2oz sweet vermouth (the Italian kind)
A dash of Angostura bitters
Club soda

Mix all of the ingredients except the club soda in your shaker and top with ice. Give a good hard shake. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice, and top off with club soda.

Generally you’ll want to garnish this with a lemon twist or a spiral lemon peel.

The end result is refreshing, and simply delicious.

Cheers!