At The Bar: Summer ‘08 Prediction

Posted by Matt Cipriano | 1 Comment

Reflecting upon Cook. Eat. Drink. Live., I noticed a bit of a trend developing amongst mixed drinks.

Herb’s Vodka flavors their vodkas with rosemary, dill, coriander and fennel.

DH Krahn Gin was serving a Basil Martini.

U’Luvka Vodka had a drink that called for fresh rosemary and another on their website that calls for sage leaf

And of course there is always the mojito with fresh mint.

I think this is going to be the summer of the herbed drinks. To get you started on mixing the perfect summer cocktail, here are a few recipes that you can work on to get you through the winter and look forward to what awaits:

Pure Living (from Sagatiba Cachaca)
2 oz Sagatiba Pura (though I would
1 fig
2 leaves of basil
2 tsp of sugar or the equivalent in sweetener

Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and mash. Add ice and Sagatiba then shake. Strain and serve in a martini glass. Garnish with a sprig of basil attached to a slice of papaya

Solomon’s Seal (adaptedfrom U’Luvka Vodka)
50ml vodka
15ml Lemon Juice
15ml Muddled Raspberries
50ml Earl Grey Tea
Soda Water

Shake the first 4 ingredients on the rocks and strain into an ice filled highball glass. Add a splash of soda water.

Dill Bloody Mary (from Herb’s Vodka)
2 parts Herb’s Dill Vodka
Tabasco (optional)
3 parts tomato juice
Black pepper (to taste)
Juice of quarter of a lemon
Lemon wedge

In a shaker, combine all the ingredients. Add ice and shake. Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Add a wedge of lemon (Great with a splash of olive brine for a saltier taste). [Personally I'd replace the lemon wedge with a caper berry or two, I think it would go perfectly].

Basil Martini (from DH Krahn Gin*)
2 oz DH Krahn Gin
1 oz Fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
3-4 Fresh basil leaves

Put all the ingredients in a shaker with ice, adding the basil leaves last and shake hard to get the basil flavor in there nicely. Strain into a cocktail glass.

I will add one or two more recipes as I am able to locate them (like the Basil Gin Martini), but this should be a good start for you now.

*Thanks to David Hughes (the DH in David Krahn Gin) for emailing me the recipe and the picture. David also provide 2 ways to make simple syrup:

1) Equal parts sugar and water boiled together until totally dissoled,
then let cool.

2) Add equal parts of superfine sugar to water and shake until the sugar
dissolves.

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