Simple Syrup

— No. 146 —

Basil Smash

The 4th of July is one of my favorite hol­i­days, and I cel­e­brate every year by host­ing a par­ty com­plete with home­brewed shandy and fresh sum­mer cock­tails. Because my gar­den is usu­al­ly over­flow­ing by this time of the year, I like to take advan­tage of that by cre­at­ing cock­tails packed with fresh herbs. This year, I’ll be serv­ing my adap­ta­tion of the Basil Smash. The Basil Smash was orig­i­nal­ly cre­at­ed by Jörg Mey­er of Le Lion — Bar de Paris in Ham­burg, Ger­many. Accord­ing to Jörg, he …

— No. 116 —

El Matrimonio Clandestino

If you fol­low my Twit­ter or Face­book you may know that I recent­ly went down to Ran­cho San­tana, a Nicaraguan resort, to con­sult on their bar, train their bar staff and cre­ate their cock­tail menu. The El Mat­ri­mo­nio Clan­des­ti­no is a cock­tail I cre­at­ed for Ran­cho San­tana’s restau­rant and bar, La Fin­ca y El Mar. Cre­at­ing drinks for this client was a good oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore the cur­rent trend of low alco­hol con­tent recipes. Con­sid­er this recipe for your next …

— No. 115 —

Mint Julep

Call me what you will, but I shake my mint julep. I don’t like my straw get­ting clogged with all that mint. It hin­ders the drink­ing expe­ri­ence. So this is how I make my julep. Recipe 2 1/2 oz over­proof bour­bon (Noah’s Mill) 3/4 oz sim­ple syrup (1:1) 12 mud­dled mint leaves Crushed ice 1 mint sprig for gar­nish Dust top with pow­dered sug­ar 1 small drink­ing straw Add the sim­ple syrup in a shak­er tin. Then add 12 mint …

— No. 105 —

Mojito

Like the Mai Tai and the Man­hat­tan, there are mul­ti­ple schools of thought on build­ing the per­fect Moji­to. If you’re look­ing to learn the old method of mix­ing the Moji­to direct­ly in the glass, check out the Havana Club web­site for some inter­est­ing videos. They’ll show you what you need to know. As for me, I don’t like a mint sal­ad in my drink. I’ll take the fla­vor, and leave the flot­sam behind. So, for this post, we’re going to make a …

— No. 103 —

Daiquiri

The clas­sic Daiquiri might just be the most con­ve­nient and appro­pri­ate rum drink you can make on your beach vaca­tion. In fact, it’s so sim­ple it only includes three ingre­di­ents. That means you’ll want to choose a qual­i­ty rum. I just hap­pened to be in a coun­try that allowed me to pur­chase Havana Club Añe­jo 7 Años (Score!). So it was a no-brain­er to use this rum in my Daiquiri. Some­times the sim­plest drinks are the most enjoy­able. I guess that’s why it’s a …

— No. 49 —

Jack O’ Lantern

¾ oz Brandy ¾ oz Cap­tain Mor­gan Rum ½ oz Grand Marnier 4 bar spoons of pump­kin puree ½ fall sim­ple syrup 1 egg white Gar­nish with grat­ed nut­meg Add all ingre­di­ents in a mix­ing glass, except the nut­meg. Dry shake or use a hand frother to incor­po­rate the egg white. Add ice and shake. Dou­ble strain into a chilled cock­tail glass and gar­nish with grat­ed nut­meg.

— No. 45 —

Oregon Trace

Oregon Trace Cocktail

2 oz Buf­fa­lo Trace bour­bon 3/4 oz Clear Creek Pear Brandy 1/2 oz fall sim­ple syrup 1 bar spoon of fresh lemon juice 2 dash­es Post Pro­hi­bi­tion orange bit­ters 1 pear slice Shake all ingre­di­ents except pear slice with ice and strain into a chilled cock­tail glass. Gar­nish with a pear slice. You can try this cock­tail at our Octo­ber (Oct. 15th 2010) Liba­tion Lounge event at the Gin Mill (Bal­ti­more City). Fall sim­ple syrup recipe 2 cups of water 2 …