Jumping Frog

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Mark Twain's first great success, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", and the accompanying documentary "88 Days In The Motherlode: Mark Twain Finds His Voice", I present the Jumping Frog Cocktail!

 

Jumping Frog

 

Ingredients:

2 oz. Gin

1/2 oz. Fresh Pear Juice

1/2 oz. Thyme Syrup

3/4 oz. Lemon Juice

Method:

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a sliver of pear. Enjoy!

Summery Solsticey

Happy Summer everyone!  I was really happy with this creation, and I invite you to celebrate the summer solstice with one of these.  Last year I made a strawberry shrub and then created a cocktail around it called the strawberry citrus shrub.  That drink became a signature cocktail for Flag Hill Winery & Distillery.  Anyway, watermelon's in my market again, so I got to thinking about making a watermelon shrub.  Wasn't sure how I was going to do it, and I probably settled on a process more complicated than it had to be (I mean, it's water, and sugar, and melon flavor), but nonetheless I went ahead with it and it worked out great.  Made to recipe this drink has a mild tartness, a big melon punch (naturally), an herbal/floral finish with suggestions of lychee.  No Really It's Good!

 

Summery Solsticey

 Ingredients:

2 oz. London Dry Gin (I used Gordon's--affordable but solid)

1 oz. Watermelon Shrub (my possibly overcomplicated recipe below)

1/4 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur

Around 5 Basil Leaves

Club Soda

Method:

Add gin, shrub, maraschino, basil to shaker.  Shake with ice and double strain into a thoroughly chilled cocktail glass.  Top with club soda and garnish with watermelon balls and a basil leaf.

Watermelon Shrub:

Bring 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  In the meantime, cut up about a quarter of a watermelon into small chunks and blend.  When the water boils reduce it to a simmer and stir.  When it has stopped boiling for a few minutes add the blended watermelon and steep for a half hour.  Strain finely through muslin towels or cheesecloth into a bottle or bottles (leaving room for the vinegar).  Add (this is where I was eyeballing) maybe 3/4 cup of white champagne vinegar.  Add it gradually, testing it as you go.  You want it to be tart but not overpowering the sweetness too much.  Close up the bottle(s) and give a shake.

The Mad Reiver

Scotch based cocktails are pretty darn rare, and I know that to a lot of people it's a no-no.  I'd personally be skeptical of a cocktail made with a real high end Scotch, and maybe I'm gauche for saying that, but the truth is I'm not so much of a rich cat that I would encounter great Scotch often enough for me to say "OK, now let's see what it's like in a punch".  In the rare enough instance that I get offered a great Scotch I'm going to take it neat.  Nevertheless I have had the occasional Rusty Nail, and one time, a delicious Blood & Sand, and generally liked Scotch based cocktails and what Scotch brought to them.  My advice is that for most of us, a not horrible, lightly to reasonably smokey Scotch is right for most Scotch-based cocktails we'd make at home.  Here I used Dewar's 12 y.o. (the blue bottle).  The Mad Reiver is one I'd describe as sort of a red-headed cousin to the Blood & Sand.  

The Mad Reiver

2 oz. Dewar's 12 y.o.
3/4 oz. Cocchi Americano Rosa
1/4 oz. Thyme Syrup
3/4 oz. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
1 dash Plum Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Patience Cocktail

The Hannford in Hampton, NH maintains one of the best supermarket produce sections on the seacoast, thanks in large part to my old friend David Archibald.  Today I picked up some nice citrus and a pomegranate.  With the pomegranate I made homemade grenadine, and together with a nice, juicy white grapefruit and some of the better spirits in my cabinet I created this cocktail.

Patience Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 oz. Homemade Grenadine
1 oz. Fresh Squeezed White Grapefruit Juice
Dash of Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.  Garnish with a white grapefruit peel.

Strawberry Citrus Shrub

It's that time of year again for Pick-Your-Own strawberries at Applecrest Farm in Hampton Falls, NH.  Last year I created a cocktail with muddled strawberries.  This year I made a delicious strawberry syrup, and concocted this refreshing drink.

Strawberry Citrus Shrub

2 oz. Gin
3/4 oz. Strawberry Syrup (you can cut the recipe in half or even by 4 if you don't need so much).
3/4 oz. Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz. Orange Juice
Seltzer Water

Combine gin, syrup, and juices in a shaker and shake.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with seltzer water.

The Expatriate: A Semi-Stolen Cocktail

OK, so this is interesting.  I "created" what I thought was an original cocktail that turned out to be really delicious.  So simple was the idea that I thought, hmm, I wonder if anyone else has done this.  I did a web search for the ingredients and found a picture of a cocktail called "The Expatriate", but it didn't list measurements, only ingredients.  It turns out, however, as I discovered doing a search for "Expatriate cocktail", there is another, apparently more well-known cocktail with the same name but NONE of the same ingredients.  So I had to dig a little deeper if I wanted to find the Expatriate I was concerned with.  I finally found it, and discovered that our recipes vary in measurements slightly, and in how the mint is used.  My recipe first:

[Untitled-because-I-daren't] Cocktail

1.5 oz. bourbon
3/4 oz. mint simple syrup (thanks Dad)
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe

The Expatriate

2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. simple syrup
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
A handful of fresh mint

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe

Whiskey Sour

The whiskey sour is a great drink any time of year, and a great way to enjoy whiskey if drinking it straight, or in an old fashioned or Manhattan is a little too boozy for you.  The added citrus and sweetness, along with the velvety smoothness of the egg white make this a mellow and balanced treat, and a great way to introduce yourself or your guests to the bolder flavors of whiskey.

  

Whiskey Sour

1 1/2 oz. Whiskey (I used Russell's Reserve Bourbon)

3/4 oz. Simple Syrup*

3/4 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Barspoon of Egg White

Dry shake ingredients in a Boston shaker to froth.  Add ice.  Shake again vigorously.  Strain into a cocktail glass or over a rocks filled tumbler or old fashioned glass.  Garnish with a cherry.

*When I'm making simple syrup for sours I peel a lemon and steep the peels in the simmering syrup.