In late August, as you know (but I’m going to refresh our memories anyway), in many parts of the northern hemisphere, it gets rather hot. Or really hot. Or crazy hot. And in those hot days, it’s best to have a bubbly, cooling, drink, one that perhaps is a little lighter on its feet (read: not quite as strong) while still bursting with flavor, as long as said bursting doesn’t increase any temperature reading. Also, in late August, for some, it’s a time when you realize that you missed out on summer vacations (by choice or circumstance), and want to quickly remedy the sitch. This drink won’t actually take you on a vacation, but it does metaphorically (or drinkaphorically) do so, as it’s two key ingredients are Italian aperitif Aperol and British aperitif Pimm’s No. 1 Cup. The drink itself is named after a port city in Genoa, Italy, with the Pimm’s standing in for English sailors who used to dock in said city. Neat, right! And so, by drinking this effervescent (bubbles and refresh uptick via ginger ale) treat, you will both be taking a European trip, of sorts, and taking the heat off. Quite a combo.
This jewel of a favorite of mine and many was (at least the stories tell us this) originally created by the legendary Harry Johnson in the late 1800s, featuring the recipe in his New and Improved Bartender Manual from 1900. It’s a flavorful gem of a drink, balancing herbal notes from a trio of ingredients nicely. Here and there you see it made differently, with another ingredient added or otherwise. I find the three below the most artistic rendering, and goes with I believe the original idea, aligning three ingredients with three gems (Bijou the word having jewel as one definition): gin and diamond, sweet vermouth and ruby, and green Chartreuse and emeralds.
The Bijou
Cracked ice
1 -1/2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
Lemon twist, for garnish (sometimes this is skipped, and if you skip it I won’t fuss, but I feel it’s not a bad adornment)
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the gin, Chartreuse, and vermouth. Stir well.
2. Strain the mixture into a cocktail glass. Twist the twist over the glass and drop it in.
I was recently lucky enough to be able to write about the 40 Acres Blending Co. for the snazzy Sip Magazine. 40 Acres, based in Snohomish, WA, is the first black-owned vermouth company, with one delicious vermouth available, Moxie Mule Bianco Vermouth, and more on the way. Go check that article out! In it, you’ll discover this cocktail I made with Moxie Mule, but I wanted to put it up on the ol’ Spiked Punch as well, just cause it’s good enough to have two mentions on the interwebs. To learn more about The Turfed, well, once again, read that article. While having this drink, if possible.
You know, you can’t have desserts every day. Well, maybe you can! But for me, that’s a waistline-bursting situation. So, on those dessert skipping days, I try to just have a nice dessert drink (haha). Of course, my first choice is the king of the smooth, creamy, sweet cocktails drinks the Alexander, which people have been adoring since 1916 (not me, I’m old but not that old). Crafted of gin, crème de cacao, and cream, it’s of course a dream. But sometimes dreams can change! Today, my sweet-tooth sweeties, that change is coming via Dumante Verdenoce pistachio liqueur. As you might guess by the title accent, it’s crafted in Italy using Sicilian pistachios, and delivers a lush, nutty flavor, which subs in easily here for the crème de cacao, allowing us to keep the original’s smooth velvety-ness, with the gin accents and add some nuttiness nutty. Tasty. Enough that you could skip dessert.
Here’s a nice old drink from like 100 years ago or more (at least as far as I can tell), which carries a swell story, too, as it was named after a legendary ballet troupe. How often do we have drinks named after ballet troupes today? Not often enough friends! It’s a dancing combo of vodka, crème de cassis, and lime, which I think is a dancing combo indeed for summer, which we are within, a little fruity, a little citrus, a lot of umph. I also think this should be served extra cold if you can, which means some serious shaking, as if you were in the shape of a prima donna ballerina, like, say Tamara Karsavina, who was one of the main dancers from the Ballets Russes, and who I have a little bit of an impossible crush on. Impossible unless one of you readers designs a time machine, which, if you do, might come in handy for other things besides impossible crushes (though they are very important). Just something to mull while you sip this drink.
Ballets Russes
Ice cubes
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce creme de cassis
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the vodka, cassis, and lime juice. Shake well, until your hands are too cold to shake more.
2. Strain through a fine strainer into a cocktail glass. Drink up, time traveler.
Here’s a nice smoky, citrusy, smoothy, pepper-y number that’s ideal for the Junes, the time we’re residing within as I drink this. It all came about thusly: for reasons unknown (outside of me getting old, maybe having two many bottles around, those two things, or maybe it was alien interference in the atmosphere, which can be quite a problem on clear early-nearly-summer evenings), I forgot for a moment that I had a three-quarters full bottle of Ancho Reyes, the delectable ancho chile liqueur based on a recipe from way back in 1927, a liqueur delivering a hint of smoke and heat alongside a balanced spice array, cinnamon, cocoa, tamarind, and a little nuttiness. Amazing stuff. So, when I discovered this bottle I’d misplaced in my mind for a short time (very short, compared to the universe’s bdays), I knew I needed to make a drink with it immediately. I first thought “tequila!” as one does, but then my hand when removing the Ancho Reyes brushed again a bottle of Peruvian Pisco, the grape-based brandy beloved in certain South American spots (and by me in Seattle). I felt it’d go grandly in my proposed drink. Then I played around a bit, and ended up desiring some orange-y notes. Voila! I grabbed Brovo’s Orange Curaçao, crafted with care up here in the WA via three types of dried orange peel. It’s a treat of orange mysticism that also brings a smidge of sweet (Brovo’s Orange Curaçao and Ancho Reyes go so well together they both feature in a drink called the All the Devils cocktail). However! Even though these three stalwarts made a swell sipper themselves, I wanted to take it up to another level entirely, and felt some fresh citrus notes, nothing overwhelming, might do it. And, I was right (I say, modestly). A small amount of fresh oj, with it’s bright notes and vitamin C, did the trick. And there you have, a drink destined to make your June jolly.
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add it all! Shake well.
2. Strain the mix through a fine strainer into a cocktail glass or wine glass or goblet or whatever suits you. We’re not gonna glass shame here, friends.
Hello springtime! Hello sunshine! Hello flowers (sadly, hello allergies, too)! Hello brunches! Which isn’t to say you can’t have brunches and/or late lunches where you feel like it’s brunch even though it’s 1:30 (or 13:30 if on a 24-hour clock system) any time of the year, but somehow spring sunny days seem ideal for brunching. And for brunch drinks! Of which there are many, or many plus one, as I’m adding this here drink the R56 Sparkler to the list, as I made it specially for a brunching/late weekend lunching situation, one in which I needed a specially special drink as said brunch was a birthday occasion, too, and birthday occasions demand special drinks (the birthday-er in question’s name starts with R and I’ll give you a guess what birthday it was). Demand them!
But how to have it be special? Well, for me, I started with Brovo’s new-ish American Aperitivo, a made-in-Washington treat that combins a host of delights – hibiscus, bilberry, Schisandra berry, grapefruit, lemon, orange, and Gentian root – into one flavorful, but light and bright and friendly, sipper, one that’s balanced, accessible, and still has a cheeky quick bittery kiss at the end of a sip. It seems they designed it to pair with tequila, but here I’ve let it shine without a base spirit. But with a few partners! First, Salish Sea’s Ginger liqueur. For some really sad and tragic reasons, it can be hard to find (though I think it is still out there — grab any you see). I’ve kept a couple bottles in reserve for special occasions because it’s the best ginger liqueur I’ve had. Luckily, there are other good ones you can sub in, because the hint of ginger goes swell here. As does Scrappy’s amazing Black Lemon bitters. The finest – or most intriguing? – cocktail bitters being made currently? Perhaps! To those three freakishly good friends, I also added some fresh orange juice (one of the standards in brunch drinks), and a little soda to bring it all together. The end result is a seriously sippable number, one whose citrus and spice notes pair perfectly with brunching – and with birthdays!
1. Add the first four liquids lovelies to a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Stir well.
2. Fill a highball or comparable glass three quarters full with ice cubes. Strain the mix from Step 1 through a fine strainer into the glass. Top with the soda, stir carefully to mix, enjoy!
I believe there are people, industrious, good people, who garden well all year round, and have yards and gardens in much better shape than mine. For me, the gardening starts soon, usually late April/early May. And even then, to be honest (as we are here), I’m not a stupendous gardener, and find myself putting it off more than putting on the gloves to get everything in order. However! I have found that one of these here drinks helps make the gardening more palatable. Pull a weed, take a sip! You should try it. One warning: this here cocktail, when you look at it, sounds an odd pairing, like putting nightshade next to your pea patch. But the three ingredients actually go swell together! There’s gin, to start, and I’m using Copperworks stellar gin here. And then Sidetrack Distillery’s one-of-a-kind Shiso liqueur, made from the Asian herb it’s named after, and delivering an herby, botanical beauty one must taste to believe. Then, and this is the odd side, as you might thing the Shiso and this would go well, the third ingredient is the orange-y and teensy bitter-y aperitif, Aperol. It’s a magical match, honestly, and perfect planting of three different tasty items (planted into a shaker and then your mouth, that is), and makes even the most boring yard work a more palatable affair (no mechanized yard tools when drinking, please).
