Drink Creations

Rosemary Collins

Found a recipe for another Collins variation that I had been wanting to try - the Rosemary Collins

• 1.5 oz gin (used Gordon's)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

Shaken, then served topped with soda water and a rosemary sprig for garnish.

The rosemary simple syrup was made by first blanching the rosemary for 30 seconds, then adding that to a standard batch of one-to-one simple which was brought to a boil. The blanching is supposed to prevent the rosemary from turning brown.

It was a little too tart at first, so I doubled the simple putting it closer to "classic proportions." Nice drink, but next time I might try boiling the rosemary in the simple a bit longer to extract more flavor as this one had just a hint of rosemary.

One other tip: rub the rosemary sprig just before you garnish with it and it'll become more fragrant.

Small-Dinger

One of the few drink recipes I've seen that use both gin and rum. Pulled from the 12BB book.

• 1 oz white rum
• 1 oz dry gin
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine

Shaven with ice, served in a martini glass.

This is a very tart drink. I ended up garnishing with a lemon twist which helped take the tart edge off the drink.

Pegu Club

Another one from 12BB, made exactly per the book's instructions:

• 1 1/2 oz dry gin (used Gordon's)
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 2 dashs aromatic bitters (used Angostura)

Shaken, then served in a martini glass.

As the book suggestions, this is a very tart drink. A little to tart for me, but pleasant enough. In the future, I might try adjusting the Cointreau to lime juice ratio to sweeten it up.

Buck Night

We picked up some Reed's Extra Ginger Beer at Trader Joe's this afternoon so that we could mix up some bucks. Using the 12BB recipe, we made both the gin and the rye variants

• 2 oz rye or gin (used Old Overholt and Gordons, respectively)
• 1/2 a lemon or lime
• ginger beer

Squeeze the citrus into the glass then toss in the rind. Add the booze and the ginger beer and stir gently.

"So easy to drink. Like a soft drink."

Zelli's Special

We were in the mood for gin based cocktails, so to make use of our newly brewed grenadine, we made Zelli's Special from the 12BB book. It's sort of half way between a martini and a sour.

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• shells of squeezed lime(s)
• 1 tsp grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass.

This one was too tart for our tastes. This is likely due to the fact that the 12BB book recommends a much sweeter grenadine (4X more sugar). We bumped the grenadine up to 2 tsp and that seemed to balance it out quite nicely.

Next time, I would also forego shaking the lime shells as I think this imparted a bitterness on the drink. Instead, I would just spray with some lime oil from the rind.

The Bee's Knees

Made the bee's knees from the 12BB book. Subbed simple syrup (half jaggery, half regular) for the honey syrup

• 2 parts dry gin (Gordon's)
• 1 part lemon juice
• 1 part simple syrup

Garnished with lemon spray. Nice drink!

Bijou (Ritz Version)

This is the Bijou recipe given in the "12 Bottle Bar" book. It's in the "strong" section under gin drinks for good reason!

• 4 parts dry gin (used Gordon's)
• 1 part orange liqueur (Cointreau)
• 1 part dry vemouth
• dash orange bitters
• cherry

Smells great. Pretty well balanced for a pure-spirits drink. Most online recipes show garnishing with an orange twist. I think this would work better than the cherry suggested in the book.

John Collins

Classic John (or Tom) Collins:

• 3 parts London Dry Gin (used Gordon's)
• 2 parts lemon juice
• 1 part simple syrup
• soda water
• cherries and lemon to garnish

Stirred the first three ingredients with ice in a Collins glass. Topped with the soda water. Garnished with a lemon slice and cherries along with a teaspon or so of the cherry syrup.

Initially was too tart, but a spray of oil from the lemon peel seemed to balance it out.

White Lady

Took a second stab at making some White Lady's. Last time, I tried the recipe in the 12BB book and came up with something way too tart. Ratio on that recipe was 2:1:1.

This time, I did as follows:

• 3 parts London Dry Gin (used Gordon's)
• 2 parts Cointreau
• 1 part lemon juice

Shaken with ice. Served straight, garnished with spray from lemon rind.

This one turned out great. It's not the official IBA ratio (4:3:2) though so I might have to give that one a shot next time.