Tag Archives: Gin

Warm Weather means Cool Spritzes

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Warmer weather always ushers in the season of the Spritz. It’s just goes hand in hand with the higher degrees outside. For me, it also brings up memories of Italy and good times. But it’s not just me. I was out for a girls’ night the other evening and I saw two ladies enjoying a spritz or two. They were having them in the normal big bulbous gin glasses and not the one I used for mine in this picture. The glass is less important than the ingredients.

The one pictured is a Campari Spritz. Which I love. But I have been known to enjoy other spritzes as well. The Spritz is great using Aperol instead of the Campari making it an Aperol Spritz. You can used St. Germain and make an elderflower spritz. Bonus points if you make it in their carafe with the proportions written on the outside. There is a new kid on the block, a bergamot- savory orange- forward liqueur called Italicus, which makes a pretty good spritz as well. I prefer the Italicus Spritz with gin to tame the sweetness. And lastly, my cocktail club–Shaker & Spoon–have a spritz called the Myrtle Spritz made with spiced blueberry syrup. No matter which spritz you chose, it is sure to be refreshing.

Campari Spritz

  • 1.5 oz Campari
  • 2 oz Prosecco/Sparkling White Wine
  • Splash of Sparkling water/Soda water/Fizzy water
  • garnish with a slice of orange and a green olive

Add the Campari and the Prosecco to a gin glass. Add green olive and stir. Top with ice cubes. Add splash of Sparkling water. Put orange slice along the side of the glass. Add a straw. Give it a small stir. Enjoy!

You can substitute Aperol,/St. Germain/ Italicus+Gin for the Campari in the recipe above. I would start with the same proportions and then add or subtract depending on your palate and whether you like it sweeter, more bitter forward, etc. With the St. Germain and Italicus+Gin, I would leave off the olive as a garnish. And maybe play around with some cool bitters. A peach one or a juicy orange one. Lots of new ones on the market out there. There is no end to the experimentation possible. And a whole Spring, Summer, and Fall in which to try things out.

Bitter Bitches are Delicious… No, Really

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There was a whole movement of women who began drinking Bitter Bitches in response to the Supremes losing their damn minds and doing what no other Court has ever done before, claw back right already bestowed. Right or wrong. It was singular. Or was. Or will be… was. Who knows what crazy people will decide. Back to this delicious drink, it’s kinda of yum. And it’s a pretty color. What’s not to love?!?! Well, the reason it was invented. But if one was to mount a response, this isn’t a terrible one with which to begin.

Bitter Bitch

  • 2oz gin
  • 2oz limoncello
  • 1oz tangerine juice
  • 1oz lemon juice
  • orange bitters
  • .5 oz Aperol

Put first five ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake for 50 to 60 seconds. Pour into a martini glass. Take a spoon and invert it. Touch the spoon to the inside edge of your glass. Slowly pour Aperol over the spoon. It’s supposed to float, but will sink instead. The sinker is pretty, as I can attest. I have never made one that floats the Aperol so I can’t speak to that one.

If you have a small, bitter place in your heart for how some stuffy fuckers are taking away rights or for some romantic reason as it is February and Valentine’s Day is near and some fucker is breaking your heart in a different way… make a bitter bitch. And at least that shit will go down delicious.

The French Gimlet was my Fall Down the Rabbit Hole

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I knew I’d fallen irrevocably into the spirit world, and by that I mean HARD LIQUOR type spirits and not the kind who haunted a person or place, when I started loving Gin. Gin isn’t for the faint of heart. And many will tell you they hate the stuff. I was was on of those not too long ago.

But then it all changed.

I found Hendrick’s gin. And all its iterations. And while the juniper-forward gins made famous by the London Dry style left a lot to be desired for a young gin drinker like me, the floral-forward Hendrick’s was right up my alley. It was everything I’d been missing in gin. A little cucumber, a little rose, and juniper took a back seat. I mean, that pine flavor was still there, letting everyone and their brother know that this spirit was gin, but it was tempered and softened. And the limited edition release known as Midsummer’s Eve edition was all that and two bags of chips. I LOVED it. And I am so sad it is no more.

I like Hendricks for my French Gimlets. I tried it with Plymouth gin, which I normally favor for anything with sage in it, and I thought it would play well with the Elderflower liqueur, and it did. But I think it played too well. The French Gimlet with Plymouth gin was too soft. If you know what I mean. And then I tried it with a French gin, Citadelle, and I knew I had a winner, winner chicken dinner.

And that’s when I knew.

I’d been able to make a cocktail with various gins I had in my repertoire and some I didn’t and found the one I liked the best in the recipe.

I’d become a gin lover.

For a delicious French Gimlet shake in a shaker:

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1.5 oz elderflower liqueur
  • .5 oz lime juice

Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.