Cocktails With Gin

[jazzyjeff]

I have to do a presentation soon on Festive Cocktails for Xmas and would appreciate some help.

Normally, this would be quite an easy topic, using some nice Scotch or Rum. Unfortunately, I have been limited to only using gin and need some inspiration.

Your help would be fantastic.

Cheers

J

[cdh]

Use a gin that has a real piney-ness to it, and work on Christmas tree flavored drinks as your theme.

[birder53]

How about a Last Word with a big, fat maraschino cherry in it? Even though these cherries aren't popular with the folks here, they look great in a drink.

Last Word

1/2 oz gin

1/2 oz green chartreuse

1/2 oz lime juice

1/2 oz maraschino liqueur

[Friend of the Farmer]

Go over to Berry Bros on St James and pick up a bottle of Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur - it's made from a pine fruit picked in the high alps and has the aroma of the holiday tree.

If you go to the US importer's website there are plenty of recipes with gin, but my favorite is equal parts gin to zirbenz with two drops of peppermint oil.

[Danne]

A friend of mine asked me about making him a gin cocktail that he had not tried before. He usually drinks different kinds of gin cocktails, så I can´t just do something common. It's not a big task, but the first thing that came to my mind was something with strawberries and basil. I know I've read about it some where.

I've tried some different cocktails now (even though it's not season for strawberries) but I don't think it's blends good enought. The flawors don't mesh well together.

Can someone give me a tip on proportions?

I was thinking of going with

Gin (the only gin I have to work with is Plymouth)

fresh strawberries

fresh basil

fresh limejuice

simple sirup.

Anyone wanna give me a hand?

[johnder]

Well you have pretty much the ingredients for a basic sour -- base, sugar and citrus.

You can do a variation on a Gin Ski, I would try

Muddle 2 strawberries with 1/2 oz lime and 1/2 to 3/4 oz simple. Add 1.5 oz gin, shake, up.

Doesn't make use of the basil, but you can easily muddle that in as well.

If I had the time I would actually make a basil simple syrup to use in place of the plain simple if you really want to incorporate the basil. You can also try the Peach Blow Fizz variation.

1.5 oz gin

3/4 oz cream

1/4 oz simple syrup

4 fresh strawberries

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake, up. Again, no basil, but could try adding it, but not sure about the basil + cream combo.

[slkinsey]

My first thought is that strawberry and basil isn't exactly a match made in heaven, so that might be a bit of a nonstarter.

My second thought is that, if your friend wants a gin cocktail with which he is not familiar, there are plenty of tried-and-true gin drinks that, while perhaps familiar to the cocktailian community, aren't exactly well-known.

There's the Pegu Club, for example: gin, orange curaçao, fresh lime, orange bitters, Angostura biters. Or, if that's too familiar, how about the San Martin: gin, red vermouth, yellow Chartreuse.

[Chris Amirault]

Or a Last Word.

[Nathan]

there are thousands of gin cocktails of which a hundred or so are actually good.

best to go with something tried and proven.

how knowledgeable is your friend?

what else do you have on hand?

if you really want to do something new, just try altering a classic a little.

for example, I don't find the White Lady very interesting...but my "Woman in White" simply substitutes lime juice (in a somewhat reduced proportion) for the lemon juice and Parfait Amour for the simple syrup (also in a reduced proportion) and adds orange bitters -- except in very bright light the drink still looks perfectly white....and it tastes much much better.

Edited December 27, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[Dave the Cook]

. . . the first thing that came to my mind was something with strawberries and basil. I know I've read about it some where.

. . . .

←

You might have read about it here: Strawberry Blonde.

[mixmaster b]

I don't post much but I do drink a lot of gin, so here are some ideas:

Gin and lillet combos:

1 part Lillet

1 part red grapefruit juice (squeezed fresh)

2 parts gin

lemon twist

Or:

Handful of mint

Muddle the crap out of it (mortar & pestle are best)

with 2 tbs superfine sugar

Scrape into shaker with

1 1/2 oz Lillet

2 oz gin

And the juice of half a large lemon

Add lots of cracked ice

Shake

Serve up w/ lemon twist

I have had good luck with ginger syrup/lime juice/gin combos.

For the strawberry thing...your idea reminds me of a Pierre Herme dessert that called for strawberries, mint, and cracked black pepper. Quite a delicious combo.

And it is hard to beat a well made Negroni...I like them with Punt e Mes in place of the red vermouth, and a light hand on the campari. Bitter and lovely.

[Busboy]

Here's one a bartender friend and I made up for an (alas, yet-unpublished) article on gin I was writing. It was surprisingly good.

All we need now is a name…

NO NAME COCKTAIL

1-1/2 oz gin

½ oz fresh lemon juice

¾ oz simple syrup

½ oz Lillet Blanc

3 star anise

½ oz gin

Lemon slice

Pour the ½ oz gin on the star anise and let sit for three minutes.

Mix all other ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice.

Strain anise-gin into the shaker, shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass

Garnish with lemon slice and one anise star.

[slkinsey]

Interesting. What was the thinking behing infusing the star anise in only 1/2 ounce of gin instead of the whole 2 opunces? Seems like you could put the 2 ounces of gin in the shaker with the star anise, wait 2-3 minutes, add the other stuff, put in the ice, shake and then double-strain into the glass.

[Busboy]

Interesting.  What was the thinking behing infusing the star anise in only 1/2 ounce of gin instead of the whole 2 opunces?  Seems like you could put the 2 ounces of gin in the shaker with the star anise, wait 2-3 minutes, add the other stuff, put in the ice, shake and then double-strain into the glass.

←

I honestly can't recall. Your suggestion seems spot on.

[thirtyoneknots]

My first thought is that strawberry and basil isn't exactly a match made in heaven, so that might be a bit of a nonstarter.

←

Never mind Strawberries and basil, what about the combo of strawberries and gin?! Much as I love both of these...blech.

[Nathan]

they make a strawberries and gin cocktail at Employees Only that is tolerable enough -- if not especially to my taste:

the Fraise Sauvage: gin, strawberries, vanilla, lemon juice and champagne..

ah, here's the recipe: http://www.starchefs.com/features/summer_d..._j_kosmas.shtml

[KatieLoeb]

I recently helped work through an Elderflower Vesper-type cocktail sitting at the bar with an equally passionate mixologist.

2 oz. Ciroc vodka

1 oz. Tanqueray 10

.75 oz. Ikea Elderflower syrup

.5 oz. Dubonnet Blonde or Lillet

.5 oz. fresh lemon juice

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a large lemon twist.

I have to say I'm not particularly groovin' on the combo of gin and strawberries either.

[highchef]

This weekend's edition of the WallSt.Journal has a tutorial on mixing your own cocktails. There's a science to it, and money to be made apparently if you're good at it. I'm sure it's on the website, but they don't allow paper suscribers on it for nothing, and I just think that's wrong! In other words, I don't want to pay for the online service. But, I'm sure you can pick it up at a bookstore. If not, let me know and I'll post the basics. There are components apparently, much like perfume, that must be well considered to work together.

[KatieLoeb]

If not, let me know and I'll post the basics. There are components apparently, much like perfume, that must be well considered to work together

Yes, please! I'd be curious as to what the WSJ thinks are the important elements. To me, it's "think like a chef" and combine complimentary flavors and balance of sweet and sour. I wonder what their criteria is.

edited to add:

Never mind. I just had a friend e-mail it to me via her Lexis/Nexis account. Great article! I particularly enjoyed the recipes and stories behind them.

[Nathan]

there's an excellent discussion of this in Art of the Bar.

re: the elderflower vesper cocktail, to me combining vodka and gin is just wrong.

the vast majority of the mixologists I've read agree that a new cocktail works best when it is composed of:

a base spirit: (gin, brandy, tequila, whiskey, rum....or, if you must, vodka)....and that rarely or never should base spirits be combined...

a flavoring component (either a spirit or something else)

a third component for nuance.

fourth and fifth components...can work...but with a lot of care...

of course, since virtually every cocktail is a riff on another cocktail...I think most mixologists use another drink as a model when composing a new one.

after all, a margarita is a tequila sidecar with lime juice and a cosmopolitan is a vodka margarita with a splash of cranberry for color.

etc.

[Nathan]

for example, the Fraise Sauvage is basically a gin French 75 with a muddled strawberry...which is why it works.

and, the strawberry adds more color than flavor...

[evo-lution]

I created the following drink for a Moroccan/Mediterranean influenced menu a couple of year's back. This drink was created to partner a meal on the food menu. The peppery flavour from the basil works really well with the strawberries and the botanicals of the gin :-

4 Fresh Strawberries

8 Basil Leaves

1 Bar Spoon of Caster Sugar

Pinch of Black Pepper

50ml Plymouth Gin

15ml Fresh Lemon Juice

15ml Elderflower Cordial

Fill with Soda

Glass: 14oz Highball/Collins

Ice: Crushed

Garnish: Basil Sprig

Procedure: Muddle first four ingredients in glass until sugar is dissolved. Add Gin, Elderflower and Lemon Juice, fill glass with crushed ice and churn. Top up glass with crushed ice (if required), stir and top with soda.

S'laters,

Adam

P.S You may also like to try the Mediterranean Martini (created by Alex Kammerling)

8 Grapes

8 Basil Leaves

1 Bar Spoon of Vanilla Sugar

2oz Gin

3/4oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Glass: Chilled Martini

Garnish: Basil Leaf

Procedure: Muddle first three ingredients in mixing glass until sugar is dissolved and all juice has been squeezed from Grapes. Add gin and lemon juice and shake with cubed ice. Double Strain.

Edited January 3, 2007 by evo-lution (log)

[varicose veins]

I think I'm in agreement about dropping the strawberries idea. I don't think it's particularly horrendous but other combinations could be better. Basil and gin though, if made right, can be a match made in heaven! I made something recently...

1/2 pomegranate

3-4 fresh basil leaves depending on size

12.5 sugar syrup

2oz gin

Muddle all but the gin in a cocktail shaker, add gin and shake, strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a large basil leaf and put some pomegarnate seeds on top of the leaf and float. Looks amazing! If your not too keen on the colour (light pink) use grenadine instaed of the sugar syrup.

I find this works best with blackwoods gin, but plymouth is a fantastic all rounder. Lots of people are mentioning elderflower, it's such a good combo with gin!

Edited January 6, 2007 by varicose veins (log)

[highchef]

If not, let me know and I'll post the basics. There are components apparently, much like perfume, that must be well considered to work together

Yes, please! I'd be curious as to what the WSJ thinks are the important elements. To me, it's "think like a chef" and combine complimentary flavors and balance of sweet and sour. I wonder what their criteria is.

edited to add:

Never mind. I just had a friend e-mail it to me via her Lexis/Nexis account. Great article! I particularly enjoyed the recipes and stories behind them.

←

Katie, I'm sorry! I didn't note to follow this topic, and I'm just reading your reply. I'm glad you got a copy though, is interesting, isn't it?

Patty

[KatieLoeb]

Hi Patty. Don't even worry about it. Thanks for bringing the article to my attention. It was quite interesting and I've saved a copy of it for future reference.