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Amaretto Sour

Taken from the May/June 2012 issue of Imbibe magazine as created by bartender, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, I found this version of the almond-sour seventies classic to have much more “oomph” and lip-smackability than the traditional 2 or 3 ingredient version. An ultimate food cocktail, this Sour drinks best when accompanied by a hot-off-the-grill burger or platter of barbecued chicken. I drank mine out of an ice-filled plastic cup and that was as perfect a vessel as the called-for glass rocks glass. Sour, sweet, fruity and satisfying, this drink will certainly cure the miniscule thing that ales you as you sit barefoot in your hammock waiting for the coals to ash over.

Here we go –

• 1 1/2 oz Amaretto
• 3/4 oz cask-strength Bourbon
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz fresh egg white

Everything goes into a shaker w/o ice. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Now add ice and shake again until cold & frothy. Pour everything, ice ‘n all, into a cold rocks glass. Add more ice if needed, then garnish with a cherry & slice of orange.

Ginger Lilly

Another borrowed from the latest issue of Imbibe , I made one about four minutes after I first read the article the recipe accompanied. I adore ginger and have yet to find a season the peppery, spicy flavor doesn’t compliment. With this one, you combine the strong ginger flavor with other rich flavors of pineapple, mint & lemon. In concert, you’re left with a blend that is best described as thirst quenching magic. Honestly, this is a May through August cocktail that while requiring a bit of elbow grease, will still have you going back to the bar to make more. Irish whiskey, no less, which, in its lightness only adds to the rich softness of this cocktail. Make one … then hit the hammock.

Here we go –

• 1 3/4 oz Irish whiskey
• 2/3 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 oz ginger syrup (see https://mr-booze.com/2011/01/03/simple-syrup/ )
• 3 chunks fresh pineapple
• 4-8 mint leaves
• Ginger Beer

In a shaker, muddle the syrup, mint & pineapple. Add rest of ingredients except ginger beer and shake until well mixed. Strain into tall, ice-filled glass then fill to top with cold ginger beer. Garnish with sprig of fresh mint & straw.

Berryoska (Raspberry)

As soon as I start seeing “fruit-deals” at the market, I start thinking about fresh fruit cocktails. The buy-one-get-one free ads usually are enough. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc, when added fresh, can turn an early summer evening from simple gathering to easy event. This Berryoska cocktail is about as simple as it gets in terms of warm weather ease. If you can muddle and throw ice in a glass, you’re there. You can use any seasonal berry, so knock yourself out. Just have a full bowl of berries on your bar, along with the liquid ingredients, & full ice bucket. You or a guest can whip one up quickly.

Here we go –

• 2 oz vodka
• 6-10 raspberries
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 oz lime juice

In bottom of fat rocks glass, muddle berries, juice & sugar until “as one.” Add cracked ice to near top then pour in your vodka. Stir w/ straw until refreshingly mixed. Repeat throughout summer.

Salty Dog

I’ve been on a Salty Dog kick of late, knocking this tart, refreshing drink back for a number of reasons. First off, a cocktail can’t get any easier to make. Squeeze a pink grapefruit, rim a glass with coarse salt, pour gin or vodka, & sip in the shade of early evening. There’s just something about a true combination of salt & tart with each sip that is amazingly refreshing. Margaritas, I know, are usually rimmed with salt, but the sweet of the Cointreau doesn’t work as well as the blast of pure grapefruit tart you find in a pulpy Salty Dog. Also I find that the sour wash of this cocktail sets your mouth more for the taste of grilled food. The ice in the drink waters her down more, and as I’m standing next to the hot charcoal, I want that sour, salty thirst quenching aspect of this patio classic.

Here we go –

• 2 oz vodka or gin
• 4-6 oz fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• coarse salt rimmed, fat rocks glass filled with ice

Add booze & juice into a shaker with ice. Shake till chilly then pour into glass. Garnish with a mint sprig if you have it.

866

Referring to a danish, long distance bus, I discovered this fantastic cocktail in one of The Washington Post’s spirits writer, Jason Wilson’s, columns. Made with the Danish & Norwegian dill & other botanically distilled spirit Aquavit, instead of gin or vodka, this Salty Dog variation was surprisingly complex and refreshing. I used the fairly easy to find Linie Aquavit in mine. Just get ready for a real hot-weather drink experience with this one.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Aquavit
• 4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 oz Campari

Shake ingredients with cracked ice in shaker till very cold. Pour into an ice-filled rocks glass & garnish with a sprig of fresh dill.

Kentucky Buck

Our Buck recipe, found on our recipe list here, is still a tried-n-true warm weather go-to. With the addition of this Buck variation, I’m not suggesting it’s not. Still, when I sipped bartender, Eric Castro, of Rick House Bar in San Francisco’s version, I knew I found something special and worth mentioning. Lemon, strawberries, bourbon, ginger beer? Well, to quote Julie Andrews, “these are a few of my favorite things.” You’ve got an awful lot working in this cocktail, but it does indeed balance into something harmonious, smooth and delicious. I usually mix a drink in the late afternoon or early evening after a weekend’s day spent doing yard work. I feel I’ve earned something special and don’t mind spending a little more time building my drink. This one … is almost worth the poison ivy.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 ripe strawberries
• ginger beer

Muddle lemon juice & one strawberry in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, bourbon, syrup, bitters and shake till c-c-c-cold. Strain into a tall, rocks filled glass. Fill to top with ginger beer and garnish with that second strawberry, now sliced, and a lemon wheel.

Get out in the yard now and earn these cocktails with a little hard work. Freshly showered and talcumed, you can rub bug-bite ointment on while listening to a little warm weather jazz and sipping down on one of the above.