Farewell to Gin Week!
But First, Our Last Gin Reviews; A Dozen Gin Cocktail Recipes, One of Which Is a Surprise Modern Classic Exclusive–Only For Paid Subscribers!
Farewell to Gin Week!
Well, it really has been something—seven days of Gin content, which is never a bad thing.
Over the past week we’ve reviewed more than 40 gins; done two in-depth interviews with gin luminaries; dove into gin-revival history; spotlighted a new style of gin; visited a New York City gin palace; and showcased twelve gin cocktails and the books they came from. (See below.)
To top it off, at the bottom of this post there is an opportunity to nab the recipe for one of the best modern Tiki cocktails out there—printed here for the first time!
But before we go, please take a look at the recipes below and the books that they came from. I think you’ll like them all.
Also, there are some more gin tastings, including a few bottled cocktails.
Thanks so much for joining us. We had fun. We hope you did too. Now we are going to take a break for a couple weeks. We’ll see you in early September with so much more. (And we promise not to email you everyday for an entire week anytime soon!)
—Robert and Mary Kate
P.S.—If you happen to think of it, perhaps you can go to Amazon and leave a review on one of (or more) of Robert books. This always helps people who are looking for quality cocktail reading. And it will help us, too. Thank you!
And before we dive into this last chapter of Gin Week—here’s a reminder that this is the last day for our SALE offer! We won’t be offering a sale on annual subscriptions like this for another year, so THIS is the time to ACT!
Here at The Mix, we are grateful to have a large group of subscribers—and quite of a few new free subscribers who have all joined within the last few weeks.
We appreciate all of you and hope that this week you really enjoy the Gin articles, interviews, recipes and round-ups we have in store.
During Gin week, if you decide to become an annual member, we are offering 20% OFF if you click on the link below. The secret password is GIN.
Thanks from The Mix!
Recipes: Gin Week Edition
We are delighted to present some of our favorite gin recipes below, taken from some of our favorite people, along with the books from which they were gathered. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Shisho Gin and Tonic, The Art of the Japanese Cocktail: Recipes, Tips, and Techniques From Katana Kitten in NYC and Beyond, by Masahiro Urushido and Michel Anstendig
Shiso Gin & Tonic (Katana Kitten)
1 1/2 ounces Ford’s gin
3/4 ounce shiso-quinine syrup
1/4 ounce fresh lime juice
Soda
Combine ingredients in a high ball glass, stir, add ice and soda and garnish with shiso leaves.
Katana Kitten’s Shiso-Quinine syrup
500 grams sugar
30 fresh green shiso leaves
Peels of 3 limes
500 grams water
Quinine extract / concentrate
Citric acid
In a bowl, muddle lime peels and sugar well, then cover and let it sit for an hour. Add shiso leaves by tearing them, then muddle well in this lime peel and sugar.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap nice and tight, let it sit in room temperature for minimum or two hours, stirring them occasionally. Add water to the mixture in the bowl and stir well until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Strain through cheesecloth, then weigh the strained syrup. Add 3% by weight of quinine concentrate and 1% by weight of citric acid, then stir to dissolve. Store in fridge.
California Soul; pg. 141, Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice by Toni Tipton-Martin
A tribute to Tipton-Martin’s California roots, this drink honors Israel D. Davis of Stockton, California, who, Tipton-Martin tells us in her book, received a patent for his creation of tonic in 1886. A riff on Atholene Peyton’s Sherry Punch, of course tonic is added.
1 1/2 ounce gin
1/2 ounce dry sherry
1 ounce ginger syrup (recipe to follow)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce lime juice
ice cubes
4 ounce tonic water
Lemon wheel for garnish
In a cocktail shaker, combine the gin, sherry, syrup, and lemon and lime juice. Add ice to fill the shaker and shake until cold, about 10 seconds. Fill a Collins glass half full with ice. Pour in the tonic water to rise to the top and blend. Garnish with the lemon wheel.
Ginger Syrup (makes 1.5 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger (not necessary to peel)
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper (optional)
In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the sugar, water, and ginger to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pepper if using, then let cool. Strain the syrup through cheesecloth, transfer to a pint glass jar, cover, and refrigerate for up to one month.
Gimlet, pg. 89, The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home by Dr. Nicola Nice
2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Thinly sliced lime wheel for garnish.
Combine the gin, lime juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to chill. Strain into a cocktail glass and float a lime wheel on top of the drink.
Buffalo Soldier by Genevieve “Gigi” Temprano; pg. 163, A Quick Drink, The Speed Rack Guide To Winning Cocktails For Any Mood by Lynnette Marrero, Ivy Mix and Megan Krigbaum.
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce orange liquor, preferably Cointreau
3/4 ounce grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce lemon-lime juice blend
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2-3 dashes Buffalo-style hot sauce
Orange wheel for garnish
Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until cold and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange wheel.
Hot Gin & Tonic by Jared Brown and Eoin Kenny, Ham Yard Hotel, London, 2015; pg. 314, Signature Cocktails, by Amanda Schuster
2 ounces Sipsmith London Dry Gin
1/2 ounce tonic syrup
1 tsp simple syrup
Boiled water to top
Orange twist for garnish.
Combine the gin and syrups in a heatproof mug or toddy glass. Add hot water and stir until the syrups dissolve. Garnish with an orange twist. If more tonic flavor is desired, omit the simple syrup and add another teaspoon or so of tonic syrup.
Baba’s Smash by Thanos Prunarus, Baba Au Rum, Athens; pg. 60, Behind the Bar: 50 Gin Cocktails from Bars Around the World by Alia Akkam
1 1/3 ounce gin
1/2 ounce mastiha
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 tsp green Chartreuse
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 orange slice
7-8 spearmint leaves
Lemon twist to garnish
Place the gin, mastiha, lemon juice, simple syrup, green Chartreuse, bitters, orange slice and spearmint in a mixing tin with the ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Old Friend by Jim Meehan, PDT, New York City; pg. 216, Gin: How to Drink it by Dave Broom
1 1/2 ounces London Dry Gin
4/5 ounces pink grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce Campari
1 1/2 teaspoons St. Germain elderflower liqueur
Lemon twist, to garnish
Shake the ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Continental by Douglas Derrick, Portland, Oregon; pg. 119, The Cocktail Chronicles by Paul Clarke
1 1/2 ounce gin
3/4 ounce Cynar
1/2 ounce blanc vermouth
Lemon twist for garnish
Stir with ice to chill. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish.
This is a good time to point out that Negroni Week is coming up this September 16-22, 2024! Brought to you by Imbibe Magazine (where Paul is editor-in-chief) and Campari, this week-long charitable event is a way to give back, and have some seriously delicious Negronis.
Fitzgerald by Dale DeGroff, Rainbow Room, New York City; pg. 124, The New Craft of the Cocktail
1 1/2 ounces Dorothy Parker Gin
3/4 ounce simple syrup
3/5 ounces fresh lemon juice
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
Thin lemon wheel, for garnish.
Shake all the ingredients with ice. Strain and serve in a rocks glass over ice cubes. Garnish with the lemon wheel.
Atta Girl, Frederic Yarm, Boston, 2020; from the blog Cocktail Virgin
This is an original cocktail from Frederic Yarm, a Boston bartender, cocktail historian and author of a long-running and influential cocktail blog.
Beefsteak Martini, Phil Ward, Long Island Bar, New York City; pg. 132, The Martini Cocktail by Robert Simonson
3 fresh shiso leaves
2 ounce Plymouth gin
1 ounce Carpano bianco vermouth
1 ounce Dolin dry vermouth
Place two shiso leaves in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add the liquid ingredients and let sit for about 1 minute. Meanwhile, rub the rim of a chilled coupe or cocktail glass with the remaining shiso leaf and discard. Add ice to the mixing glass and stir until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass.
Gin Round-Up #7
Woody Creek Mary’s Select, Colorado, 42% abv
This strikingly hued gin is a new addition the the Woody Creek line-up. The Mary of the title is the distillery’s CEO. The purple color comes from butterfly pea flower, one of four additional botanicals that are added to the usual botanical mix for Woody Creek’s benchmark gin. The others are rhubarb, elderflower and yuzu. The rhubarb is steeped for seven days; yuzu and elderflower are added two for the last 2 days; pea flower blossoms are added for the final 24 hours. The nose is light, but you catch the elderflower. The flavor of the gin is unusual, with the yuzu coming on strong. (Keep in mind that butterfly pea flower adds only color, not flavor.) Recommended for sours, which will bring out the playful optics of the gin.
Ambrosia Premium Italian Gin, Italy, 40% abv
The botanicals for this Mediterranean-style gin include Sicilian lemon, Mediterranean juniper, coriander seed, angelica root and orris root. On the nose, it smells like the sort of lemon olio one created as the base of a punch. There is a lot of lemon on the soft palate to boot, as well as herbs. A good gin for Gin and Tonics, of perhaps a Lemon Drop or a gin-based Cosmo riff.
Junipero Smoked Rosemary Forward Gin, California, 49.3% abv
For its first line extension, California’s Junipero went big. This is certainly a one-of-a-kind gin. Lapsang tea is steeped in water prior to distillation. The botanicals include juniper, rosemary, and lemon. On the nose, it smells like the sort of lightly burned rosemary that is frequently used as a cocktail garnish. The smokey tea comes through in the palate, which has a long finish and a bit of heat at the end. There’s plenty of rosemary flavor here. Worth exploring as the base for a Bloody Mary or something else of a similarly strong character; of a Rosemary Gimlet that doesn’t need any fresh rosemary syrup.
Pollinator Gin, New York State, 45% abv
We previously reviewed one gin put out by Pollinator in the Catskills. This is the other one they make. The base distillate is still drawn from corn and honey, but the botanicals are different: juniper, lemon verbena, chamomile, and Angelica root. As with the other gin, the honey and flowers are present on the nose. Honey still come through on the palate, as well as a certain herbaceous quality. Good for any cocktail that calls for a honey syrup instead of plain sugar.
Rochelt Annia’s Gin, Austin, 50% abv
This pricey 375ml bottle, from the famed Austrian maker of eau de vie, is made from a vintage eau de vie of Gravenstein apples that has been rested for a minimum of ten years before being redistilled with juniper. (It’s not everyday you have to wait a decade for a gin to be ready to drink.) It still tastes more like an eau de vie than a gin. I’m not sure I could, in good conscience—given its price and rarity—recommend it for anything other than drinking straight, preferably after dinner.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin With Brazilian Pineapple, Ireland, 43% abv
This is a new entry in the gin world; it won’t even be available on shelves until September. The Gunpowder Gin people has take their gin and infused it with Brazilian Pineapple, grapefruit and lime. On the nose, it smells like a pineapple Lifesaver candy. The pineapple on the palate is light—you can still taste the juniper. There’s a fruit salad quality to the juice. This gin should inspired you to hunt for a tiki-drink application. Definitely a cocktail gin.
Bar Diver Bottled 50/50 Martini and Negroni
The Bar Diver line of bottled cocktail come to you from the mind of Joe Heron, who gave the world the Copper & King collection of excellent brandies. Bar Diver sells many different bottled cocktails. But this is Gin Week! So we are sampling these two excellent items. Both are at full proof; just keep ‘em in the fridge and pour into a glass when you’re ready. Both taste representative of the classic cocktail in question (not always a given where RTDs are concerns).
Badger Bevs Mixers
We were sent samples of Badger Bevs, a new line of cocktail mixers, which was founded in Connecticut in 2022. They make Tonic Water, Club Soda, Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale, Sparkling Grapefruit and Sparkling Blood Orange. All-natural flavors were used. Any of the above would go nicely with your favorite gin.
Now for the surprise!
We are delighted to be able to share the recipe for the Outcast of the Islands cocktail, created by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry for his bar Latitude 29, in New Orleans, in 2014. This is the cocktail that upon landing in NOLA each year, Robert seeks out first. A delicious gin-based tiki cocktail, I never imagined we would know the recipe!
If you are not a paid subscriber of The Mix, and do not wish to become one at this time, you have other options. Today, this recipe is also available on Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app for $12.99; as well as the Total Mixology app, a next-level database for mixed drinks created by Martin Doudoroff that debuted just recently.
I can’t recommend the Total Mixology app enough; it has everything you could possible need to become a knowledgable drink master, and much, much more. This is a subscription service and holds the key to more than 150 sources and 3500 recipes, at just $18 a quarter (that’s $6 a month). It’s completely worth the price. There is no better way to have a wealth of mixology knowledge at your fingertips.
And like The Mix with Robert Simonson, Total Mixology has no sponsors or ads— just information and personal support.
And now to the recipe!