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"It's so beautifully arranged on the the plate – you know someone's fingers have been all over it." – Julia Child

Posts from the Summer Cocktails Book Category

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Get it while it’s hot! Enjoy a super-refreshing discount when you buy an e-copy of Summer Cocktails today through July 2nd! Cocktails have never been this easy and delicious. Learn how to stock your home bar, make underpinnings like from-scratch sour mix, and entertain with drinks that range from classic piña coladas and big bowls of fresh peach and bourbon punch.

Want a taste? You got it!

SHANDY

Serves 1

A shandy or shandygaff is a drink of beer with a carbonated beverage such as ginger beer or citrus-flavored soda. I prefer making it with a pale lager or a hefeweizen and strong ginger beer, and, in the summer, with lemony herbs and dried spices like thyme and coriander, which amp up the underlying flavor notes of the beverage.

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 strip orange zest
1 strip lemon zest
2 rosemary sprigs
4 thyme or lemon thyme sprigs
Ice cubes, if desired
6 ounces lager or hefeweizen (wheat) beer, chilled
4 ounces ginger beer, chilled

– Toast coriander seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a glass. Carefully run a lit match along the orange and lemon zests, rub them on the glass’s rim, and then drop them into the glass along with the rosemary and thyme. Add the ice, if using, then add the beer and ginger beer and stir lightly to combine. Serve.

 Are you thinking what we’re thinking? It’s just too hot and sunny to wait for the weekend. Go for it!

Summer lovin’…

THE PLAYA

Serves 1

The classic Sex on the Beach is made with vodka, peach schnapps, orange or pineapple juice, and cranberry juice. This variation relies on seasonal peaches, infused liquor, and bitter Campari for a decidedly more sophisticated cocktail.

1 peach, scrubbed, pitted, and cubed, or ¾ cup frozen peaches
1 ½ ounces vodka or gin
1 ½ ounces fresh orange juice or pineapple juice
1 ½ ounces Campari
½ ounce Chambord or crème de cassis
½ cup ice cubes
Maraschino cherries, orange wedges, or pineapples cubes, for garnish

` In a blender, pulse peach, liquor, juice, Campari, Chambord, and ice cubes until well blended. Garnish with maraschino cherries, orange wedges, or pineapple cubes and serve immediately.

FOR THE CLASSIC SEX ON THE BEACH:  In a shaker, combine 1 ½ ounces vodka, 1 ounce peach schnapps, 1 ounce Chambord, 2 ounces pineapple or orange juice, and 1 ounce cranberry juice. Add a handful of ice cubes, shake, and pour into an ice-filled glass. Garnish with Maraschino cherries.

It’s Friday, and I’m going out. Although I don’t suffer from hangovers (knock on wood), I’m always thirsty for a Bloody on the weekends (with gin, please).

There are quite a few ingredients in this drink, so I suggest making it today or tomorrow, before your headache strikes in the wee, too-sunshine-y, why-don’t-I-have-blackout-curtains? hours of the morning after your parranda. You won’t even have to get it together to go out to brunch.

(Ice + premade Bloody + straw) + 10 (water + Advil) = Good morning

CLASSIC BLOODY MARY
A special sneak peek from our upcoming book, Summer Cocktails

Serves 1

Hangovers happen, and cures for them have been peddled and promoted for as long as the perpetrator has existed. Magic cures, potions, rituals, whatever the antidote is purported to be, the Bloody Mary has withstood the test of time as the companion to that morning misery. This Bloody is a stepping stone: add and subtract condiments to suit your palate.

 

For the Salt Rim
2 tablespoons coarse salt, such as kosher or Maldon salt, crushed
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt, optional
Finely grated zest of half a lime, lime half reserved

For the Cocktail
¾ cup V8, chilled
2 tablespoons clam juice, chilled
2 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish*
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 ounces gin or vodka
Ice cubes
Celery stalk, for garnish
Pimento-stuffed olives or Picholine olives for garnish
Beer chaser, optional

In a small saucer, combine salt, pepper, celery salt, and lime zest, rubbing zest into mixture with fingertips. Cut the lime half in two to make wedges, and run one along the rim of a chilled highball glass to dampen. Dip rim into salt mixture and reserve.

In a shaker, combine all ingredients and stir to combine. Adjust flavor with condiments to taste. Serve in an ice-filled highball glass and garnish with celery stalks and olives.

QUIT HORSING AROUND:
Freshly grated horseradish will be much sharper than prepared. If you’re unfamiliar with horseradish in general, think about eating wasabi or strong mustard. The nasal passage clearing effects are the same. The prepared version that you find in the refrigerated section of the supermarket will do in a pinch, but it will require a significant amount more to reach the heat level of the fresh root. Also, horseradish oxidizes quickly; don’t let it sit out once it’s grated.

AN INTERESTING THING:
There is some debate as to whether the original Bloody Mary was made with gin or with vodka. Allegedly, a Bloody made with gin is called a Red Snapper, but the famous King Cole Bar a the swank St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan claims the fishy moniker was the original name for the Bloody Mary, made with the usual vodka. Use and call it whatever you like — it won’t matter after a couple.