French 75

1oz London Dry Gin

.5oz Lemon Juice

.5oz Simple Syrup

Sparkling Wine

Shake gin, lemon juice and simple with ice. Double strain into a Champaign flute or white wine glass and top with sparkling wine.

Suffering Bastard

The storied hangover cure from 1940's Cairo. A Dark 'n Stormy when you're out of rum.

1oz London Dry Gin

1oz Bourbon

.5oz Lime Juice

.25oz Demerara Syrup

Two Dashes Angostura Bitters

Ginger Beer

Shake everything but the ginger beer with ice. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with mint.

Saturn

2oz London Dry Gin

.5oz Lemon Juice

.25oz Passion Fruit Syrup

.5oz Orgeat

.25oz Velvet Falernum

Shake ingredients together with a small amount of ice. Open pour into a rocks glass and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime twist and cherry.

Long Island Iced Tea

.5oz Vodka

.5oz Gin

.5oz White Rum

.5oz Silver Tequila

.5oz Cointreau

.75oz Lemon Juice

2tsp Simple Syrup

.75oz Mexican Coke

Shake ingredients (except the Coke), then strain into a Highball or Collins glass over ice. Top with Coke and a lemon twist.  

Next time I'd probably double everything, this is a Long Island Iced Tea after all, use a bit less lemon juice and garnish with a lemon wedge instead of a twist.

Martini

Also known as the Crystal Clear Yum-Yum.

3oz London Dry Gin

.75oz Dry Vermouth

Couple Dashes Orange Bitters

Still ingredients in a mixing glass with ice until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Vesper Americano

Most reasonable recipes for this cocktail add up to 3 ounces, but this is The Forbidden Patio. So here's 4 ounces.

2oz London Dry Gin

1oz Vodka

1oz Cocchi Americano

1 Dash Bittermen's Hopped Grapefruit Bitters

Stir ingredients together over ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a citrus peel.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

1oz London Dry Gin

1oz Cocchi Americano or Lillet Blanc

1oz Cointreau

1oz Lemon Juice

1 Dash Absinthe or Pernod

Shake everything together with ice and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

A Sweeter Vesper

Taking the lemons of self-distancing and making a wonderful take on a Vesper (replaced Lillet with Martini & Rossi's Bianco vermouth for a slightly sweet and floral addition to this martini) to accompany fresh oysters from Baywater Shellfish.

3oz Spy Hop Gin from San Juan Distillers
1oz Tito's Vodka
.5oz Martini & Rossi Bianco Vermouth

Stir ingredients until chilled. Strain and garnish with a thin slice of lemon.

Rickey

Named for 19th century Washington DC lobbyist Joe Rickey, this drink was invented in what is now one of the most boring hotel bars in our nation's capitol. 

A highball style cocktail, you can use almost any spirit here, but gin or bourbon are best. 

2oz Spirit

The Juice of Half a Lime

A Couple Ounces Soda Water

Add spirit and lime juice to a glass with ice, top with soda water and stir. Garnish with lime.

Tarzan

Campari and pineapple juice are a match made in heaven. 

1oz London Dry Gin

1oz Campari

1.5oz Pineapple Juice

.5oz Simple Syrup

.5oz Lemon Juice

Soda Water

Shake everything except soda water over ice. Double strain into a Collins or highball glass with fresh ice. Top with a couple ounces of soda water. Garnish with some orange.

Heaven Is A Place/This Is The Place

My bar is literally overflowing with rum right now, so I decided to make a Tiki cocktail with gin. Makes sense. 

Bitter, from the Allspice Dram and Angostura, takes center stage here. The sour, sweet & booze all play second fiddle. It sings. From Chicago's Lost Lake.

2oz London Dry Gin

1oz Lime Juice

.5oz Dry Curacao

.5oz Velvet Falernum

.5oz Honey Syrup

.25oz Allspice Dram

3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and open pour into a Tiki mug, top with crushed ice. Garnish with mint, lime, etc.

Army & Navy

2oz London Dry Gin

.75oz Lemon Juice

.75oz Orgeat

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and double strain into a chilled glass.

Elderflower Gin Gimlet

The Elderflower Liqueur really smooths out the sharpness of the lime juice, yielding an elegant and refreshing Summer cocktail. I feel like I should be sipping this at a fancy garden party with little cucumber sandwiches.

1.5oz London Dry Gin

.5 Elderflower Liqueur

.75oz Lime Juice

.5oz Simple Syrup

Shake ingredients together and double strain into a chilled coupe.

Gin & Tonic (Syrups)

There are complicated drinks on this blog and then there are simple classics. Since it's technically the unofficial start of summer, whatever that means in 2020, let's explore the Gin & Tonic. 

We're not talking about your standard bar G&T, or even the version with the fancy tonic like Fever Tree or Q. Today we're focusing on tonic syrups. Once you try them, you'll never go back. Don't get me wrong, I love a classic Gin & Tonic, but the syrups are where it's at. They are funkier and fun. And each syrup is different. I have four in the house now. 

The best is Jack Rudy Co. Elderflower. The Elderflower brings a nice floral edge (note to self: next time I'm going to experiment making a Gin & Tonic with fancy tonic and an once of St-Germain, but that's a different post). My advice -- buy a couple different syrups and play around.

You can use the same proportions for all tonic syrups.

2oz London Dry Gin

.75-1oz Tonic Syrup

3-4oz Club Soda

Lime wedge

Build in a rocks glass over a big cube cracked with a bar spoon. Stir. Drink.

Enzoni

Very similar to the classic Negroni, but a little more refreshing. 

1oz London Dry Gin

1oz Campari

.75oz Lemon Juice

.5oz Simple Syrup

4-5 Grapes

Combine the ingredients in a shaker, lightly muddle the grapes. Add ice, shake, double strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with a Grape.

Aviation

2oz London Dry Gin

.75oz Lemon Juice

.5oz Maraschino Liqueur

.25oz Crème de Violette

Shake with ice and double strain into a chilled glass. 

Gin Gimlet

2oz London Dry Gin

.5oz Uncle Val's Botanical Gin

.75oz Lime Cordial or Rose's Lime Juice

Shake over ice and double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime wheel.

You can make a gimlet with just London dry gin, but the Uncle Val's adds a floral depth that takes the gimlet to the next level. A lime cordial like Rose's is not negotiable; recipes that call for simple syrup and fresh lime juice result in a cocktail that is too sweet, sharp and sour.

Breakfast Martini

Early (ish) one Black Friday, I was looking for a breakfast cocktail for a post-Thanksgiving brunch that was not a Bloody Mary, Mimosa, or Irish Coffee. I stumbled upon the Breakfast Martini and my new morning (on weekends) routine was born. The drink was invented by Salvatore Calabrese in 2000 at the Library Bar at the Lanesborough Hotel in London. It's wonderful. Sweeter than a wet (or dry, if that's your thing) Martini, but more tart with the addition of lemon juice. It's also not just a breakfast drink. It's an any-timer.

2oz Gin -A London Dry style works best.

.75-1oz Orange Liqueur -I recommend experimenting. Cointreau is classic, but I've been us a local Washington liqueur.

.5oz Lemon Juice -The original recipe calls for .75 oz, but I find that too tart. I often leave it out completely if I am looking for something on the sweeter side.

2 Dashes Orange Bitters -Regan's No. 6 if you have it.

1 Bar Spoon Orange Marmalade 

Chill a coupe, add the ingredients into a mixing glass. Stir, don't shake. Martinis should never be shaken, like babies. Strain into the coupe, add a little more marmalade and an orange twist for garnish. 

Jasmine Cooler

1.5oz London Dry Gin

1oz Cointreau

.75oz Campari

.5oz Lemon Juice

Soda Water

Shake the first four ingredients with ice, double strain into an old fashioned with ice and top with soda water. Garnish with some lemon.

A more traditional way to serve this is in a Collins glass, leaving room for a few ounces of soda water. However, if you want something more bracing, bitter and sour -something more akin to an aperitif- just a splash of soda water is enough to open things up.

Pimm's Cup

The 19th century was great -- you could distill a liqueur with herbs and call it a health drink. That's how Pimm's was born - a fishmonger in London named James Pimm created it. He went on to own several oyster bars and I bet Pimm's went pretty well with the oysters. Over the years there have been at least 6 versions of Pimm's with a different spirit as a base. Today we're dealing mainly with the gin based Pimm's #1. Many recipes call for Pimm's and 7-Up or Sprite -- no thank you. Pimm's can be sweet and sweetened soda only enhances the sweetness. My recipe is cobbled together from several versions, none of which include sugary soda.

2oz Pimm's No. 1

1oz Gin -For this I used Citadelle, a decently complex French Gin.

2oz Lemon Soda

2-3oz Club Soda 

2 Dashes Grapefruit Bitters

Build the drink in a mason jar with two big cubes, shattered with the back of the cocktail spoon. Add two long strips of cucumber and a wheel of lemon as garnish. I included rosemary because it looks nice, but it doesn't impact the flavor.