Most people don’t eat sage flowers, even if they eat sage all the time. They’re very sagey, and a little minty, and a tiny bit sweet, and a really good addition to a salad, if you already grow sage and don’t do anything with the flowers. So I thought they’d be good in a julep.

Ingredients
3 oz bourbon
1 oz brown sugar simple syrup
1/2 cup of mint sprigs plus two for garnish
about 15 sage blossoms

Instructions
Chill a julep cup or rocks glass
Add ice to a pitcher
Add all ingredients except mint for garnish
Muddle well, let sit about five minutes, stir and pour
Add mint for garnish

And here is me in my derby hat! I am rooting for Pants on Fire and Rosie Napravnik!

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But here are drinks from this weekend.

On Friday, I did something I almost never do, and mixed a drink from a magazine. It was a drink from this month’s Food & Wine, made with Hendricks, arugula, lime, and agave. I mixed it for two reasons: one, because it had arugula in it; and two, because it accompanied an article that reflected a lot of my own thoughts about bartending (and particularly my thoughts on the pretentiousness of the term “mixologist” and the unsettling trend of people putting things in drinks purely as a type of liquid oneupmanship as opposed to making something that tastes good. I wasn’t fond of the agave, and think it’s just not really the right sweetener for gin, but the arugula was really nice.

On Saturday, I made this:

Basil Negroni

This isn’t quite a negroni with basil in it; it’s a little bit off a traditional negroni recipe and has a sort of duskier flavor.

Ingredients for two drinks
6 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz port wine
1/2 oz Grapefruit bitters
About 20 leaves basil, plus two pretty sprigs with blossoms

Instructions
Put everything in a shaker with ice, except basil flowers
Muddle until basil is bruised
Shake
Strain into two chilled cocktail glasses, add flowers for garnish

On Sunday, I started out my day by infusing a bottle of gin I wasn’t too thrilled with with lavender. We’ll see how it comes along next week.

Then I made this:

Elderfields Road

Elderfields Road is the name of the street my father grew up on. This drink is a variation on a Manhattan, and since he grew up right outside the city, I thought that was appropriate, considering the major ingredient here.

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz bourbon
Juice of 1 lime
2 oz elderberry syrup (homemade)
1 oz red vermouth
2 splashes blood orange bitters

Instructions:
Mix everything but the bitters together in a shaker with ice and shake
Pour into two chilled cocktail glasses, add bitters

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Last night, when Rina came over, I offered to make her a drink. She said she liked Manhattans and drinks of that ilk, so I pulled out some bourbon and vermouth (Punt E Mes is my red vermouth of choice).

While I was doing this, I opened up a bottle of Fernet-Branca and asked her to smell it, toying with the idea of mixing it into the drink. But Fernet-Branca is one of those things that people either love or hate, so I didn’t want to put it in the drink if she wasn’t going to like it.

She took a sniff, and said “that smells like my childhood!”

Rina went on to talk about her Italian family and their cakes, which, and I agree from my experience with my Italian family, are always covered in delicious icing, but when you get to the cake part, it’s always drenched in liquor to the point that for a child who is craving sugary sweetness, it’s inedible.

So I made her a drink. Tonight, I remade the drink for my mother, who said it was “a better Manhattan.” It’s not as sweet, and the Fernet-Branca is a much more sophisticated flavor than, oh, maraschino cherries.

Here it is for you:

Ingredients:
3 oz bourbon (I used Eagle Rare last night, Buffalo Trace tonight)
1 oz red vermouth (Punt E Mes)
1/2 oz Fernet-Branca

Instructions:
–Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake
–Serve in a chilled martini glass
(easy!)

In other proportions, served on the rocks or shaved ice, this is called a Fanciulli Cocktail, but I use a lot more bourbon here. And no ice.

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The story of whiskey in New York is a funny one. You know what a Manhattan cocktail is, right? The Manhattan was called a Manhattan for a reason– because New York state was known for their abundant rye whiskey.

But then Prohibition came along, and the distilleries closed. When Prohibition ended, in many other parts of the country, the stills went back to work, but in New York, they stayed shuttered. Tuthilltown Distillery didn’t open until…I think 2005? I might be wrong on the year, but around then, and that was the first distillery in New York to produce whiskey since Prohibition ended. It is a tiny microdistillery inside an old mill granary on an 8-acre farm (which appropriately grows hops), but they make some of the best whiskey I’ve ever tasted. So when we found out they gave tours, I was really excited.

Click the link for massive awesome pictures of the distillery!

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1) Rhubarb Capirinha

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz cachaça
2 oz rhubarb syrup*
1 stalk rhubarb
1 Tb sugar
1 lime
Ice

Instructions
Fill 2 rocks glasses with ice
Cut rhubarb into 2 4-5″ pieces
Roll rhubarb in sugar and set aside
Cut lime into eighths and put in pitcher.
Add rhubarb syrup and muddle.
Add cachaca
Pour contents of pitcher over ice, including lime pieces
Add 1 piece rhubarb to each drink.

2) Spruce Juice

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz Rogue Spruce Gin
6 strawberries
2 oz Acacia Honey
1 small Kirby cucumber, trimmed but not peeled, or about 4″ of another larger cucumber
1/4 oz Absinthe or Pernod

Instructions
Put ice in two martini glasses to chill
Set aside 2 slices of cucumber and 2 strawberries
Cut remaining cucumber and strawberries to a 1/2″ dice
Put honey, cucumber, and strawberries in shaker and muddle
Add ice to shaker
Add gin to shaker, shake
Remove ice from glasses
Coat each glass with Pernod, pour out excess
Pour contents of shaker into glasses, garnish with strawberry and cucumber

3) French Mojito

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz white/silver rum
1 Meyer Lemon
1 oz lavender syrup
1 cup fresh mint sprigs, plus 4 sprigs
Club Soda

Instructions
Put ice in two highball or rocks glasses to chill
Cut lemon in eighths, put in pitcher
Roughly crush mint and add to pitcher
Add lavender syrup
Muddle contents of pitcher
Add rum and stir
Remove ice from glasses
Add mixture to glasses, including lemon pieces
Top off with soda
Add mint to garnish

4) Rhubarb Manhattan

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz bourbon
2 oz sweet vermouth
2 oz rhubarb syrup
4 dashes Fee Brothers’ Rhubarb Bitters
2 4-5″ pieces of rhubarb

Instructions
Add ice to martini glasses to chill
Put ice in shaker
Add all ingredients but rhubarb to shaker and shake
Remove ice from glasses and pour
Add rhubarb to garnish

*We have a lot of rhubarb growing in the garden, so I made a lot of rhubarb syrup.

Ingredients
2 stalks rhubarb
1 cup sugar
3/4 cups water

Instructions
Chop rhubarb into 1/2″ pieces
Boil water with sugar in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved
Add rhubarb and turn to medium heat
Cook, stirring intermittently, until rhubarb has softened and “melted” and consistency is syrupy
Pass through strainer to remove stringy bits

Enjoy, everybody!

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Ingredients for 2 drinks
6 oz Kentucky Bourbon (I used Rip Van Winkle)
1 oz rhubarb syrup
1 oz blackberry syrup
1 cup fresh mint sprigs plus 4 mint sprigs
8 whole fresh blackberries

Instructions
Add ice to two julep cups or rocks glasses
Put ice in mason jar
Add mint and syrups to jar, muddle
Add bourbon, close jar and shake
Take ice out of glasses, pour
Add mint sprigs and whole blackberries for garnish

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In the meantime, I thought I would do a throwback and just post a nice, classic mint julep recipe for those of you who are curious.

When I started making mint juleps, I used a traditional recipe I found online. You can see the “official” mint julep recipe here.

But since then, I’ve learned more about bartending and have developed personal tastes and preferences and rules like “don’t add water to good bourbon.” So here’s the recipe I’ve been using the past couple of years:

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
6 oz bourbon
1 cup whole fresh mint sprigs, with 4 mint sprigs reserved
2 oz brown sugar simple syrup (or plain white sugar simple syrup)

Instructions
Add ice to two julep cups or regular rocks glasses if, like me, you don’t own julep cups
Put ice in a mason jar
Add all the other ingredients to the mason jar
Close the mason jar and shake.
Remove ice from glasses, strain contents of mason jar into glasses

Why a mason jar and not a shaker? Well, two years ago, we were visiting my godfather’s parents on Derby Day. They’re like grandparents to me, awesome awesome people. Anyway, I told my parents we needed to run if we were going to get bourbon on time. My Nana took out her bourbon bottle and poured what was left in it into a mason jar– which was just enough for two drinks. So I mixed the drinks in the jar. It was amazing, ridiculously old bourbon, and that’s what the picture you see in this post is from.

In other news, we went to the garden center today. We got two new fig trees– one died over the winter. We also got two grapevines, some hops plants so we can make wet hops beer, and a heck of a lot of herbs. I’m most excited about the chamomile, and yes, I am going to be making chamomile syrup. We also got Mexican coriander, because they didn’t have any Vietnamese coriander, which was disappointing. We’ll see how that goes. Also some excellent lemon thyme and really strong apple mint, tarragon and lavender.

My dad also go a burn permit so the yard smells deliciously smoky. Of course, the town fire alarm just went off, and he’s convinced that the neighbors called him in for burning twigs in the fire pit.

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1) Rabbitini

Rabbitini

Ingredients:
3 oz Hendrick’s Gin (this recipe is intended for Hendrick’s and not another brand of gin)
1 Kirby (small) cucumber, or 1/2 large cucumber
2 tsps white sugar
1 pinch celery seed
1 oz Dolin’s Vermouth
4 dashes The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
Ice

Chill 2 martini glasses
Slice 2 slices cucumber and reserve
Chop remaining cucumber, muddle in shaker with sugar and celery seed
Add gin, vermouth and bitters, shake
Remove ice from glasses and pour
Garnish with cucumber, serve

This drink is crisp and refreshing, with a nice celery-cucumber taste. It’s great with seafood and salads– we had it with a scallop and green apple salad.

2) Red Chocolate

Red Chocolate

Ingredients:
1 blood orange
3 oz bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace)
4 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Chill 2 martini glasses
Slice two half moons of blood orange, reserve.
Squeeze juice from remaining blood orange into shaker
Add a few slices of blood orange peel from squeezed orange to shaker
Add bourbon and bitters
Mix sugar and cocoa together on a plate
Moisten edge of glasses with water or tiny bit of bourbon
Remove ice from glasses, rim glasses with cocoa-sugar mixture
Add a small bit of water (about 1/4 tsp) to remaining cocoa-sugar mixture and stir with fork until dissolved
Pour cocoa-sugar mixture into shaker
Shake and pour
Add lood orange wedge for garnish

This drink has a wonderfully complex flavor that starts out very bitter for the first few minutes after pouring but then opens up and becomes smoky and rich. It would go well with beef or pork– we drank it with flank steak.

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Cranberry Margarita

#1: Cranberry Margarita

This is a take on a classic margarita where the orange flavored liqueur (usually Cointreau or Triple Sec) is replaced with cranberry. It also includes my recipe for margarita salt– I mix the salt with a little sugar– and the trick I use to rim glasses perfectly every time.

For 2 drinks:
2 limes
5 oz good tequila (I like Don Julio)
1 oz Black Duck Cranberry Liqueur
1 Tbs fine sea salt or kosher salt
1 tsp evaporated cane juice or white sugar
Ice

Chill two cocktail glasses
Squeeze lime juice into shaker with ice. Reserve squeezed lime peels for rimming glasses.
Add tequila and liqueur, shake.
Remove ice from glasses, take squeezed lime peel and pinch it around the rim of a glass. Run it around the entire rim so there is a thin coating of lime juice on both sides of the glass.
Mix salt with sugar to make tangy margarita salt.
Pour margarita salt onto a plate, shake plate to crate an even coating.
Tip glass upside down and lay wet rim flat on plate. Turn around until rim is coated with salt, set glass upright.
Repeat with second glass.
Strain drink into glasses, serve.

Bloody Manhattan

#2: Bloody Manhattan

Manhattans are one of my favorite cocktails, and need no improvement. This Manhattan, however, uses blood orange and lime juice instead of sweet vermouth, and a little cherry juice, to give it a nice sour cherry citrus twist. If you like sour patch kids, you will love this.

For 2 drinks:
1 blood orange
1 lime
5 oz bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)
6 Morello cherries plus 1 oz cherry juice from jar
4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Ice

Chill two cocktail glasses
Squeeze orange and lime into shaker
Add bourbon, cherry juice, and bitters. Shake.
Remove ice from glasses.
Pour drinks into glasses, garnish with 3 cherries apiece

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Both of these drinks are THANKSGIVING FRIENDLY. That means that you can make them for a large number of people using a pitcher instead of a shaker. You WILL need to pour them through a wire strainer so that you don’t end up with seeds in your drinks! Remember, these drinks have 2.5-3 oz of bourbon per cocktail, so if you are mixing in bulk, you can mix 8 drinks with 24 oz of bourbon, or 10 drinks with 30 oz.

Either of them could be mixed with rum, gin, or vodka instead, but in each case it will change the flavor of the drink substantially! Use bourbon unless you really don’t like bourbon. Then I would recommend rum.

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients for 2 cocktails:
5 oz bourbon
1 oz Black Duck Cranberry Liqueur
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cloves star anise.

Instructions:
Put ice in 2 martini glasses to chill
Add ice to shaker
Soak spices in liqueur in bottom of shaker for five minutes
Add bourbon
Shake

Remove ice from martini glasses, pour.

Oh My Darlin’

Ingredients for 2 cocktails:
6 oz bourbon
2 clementines
1 1/2 oz Brown Sugar Black Pepper Simple Syrup (recipe below)

Instructions:
Put ice in 2 martini glasses to chill
Add ice to shaker
Slice one clementine in half. Cut one half into quarters (eighths of the whole clementine.)
Put simple syrup in shaker
Squeeze juice of 1 and 1/2 clementines into shaker (save the eighths you cut)
Add bourbon and shake

Remove ice from martini glasses, pour, and add 2 eighths of clementine to each glass.

Brown Sugar Black Pepper Simple Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbs black coarse ground pepper (you want to use good pepper for this! Don’t just use what is in your shaker. Buy black peppercorns and grind them or buy good black pepper already ground in your supermarket)

Put water in a small saucepan, preferably with a lip
Heat on high heat until water is close boiling (the surface will be rippling)
Add sugars and pepper
Stir until contents begin to boil. Keep stirring, really fast– it will bubble up quickly and you want to make sure it does not boil over!
Turn the heat down to medium-low heat
Keep stirring until the syrup gets the consistency of maple syrup (this will not take long, about five minutes)
Remove from heat, let cool
Syrup can be stored in a jar, bottle, or plastic container. If you use it while warm, do not use a glass shaker and add extra ice while mixing.

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