Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 9

Lately we have been featuring a lot of tequila drinks since we were able to mix up some great cocktails with friends at their home bar. The Gindicate has always had gin in its heart and luckily for us there are quite a few cocktails featuring our favorite liquor in Left Coast Libations. This week we have a gin double feature from Joseph Brooke out of Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy these delightful cocktails!

The Brass Flower

1 oz Gin

1 oz Grapefruit juice

¾ oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

2 dashes Fee Brothers Grapefruit bitters

Brut Champagne

Strip of grapefruit peel (garnish)

Gently toss (a 5 second shake) all ingredients over ice, except champagne. Strain into a flute and top with champagne. Twist the grapefruit peel over the cocktail to express the oils. *The book also requires you to dink and laugh in this recipe, which is charming!

This recipe calls for a London Dry gin and we used Brokers for our first round. This simple cocktail smells of the pepper and fruitness of grapefruit, while expressing the lovely floral notes of the St. Germain. It has a lovely blend of champagne, grapefruit and gin. There is a refreshing flavor and dryness to it, but the elderflower was not prevalant. However, we wished that the gin was a little less sharp since our grapefruit was not sweet. Therefore we used Plymouth gin in the second round. With this there was more citrus flavor in the gin and therefore it is enhanced in the rest of the cocktail. The elderflower was more present, but still not too sweet. It became more balanced and a little less dry. Watch out, it is a very easy drink that only hits you after a few.

The Lively

1 large fresh Strawberry

2 oz Gin

¾ oz Agave-Ginger syrup

¾ oz Lemon juice

Splash simple syrup

Slice ¼ of the strawberry off and set aside as the garnish. Muddle remainder of the berry with other ingredients and shake over ice. Strain over fresh ice into a sours glass (5-6 oz stemmed glass) and garnish with strawberry piece.

We had some difficulty with this cocktail because we used Ginger People ginger juice in the Agave-Ginger syrup. We recommend that you juice your own ginger or greatly reduce the Ginger People amount by half or ¾ the amount. When we mixed up this cocktail using this recipe we didn’t realize the strength of the ginger and it really affected the flavor. The aroma was of stone fruit, strawberry, and astringency from the ginger. The ginger bit so hard in this cocktail that you could not get any other flavors at first. We then adjusted the cocktail to ¼ Agave-Ginger syrup, ½ lemon, and ¼ simple syrup. This time, the aroma was of strawberry, gin, ginger and a hint of stone fruit. The flavor was much more balanced; sweeter but still not sweet. The harsh ginger bite was gone. It was a bit like spring with its cool astringency yet there is sweetness like the promise of summer.

Cheers!

Comments on Gin

What would be the gateway alcohol to Gin?

This question is inherently circular in its answer. Vodka might be the closest in color and flavor, yet it doesn’t really provide the qualities that even the mildest Gin provides, i.e. Juniper. Even highly herbal or botanical vodka’s like Square One Botanical don’t have the ingredients that make a gin, a gin. For a light, smooth, easy drinking gin try Plymouth. Plymouth Gin is exclusive in that it is the only gin that can be called a Plymouth style gin. It is most notable for not having the bitter orange flavor of other gins, yet still having a refreshing citrus flavor. This quality is only enhanced by the traditional lemon twist that is used on the rim and as a garnish in a Plymouth Martini. We are living in a great age of Gin. There are new style, old style, new-old style, and avant guard gins being produced across the world. Anyone can find a gin that tickles their taste buds or their pocket books.