So, when it’s warm out, I like to drink:
- Gin
- Things that are fizzy
- Things with lime
… in no real order of preference. I was in the shower this morning, marveling at how muggy it was already, now that summer had finally decided to bestir him-her-or-itself, and was running through this list to think if I could do anything interesting with it, when I remembered the West Indian Cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail Book:
West Indian Cocktail
1 Teaspoonful Sugar in medium-sized Tumbler. (1 teaspoon Small Hand Foods Gum)
4 Dashes Angostura. (4 dashes angostura bitters)
1 Teaspoonful Lemon Juice. (1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice)
1 Glass Burrough’s Beefeater Gin. (2 oz Beefeater Gin)
1 Lump of ice.
Stir and serve in same glass.
He’s right (although I had misremembered lime for lemon, because see point 3 above), it is a nice, refreshing cocktail on a hot day. I decided it’d be nice to turn it from a cocktail into a sour, and then from that into a French 75 variation (satisfying points 2 and 3, with 1 already being taken care of in the original drink). This is what I came up with.
The Humidity Cocktail:
2 oz Gin (Tanqueray, in this case)
~ 1 oz lime juice (1/2 of a medium sized lime, room temperature, rolled on the cutting board, squeezed).
1/2 oz rich simple syrup (I used a slightly scant half ounce, since I thought the lime was probably a hair under an oz. Turned out tart for a 2:1:1 sour)
Shake, strain into cocktail glass, add several (4-5) good shakes of Angostura bitters, top with whatever cheapish, traditional method sparkling wine (most likely some kind of Cava, unless you know something I don’t) you like. Then smile.
Works like a charm. Also, I note with chagrin that it’s been over a year since my last update.
Learning Cocktails 