Mandarine Fizz

What a nice fruity cocktail for a hot day! I was pleasantly surprised, though I shouldn't have been, at how good fresh mandarin juice tastes in a fizzy gin drink. This cocktail bursts with fruit and spice, but is juicy and light for summer drinking.

As I've said before, I can't get Mandarine Napoleon in Virginia, but I made it using my own recipe and, even if it isn't a perfect knock off of the original, it is pretty good stuff all the same. Together with Monkey 47 gin, there's a bright spicy kick behind that refreshing juice and soda.

• 1 oz. dry gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (homemade recipe used)
• 2 oz. mandarin orange juice
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• club soda
• mandarin orange slice

Combine sugar syrup, juice and spirits in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled highball glass. Top with soda and stir. Garnish with the orange slice. 

Allies

Gin and kummel go well together, so the thinking goes. Why not put two German spirits in a single cocktail and enjoy it with a little dry vermouth? What a classic pairing!

Monkey 47 is a dry gin with black forest botanicals that make this gin the deluxe brand that it is. Kummel is sweet and requires a dry gin to keep the balance. What you get is a cocktail that is more than the sum of its parts. There's juniper and caraway, gentian and fennel, anise seed and black pepper! Too many flavors to take in at one time. Make yourself a second drink!

• 1 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• several dashes of kummel (1/2 oz. recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into an Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. 

Berliner

That's not the U.S. Capitol Building in the background, that's the Reichstag in Berlin! That is because this cocktail is the German capital's namesake. I thought it fitting to use a German gin like Monkey 47, and I wasn't disappointed. It is dry and loaded with botanicals to keep things interesting in what is basically a Gin Sour with a German bent.

Kummel, the other signature ingredient, is a sweetened neutral spirit flavored with caraway and other herbs and spices. It is the sweetener in this drink and you must use a sweet variety of kummel or the cocktail will be too acidic. Even with my sweet honey kummel, I still felt I needed to add a dash more to balance the lemon juice--it wasn't because I love kummel and drink it by itself. Okay, I do love kummel and drink it by itself, but you should adjust this recipe for taste as I did.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Monkey 47 gin used)
• 1/2 oz. kummel (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Kummel Chameleon (Original Recipe)

I've been waiting to make a cocktail with this name for a long time. It's a silly name that banks on the color-changing effect of butterfly pea flower and the memorable song Karma Chameleon by Culture Club. This is a cocktail with a gimmick. Butterfly pea flower has a potent die that tasteless and changes with the ph of the liquid it is infused into. In its neutral color, it looks like a deep cobalt blue. In a basic solution, the pea flower turns turquoise. Add acid to the solution and it turns a rosy purple. That is why it is so fun to work with! You can make a drink that changes before your eyes!

Kummel is a German caraway and honey spirit with a funny name. I made it the same way I do with aquavit--infusion of neutral spirits with caraway and other spices. I finish the spirit with honey diluted with hot water.

To make the pea flower solution, soak several butterfly pea flowers in a cup of vodka for twenty-four hours. To maintain its color, keep it separate from other ingredients: wine, citrus and milk will change the ph and cause the infusion to change.

When making this cocktail I use a basic simple syrup. You can make your simple syrup basic by adding a pinch of baking soda. Using this syrup will cause the pea flower to turn turquoise. Now to get the color change effect, follow the instructions for the cocktail carefully and have someone film the drink. The change is so immediate that it is shocking!

• 1 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 oz. kummel (homemade kummel used, but either sweet or dry commercial brands will work)
• 3/4 oz. butterfly pea flower infused vodka
• 1 tsp. basic simple syrup (which has a pinch of baking soda in it)
• 1 oz. cold gruner veltliner or off-sweet white wine
• 1 oz. cold lime juice

Combine kummel, pea flower infused vodka, gin and basic simple syrup in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. To create the color change, add cold white wine and lime juice and stir.

Brittany (Revisit With Homemade Amer Picon)

Brittany is the northwest region of France, known for it's rocky coastline and resorts that dot the English channel. It seems appropriate that an especially fruity cocktail using gin and a French Amaro would bring together the best of English and French qualities in a single drink.

I did not use an English gin for this second run of this cocktail on my site. I thought that the German Monkey 47, with it's dryness and super botanical blend would work well with the bitter Amer Picon and tart juices. It keeps the drink interesting when orange and lemon juices tend to flatten out the flavors of gin.

The other interesting aspect of this cocktail is the use of my DIY Amer Picon. This is made with MurLarkey white whiskey infused with cara cara orange peels, Ramazzotti amaro, and Royal Combier--which is a kind of cognac and orange liqueur with Mediterranean spices. The Amer Picon really adds a deep bitter orange floor to what would ordinarily be a tart and floral cocktail.

• 2 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1/2 oz. Amer Picon (DIY used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• orange twist

Combine all ingredients except orange twist in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously to chill and dissolve sugar. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist. 

Monkey Picked Flower Collins

Monkey 47 gin makes an intensely floral Collins. My plan was to substitute Hibiscus Lavender syrup for the usual amount of simple syrup in a standard Collins. This was a good move: it makes the drink even more floral and gives it an attractive color that Collins drinks often lack. Monkey 47 is strong (with an intentional or serendipitous 47% alcohol) and in the full three-ounce pour for a Collins, it is pretty destructive. Feel free to go with a little less and stretch out what precious little Monkey 47 you have left in that tiny 375 ml. bottle.

• 2 oz. Monkey 47 gin
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. RAFT Hibisucs Lavender syrup
• sparkling water
• lemon twist
• maraschino cherry

Combine gin, lemon juice and syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of ice. Add sparkling water and stir. Garnish with the cherry and lemon twist. 

German Cocktail

I wanted to take another swing at the K.G.B. Cocktail, you know, that one that is supposed to stand for the three ingredients: kirschwasser, gin and brandy, but the ingredients are really kirschwasser, gin and apricot brandy (for sweetness). I guess that a K.G.AB doesn't sound as cool. But I figured, what if this drink could be done with all German ingredients?

Until recently, this wasn't possible. Then Monkey 47 came along and changed everything. I should warn the potential drinker or mixologist who tries this one out. Unlike the K.G.B., there is no sugar from the apricot brandy. That means that this cocktail is make of only overproof spirits. It is dry and strong and should take any normal person a little while to finish. This is good. Slow down and enjoy this drink. Good things take time.

• 3/4 oz. kirschwasser (Kammer Kirsch used)
• 2 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1/4 oz. brandy (Asbach Uralt used)
• lemon twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist. 

Verboten Fizz

This original cocktail is a fun way to combine awesome German spirits and my homemade Forbidden Fruit recipe that I've been trying to find uses for since I made it.

Here Monkey 47 is the base flavor of brilliant botanicals while Asbach Uralt adds richness. The forbidden fruit provides the honey balance against the citrus and I use Raft hibiscus lavender syrup to add to the floral and sweet notes and create an exotic experience. This is a refreshing citrus cocktail, with lots of complexity. The gin and brandy combo is always unexpected for ordinary gin drinkers, and Forbidden Fruit leaves most drinkers wondering what creates the complex flavors in this cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 oz. brandy (Asbach Uralt used
• 1 oz. Forbidden Fruit
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 tsp. Raft Hibiscus Lavender Syrup
• sparkling water
• grapefruit wedge

Combine all ingredients except sparkling water and grapefruit wedge in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water and stir. Garnish with grapefruit peel. 

Hinky Dink's Fizzy (Smuggler's Cove)

I really enjoyed this drink for its rum flavor and dry spiced gin--wholly different from the flavors associated with spiced rum. For this cocktail I chose Monkey 47 to keep the drink dry like a champagne cocktail.

This cocktail comes from Smuggler's Cove. The Hinky Dink's reference points to the 30's vintage Tiki bar in Oakland, California. The drink itself was invented in the 1980s. Better modern rums and gins are now available, so a drink like this gets a facelift with Monkey 47 dry gin and Vitae modern rum.

• 1 oz. blended lightly aged (white) rum (Vitae Platinum used)
• 1 oz. dry gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. passionfruit syrup
• 1/2 oz. apricot liqueur
• 2 oz. sparkling wine
• mint sprig/ flower garnish

Combine all ingredients except sparkling wine and mint sprig in a blender with crushed ice. Flash blend and open pour into a large snifter or wine glass with the two ounces of sparkling wine in it. Garnish with mint or flowers.

Silver King

There are many "Silver" cocktails, most of them having something to do with egg white and gin. The title of King goes to the one that uses excellent gin and fresh ingredients for a hands-down winner of a cocktail that is elegant and simple.

Monkey 47 is beautifully aromatic with 47 uncommon botanicals. It is very dry and light, so that an egg white cocktail can be both bracing and not weighed down by the notes of the spirit. A king, after all, is graceful.

• 2 oz. gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• egg white
• dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake remove the ice to shake the liquids and increase the foam. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass, preferably from a foot or more above the glass to encourage more egg white foam and to aerate the spirit.

Forbidden Monkey

There's a lot of exotic things going on in this cocktail. For one, Monkey 47 brings together a German Schwartswald recipe with a British dry gin style using botanicals from all over the world. There's something legendary about monkey-picked herbs and spices from the tropics. Whether true or not, trained monkeys are said to gather precious ingredients from the higher branches of jungle trees. This is the image I am conjuring.

The other bit is my very exotic Forbidden Fruit recipe, an attempt to piece together the original French recipe of pomelo and honey liqueur that dates back to the 1950s. This was spot on, so do it if you want to recreate this masterpiece, I'll have a post up in a few days explaining the nearly month-long process and all the difficulty of procuring the ingredients. As yet, there is no mass-marketed equivalent, but that didn't stop me.

The best thing about this drink is that it lets two very complex ingredients speak for themselves. Monkey 47 and Forbidden Fruit are made for each other: they are so densely flavored and yet light. The orange blossom honey of Forbidden Fruit negates the use of sugar, so an ounce of lemon juice goes right in without the need for simple syrup.

• 1 1/2 oz. Monkey 47 gin
• 1 oz. Forbidden Fruit liqueur (recipe forthcoming)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• lemon twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour into a stemless wine glass and garnish with a lemon twist.