Kew Gardens Cooler (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Muddled cucumber and gin are excellent together, this we all know. But it takes a lot to get most folks beyond a Hendrick's and cucumber slices on the rocks. I prefer using a gin that doesn't have the cucumber in it already and then putting it in itself. That is the idea behind craft cocktails. 

Muddled cucumber adds a freshness and even a thicker texture to cocktails--I think it has to do with plant cell walls giving structure to flavors of the spirits (but I'm not sure). A sweet citrus liqueur like Aperol does wonders for the color and adding balance as well.

Scarlet Glow syrup is made from cooking the brand of hibiscus tea and sugar into a syrup. It is pretty and red. but doesn't do a lot for the flavor by itself. For mine, I used hibiscus syrup and tried not to worry if the flavor wasn't exactly right.

• 2 cucumber wheels
• 2 oz. Beefeater 24 gin (Citadelle used)
• 1/2 oz. Aperol (Don Ciccio & Figili Ambrosia used)
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. scarlet glow syrup (hibiscus syrup used)
• 1 cucumber ribbon garnish

Muddle the cucumber wheels in a shaker then add ice and the remaining ingredients. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the cucumber ribbon skewered on a cocktail pick. 

Gypsy Eyes (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This play on the Gipsy cocktail with grapefruit juice and Aperol to make it pink. I figured that since any twist on a classic is fair game to twist a little more, I used Don Ciccio & Figili Ambrosia as my local Aperol and Dolin Genepy in place of Green Chartreuse. Furthermore, the dry gin used at Death & Co. is Beefeater, a London classic. Was going for something more French with Citadelle gin.

Citadelle gin is really on par with some of the most lovely gins I've ever had: closer to The Botanist than Beefeater if only in quality. So after making a modification to every ingredient in the recipe, I present to you Gypsy Eyes!

• Green Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Beefeater gin (Citadelle used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
  
• 1/2 oz. Aperol (Ambrosia used)
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/4 oz. simple syrup

Coat the inside of a coupe glass with Chartreuse (or Genepy) and dump. Combine remaining ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the coated coupe glass.