Melancholy Summer (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This might be my favorite summer drink in the Death & Co. cocktail book. At least it's my favorite so far and maybe the best combination of sherry, gin, cucumber and cantaloupe I've ever had. This is a cocktail that is so well constructed that every ingredient has a special part to play and you can appreciate them all at once. 

Manzanilla sherry is known for its funny, melon-like nose that makes it especially good to drink with cantaloupe. La Gitana is one of the best. 

Suze--a new aquisition--is a bitter gentian spirit that really grounds this drink with herbal bitterness as well as some citrus notes. 

Gin, MurLarkey or otherwise, is in here because it is more than a blank canvass that is vodka. Herbs and fruits are a big part of ImaGination and essential to making this amazing cocktial work. 

• 2 cucumber wheels
• 1 oz. Lustau Manzinalla sherry (La Gitana used)
• 1 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1/2 oz Suze liqueur
• 3/4 oz. cantaloupe juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. acacia honey syrup
• 1 cucumber ribbon garnish

Muddle cucumber wheels in the shaker tin before adding the remaining ingredients and ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass (Coupe shown). Cut a cucumber wheel and spear it on a cocktail pick as a garnish. 

Cantaloupe Cup

This is the only alcoholic cantaloupe cocktail in the 90s vintage NY Bartender's guide. It's a solid drink. In a pinch, blending is just about the only way to get cantaloupe into a cocktail in a meaningful way, not just as a garnish. There's lots of water in it, and the flavor is light. I felt that an interesting rum like Buzzard Point would be helpful to accentuate the melon flavor.

Buzzard Point is a colonial style rum. It has a fresh sugar cane flavor similar to cachaca, but its yeast creates a toasted marshmallow flavor that comes through in this cocktail, which is just what you want with a cantaloupe boat drink.

I like the look of melon slices standing on end. The directions are vague, and this is probably the most practical and attractive use of "melon slice" garnish.

• 2 oz. white rum (District Distilling Co. Buzzard Point used)
• 1/3 cup ripe cantaloupe
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• cantaloupe slice(s)

Combine 1/3 cup of cantaloupe and liquid ingredients with ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the cantaloupe slices. 

Melon Medley (Nonp-Alcoholic)

It's melon season and this mocktail does it right! Blended with orange juice and lemon (and a touch of sugar for my taste), this is an easy non-alcoholic drink to make that will really impress your friends.

There are two cantaloupe cocktails in the New York Bartender's Guide of 1997, the other is alcoholic, which is really impressive for those dark ages. Try this one. Add vodka or white whiskey as I've done at times and you'll find it's great for sipping poolside.

• 4 oz. cantaloupe chunks
• 4 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• (optional tsp. sugar)
• (optional cantaloupe slice garnish)

 Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish at will.