Waterloo Sunset (Death & Co. Recipe)

One of the most fabulous spirits and juice cocktails in a rocks glass ever! That's high praise, and well worth the effort when you make this cocktail. I love how vegetel, citrusy and herbaceous this drink is. The flavor goes from fresh mint and lime juice to a spicy gin and watermelon center and finishing with a numbing peppery taste backed up by more mint. It was a very cool (and hot) experience. 

There's a lot of steps to this drink. There's the infusion of Szchuan peppercorns in gin. Then juicing, then muddling and making the syrups. And it is a cocktail involving two gins. I used my Szchuan pepprcorn-infused MurLarkey ImaGination gin as the first ingredient and my homemade dry gin as the second spirit (which keeps the peppercorns from being too spicy.) I also juiced the watermelon rather than pay for a large jug of watermelon juice this time. (I know you can freeze it, but I don't need that much watermelon juice when a few pieces of fruit will do.)

Once you have all that ready, we can proceed with the recipe.

• 7 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz. cane sugar syrup
  
• 1 oz. Szechuan peppercorn-infused gin (MurLarkey used)
• 1 oz. dry gin (homemade with asparagus botanical used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin blanc vermouth
• 1 1/2 oz. watermelon juice
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• mint sprig garnish

Muddle mint leaves in the syrup in the shaker before adding ice and the remaining ingredients. Shake and double strain into a double Old Fashioned glass over a large piece of ice. Garnish with the mint sprig. 

 

Bros Of Summer (Original Recipe)

 

I still had some Blue Monkey watermelon juice left over from making the Over And Out. When you are working with a lot of fresh ingredients like mint and cucumber, vodka is all you need to add alcohol. Anything else will confuse things, and sometimes you want to experience the natural flavors for themselves. 

This is a knock off drink that was super popular ten years ago, the Cucumber Mint Martini. This misnomer cocktail was quickly picked up as soon as restaurants began stocking their bars with fresh ingredients. It is still good, but vodka seems to be an "old hat" ingredient. In this case, the drink has aged well.

• 2 oz. 100-proof vodka
• 3 cucumber wheels
• 5 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. watermelon juice (Blue Monkey used)
  
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• mint sprig garnish

Muddle mint and cucumber in a shaker and fill it with the remaining liquid ingredients and ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with mint sprig.

Over and Out (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Death & Co. are renowned for their innovative cocktails back when there were none to be had. Their recipe book includes four akvavit recipes that are all winners; however, this one seems less innovative then the others. 

It's a well known fact that akvavit tastes great with tequila and citrus flavors like orange and grapefruit juice. The unusual part of this recipe is swapping out the typical juice with watermelon. Luckily, it being winter, Blue Monkey makes an excellent fresh watermelon juice in a can just for this occasion. 

Then I couldn't find celery bitters at the liquor store, so I quickly made them the night before: 3 tsp. celery seeds, 1 tsp. chopped celery leaves and an oz. of vodka. Allow to infuse for at least 3 hours.

This drink tastes so much of summer, it is hard to express. And I really wanted to have a summer drink in the middle of a snow storm. Sometimes our preferences are oppositional to our surroundings, which is what cocktails are all about. 

• 1 oz. blanco tequila (Sauza used)
  
• 1 oz. akvavit (homemade with MurLarkey Justice white whiskey used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. watermelon juice (Blue Monkey used)
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• 1 dash celery bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters 

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