The Celebration of Cocktail Hour

Pacific Northwest like weather has settled over Austin for the last several weeks leaving me with thoughts of summer and our weekend ritual – the 4:00 cocktail by the lake.

Cocktail hour at the lake

This past summer, cocktail hour was elevated several notches when my cousin, Sarah, came to visit. Sarah has lived in Washington, DC for over 11 years and during that time, she’s been on the forefront of the awakened food scene (in a city that worked too hard to pay attention to what it ate until recently) and worked in some of the hippest bars. Her passion for good food, talent in gardening which provides many of the fresh herbs for her cocktails, gifted writing combined with her natural curiosity has made her a better guide than Zagat’s for the best bar and restaurants in DC. Although Sarah been on the East Coast for a long time, she is deeply rooted to the big island of Hawaii where she was born and raised. So, it's fitting that she infuses each cocktail she creates with salty island breezes, rays of warmth and little hau’oli (joy) which means delicious outcomes.

The first cocktails were served as hangover cures because of the bitters and other ingredients that were used. Creativity in creating tasty libations continued from the late 1800’s up until Prohibition. During this time,“new cocktails were designed to hide the flavors of bathtub gin, and whiskey was rare because it required years of barrel aging, raising the likelihood of being busted.” “Honey, fruit juices, and other flavorings served to mask the foul tastes of the inferior liquors. Sweet cocktails were easier to drink quickly, an important consideration when the establishment might be raided at any moment.” The modern cocktail movement isn’t that far away from Sarah’s Hawaiian roots since it was soldiers returning from their World War II South Pacific posts who “brought back a love of Polynesian drinks …" which "... featured fresh produce and culinary fusion in innovative drink design, which all factor heavily in the craft cocktail resurgence we are seeing now…”

Once the weather turned cold in December, I started cooking all of my winter comfort foods from chili to roasted chicken and just last week, chicken verde stew. But I’ve been thinking about these cocktails ever since Sarah turned the kitchen counter into a bar with multiple types of seasonable herbs, fresh squeezed citrus and locally made gin, vodka and other liquor. So, when a small group of girlfriends got together this past weekend to serve as the cheer squad for another friend, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring a little summer sun into some cold, dreary days. Because let’s be honest, nothing warms you up more than the combination of cool vodka, simple syrup, a little mint garnish and memories of summer. 

Tools you will need:

• Shaker
• Jigger (for measuring ingredients)
• Muddler (optional)

I used fresh squeezed citrus for each of these drinks. I found it easiest to squeeze multiple lemons and limes into different containers prior to making the cocktails. I bought fresh squeezed orange juice at my grocery store. I also made the simple syrup ahead of time which is very easy. In a sauce pan, combine 1 cup water (preferably filtered) and 1 cup white cane sugar. Put on high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the liquid becomes clear, usually right before it boils, turn the heat off and let it cool. Once cooled, pour simple syrup into a container. The honey syrup is made the same way with 1 cup of honey replacing the sugar. 

Sugar and water for the simple syrup

Simple syrup cooling. Notice it's clear.

Using a funnel, I poured the cooled syrup into this bottle.
I tripled the recipe to fill this bottle.

Ingredients for the gimlet

Gimlet

(makes one drink)

Ingredients:

• 2 oz gin
• 1.5 oz simple syrup
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• Fresh mint, tarragon or lemon verbena (I used mint)

What to do:

1. Put 1 sprig of mint or other fresh herb in shaker and muddle it 
2. Add 3-4 ice cubes
3. Add remaining ingredients and shake
4. Pour strained gimlet in glass and garnish with mint or other fresh herb that was used

The Speakeasy

(makes one very easy to drink cocktail)

Fresh squeezed orange juice, lemon juice
and vodka for the Speakeasy

Ingredients:

• 2 oz vodka
• 1.5 oz simple syrup
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/4 - 1/2 oz orange juice

What to do:

1. Put 3-4 ice cubes in shaker
2. Add remaining ingredients and shake
3. Pour strained Speakeasy in glass and garnish with sliver or lemon or orange rind

Neighborhood

(makes one drink)

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Rye
• 1.5 oz honey syrup
• 3/4 oz lemon
• 2 blackberries

What do to:

1. Put 3-4 ice cubes in shaker
2. Add remaining ingredients and shake
3. Pour strained Neighborhood in glass and garnish with 2 blackberries