Mocktail Month Addendum: Berry Motijo

Mocktail Month being officially over won't stop us. Increasingly my wife (aiming to provide a health-conscious counterbalance to, well, me) is requesting booze-free drinks, and I'll be damned if I won't build up a repertoire to keep her happy. After all, she's dealt with me building up a high-test repertoire to keep myself happy. It's the least I can do.

This is really just a tea-soda hybrid; an iced tea augmented in the same fashion as sparkling water, with a hefty handful of mint to boot.

5 oz chilled green tea
1 oz strawberry-lemon syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
12-15 mint leaves

Muddle the mint in the bottom of a shaker with the syrup. Add the juice and tea, shake like crazy to break up the mint, and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a wide swath of lemon peel, or another big bunch of mint, or a fresh strawberry, or all of the above.

Mo-"tea"-jo? Get it?!? (I know, it's fucking terrible, but it works.)

I think we might take this whole Mocktail [insert arbitrary unit of time] concept and generalize it into another regular thing. The Mocktail Moment. I like it!

Mocktail Month: Berry Patch

Now, sodas aren't always that exciting, but sometimes you nail it. Enough said.

3/4 oz strawberry-lemon syrup
3/4 oz blackberry shrub
3/4 oz lime juice
3 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters

Shake briefly to combine and pour into a Collins glass; top off with about 6-8 oz soda water to taste.

I'll let this stand as one of the better examples of the prototypical soda. Really, there's no need to post more, so we'll attempt to be a little more inventive with this final leg of the month.

Balmy-Barmy

So, I just had one of my less-proud mixological moments.  After picking up what I thought was a lovely bunch of mint over the weekend, I pulled it out of the fridge today, and only after I started picking off leaves to make a pair of juleps did I realize that it wasn't mint at all.  Instead, I had a massive bunch of lemon balm.  The fact that it's also known sometimes as "lemon mint" wasn't much comfort.

What to do?  Well - in it fucking went anyway, with some course corrections.  It took a little tweaking to get just right, but I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the results.

Keep in mind, this isn't really a julep at all, even though it looks like one.

2 oz gin (I used Letherbee because I like it, but you could use a London Dry)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz watermelon-strawberry syrup
3 dashes rhubarb bitters (homemade, batch #2!)

Muddle a large handful of lemon balm and the syrup in the bottom of a glass; add ice, gin, and Cocchi, then stir to combine.  Garnish with a few extra sprigs of lemon balm and a straw.

Maybe I will just have to try something similar with bourbon...

Tall and Cool

I'm back!  Yes, friends - it's the first cocktail I've felt worth recording in the last couple weeks.  It's a pretty dang good one, though.

2 oz white rhum agricole (J.M.)
2 1/2 oz watermelon juice
1/2 oz watermelon-strawberry syrup
1 oz lime juice
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Shake and strain over large cubes in a Collins glass.  Top with ~2 oz soda water and stir.

One of my favorite things about this drink is how well the anisette component of the bitters mixes with the freshness of the watermelon and the funk of the rhum.  It's a damn fine highball, I must say.

Mocktail Week Afterthought: In-Law Cooler

This is getting a bit freaky - this is about the 8th post in a row dealing exclusively with non-alcoholic beverages.  WTF?  I'll have to get back on track soon.

A request from my sister-in-law prompted this one.  I wasn't aiming for anything too fancy but it turned out interesting enough to merit recording...

1 1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz strawberry-watermelon syrup (turned out relatively dilute thanks to the water content of the melon)
2 oz iced white tea
2-3 dashes rhubarb bitters (homemade)

Shake and strain over fresh ice, then top with about 2 oz chilled cucumber water.  Garnish with whatever's handy - watermelon would be particularly appropriate.

Mocktail Week #5: Raised Bed

Today was another hit-or-miss one - I'm starting to feel like I'm treading over the same ground here.  Fortunately I found at least one good combination tonight!

1 1/2 oz lemon juice
1 1/4 oz strawberry-saffron syrup
8-10 mint leaves

Muddle the mint leaves in the syrup; add the lemon juice, shake, and strain over large ice cubes in a tumbler.  Top with about 3 oz tonic water to taste (Q Tonic) and stir.  Garnish with a mint sprig if you must.

Frankly, I'm glad that this week is just about done.  It was a welcome break, but I'm starting to really want a drink, you know?

Mocktail Week #2: Wondermelon

This is only my first attempt for the evening, but I tried it and went full stop - this is fantastic, it's getting posted.  It's a little more complicated than some of my attempts from last night, but it works marvelously together - a little sweet, a little sour, a bit bitter, expressive of watermelon and summer, and very refreshing.

1 1/2 oz cryo-watermelon juice (a great way to use up all your leftover watermelon)
1 oz strawberry-saffron syrup (the saffron adds a certain deep, herbal quality that is entirely worth the expense, believe me)
1/2 oz lime juice
3 dashes rhubarb bitters

Shake well and strain over large cubes in a Collins-style glass.  Top with about 2 oz each tonic (Q Tonic for me) and carbonated cucumber water (don't use regular soda, the cucumber really brings out the watermelon flavor).

I'm gonna go have another.

Carina Collins

That's right, friends, it's another of my patented Unexplained Absences!  I shouldn't feel too bad - we did just buy a house, after all, and I've recently noticed that many (better-known) cocktail blogs are subject to their own random hiatuses.  Ah well.  I had to check in to be sure that I got this one down.

2 oz London Dry gin (Tanqueray in this case, although Boodles would be welcome)
1 1/4 oz lime juice (about a full medium-sized lime)
3/4 oz strawberry-saffron syrup
1/2 oz Licor 43
1 dash orange bitters

Shake and strain over large ice cubes, then top with soda water to taste (about 2 oz for me) and stir gently.

I named this one after a constellation visible in the Southern hemisphere during the summer months - appropriate, since I'm not sure why I came up with this only once the weather turned frigid.  Go figure.

The Redbreast

Riff number two on the same basic theme.  Essentially the same formulation with some substitutions.

1 1/2 oz genever
1 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz strawberry-thyme syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
3 dashes rhubarb bitters
3 dashes cardamom tincture

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with a half strawberry, either frozen or on a cocktail pick.