St. Andrew's Sour

Hey, a picture! I actually remembered to take one this time, before the entire thing disappeared.

This is a really straightforward sour, complicated only by a wee dash of bitters and my beloved blueberry syrup (I think I'm making more when this batch is through). There's a little bit of soda in here already, but the flavor's concentrated enough that you could pull this out into a highball if you increased the volumes.

2 oz scotch (blended Speyside)
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz blueberry syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass, top off with a brief splash of soda water (~1 oz). Garnish with a lemon wheel if you like (I juiced my last lemon instead).

Yeah, okay, this is just a cold version of another recent cocktail, but who cares? Versatile stuff, this blueberry syrup!

House of Gin Old-Fashioned (#2)

My recent foray into reviewing weird gins made me realize that I had (gasp!) only one partially-emptied bottle of Tanqueray Malacca.  I quickly remedied the situation, which also gave me an excuse to splash that open bottle around.  One astonishingly simple combination caught my notice - I'm amazed that I didn't stumble upon it already.  Yet it's so damned tasty that I feel it's earned a spot as my second House Old-Fashioned.

2 oz Tanqueray Malacca
1/4 oz thyme syrup
4 dashes Angostura bitters (try other aromatic bitters at your discretion)

Build in an old-fashioned glass over a large ice cube.  Garnish?!?  Hah!  Try a lemon peel if you must.

Thyme syrup, man.  I think we have a trend here.  I might try this with a bit of dry vermouth once the weather warms.