Strawberry Gin & Tonic

A Gin & Tonic is the quintessential summer cocktail. It's easy to make, only requires a couple of ingredients, it's low alcohol-by-volume, and it's hard to mess it up - unless you use bad gin. A Gin & Tonic also makes a great blank canvas for your mixology art.

The Spanish have turned this cocktail into an art form. In Spain a Gin & Tonic involves all kinds of fruit, herbs, and spices. It is usually served in a large wine goblet with plenty of ice, and it's as attractive as it is thirst-quenching. As fresh fruit becomes available at local farm markets, we are taking a cue from the Spanish and planning to do frequent G&T experiments. We'll post our best results on the blog.

To get things started we have this combination of strawberry, lime, and rosemary to add to gin and tonic. We made a strawberry simple syrup by simmering fresh strawberries and sugar in water for about 15 minutes, and then straining out the liquid (recipe below). This makes for an easy way to add the strawberry flavor to the drink and gives it a nice pink color. The rosemary is growing in our herb garden, and lime seemed like the right way to balance the sweetness of the strawberry syrup. We used an Irish gin from Gendalough Distillery - which is full of fresh wild botanicals.

We paired our Strawberry Gin & Tonic with a Cocktail Artist watercolor painting Still Life with Strawberries - a painting that we unearthed recently when doing some spring cleaning in the art studio.

Cheers!


Strawberry Gin & Tonic

2 ounces Gin
1 ounce Fresh lime juice
1 ounce Strawberry simple syrup (recipe below)
6 Rosemary leaves
1 ounce Tonic water

Put rosemary leaves and lime juice in the bottom of a cocktail shaker and press rosemary with a muddling tool (or a wooden spoon). Add ice cubes, gin, and strawberry syrup and shake for 10-15 seconds. Double-strain into a highball or double old-fashioned glass with fresh ice. Add tonic water and garnish with a rosemary sprig and strawberry.


Strawberry Simple Syrup

6 ounces Fresh strawberries - stems and leaves removed
1/2  cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Combine strawberries, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Pour mixture through a sieve - do not press on the strawberries. Funnel the liquid into a bottle and add 1 ounce of vodka as a preservative. Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Still Life With Strawberries - original watercolor painting by The Cocktail Artist


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