Autumn Slumber Toddy

This is so good. Now you can drink gin in the winter!!

Autumn Slumber Toddy
by Colleen Graham

2 oz gin
1/2 oz creme de cassis
dash simple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
4-5 oz hot water

Boil some water. Wait for it to calm down a bit. In a mug stir all the other ingredients. Add water to taste. I've made this with Blucoat and Plymouth gins and both were delicious. 

I don't have a nice irish coffee mug to show the color so I am not posting a picture of this. I found out about this drink from about. com mixologist Colleen Graham, Im not sure if she invented it or if its a weird classic that I had never heard of.

Gin Basil Smash

So good. do it.

Way better than the "normal", barely-has-any-mint-in-it whiskey smash, this is a drink worthy of your muddling. I heard about it at a bar I forgot and then searched the internet until I found a few recipes. I've been slacking on the blog the past 2 weeks and I came across a picture of one of these I made months ago and realized I had never posted about it. There are lots of recipes on the web and they vary pretty widely, make it to your taste, altering lemon and sweetener to your liking....

Gin Basil Smash

2oz Gin
1oz lemon juice
1/2oz simple syrup
tons of basil! (at least 5 leaves, upwards of an entitre shaker full..)

Muddle basil and simple syrup. Add everything else and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or on the rocks in an old fashioned glass. You should probably make a stiffer drink if its going in an old fashioned glass though because the ice will melt and water it down while you sip it... I did several sprigs of basil because I had tons in my garden. The drink turned a lovely green color with a few specks of basil that I did not mind but could be double strained out.

Pegu Club Cocktail

This one is apparently from a country club in Burma originally. It is virtually unknown in Myanmar today, according to wikipedia and there happens to be a bar in New York currently which stole the name. Its an old school classic dating to at least the 1920's and its basically a gin margarita. I'm not sure why people don't make these more often. Its different but very good.

Pegu Club Cocktail

2 oz gin
1 oz triple sec
1/2 oz lime juice
dash Angostura bitters
dash Orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.


This drink follows the 3:2:1 formula that I enjoy for sours, like margaritas and sidecars. The addition of 2 kinds of bitters got me thinking of variations. While there are still peaches in season, heres what I got:

Peachauds Club Cocktail

2 oz bourbon
3/4 oz peach schnapps
1/2 oz lime juice
dash Peychauds bitters
dash peach bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
I made the first drink with Cointreau.
The peach schnapps had to be reduced slightly for a balanced drink.

Cucumber Collins

A Tom Collins is a classic highball made of gin, syrup, citrus and club soda. I like them ok but never desire them or make them. I saw a few different versions of this Collins using muddled cukes and thought eating vegetables along with my cocktails seemed like a good idea.


Cucumber Collins

2 oz gin
5 slices cuke (1/2 of the small cucumber i used)
1 Tbl sugar
1 oz lemon or lime
club soda to fill


Muddle cuke slices with sugar. Add lemon and gin and ice. Stir and strain into a collins glass with ice and fresh cucumber slices.
(The cucumber I grew was yellow). I made another one with lime juice and it was much better. Perhaps it's just more like gin and tonic, but it seems like the lime and cucumber pair particularly well in a cocktail...

Gin & Tonic

Its often the simple things that are the best. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the easiest to ruin because there is nothing to hide behind. Ingredients and technique become ultimately important. A good gin and tonic can be made without anything fancy, especially once its hot outside. It is just so satisfying, so bubbly and bittersweet and herbaceous. A gin and tonic can be even better with great ingredients though.

I was in California recently and smuggled back all sorts of booze. Its very difficult to find things in Philly. The state of Pennsylvania has a monopoly on all liquor sales, so what they don't sell, you can't buy. It wasn't until the past ten years or so that it was even possible to buy liquor on Sundays. Anyways, I am very interested in the growing trend of micro brewers also being micro distillers. So after going to Ballast Point and being happily surprised by the vast list of beers I didn't know they made; I was even more excited to find out that they make booze too. (The most exciting weirdo beer I had from them was a curry stout. I want it constantly but I don't think they bottle it.) They make at least gin, white rum and vodka. The gin seemed most worthwhile because I feel that gins have a wider range of character due to the often addition of herbs. The Ballast Point gin uses Torrey Pine, a Cali native as well as Juniper and a dozen or so secret herbs. It doesn't taste particularly piney but it is delicious and smooth.

We planted a new herb in the garden this year: Borage. This is a strange and beautiful plant. The whole plant- stems, leaves and flowers are covered in tiny white hairs. It has a fuzzy glow in the sunshine. The whole plant tastes similar to cucumber. The leaves are a traditional garnish to a Pimms Cup. Having never made a Pimms Cup (yet) and with our plants struggling with the Philadelphia summer and therefore flowering very quickly without a profusion of leaves; I decided to pick the flowers and freeze them into ice cubes. As the ice melts in your drink a slight cucumber flavor is released. This seemed like it would be very pleasing in a gin and tonic. It was.

Gin & Tonic

2oz Gin
3-4oz Tonic Water
Lime wedge
Borage flower ice cubes

Build in an ice filled highball glass. Squeeze the lime at least a little. Add tonic to taste.
I prefer 3 oz of tonic and I always use Hansens brand because it is made with cane sugar and it comes in small (8oz) cans so I dont need to worry about a bottle going flat. When I only make one, I cover the top of the can with a jigger and put it back in the fridge. This keeps it surprisingly bubbly for a day or two.

Has anyone tried any other premium brands of tonic? I don't want anything with corn syrup. I've seen Fever Tree at a few stores but 6 packs of 6oz bottles sell for about $6. This seems absurdly expensive. Has anyone tried them? If they're great I could certainly buy them once....