basil and lime gimlet

Sometimes in my head, I imagine a great thing that I'm sure I can do in the real world and it's definitely going to work out, no problem! And sometimes these imaginings do work out pretty well, and sometimes they are huge disasters. I did this last week. I had been turning around the idea of a preserved lemon cocktail in my head for a while and it sounded great. I was a bit worried about saltiness, but I figured I would soak the lemons and reduce the salt. Then I would turn them into a syrup that was sweet and just faintly salty and with that great, perfumed lemon-but-also-not-quite-lemon preserved lemon flavour. My dream cocktail was amazing. I would add basil and make an excellent, uniquely sweet and savoury, fragrant, sophisticated summer lemonade cocktail delight. 

This was hubris my friends. I sliced the preserved lemon into thin wedges, rinsed and soaked it to reduce the salt, and made a simple syrup, totally certain of my true cocktail genius. And then I tasted the revoltingly salty (Duh, right?) yet somehow too sweet syrup. I added lemon juice and more sugar, to try to balance out or at least distract from the off-putting qualities of my concoction. I continued to throw good sugar after bad for quite a while, never really improving things. I wound up with a super thick, still gross, lemon sludge. I put it in the fridge, thinking I could find a way to save it. Then I stared at it every time I opened the fridge for 3 days until I had to face reality and throw it away. 

I had already bought basil though, and I wasn't going to let this gross lemon-tastrophy ruin my basil cocktail dreams. For the next round, I went with a surefire flavour combo, with no daring acrobatics involved: basil, lime and gin. Sweet, tart, summery. All the childish, summer-time fun of limeade combined with all the fun of gin! For the grown-up kiddo in you. 

For now I will keep my preserved lemons for rubbing on chickens and turning into salad dressings. Until another wave of hubris hits me and I turn them into some kind of horrifying meringue. 

basil syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, chopped

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved.. Reduce heat, and simmer on low about 5 minutes. 

basil and lime gimlet: 

• juice of one lime
• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce basil syrup 
• ice cubes 
• a couple sprigs basil leaves 

Crush basil leaves in a cocktail shaker with a muddler or the end of a wooden spoon. Add all other ingredients and shake vigorously until the shaker frosts over and gets very cold. Strain into a glass and garnish with a stem of basil. Makes one, multiply ingredients by the number of gimlet drinkers.

quince gin fizz

Quince is a funny little fruit. It looks like a knobby, furry little pear and it's very hard and sour when raw. Cooking transforms it into a rosy-pink little gem with a citrusy-appley sort of taste. And the syrup it makes it so lovely and glowingly pink.

It also has slightly poisonous seeds that can give off hydrogen cyanide when ingested, so that's fun! Quince is like a really low risk fruit version of fugu fish. Don't worry though, you need to eat a lot of quince seeds to harm you. I think it's a good metaphor-fruit for a New Years Eve cocktail; about transforming something odd and a bit difficult into something lovely and slightly thrilling. Because all cocktails are elaborate metaphors about your life right? 

Anyway, happy new year! I hope you have a wonderful and quince-like 2017. 

quince gin fizz:

• gin
• limes
• quince syrup (recipe below)
• soda water
• mint sprigs for garnish

For each drink: 

Peel a strip of lime peel over a glass, aiming to catch the oils that spray out in the glass. Give it a squeeze to get a bit more oil into the glass. 

Combine 1 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce lime juice and 1/2 ounce syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into the glass. Top up with soda water and garnish with mint. 

quince syrup: 

• 4 quinces, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup sugar 
• 2 tbs lime juice
• 2 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a small pan and simmer on low heat for two hours, until syrup thickens slightly and turns a lovely, jewelled rose colour. Store in refrigerator. 

Photos: Tyrel Hiebert

Spicy tequila sour

This is a kind of seasonless cocktail. It can certainly qualify as a summer drink; the tequila and lime combination feels beachy and sunny. But the pleasant heat from the jalapenos has a winterizing effect; it will warm you during these rainy, snowy, grey months while you pine for sunshine and heat. This cocktail is highly effective all year round. It will fortify your spirits and remind you that winter can't actually last forever.

The tequila sour is based on the whisky sour, but with tequila and lime in place of whisky and lemon. It's easy to double or triple for and you set it out in the pitcher for self serves cocktails if you like. 

jalapeno simple syrup: 

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the syrup is quite spicy when you taste it (let it cool well before tasting!). Keep in mind that the other cocktail ingredients will mute the heat; I try to make the syrup a bit hotter than I want the drink to be. 

Let cool. 

hot tequila sour: 

• 6 ounces tequila

• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice

• 4 ounces jalapeno syrup

• 1/2 cup water

• thin lime and jalapeno slices to garnish

Combine tequila, lime juice, syrup and water in a pitcher with ice and stir to combine. Adjust to taste, adding more lime juice or syrup if needed. 

Divide between four glasses and garnish with lime and japapeno slices.  Share with some friends who need a beachy, balmy, spicy boost!

Photo credit: Tyrel Hiebert