R.A.F.

2 oz. Oxley Gin

1 oz. lime juice

2/3 oz. lavender syrup

1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, fill with ice, shake and double strain into a martini glass.

*Instructions for special lavender syrup prep: Break 2 bunches of lavender and let them simmer in simple syrup in 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let lavender sit in simple syrup for 5 to 6 hours. Remove lavender.

Singapore Sling

1 part Cherry Heering Liqueur

2 parts Gin

8 parts pineapple juice

1 part lime juice

1/2 Cointreau

1/2 part Grenadine

A dash of Angostura bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a sling glass. Garnish with fresh pineapple and a fresh cherry.
Note: The gin I prefer is New Amsterdam Gin.

Playful Perennial Punch

3 parts Hendrick's Gin

2 parts Lillet Blanc

4 med strawberries

1 parts fresh strained lime juice

1 1/2 parts raspberry zinger syrup (2 bags: 4 parts H20: 4 parts sugar)

4 parts dry sparkling wine

4 parts sparkling water

Muddle strawberries and syrup. Add ice, shake with vigor and double strain into punch bowl with an ice block inside.(Take a well cleaned quart container, fill with filtered water and place in freezer overnight) Top with Hendrick's  Lillet, sparkling wine and sparkling water. Garnish with the freshest berries and slices of stone fruit

Cocktail of the Week: The Mallard's Mallet

The Mallard's Mallet

2 1/2 parts Hendrick's Gin

1/4 parts Marachino Luxardo

2 parts strengthned celyon tea (1 bag per 5 parts water)

1 Tbsp gooseberry jam

1 whole lemon peel

soda water

ice

Garnish with edible flowers

In a mixing container combine beautiful gin, maraschino, tea, jam,  and lemon peel.  Give good muddle and remove the peel. Strain into a teacup, add ice and top with soda water. Adorn with edible flowers, an ice block and serve.

My Remix on the "Aster" Cocktail

I did a spin on the cocktail "Aster", which is a yummy gin cocktail. This cocktail calls for 3 oz. gin, dash of fresh orange juice, dash of fresh lemon juice and orange zest as garnish. I decided to stick with the gin and orange juice, but instead of lemon juice I did a dash of dutch caramel vodka (yes its a bit extreme but not strong). Here goes my recipe!

3 oz. Citadelle Gin

1 oz. Orange Juice

Dash of Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka

Stir all the ingredients together. Pour Ice in Shaker. Connect Shake to cup with ingredients and shake for at least 1.5 minutes. Serve

What I love about this recipe is that its simple! Simple yet good. The splash of vodka gave the orange juice a little more flavor, almost like the presence of bitters would.

A Tales of the Cocktail Exclusive: A Sit-Down with master distiller Jean Sebastien Robicquet

By Brooke Boudreaux 

During the second day of Tales of the Cocktail, I had the opportunity to meet with Jean-Sebastien Robicquet, master distiller of EuroWineGate (EWG).  At one point, I asked him what differentiates his spirits from those of his competitors. In a thick French accent he, in turn, asked me, “Which would you rather eat, a grape berry or corn?”

Using grapes and grapevine flowers in their process of distillation gives G’Vine, EWG’s gin brand a very distinctive flavor. I first had a taste of their G’Vine gins, Floraison and Nouaison. I found Floraison to have some nice tropical notes, but my favorite was clearly the, Nouaison. I’m not exactly a gin drinker, but I really enjoyed the Nouaison, which was much more fragrant and had stronger notes of juniper, which I really liked.

I was then asked to sample their two newest products, L’Esprit de June and Excellia.

JUNE is a fruity grape-based liqueur with extracted flavors of vine flowers. June’s taste is sweet, but subtle and delicate with hints of peach and white strawberries. I found it to be quite enjoyable on the rocks. It was even more delicious as a simple cocktail created by adding a little of the G’Vine gin to it. It was so refreshing, I could easily imagine drinking this makeshift cocktail around a pool on a hot day or pairing it with a mid-day brunch.

New Amsterdam Gin Cocktail

Recently, I went to Tales of the Cocktail, an international acclaimed cocktail and cuisine festival in New Orleans. It was a fabulous experience and basically created a monster. I now think I'm a mixologist. To make my new imaginary profession worst, I was in a mixology competition. I competed in The Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge presented by New Amsterdam Gin. For this competition, participants had 10 minutes to create a cocktail inspired by New Orleans, name and story for your drink! Before I get into my creation, let me tell you a little about gin and New Amsterdam Gin.

Gin 101

Gin is a colorless neutral alcohol with a base flavor of juniper berry.  Additional flavors depend on the company and incorporates different botanicals. Gin was created in 1650 by a physician in Holland as a medicinal tonic! It was originally called genever, which is Dutch for juniper.