Summer calls for cool, refreshing cocktails, and we’ve added two new ones to our repertoire recently: one shaken, and one stirred. We like mixing cocktails in our newly renovated bar.
The first drink, a shaken cocktail dubbed a Gin Mist by its creator, was introduced to us in the Glover Gardens bar in mid-June. We had a small party to celebrate loved ones visiting from Washington, D.C., and one of them, Danny, used the cocktail shaker to whip up one of these light, refreshing and yet quite sophisticated drinks for my niece Melyssa. She generously let us all taste, and suddenly Danny was fielding requests from almost everyone at the party. That’s Melyssa’s picture below of a Gin Mist he made for her when they were back home.
Here’s Danny’s Gin Mist recipe.
Gin Mist Cocktail
Makes 1 drink
Ingredients
- 1½ ounce gin
- ½ ounce Cointreau or Triple Sec
- 1 ounce water, seltzer, or tonic
- juice of ½ lemon or lime (about ½ ounce)
- 3 dashes of orange bitters
- ½ ounce simple syrup (optional)
- lemon or lime twist (optional)
Fill shaker with ice, then add all ingredients and shake until the tin is cold. Strain into the glass of your choice and garnish with lemon or lime twist.
….
My sister and I made ourselves a Gin Mist a few weeks later to test Danny’s recipe, and voila! They were just as tartly-tingly and refreshing as Danny’s, but we missed having him as our charming bartender.
And now for our drink that was stirred. During the recent 2024 Summer Olympics, I was thinking of Paris and found a recipe for a St. Germaine spritz. We wanted a taller drink for poolside, so we created our own version, with slightly different ingredients, very different ratios and a cool cucumber garnish alongside the lime.
Poolside Elderflower Spritz
Makes 1 very tall drink (good for one hour in the pool) or two regular-sized
- 3 ounces elderflower liqueur (we prefer St. Germaine)
- 6 ounces club soda or sparkling water (we used lime-flavored sparkling water)
- 6 ounces sparkling wine
- juice of ½ lemon or lime (about ½ ounce)
- optional garnishes: lemon or lime wedge, cucumber slices
Fill a tall (16-20 ounce) glass with ice, then add all other ingredients. Stir and add garnishes.
Although we’re slightly past the ‘dog days of summer’ heading into the last two weeks of August, there’s still plenty of heat coming at us in Southeast Texas, and plenty of Gin Mist and Poolside Elderflower Spritzes to cool us down. And whether your prefer your cocktails shaken or stirred, you can find more Glover Gardens recipes and musing in the Cocktails and Beverages archives here.
If my liberal use of “shaken, not stirred” stirred up some nostalgia for James Bond, the video below from YouTube will make you smile.
What are your go-to beverages this summer – shaken or stirred, alcoholic or not?
© 2024, Glover Gardens
