drink.craft.life.

Cocktail Fixin's

I recently bought a Boston Shaker.

While I've long enjoyed a good gin and tonic, I've only recently been introduced to the true world of cocktails.  Delicately balanced concoctions, each one with a different balance (or imbalance) or flavors.  Some are subtle, some are an assault on your senses.

About a month ago, I noticed a drink on a local bar menu, the Strawberry Blonde.  It has gin, strawberry, and a hint of balsamic.  As these are three of my favorite things, I've been longing to try the drink but just haven't made it over to the Lounge, much as I'd like to.  Then I bought the North Star Cocktails book and lo and behold, the recipe was in the book.  When my new Boston Shaker arrived, I knew what had to be made.

Simple Syrup (with Trader Joe's Organic Sugar),
Lemon Sour, and Strawberry-Lemon Sour

Here's the thing about this drink.  It takes a homemade Strawberry-Lemon Sour.  To make the Strawberry-Lemon Sour, you need the Lemon Sour.  To make the Lemon Sour, you need Simple Syrup.  I could have cheated, I could have purchased a bunch of stuff.  But I didn't.  I made the Simple Syrup to make the Lemon Sour to make the Strawberry-Lemon Sour.

And then I made the Strawberry Blonde.  (Apparently the balsamic makes it a 2.0.)  And now I'm drinking it.

My kitchen?  It's a sticky mess.  I've done two loads of dishes already.  I dropped my garage door opener into the leftover lemon juice (which I planned to freeze).  Was it worth it?

Oh yes.

(I wish I had a photo of the finished product but a)I used an older bottle of Balsamic and the sediment isn't photogenic and b)it didn't last long enough for the camera.)