Here’s how it went down: it was a beautiful July
afternoon. There was a pint of organic blueberries and a massive bouquet of
fresh bay leave branches on the counter, a couple of limes rolling around in
the produce drawer and a bottle of gin in the cupboard. What’s a girl to do?
Mix it all up and call it homemade happy hour, that’s what.
This is a true Northwest-style refreshment. The
blueberries came from a farm just a short drive outside of Seattle and the bay
leaves came from my dear friend Renata’s gargantuan laurel tree. The bottle of
gin wasn’t just any gin either, but a tall bottle of hand-crafted Counter Gin
from Seattle’s very own Batch 206 Distillery, which is a pretty cool venue, ran
by some pretty awesome people I might add. The limes, well, they were from
Trader Joe’s down the street.
It took about five minutes of active time to throw this
baby together and it’s well worth the extra love. It could have been an excellent
gin and tonic but it was brought to a whole new level with a few extra
ingredients; rosy and refreshing, with a limey bite and an herbaceous finish. Yes
please and thank you.
Fresh Bay &
Blueberry Gin Fizz
If you don’t have a muddler, don’t let that stop you! Get
creative and use another kitchen utensil, such as, err the end of a pasta fork.
Serves 1
Ingredients:
Fresh Bay Leaf Syrup
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
4 ounces (118 grams) water
5 fresh bay leaves
Gin Fizz
1 heaping tablespoon (30 grams) fresh blueberries
½ ounce (20 grams) Fresh Bay Leaf Syrup
1 ounce (30 grams) fresh squeezed lime juice, plus lime
wedges to garnish
6 ice cubes (70 grams)
2 ounces (56 grams) gin
3 ounces (88 grams) sparkling water or tonic
Make the bay leaf
syrup. In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar, water and bay leaves. Bring
to a boil, then remove from the heat. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, and then
taste the syrup; if it’s to your liking, remove the bay leaves or leave them in
to continue to infuse the syrup. Store
in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Pour yourself a
drink. In a rocks glass, muddle the blueberries with the bay leaf syrup
(include a whole leaf if you like) and lime juice. Add the ice, then the gin
and top with sparkling water. Serve immediately, garnished with a lime wedge.
No comments:
Post a Comment