I picked up a new set of glasses at a lovely little antique store in Cambridge, NY over the weekend. I saw the glasses in the case and proceeded to walk distractedly around the store planning the drinks I could serve in them. I figured this must be a sign that the glasses were to be mine. Also, they were 20% off, which tipped the scales in their favor.
So, I bought them.
They’re pretty, right? And they match my coupes beautifully.
Really, it is a dream come true for me.
The glasses are so tall and elegant and the weekend was warm and sunny–it seemed to me that something light and bubbly was in order. As I dug through my fridge to see what caught my eye–and the Hudson Standard strawberry rhubarb shrub jumped off of the shelf and into my hands and said “Oh, me!! Me! Pick me!” (not literally though, obv). I really like the summery sweet and tart balance of this shrub and it sings warm weather spritzer to me, but it has been awhile since I used it.
I was going to go a vodka route, but I don’t know, when I thought about it that just didn’t make my skirt fly up.
We all know how much I like the complexity of gin. And, while the shrub didn’t shout “Gin” to me, I do enjoy a little challenge. So I put on my thinking cap.
This is me in my thinking cap:
My thinking cap helped me realize that if I threw a good amount of lemon and a splash of St. Germain to add complexity and help maintain the sweet/tart/herb balance, I might just be in business.
And, guess what?! It was delightful. Can’t you just taste it? I can.
Of course that is because I am drinking one right now…see?
The Recipe (makes two)
2 shots of gin (I used The Botanist in place of my typical go-to Hendricks)
3/4 shot St Germain
1 shot strawberry rhubarb shrub (by the Hudson Standard)
Juice of one lemon
Seltzer
This one’s tough, so hold on to your hats, ladies.
Juice your lemon. Roll that bad boy on the counter under your palm to maximize its juicy potential. I have this nerdy little corkscrew thing that twists into the whole lemon and aims the juice down the stick-y out-y end piece. It is all very scientific. But there’s more than one way to juice a lemon. You may juice as you wish.
Put the juice, shrub, gin, and St. Germain in a shaker. Add ice and shake it.
Pour into two glasses–ideally beautiful ones with gold rims and swirly details–over a few cubes of ice. Fill with seltzer to taste.
Then drink.