Here’s my take on a delicious, savory, olive oil-y drink I had on a visit to Bar Corallini, in Madison, WI.

• 2 oz olive-oil-washed gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/4 oz St. Elizabth allspice dram
• 1/4 oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes Japanese bitters
• 6 drops gin-washed olive oil
• garnish with a fried sage leaf

To make the olive-oil-washed gin, I mixed about a cup of olive oil with a bottle-minus-a-cup of Plymouth gin and let it sit for a month, agitating it every now and again. Then I froze it (the oo freezes and the gin doesn’t), then cut some of the frozen olive oil out and strained it. It is subtle but very tasty!

I made this recipe from The Aviary cocktail for some friends who visited this week, and it got absolute rave reviews… it really was phenomenal. I mean, matcha ice!

If you know the book, or the chef, or the sister restaurant Alinea, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to know that these recipes all have a million steps and many require some specialty equipment; this one, however, does not! Just two days of prep time 😆

It was juicy, tart, refreshing, and complex. The drink changed as the ice melted, from something in the tiki world to having new texture and deeper flavor. Really quite an experience.

One note, the Siamese Twin beer is a Belgian dubbel; I couldn’t find that but subbed a tripel and it worked great.

Here’s a photo of the recipe; too many steps to type 😵‍💫

Billed by the book Speakeasy as “the queen of summer cocktails,” this one seemed perfect for a night grilling. And it was! It’s fun, flavorful, and pretty.

• 4 watermelon cubes
• ¾ oz simple syrup
• 1 ½ oz Plymouth Gin
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz Campari
• 1 watermelon wedge

Muddle the watermelon cubes and syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass until the fruit has turned into a juice. Add the gin, juice, and Campari and fill the glass with 5 large ice cubes. Shake briefly and pour unstrained into a Collins glass. Garnish with the watermelon wedge.

This one’s from death and co. It looked just right for my mood; all liquor, rye base, some sweetness, and indeed it was perfect. I drank it and made another straightaway!

• 1 oz Rittenhouse 100-Proof Rye
• 1 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre cognac
• 1 oz Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
• 1 tsp Bénédictine
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 dash Death & Co Peychaud's bitters
• 1 lemon twist

Stir with ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.

You can probably guess I’m still working through the grapefruit I squeezed over the weekend… this is a pretty, light, floral little number I found in the data banks that’s perfect for spring. I’m not sure of the origin! Maybe Empress gin, since that’s the named gin in my version of the recipe.

• 2 oz Empress 1908 gin
• 1 oz St. Germain
• 2 oz grapefruit juice
• ¼ oz lemon juice
• ¼ oz rosemary simple syrup
• 1 sprig rosemary for garnish

I used Plymouth gin, and didn’t make rosemary simple syrup — I muddled rosemary leaves with the juices and some sugar. Delicious!

I was cooking with chickpeas tonight and had a grapefruit laying around… putting it together got me to this Paloma variation. And man, it’s great! Subtle flavor, bitter and sweet, high notes of the tequila, and a gorgeous silky texture.

• 2 1/2oz reposado tequila
• 3/4oz grapefruit juice
• 1/2oz agave
• 1oz aquafaba

This one is from Sons & Daughters, in NYC. Interesting and uncommon to combine rye and mezcal, but it works pretty nicely! A little bitter but not at all unapproachable, and worked great as an aperitif.

• 1 ½ oz rye whiskey
• ½ oz Del Maguey Vida mezcal
• ¾ oz Cynar
• ¾ oz Carpano Bianco vermouth
• 1 dash celery bitters

Stir with ice.

I love this recipe. I feel like it’s not that common to have this style of spirit-forward drink use a reposado base (I’ve seen a fair amount of mezcal bases). Probably a me problem, but this is just a delight. Too bad I’m out of yellow chartreuse but it still worked with green! It’s from the speakeasy cocktail book.

• 2 oz Partida Reposado tequila
• 1 oz St. Germain
• ¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse
• 1 dash orange bitters
• 1 lemon twist

Mix ingredients and stir with ice. Strain into a glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

We drove up a little after midnight and joined the party at boulder lake, and were treated to some great lights!