Fruity Libations for a Long Labor Day Weekend

How about a red grape, strawberry, tarragon syrup in your highball this Labor Day weekend?

Ah Labor Day, the harbinger of summer’s end. Shindigs galore from sea to shining sea.

According to Wikipedia,

Labor Day in the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.

It’s also better known as a guaranteed day off for those who work zombie-inducing 9-to-5 jobs, most likely in a beige environment.

Although beige has its moments, that moment is not now.

We imagine that cocktails will be a part of your Labor Day Weekend festivities at some point, so we have an idea whereby colorful and fruit-flavored syrups shine as the key ingredient in a tasty and tantalizing highball. It’s easy to make and, when added to your favorite booze and topped with soda or seltzer, easier to imbibe. You like the color red? May we recommend a raspberry syrup. Magenta get you excited? Then look no further than blueberries. Purple best defines you? Well, concord grapes should be on your grocery list today. And because of the extra day off you definitely have the time.

Demand color in your Labor Day Weekend cocktails or you might end up feeling a little beige.

Over the years, we have made some delectable syrups that have become the bases for cocktail experiments, both wild and tame. Here a few uncommon suggestions:

• red or black currant
• gooseberry (okay, we admit this can be a pale, almost beige, syrup if using green ones, but the flavor is one-of-a-kind)
• red grapes, strawberries, tarragon (use twice as many red grapes to strawberries, and a handful of tarragon)

Fruit Syrup
(adapted from the NY Times recipe for Raspberry Syrup)

This is a classic fruit syrup recipe that can be halved.

Ingredients
2 cups colorful fruit, in any combination (berries and stone fruits work well)
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
herbs and spices (use your judgment here; strong herbs such as thyme may be overwhelming in large quantities whereas lighter herbs such as tarragon may be used in wild abandon)

Method
Combine berries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and a cup of water in a heavy-bottomed medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring so that the fruit begins to break down and get mushy. (If you’re using a fruit with skins that resist easy breakup, such as grapes, you should mash them a little.) Now, to stop the cooking process, add a cup and a half of cold water to the fruit mixture. If you are using herbs and spices and lemon juice, now is the time to add them as well (for the lemon juice, you can just squeeze some from a half lemon into the fruit mixture). Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. If a lot of foam collects at the top, you can try to skim it off. Now is the time to separate the fruit mixture. You’ll best be served by a cheesecloth-lined strainer here, as a strainer alone may allow little bits of skin and seeds into your syrup. Trust us, you don’t want that. Pour the mixture carefully through the lined strainer into a bowl. You’ll want to get as much syrup out of the mixture as possible, so use a masher, muddler, or any implement you can find and press on the fruit until you’ve extracted every last sweet drop of fruit syrup. Return the liquid to the saucepan (make sure you’ve rinsed the saucepan throughly) and add 1 to 1/2 cups of sugar (depending on your sweet tooth). Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat until the liquid comes to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes. (If you want a thicker syrup, cook for about 6 minutes.) Remove from heat. Let cool. Add vodka and stir to incorporate (vodka will make the syrup last longer). Refrigerate in a clean container with a good seal or screw cap. This should last for two weeks, and with vodka up to a month.

Makes between 2 to 2 1/2 cups.

Fruit Syrup Highball

Ingredients
1 to 2 ounces fruit syrup (less if you like a drier drink)
1 1/2 ounces your favorite spirit (brown spirits will make your drink darker)
3 to 4 ounces soda or seltzer
slice of citrus, brandied cherry, or the fruit you used in the syrup, as garnish (optional)

Method
Shake syrup and spirit for ten seconds in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with soda. Add garnish. Sip. Do not even think about that beige office.

Fruit Syrup Soda

Ingredients
1 to 2 ounces fruit syrup (less if you like a drier drink)
3 to 4 ounces soda or seltzer
slice of citrus, brandied cherry, or the fruit you used in the syrup, as garnish (optional)

Method
Add syrup to an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with soda. Stir. Add garnish.

Mixology Monday XXXVI: Drink Tips for the Recession-Addled Tippler

A new highball finds its way into the hearts of two guys from Brooklyn.

Matthew Rowley of Rowley’s Whiskey Forge has lost his job. As a man of the spirituous world, he will need some helpful hints to get him through his hard times. Cocktail Buzz offers four easy ways to help stretch your wallet while we try to rid ourselves of eight years of misguided legislative decisions. Follow these simple Steps and you will find peace, enlightenment, and super savings as we battle the pernicious spread of recession.

Step #1: Drink (and eat) at home. The price of a fancy cocktail at boutique bars is, well, exhorbitant during these trying days. You may find that staying at home to drink will save you big time. Don’t stop going to your favorite watering hole altogether (you’ve built cherished relations with the men and women behind the bar and they will surely miss your meticulously researched inquiries into their craft). Drinking at home all the time will definitely raise eyebrows, though. You will want to keep your communication skills active, so head to the bar on payday. And regarding dinner, we put eat in parentheses above since many times you would forgo dinner if too much effort was involved in eating at home; after all, if you’re used to making three separate Manhattans using the new fancy whiskeys you picked up during your trip to Louisville, you won’t be doing much of that anymore, so dinner at home is not only viable, but practical. (And put down that phone—we are not talking about delivery.)

Step #2: Split your drink. And if you don’t have anyone to split your drink with (since you’re drinking more at home now), make half-cocktails. This will help improve your math skills when you are trying to figure out how much half a dash is. If you’ve lost your job, add math skills to your resume. We know you want to drink more to cushion the blows that your 401(k) keeps inflicting on your future, but you must replace foolish notions with mature practice. Drinking less will lower your tolerance; therefore, less is needed to get you to the point of feeling that click of peacefulness, as Brick so eloquently puts it in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Step #3: Use Paper Towels. Use a paper towel to soak up any spills, then squeeze the spirits back into the bottle or glass that has lost its precious cargo. (Make sure you buy them in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club for more savings.) For extra credit, rinse your paper towel and hang it over a makeshift clothesline in your bathroom that you’ve McGyvered using a piece of string and two screw hooks. If guests ask, “What gives?” tell them you are creating a backdrop for your next cocktail photo shoot. Their initial horror will turn to admiration.

Step #4: Make Highballs. Highballs are a perfect way to stretch that bottle of booze. Just add an ounce ora n ounce and a half of your favorite (or available) spirit, fill that glass with some seltzer (very cheap if you buy the no-brand brand), and forget the garnish. If you need extra flavor, try some of those old spices that have been hanging out in your cupboard. You know, the ones that you’ve been using a little more of now that you are cooking at home. This is also a good opportunity to use some of those dusty-bottled liqueurs that have lain hiding in the back of the sideboard. Mix two together, add soda, and voilà, you have yourself a new cocktail. Give it a fun name and serve it to guests who are awed by your knowledge of spirituous arcana.

We hope that our tips have been helpful. And if you’r eever in Brooklyn, and want to get together for a drink please bring over a bottle. We’ll be happy to add some soda and forgo the twist.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz