Fresh Summer Produce Makes a Cocktail Swing: Part IV: Blueberries and The Blue Moon on Monday Cocktail

A seasonal miniseries showing you how to use farm-fresh ingredients in your cocktails.

The Blue Moon on Monday, bursting with the fresh flavors of summer blueberries and rosemary, is a perfect drink to pair with food at your summer cocktail party.

Blueberries, those North American natives that inspire summertime pies, muffins, and, for the culinarily adventurous, homemade ice cream, inspired us to make a cocktail. The Blue Moon on Monday. It abounds with fresh summertime flavors, and isn’t loaded with alcohol, so you can sip several over the course of an evening as it pairs well with many different kinds of food. Rosemary is the secret ingredient. Just get some fresh from the farmers market, or clip some from your garden, and you’re ready to start muddling it with some fresh blueberries in a little crème de cassis. Add some moonshine, Carpano Antica vermouth, and round that out with the fresh orange taste of Combier, and a dash of Regan’s orange bitters, and you’re ready to start shaking.

Blue Moon on Monday

(created by Cocktail Buzz for Piedmont Distillers)

Ingredients
 2 ounces Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine*
1/2 ounce Carpano Antica vermouth (an Italian sweet vermouth)
1/2 ounce Combier orange liqueur (a clean, orange liqueur)
1 teaspoon crème de cassis (black currant liqueur)
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6
sprig of rosemary
12–16 blueberries**
3 plump blueberries and a sprig of rosemary, as garnish

Method
 In a shaker, muddle a sprig of rosemary in crème de cassis, then add the 12–16 blueberries, and gently muddle. Add Midnight Moon, Carpano Antica, Combier, and bitters; fill three-quarters with ice; and shake. Double-strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with 3 blueberries speared with a rosemary sprig (or you can drop the 3 blueberries and the sprig into the drink).

* You can substitute another clear moonshine, or vodka, if this is not available in your area.
** If you’re using Maine blueberries, which are smaller and sweeter, you may want to adjust the level of crème de cassis, or eliminate it altogether.

Another cocktail we love to have with brunch or dessert is the Farrah Fawcett. With its homey tropical flavors, the Farrah Fawcett is reminiscent of coconut–banana cream pie. You can even serve some up at your summer tiki luau with spare ribs dripping with your favorite tangy sauce.

Although the Farrah Fawcett only uses blueberries as a garnish, they are an important element to the overall beauty of the cocktail.

And don’t forget about peaches, especially white peaches and nectarines. They’re enjoying a banner summer. Already we’ve been assaulted by the intoxicating aroma of fully ripe specimens every time we walk by them in the kitchen. If you’re looking for some recipes that’ll showcase what makes peaches so special, you can try either the Smash Daddy, a sweet peachy lowball, or a Tokyo Momo that introduces dark cherry flavors into the mix.

And if none of these ideas float your boat, or you don’t have certain ingredients on hand and need to make something intoxicating with your blueberries and peaches tonight, then by all means experiment. You are the bar chef. Muddle your fruit, add a base liquor and perhaps a liqueur or two, and give it a little taste. Make adjustments to suit your taste buds. Enjoy.

Fresh Summer Produce Makes a Cocktail Swing: Part III: Watermelon and The Gin Stevie Cocktail

A seasonal miniseries showing you how to use farm-fresh ingredients in your cocktails.

by Steve Schul

Steve shares his love for using seasonal ingredients in his signature cocktail.

I just love watermelon at its peak during the summer, when one bite into a slice sends pink juice dripping down your chin. When its sweetness reminds you instantly how much you loved it last summer. I definitely wanted to make a cocktail with watermelon, but in a way I had never heard of before. My inspiration came from an old Imbibe Magazine recipe for Watermelon–Sake Popsicles. What overgrown child doesn’t love an ice-cold popsicle on a hot summer’s day, and if it’s watermelon, even better. And with sake? Well hip, hip hoorah.

I think we all get crazy for watermelon in the summertime because of the uniqueness of its sweetness. Sure, its texture is unmatched by any other fruit I can think of, the slightly rough structure that collapses with just a little pressure, shooting forth a big burst of honeysweet goodness. So I decided to make ice cubes inspired by the popsicles, plop some of those into a tall glass, and tickle the cubes with the herbaceous tastes of basil and spearmint, and anoint with a generous portion of Hendrick’s gin, graced by lovely cucumber and rose notes. With each sip, the watermelon–sake ice cubes slowly melt, and with each consecutive sip, you are taken on a journey from tart booziness to slushy sweetness. I know that to make these drinks requires a little effort beyond regular mixing skills, but do believe me when I say they will delight all the guests at your cocktail party. Make sure you have plenty of everything so that each person gets at least two drinks, three for the heavy hitters.

Paul and I love to pair our Gin Stevies with another summertime favorite—heirloom tomatoes. We dice them and dollop generous portions on freshly toasted baguette to create the perfect bruschetta. Take a bite, and follow with a generous sip of this tall summer cooler bursting with flavor.

{ For the recipe and to watch our video pairing the Gin Stevie with Bruschetta, click here. }

The Story Behind the Bruschetta and Those Delicious Heirloom Tomatoes

Every summer we drive up to the North Shore of Boston, to a lazy little little town called Pride’s Crossing, to visit our friends Jim and Lou, and their Dalmatians. Paul was friends with Jim about twenty years ago. They lost touch with each other, as most peripatetic souls do, but were reunited several years back while having dinner in a Boston restaurant. We read about Orinoco and its Venezuelan-inspired menu in a local dining guide and thought we’d give it a try. The restaurant, in a gentrifying part of town, seemed magical. The wait staff enchanted us with mouth-watering descriptions of seasonal fare. At dinner, Paul was telling Steve all about his long-lost friend, Jim, and how for a few years they shared laughs and tales of growing up closeted in their respective New England towns, and while the tale of Jim was being told, there was Jim, with a friend, dining in the same restaurant. After much hugging, and wide-eyed disbelief at the serendipity of coincidence, Jim invited us up to his home. “You’d be crazy not to come.” So of course, we canceled the balance of our hotel reservation and headed up to Pride’s Crossing, but not until the owner of the restaurant, after witnessing this miracle reunion, invited us over to his table for desserts as he regaled us with tales of growing up a foodie in Venezuela.

Heirloom tomatoes can add an unexpected flavors to your summer cocktail party.

We decided to sleep off the effects of the dinner and met up with Jim the next day. As we followed behind him on Route 127 to his home, we turned up a private lane, and following a forest-lined narrow road, entered the gates to the property. The theme from “Dynasty” filled our mind’s ears as we gazed with jaws agape at the enormity of the house and the grounds filled with gorgeous flowers at every turn. Their estate is dubbed “Sunset Rock” and the house sits right next to a bluff overlooking Salem Sound and all the cays that dot the ocean. Lou and Jim are both inveterate gardeners, Jim focusing on the floral landscaping, Lou, the edible. Lou’s obsession with heirloom tomatoes is a blessing to his all his guests. If we visit late enough in the season, we always end up with arms full of these ripe juicy beauties. One summer, after making our friend Evangeline’s tomato tart (it was featured in the August 31, 2003, New York Times, so you know it has to be good!) with Lou’s tomatoes, we still had a bunch left. So we diced them all, bought a loaf of bread, and presto, instant bruschetta. Bruschetta (pronounced broo-SKEH-tuh) is a classic Italian appetizer made with six simple ingredients: bread, tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil. In our version, we’ve added the slightly hot and bright zing of red jalapeños . . . it brings out the sweetness in the Gin Stevie and other drinks. Heirloom tomatoes in all their variety add a saturation of color and act as a perfect foil to the watermelon, basil, and mint. Be forewarned: the appetizer course may last a while—your guests won’t be able to get enough of this dazzling duo.

Fresh Summer Produce Makes a Cocktail Swing: Part II: Plums, or Did I Hear Someone Say Slivovitz Sour?

A seasonal miniseries showing you how to use farm-fresh ingredients in your cocktails.

The Slivovitz Sour will feel like you’re drinking velvet. Just make sure you have some party food on hand as a go-with.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the terrain, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is known to most New Yorkers as The Polish Neighborhood. Most of the stores on the blocks of Manhattan and Greenpoint Avenues have signs that flaunt lots and lots of consonants, taunting you with their utter lack of assonance. Honestly, how does a culture get away with putting szcz in a word, and expect you to pronounce every letter? Thank god kielbasa is easy to pronounce. Our love affair with Greenpoint began many years ago, before the car was totaled, when, on a lazy late Sunday afternoon, we motored North to the neighborhood that beckoned us with its siren’s promise of stuffed cabbage, prune pierogi (plums are practically synonymous with Polish confections) and meaty tubes of unpronounceable Polish sausages. Steve once got a round of good-natured laughs from a lovely menagerie of middle-yeared panie behind the counter at Polam International market when he asked for some kiełbasa wędzona and it came out sounding like vagina. They quickly taught us how to pronounce the name of the sausage properly, then helped us pick out some succulent ones. We usually get a variety pack of smoked weselna (wedding), which is terrific accompanied by some hard-cooked jajki (eggs) and perhaps a little horseradish or mustard condiment; and some wiejska (village) for grilling (our favorite way to prepare them).

Near Polam are some pastry shops that remind Paul of the Polish bakery his grandmother used to work at a long time ago, smelling of resting bread and powdered sugar. It is not uncommon for marbled babka (sweet yeast cake), makowiec (poppy seed cake), and pączki (doughnuts filled with prune) to end up in our shopping bags, and usually for less than two or three dollars.

You’re probably asking where the Polish liquor store is. Rest assured, it’s across the street. Upon entering, we always see the same group of thirtysomething Polish guys in either Greenpoint grunge or immigrant hip-hop, engaged in a heated discussion with occasional gentle jabs, pointing us to the bottles of Żubrówka (bison grass vodka), Jeżynówka (blackberry-flavored brandy), and Krupnik (honey liqueur). Some of our earliest cocktails, like the Z Martini and the Silesian cocktail, shine because of these three unique spirits. But one spirit that we mix more than any other is Slivovitz, otherwise known as plum brandy, śliwowica to Poles, or rakia in the Balkan region. Perhaps you’ve seen a bottle at your grandparents’ place, hidden under the sink, awaiting babci’s cocktail-hour thirst. Our go-to brand is Polmos from Poland. It’s extremely smooth, and because its character is slightly muted (it really tastes like plums), unlike some spicier Balkan slivovitzes, it mixes well.

We make this enticingly tart cocktail with Slivovitz simply called the Slivovitz Sour. It’s chock full of fresh dark plum puree and lemon juice, and sweetened with some maple syrup, which plays off the gentle muskiness of the plum, adding a light richness to the drink. The mouthfeel is velvety. With every sip you get a slight sweet-tart pucker. Perfect with aggressively spiced salty or meaty party food, the Slivovitz Sour pairs well with pigs in a blanket, bacon-wrapped dates, sweet-potato crisps, and even chips with salsa. And depending on the ripe plums you puree, the drink can be orangey-pink to a deep magenta. We just had one last night with some chips and salsa and almost ended up eating the whole bag of tortilla chips.

If you’re not pairing the Slivovitz Sour with a little nosh, you may want to adjust the ratio of lemon juice to 3/4 ounce for a plummier, less tart drink. But we warn you, if you serve it to your guests, you better have some nibbles on hand to satisfy their craving for something salty. If you only have a bag of pretzels in the house, offer it up post haste.

Slivovitz Sour

(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces slivovitz (plum brandy)
1 ounce plum puree (darker, sweeter plums work best)
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce maple syrup
lemon wheel

Method
Shake with ice for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon wheel. If you’re using a rakia or a Balkan slivovitz from, say, Macedonia, your drink may taste as if you added aromatic bitters. This is not a bad thing at all. And if your plums are not dark and sweet, you may need to add a little more maple syrup to the drink, or less lemon juice. Your choice, as always, dear cocktail enthusiast.

Fresh Summer Produce Makes a Cocktail Swing: Part I: Tomatoes and The Adam Cocktail

A seasonal miniseries showing you how to use farm-fresh ingredients in your cocktails.

by Steve Schul

The Adam Cocktail is a light and refreshing alternative to the Bloody Mary.

One late spring, Paul and I were making new cocktails with some moonshine, Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine to be precise. We were making cocktails to pair with a three-course lunch at Bourbon House in New Orleans, and Piedmont Distillers asked us to use their moonshine in all the recipes. Excited by the notion of summer vegetables soon to grace our farmers markets, I decided to explore my savory side. When I taste this moonshine neat, there is a little burn on my tongue, and a little down my throat. It’s crystal clear, like vodka, and like vodka, it needs a little loving from the garden. I opt for tomatoes because Bloody Marys come to mind. But instead of the traditional Bloody Mary, I want it to be light and fresh, like a summertime breeze that releases the essence of tomatoes as they ripen on the vine. The only thing that tastes like that description is tomato water. Tomato water is made by mashing up some gorgeous heirlooms or vine-ripened beauties and straining the pulp through some cheesecloth. After 10 hours of a drip drip drip into a collecting bowl, the pure essence of tomato is what awaits.

You could almost drink this tomato water naked and unadulterated, and we have on occasions when we’ve made a big batch and had some extra to sip. But I wanted to add some traditional flavors of a Bloody Mary into the water, so in went a few drops of fiery Tabasco and savory Worcestershire, a shake or two of celery salt, and for added depth, a drop of liquid smoke. Add one little basil leaf atop a few ice cubes and I see Adam in the Garden of Eden, waiting for his mate to make him his cocktail.

Perfect as a brunch alternative to a Bloody Mary, the Adam will tempt you with its fresh tomato taste and off-the-vine aroma.

Adam

(created by Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
3 ounces tomato water*
1 ounce Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
2 drops Tabasco
1 drop liquid smoke
2 dashes celery salt
ice
basil leaf, as garnish

Method
In a mixing glass halfway filled with ice, add all the ingredients. Stir gently until ingredients are cold. Strain into wine glass halfway filled with fresh ice. Add basil leaf garnish.

* Tomato Water:
9 medium vine-ripened or summer-fresh tomatoes
12 basil leaves
Pinch salt
1 beet slice (optional, for color)

In a blender or food processor, purée tomatoes, basil, and salt. Line a glass or ceramic bowl with 2 layers of cheesecloth. Pour purée into bowl. Gather ends of cheesecloth and tie tightly with enough string to create a pouch. Hang above bowl and allow to drip. Add beet slice to bowl. Allow purée to drip into bowl for 8–12 hours. (At some point, you may have to squeeze to release juices if not producing enough liquid.) Remove beet slice. Makes enough tomato water for about 6 drinks.

Note:
Patience is your best friend when it comes to making tomato water. But if you notice that the tomato water stops dripping from the pouch hanging over the bowl, it’s time to get your hands a little dirty. Wash them first, and then gently squeeze the pouch. This will redistribute the mash and allow the water that’s remaining to drip through.