drink seco issue no. 1
Fall flavors, the different styles of gin - explained, and plenty of cocktail recipes for the season.
Fall Flavors
Grapefruit, aged gin, rosemary, apple, smoke, salted caramel, maple, cinnamon, chai, sage, pear, bourbon, ginger, brown butter, + pumpkin. It's time to start shifting out of fresh summer vibes and leaning into cozy, sweater-weather flavors. While stirred and boozy will come more naturally, use these flavors to alter your shaken cocktails for the perfect aperitif. For me, this fall is all about pomegranate Palomas, Hemingway daiquiris, lots of vermouth and Amari on ice, spicy ginger cocktails, an aged gin old-fashioned, and salted caramel apple flips for a sweet treat.
Pomegranate Paloma
ingredients
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz tequila reposado
technique: Shake ingredients with ice until properly diluted. Strain the cocktail from the ice and into a highball glass with fresh ice. Garnish with fresh Pomegranate seeds if possible. If not, sub a slice of grapefruit.
Move Over PSL
Pumpkin-spiced lattes might still be in fashion and, admittedly, do make a lovely flip, but I’m leaning into iconic fall fair flavors for my sweet imbibement. When considering your fall martini, try replacing the classic dry vermouth with full-bodied sweet vermouth and adding a small modifier to add even more flare. Just remember to match your gin to the change the body. There are many examples of full-bodied gins, but an easy choice would be a barrel-aged gin, like ransom old tom gin, or bluecoat gin.
Salted Caramel Apple Flip
ingredients
1 whole egg
.5 oz heavy cream
.5 oz caramel syrup (homemade or store-bought)
1 oz apple brandy
technique: shake ingredients without ice until nice and foamy. shake again with ice until properly diluted. strain the cocktail from ice and into a chilled coupe glass. garnish with grated cinnamon or bitters.
Aged Gin Old Fashioned
ingredients
1 whole egg
6 dashes of aromatic-style bitters
.5 oz toasted cardamom syrup
2 oz ransom old tom gin
technique: Stir ingredients with ice until properly diluted. Strain the cocktail from the ice and into a lowball glass over fresh ice. A large cube is best. Garnish with a burnt orange peel.
Different Styles of Gin?
With so many styles and brands representing those styles, it's easy to get a little lost in the world of gin! Let's break it down and learn the main styles. Gin, by law, is an alcoholic beverage made by distilling a grain and then redistilling either by steeping or vapor infusion with an added blend of botanicals. Juniper Berries must be used, but beyond that, distillers can add anything else they would like to alter the flavor and aroma. The juniper berries are so important because, without them, you would simply be drinking vodka. This is why I will always advocate that vodka indeed deserves a place in the cocktail world! The two most common styles of gin are London Dry and Navy Strength. Most folks are pretty familiar with London Dry gin since Beefeater, Tanqueray, and Bombay Sapphire all fall under this category. London Dry gins are basic in that they are simply the grain spirit and natural botanicals. No artificial flavors are allowed. Another style worth mentioning is Plymouth gin. While it's made under the same laws as London dry gin, it is generally drier and more citrus-forward, with a softer, more rounded, earthier taste. genever (or jenever) is yet another style and is considered the first gin. Created in 16th-century Holland, these gins are made with malted grains and are significantly sweeter and more round on the palate.
One of my favorite styles for cocktails - old tom gin - is a bit fuller and sweeter on the palate than London dry gin but not as sweet as Genever. Sometimes, the addition of anise is added. A wonderful style of gin for cocktails is navy-strength gin, which simply refers to the amount of alcohol in the final product. While most gins fall around 40% alcohol, this falls around 57% and is a wonderful addition to what would otherwise be low-proof, vermouth-based cocktails if you want to boost abv and provide some body without the addition of much liquid. Aged gin, or barrel-aged gin, which I have mentioned a few times here, is simply gin that has rested in a barrel. Lastly, and yes probably most popularly consumed, is a style we call western, new-age, or new-world gin. This covers most new-age small-batch gins that tend to lean away from juniper and add whatever they please. Some may argue that many are not gins at all, but simply infused vodkas. Politics aside (lol) a largely-consumed and well-known example of this is Hendricks gin. I have no issues calling them gin; however, they often are quite useless in stirred cocktails and get lost easily.
Sweet Pomegranate Martini
ingredients
.25 oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur
.75 oz sweet vermouth
2 oz old tom gin
technique: Stir ingredients with ice until properly diluted. Strain the cocktail from ice and into a chilled coupe glass. No garnish is needed.
Spiced Pear Vesper Martini
ingredients
1 oz st. George spiced pear liqueur
1 oz gin
1 oz vodka
technique: Stir ingredients with ice until properly diluted. Strain the cocktail from ice and into a chilled coupe glass. No garnish is needed.