great bartender
The margarita on the summertime patio. Beers and barbecue. A hot toddy on a cold night. These are no-brainers. Gimmies in the world of drink selection. But with spring’s warm weather fully enveloping us, the occasion for a little variety and exploration happens upon us. Margaritas are fun, and vodka tonics are easy, but what might gin have to offer in the way of springtime cocktails? This clear spirit with varying hints of juniper is a favorite of Michael Martensen, co-owner and drinkmaster of both The Cedars Social and Smyth, and he tells us a little about a few of his favorite springtime gin cocktails, as well as gin itself. His descriptions and recipes follow:
The Aviation
The Aviation is an interesting drink. It’s got a floral quality to it, but you’ve also got the cherry cordial in there. It’s sweet and it’s tart, but it’s not like a Sweet Tart! It’s that you initially taste the sweetness, and then the sour comes through. It’s a very bright drink, it’s very spring. A lot of times, people will add too much sugar, not thinking about the sweetness of the maraschino liquer and the violet liqueur. But both of those add sweetness as well, so keep that in mind – it can be a difficult cocktail to balance.
As for the name itself, aviation references the sky, and when you add that violet liqueur to the lemon juice, the purple gives it a light-blue color that seems reminiscent of the sky. To my understanding, that’s where the name comes from.
Click here for Michael’s Aviation Recipe!
The South Side
Photo by Rich Vana
Michael Martensen digs gin. Here, he’s whipped up a Gimlet, South Side, and Aviation at The Cedars Social.
This is probably my favorite drink; it’s the precursor to the mojito, or at least it’s the American version of it. For me, the botanicals of the gin and mint match better than the rum and mint, but stay away from the variations of mint, and stay with peppermint or spearmint.
Something to keep in mind is that a lot of people, when they’re working with mint, will overwork it. When working with herbs, when you bruise them too much they’ll become bitter, so when I make a South Side, I’ll take a heavy hand of mint, put it at the base of a Collins glass, and pour the simple syrup over it. Then I press with a pestle and make a half turn – I’ll do that a few times, and what that does is infuse the mint with the simple syrup without getting all those little bits of mint pieces floating all around.
The South Side is really refreshing, and you can even make it in pitchers – with the mint, the lime juice, the effervescence, it’s the ultimate spring and summertime drink. The citrus is there, but it’s not in your face, the gin’s not overpowering – when you’ve got a 90-degree day, these things will go down quick.
Click Here for Michael’s South Side Recipe!
The Gimlet
The Gimlet is among the oldest gin cocktails around –- it probably dates back to the late 1600s or 1700s. Limes were a necessity during those times; not because of flavor, but because of vitamin C -– the sailors used it to prevent Scurvy, and would add lime to anything they drank.
Nowadays, a lot of people preach by Rose’s Lime Juice and don’t want a fresh lime juice gimlet. I think it’s personal preference; I personally don’t like Rose’s lime, so we don’t use it [laughs]. The reason we only use a half an ounce of the sugar is that you really want the lime to come through -– just so it grabs you a little bit.
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Creepy rendering of Big Tex shows he’s almost ready for the State Fair
Glad I’m not the only one who found this creepy…. BUT… I do realize that is a very 2-dimensional
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