Lars - you are so ambitious! We can't buy Everclear in Canada, the alcohol content is too high for our ancient liquor laws. I've never heard of or seen cinchona bark. I think I could get everything else although I don't recall seeing Juniper berries (unless I pick them off someone's shrubs!)

Mtn, thanks for the link - I have never seen anything around here other than the 750ml bottles but the are not outrageously priced so I just may give it a go. From this post, I could have a different cocktail every day for the rest of the summer!

I’ve posted this before. One of my favorite summer cocktails is a Bichon Frise (a/k/a “The Barbie” at one of the watering holes in my little town).

1 oz vodka

1 oz St Germain

2 oz red grapefruit juice

Shake with ice. Strain over fresh ice. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

To me, St. Germain liqueur has a light citrus note, almost grapefruit-y, not floral at all. I love Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic in G&T’s in the summer, too.

Sgt Cuff and Bookwoman have nailed why I don’t like Aperol Spritzers…they taste like baby aspirins! Too bitter for me.

Gin and tonics made with Fever Tree tonic. Using a good mixer is a game changer! I didn't like G&Ts until I tried this kind.

bbstx, Bichon Frise sounds fabulous, I love a Greyhound or Salty Dog. Seattle - I agree on the Fevertree - I've never bought any other tonic since I tried it. In Ireland and England, where most pubs have extensive G&T menus, the always served little bottles of tonic on the side. I had a great G&T in Oxford - it was Seville Orange Gin with Orange Tonic water, a splash of prosecco and a float of lemonade, garnished with an orange slice. I would make that for this trip but one of my sisters was there with me and had one and we try to make cocktails that none of us has had before.

Cinchona bark is the source for quinine and is essential in tonic water. I've bought the powder from Amazon, and I've also bought the bark and ground it into a powder in a spice grinder.

You can substitute 100 proof vodka for Everclear, which is only 120 proof anyway, and so there is not that much difference. The Vodka will still extract the quinine from the cinchona powder, but you might want to let it steep for two days instead of overnight.

Fever-Tree tonic water contains fructose, which I am trying to avoid, and that is the main reason that I make my own tonic water. I'm fine with Splenda, although other sweeteners can be used, and if you are okay with sugar, that at least is better than fructose. I like being able to control the ingredients. Diet tonic water that I have found in stores contains saccharin, which tastes horrible, and so I never buy that.

For some reason, all the commercial non-diet tonic waters I have found have either fructose or HFCS in them, and that is worse than sugar. It takes a lot of sweetener to balance the bitterness of the cinchona bark/quinine.

I like Bichon Frise, but I have to avoid grapefruit juice. Grapefruit soda is my favorite soda, and I used to drink it all the time (it is great with vodka as well) until I started taking medications that interact with it. I can drink small amounts of it, if I space it out far enough from my medication.

Now I really want to go out and buy some Fevertree Tonic Water! I love G&Ts with other tonic waters, but you guys make Fevertree sound amazing.

Lars, your tonic syrup sounds amazing, but very ambitious!

@bbstx your Bichon Frise sounds delicious!

I can vouch for bbstx's Bishon Frise :-)

I made Hugos with dinner tonight. Everyone liked them. I was never into spritzers before but they are so much more drinkable and light.

I adore anything grapefruit, so I will have to try the Bichon Frisee. Wonder if i can cut it 50% w seltzer and call it a Barbie Spritzer...

Sister, DD, a good friend, and I are at the friend’s beach house with the kiddies. A last hurrah before school starts. I found a bottle of St. Germain last night and we always have prosecco on hand. Will add club soda to the grocery list for Hugos tonight.

mtn, I saw one recipe for Bichon Frise that called for a splash of club soda.

nekotish, I think a Bichon Frise is a fancied up Greyhound, which accounts for the fancied up name.

have fun, BBSTX!

We spent a week in Venice where it seems the Spritz is the national drink. On our first day there, we asked our waiter what "that orange drink" was. We were told that it was a spritz and that the gentlemen order Campari (masculine spritz) and that the women order a feminine one (made with Aperol.) Well, this feminist promptly ordered a masculine spritz. And promptly hated it. Way to bitter and "interesting" for my taste. I know I'm selling out, but the feminine one quickly became a favorite.

I love grapefruit anything, but I am supposed to avoid it. Grapefruit and Seville oranges contain a compound that is metabolized by the same site or pathway in the liver as are many medications. That can cause unfortunate reactions and interfer with the medication being absorbed effectively.

Lars, so you're saying that the zest of grafefruit is safe for those on medications for which grapefruit in counterindicated? What about the juice? It the forbidden compound in the pulp? jiuce? I so love grapefruit.

Tangerine and limeade is very good mixed together. Then, I suppose, one could add whatever liquor they cared to.

What does elderflower taste like? I have a small elderberry tree, but n th heat, the flowers went by before I could harvest them. The birds are quick to scoff down the berries.

I think elderflower has a light citrus flavor, leaning to grapefruit. When I use the Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic, I do not add a squeeze of lime. I think the citrusy flavor of the tonic is sufficient.

From a website: St. Germain liqueur is made from the flowers of the elderflower plant that bloom for a short time each spring in the French Alps.

Yes to a blender and frozen margaritas. :) On hot summer days, I sometimes go for a Sea Breeze (vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice).

Petalique, try the Garibaldi, orange juice and Campari, it actually tastes like grapefruit to me when those two are mixed.

I think that in some ways I have lived a sheltered life. I am looking at all these pretty and inviting bottles and recipes. I also just knocked over an wine glass and spent 5 minutes picking up the shards. I will take that as a sign. Time to play and sip with some new liquids.

Thanks, bbstx and Zalco. I may try those. I may try Aperol and Campari. I like rhubarb and wonder if the Aperol has a recognizable rhubarb taste.

nekotish, I am sorry to hear of your father’s passing and think it’s wonderfil that you and you sisters are going to vacation and share memories, cook, dine out and relax.

Bbstx — thanks for that wonderful link https://www.ginfoundry.com/botanicals/elderflower-elderberries/

Who here loves the taste and aroma of juniper? I do!

Juniper? 🙋‍♀️ I never had to ”acquire” a taste for gin. Loved it from the first drink I ever had, which was gin and Sprite.

I love juniper. it's even a flavor in one of my favorite cold cuts, mortadella.

I wonder if juniper is similar to cilantro in that you love it or hate it. Whenever anyone asks dietary preferences when theyare cooking for me, I just say I eat any thing but gin or caraway. I went out for cocktails many years ago with my mom. The bartender made my mom’s gin and tonic before my gimlet but apparently used the same shot glass. I had to send the gimlet back because I couldn’t stand the hint if gin in my drink. So not a fan, but gin and tonics always look so refreshing.

I wonder if juniper is similar to cilant

Oly, in taste, no, in polarization, idk.

Yes, I didn’t mean they tasted similar. I do love cilantro.

A spicy margarita made with muddled jalapenos and Tajin on the rim. Yum.

texanjana, I think one of my sisters is thinking of someting like that...

This is a blueberry and gin cocktail. you do need to plan ahead so the gin and blueberries can sit. I have only tried it as a martini, not as a cocktail with the addition of sparkling water.

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-thrill

Oh, I like the sound of that one! Plus we are in peak blueberry season now. Thank you.

Mmm - love Salty Dogs - with unsweetened grapefruit juice, please.

Some years ago I had a delicious cocktail called a blackberry smash. I think it was just muddled blackberries, sugar or simple syrup, and gin - garnished with mint sprigs.

I am mostly a beer person, tho - a nice bitter IPA - icy cold - is my choice.

I added a healthy splash of La Croix grapefruit to my Bichon Frise cocktail last night. I think I will do that regularly from now on.

New cocktail that I’ll be making for Cookbook Club - The Aviation.

• 2 ounces gin
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 1/4 ounce crème de violette

Shake ingredients together and strain into a coupe glass.

DSIL and I love to experiment with cocktails. Pictured below is his version of the Aviation made with Empress 1908 Gin, which is blue because it uses butterfly pea flowers. The cocktail is frequently a really pale gray blue when regular gin is used but we decided to spring for the indigo blue Empress gin.

I had this out last night. I watered it down by putting it over ice, delish!

"harry styles"

hardshore gin, montenegro, watermelon shrub, lime, salt, peychauds

Had to look up 3 ingredients. Mainly chose it bec we were just in Montenegro LOL. I may try to replicate it, love watermelon

PS I have to try making a shrub now! https://food52.com/blog/13831-how-to-make-shrubs-aka-drinking-vinegars-without-a-recipe

I've been on a blackberry simple syrup kick this summer. Heat equal parts berries/sugar/water for a couple minutes. Mash berries, turn off heat, and let sit in syrup for 10 minutes. Strain and store in Mason jars. Keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

Cocktails are simple syrup, fresh squeezed lime juice, tequila or vodka, and a splash of sparking water over ice.

This simple girl likes simple things. I take frozen or fresh raspberries and smash 'em. Scant 1/2 glass. Add lemon concentrate for tart balance (a spoonful to taste and pineapple juice 1/4) fill the rest with spiced rum or split with vodka- save room for ice. Sweet tart yummy ;^)

I just made a watermelon-raspberry shrub, cold method. We shall see how this goes! It will take a few days but supposedly is even better as it ages.

I had a Pisco sour this weekend, and it's now my favorite drink. I'm going to make it for friends this week.

We had those in SMdA and all loved it. I bought all the ingredients, but have never made it! You will have to tell me how it goes!

There is something known as crème de violette??!!

Can one buy it or does one have to make it? My only foray into cooking with violets was to once make violet jelly. It was good, but finding a lot of violets these days might be difficult. Hubs mows them before they can spread in our yard . . . I was thinking about getting some seeds and growing some, I am planting a scent garden outside of our back deck . . .

yes .... Crème de violette is a liqueur

Feathers, I need a good PIsco Sour recipe, please. When DD and DSIL moved, I inherited a bottle of Pisco. It has been sitting in the liquor cabinet for a couple of years now.

I'm going to have to try making a shrub, but all I can think of is "drinking vinegar?" No thanks. I do have an open mind so will have to research it.

Seems kinda "in," like Kombucha. I think you end with a syrup, which is liberally diluted with water, etc. to create a cocktail or drink.

I believe you can also use lemon juice or booze, not positive. I used apple cider vinegar.

It appears shrubs date from pre-refrigeration times, as a way to store fruit in a non-spoiling syrup form to flavor drinks.

Thanks Mtn. Not a huge Kombucha fan, although I have tried a couple that I don't mind.

In researching summer cocktails, grenadine came up more than once. At first I skipped over those recipes as grenadine is just a super sweet, artificially coloured concotion and I didn't see how it would bring much to the party except colour. Well low and behold, you can make your own with pomegranate juice, which is what the original grenadine was made of ( the french word for pomegranate is grenade!) Going to make a bottle today. Thought it would be good to put a splash in my various sparkling water/splash of juice combos which are my go-to summer drink.

Homemade grenadine

Yeah, i am not a Kombucha person either! I will let you know this stuff turns out!

At the store yesterday I was blown away by the number or varieties of pre-made cocktails you can buy now in cans or bottles. Very tempting because I only rarely imbibe. Since I so rarely can drink, I opted for the "bellini" flavored LaCroix soda water.

This is an 1920s- 1930s recipe. Have seen similar ones over the years subbing lemon juice for the lime juice ... suspect because limes were more readily available at the time?

White Lady Cocktail

½ dry gin

¼ Cointreau

¼ lime juice

Back to report on the shrub. I loved it. Equal parts fruit ( I used what I had, watermelon and raspberries), apple cider vinegar and sugar. Steeped 1-2 days, then strain. We had it with club soda and ice and it was like the yummiest soda you have ever had. It supposedly gets even better with age. Can't wait to try it again in something.

Mtn, did you use the steeped shrub after 1-2 days, or did you let it sit another week? I've found various recipes, where sugar and fruit steep for a couple days, then add vinegar and use. Or, all 3 (sugar, fruit and vinegar) steep for a week. Which method did you use?

I was lukewarm about the Pisco Sour I made at home. I used this basic recipe. It turned out fine enough (and do not skip the egg white). But it wasn't nearly as good as the one from the restaurant down the street. I think because theirs used lemons (more mild than limes) and probably more sugar. I used the traditional lime, and it was very... lime-y.

I have not made a Pisco sour yet, I just bought all the ingredients to waste. : )

I did the cold water method, where all three ingredients steep. And I used it after 2 days. Then I left it in the fridge in Maine, but we head back up 2 morrrow so I will try it again.

I used this site: https://www.seriouseats.com/cold-processed-berry-shrub-recipe

Nekotish, how did your trip go?

Can I share a fall drink after the fact? I just saw this and it sounds so good:

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/caramel-apple-sangria?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=southernlivingmag&utm_content=like2buy