Month: March 2020

Tom Collins
gin

Tom Collins | A Refreshing & Simple 4-Ingredient Gin Cocktail

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The Tom Collins is considered a classic cocktail. Some even consider it the classic gin cocktail. Its origin dates back to the 1860s (!!!) and has quite the story. Now, I just did a lot of internet reading about this drink’s history but I’ll do my best to pare it all down. Supposedly, a man named John Collins originally created the drink in a hotel in London in the 1860s.

Fast forward several years and jump the pond to New York in 1874. There was a popular joke going around, where an innocent soul would be told “someone named Tom Collins at such-and-such bar is saying all kinds of awful things about you”. The victim would then head off to the particular bar to find this slanderer; upon arriving, they would ask the bartender “Have you seen a Tom Collins?” and they would be promptly served this sour drink. There were even several newspaper articles about it, many initially reporting Tom Collins was a real person. Eventually, people caught on and it became known as the Tom Collins Hoax of 1874. What a time to be alive.

If you’re fascinated by this moment in history, you can read the full story here. There are some pretty awesome newspaper quotes in it.

The Tom Collins is one of my favorite cocktails for two reasons: 1) it’s easy to make, and 2) it’s easy to customize. Simply swap the simple syrup for a flavored one and bam, new drink! My favorite rendition is a Lavender Collins, made with lavender simple syrup. It’s bright and floral, perfect for spring. You could also use honey simple syrup, rose simple syrup, matcha simple syrup, or beet simple syrup. If you made one with beet syrup, you could call it Tom Collins’ Beetdown. Get it? Like, a bar fight? With Tom? For always talking smack? Too far? Sorry.

This drink is served in a highball or “Collins” glass. Yep. As in Tom Collins. This hooligan was so famous he got a cocktail AND glassware named after him. A Collins glass is just a tall glass but if you refer to it as a Collins glass, it can make even your tap water feel fancy.

The Ingredients for a Tom Collins

  • 2 oz gin (due to Covid, I’m down to my Opihr spiced gin– I’m not complaining, but usually I’d go for a more floral gin for a TC)
  • 3/4 oz freshly-squeeze lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup (try a flavored one- see a list of ideas below)
  • club soda

The How-To

Add gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top off with club soda. Stir to incorporate.

Modify & customize your Tom Collins with one of these simple syrups:

Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail, coffee, or tea.
simple syrup

Cardamom Simple Syrup

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Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail, coffee, or tea.

Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail. But what is cardamom?

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

Cardamom (also spelled cardamon) is a spice commonly known for its presence in Indian cuisine, although it’s used in traditional dishes throughout the world. If you’ve ever had chai tea, you’ve most likely tasted cardamom as it’s one of the key spices found in traditional chai. Cardamom comes in two varieties: green and black. Both have rich, distinctive flavors but green is more commonly seen.

Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail, coffee, or tea.

Cardamom is the third most expensive spice by weight, but thankfully you don’t need a lot to impart its unique flavor. Grocery stores will usually have bottles of it for about $5 but I’d turn to Amazon and spend a few extra dollars for much better quantity and quality.

Besides using your cardamom pods to make cardamom simple syrup, you can also lightly crush a pod or two and put them in your coffee or tea for a unique layer of flavor. Or, just pour in some of your cardamom simple syrup. You can also use the cardamom to make your own cardamom-infused vodka. Mmmm, imagine using that in a Moscow mule. Wow. Gotta remember that idea for later.

Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail, coffee, or tea.

Whenever I make any flavored simple syrup, I typically make smaller batches because I know I won’t use much before it goes bad. I’d say this stuff will keep for 1-2 months in the fridge. If your cardamom simple syrup starts looking cloudy, throw it out and make a fresh batch.

The Ingredients for Cardamom Simple Syrup

The How-To

Crush the cardamom pods with a mortar and pestle if you have one. If you don’t, you can use a bowl and the bottom of a glass. No need to obliterate the pods– just apply enough pressure to crack the pods and release the seeds. Add the crushed cardamom, water, and sugar to a small saucepan. Bring it to a light boil and leave it boiling for 3-5 minutes. Allow it to cool completely. You can either strain the pods & seeds out before pouring it into a glass container or you can store the syrup with some of the pods. I personally like leaving the pods in it to further infuse the simple (and because I think it looks cool).

Inspired by all the flavoring possibilities of homemade syrups? Check out these other options:

Cardamom simple syrup is an effortless way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail, coffee, or tea.
Royal Rose - Organic Simple Syrup
Revolver | A bourbon and coffee cocktail with 3 ingredients
bourbon

Revolver | An Easy Bourbon and Coffee Cocktail

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The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

The Revolver is a unique cocktail made with bourbon and coffee liqueur. It was created by a famous bartender out in San Fransisco named Jon Santer around 2003. It was originally made using Bulleit Bourbon, a rye-heavy & spicy bourbon, but since the nation is on lockdown due to COVID-19, just use whatever bourbon or whiskey you’ve got.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

If you’re curious about what the difference between bourbon and whiskey is, bourbon HAS to be: 1) made in America, 2) made of at least 51% corn, and 3) stored in new charred-oak barrels without any additives. So, all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. Ya follow? There are a lot of interesting laws in place about how to properly name and create certain liquors, aren’t there?

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

I don’t have any bourbon in my bar cart at the moment but I DO have a corn whiskey. Baby Blue from Balcones is 100% corn, additive-free, aged for 6 months in oak barrels. But since it’s not stored in new or charred oak barrels, it’s not considered a bourbon. At least that’s my understanding. I eventually do want to try this recipe the way the bartender intended it to be made.

If you don’t have an old coffee liqueur in your bar cart (or maybe it’s real old… like, older than 2-3 years), I’ve got an easy and instant recipe for homemade coffee liqueur using either vodka or rum. If you are rationing your bar staples, halve or third the recipe.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

I’m also out of orange bitters, which the recipe calls for, so I just used Angostura bitters and tried to squeeze a little extra oil from the orange rind to get a little more orange oil flav. We’re working with what we got here, Jon. Don’t hate me for having to alter your drink.

The original recipe also calls for a flamed orange peel. I followed the instructions in this video:

Here’s footage from my first-ever flamed orange peel attempt. Aside from the shoddy camera work, I did alright! I’ll admit, I was actually nervous (as evidenced by the recoil) but I survived. And with all body hair intact, too. I’d say that’s a win. Shout out to my nail polish! Death Valley Nails is a company owned by my friend out in LA. All of DVN polish is 10-free, vegan, nontoxic, cruelty-free, and hand-mixed. AND it performs better than any nail polish I ever used. Scout’s honor.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. Jon Santer created this simple and unique cocktail. He serves his with a flamed orange peel- I suggest you do the same.

The Ingredients for a Revolver

The Ingredients I Resorted To

  • 2 oz corn whiskey (Balcones’ Baby Blue is 100% Corn so it’s gluten-free! Celiacs rejoice!)
  • 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • flamed orange peel

The How-To

Add bourbon, coffee liqueur, and bitters to a shaker or large glass filled with ice. Stir until very cold and blended. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass* or a coupe glass. You don’t have to flame the orange peel, but why not. I know “sheltering in place” has you anxious for some sort of entertainment and excitement.

Get a large swath of orange peel (1 inch by 2 inches). Warm the peel up by holding the flame of a match or lighter close to it. Then, carefully squeeze the peel. The oils from the peel should spray through the flame into the glass. It’ll be a small spurt of fire, nothing crazy. Rub the peel along the rim of the glass to get even more smokey orange goodness going. You can discard the peel or place it in the drink.

*A Nick and Nora glass is a small glass that looks like a mix between a wine glass and a coupe glass in my opinion. Totally adorable. They’re typically used to serve cocktails without citrus juice in them, but who’s to say you couldn’t drink chocolate milk out of one? Fun fact: these glasses get their name from the two characters in the movie The Thin Man. They sipped their cocktails out of this style of glass back in the 1930s and made the glassware popular as a result.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.
Gimlet
gin

Gimlet | A 2- or 3-Ingredient Classic Cocktail

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The Gimlet is a classic cocktail made with gin, lime juice, and sugar. It's light, crisp, and refreshing, making it the perfect spring-time drink.
Gimlet

Wow. Crazy times, right? We are experiencing something unprecedented as a country–no, as a planet– right now thanks to COVID-19. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I should post cocktail recipes, because it all seems a little frivolous right now.

However, I’m thinking you’ve got some extra time on your hands. And since I’m assuming most people can’t go out, I’ve compiled a list of several classic cocktail recipes that have 3 ingredients you probably already have. I’ll be writing them over the next week or two. If you don’t have the right ingredients, make some modifications and call it a quarantine experiment. Everything is more fun when you call it an experiment, right?

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

The Gimlet is a classic cocktail. Traditionally, it calls for lime cordial (the most common being Rose’s Lime Juice). However, I don’t have any lime cordial and I’m not about to brave the stores for something so… unessential. So I’m improvising by using fresh lime juice and sugar. It’s definitely different than what a Gimlet usually tastes like, so make sure to give both versions a fair try once grocery stores and online-orders are bit easier to deal with. One plus side to using fresh lime juice is the extra dose of vitamin C. Extra vitamin C in a time like this sounds like a good idea to me.

The Gimlet is a classic cocktail made with gin, lime juice, and sugar. It's light, crisp, and refreshing, making it the perfect spring-time drink.

If you have citric acid chillin’ in your pantry, though, you can make this homemade lime cordial. I really want to try this in the future so if any of y’all make it, let me know how it is!

If you have some leftover rose simple syrup, honey simple syrup, matcha simple syrup, or beet simple syrup from one of my other cocktails, you could always use that in place of the traditional simple syrup in this recipe. See? So many ways to experiment while you’re stuck at home! Also– if you’ve got a kid at home with you, make them a mocktail with lime juice, sparkling water, and simple syrup. It’ll basically be a DIY Sprite, with no artificial weird stuff.

I opted to make this cocktail outside, because why not? It took me all of 45 extra seconds to carry the ingredients outside. I can’t believe it’s the first time I’ve ever mixed a drink outdoors. It definitely won’t be my last. I actually made this Gimlet while wearing my baby in a ring sling. Baby-wearing, cocktail-slinging. I am Mama, hear me roar. Or something like that.

The Gimlet is a classic cocktail made with gin, lime juice, and sugar. It's light, crisp, and refreshing, making it the perfect spring-time drink.f

The Ingredients for a Traditional Gimlet

The Ingredients for a Do-What-You-Can-With-What-You-Have Gimlet

How to Make It

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Stir until the syrup is incorporated well. Or rebel against tradition since we’re already not using lime cordial and shake the dang thing. Strain into a coupe glass or martini glass. Sip on your porch or balcony to add some vitamin D to your vitamin C.

Gin recommendations for Gimlets (or other cocktails that put gin on full display)

I only had Opihr gin on-hand (a spiced gin) and while it was still definitely good, I would recommend gins that lean more clean-tasting, like:

  • Hendricks (distilled with cucumbers, so this would be complemented in a Gimlet)
  • Bombay Sapphire
  • Prairie (certified organic & gluten-free) **This has been my go-to gin for years. I love supporting small-scale distilleries and family-run farms. I love, love, love this company. No, this isn’t a sponsored post but, uh, Prairie Organics if you’re reading… hi 🙋🏻‍♀️
  • Beefeater (has a less-pronounced juniper taste & goes nicely with citrus)
  • Koval (a kosher and organic small-batch dry gin)

I’m personally just getting into the wide, wide world of gin. Honestly, prior to starting this cocktail blog and building relationships with other cocktail bloggers, I didn’t know gins could be SO diverse and distinct. We’re all learning here together at Girl & Tonic! If you’re interested in delving into gins more, or you’re just bored at home with nothing to read because your library’s closed, The Gin Observer is informative and has a ton of gin brands and cocktail recipes to explore.

vodka

Rub of the Green | An Unexpected St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail

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A “rub of the green” is a way to usher in good luck, particularly in sports, but I think we could all use some extra luck (or maybe common sense and courtesy) in these crazy times. I know everyone has been reading post after post about COVID-19/Coronavirus, so I won’t say much about it except to say it WAS my inspiration for this cocktail, in a way. But whether you normally like to go on out St. Patrick’s Day or not, chances are most people around the world will be staying in this year.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

The Rub of the Green is a nontraditional St. Patrick's Day cocktail made with matcha simple syrup.

To be honest, I’ve only really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day once. Unless wearing green on March 17th counts, I’ve never been a bit St. Patty’s celebrator. Don’t get me wrong– I think Saint Patrick himself was, well, a saint– but the thought of drinking dyed-green beer all day makes me want to turn green. I’m not a proponent of binge drinking and I feel that’s what St. Patrick’s Day has become, or has been. Hoards of drunk people being out and about? Ehh, no thanks. Then again, I’m not a fan of sober crowds either. Is my introverted side showing?

But while St. Patrick himself is still in this conversation, check out this short 2-minute history video:

Someone who willingly went back to his captors to tell them about the forgiveness and love afforded them in Jesus? Sounds like someone to be celebrated after all. Although I’m not sure downing beers beside a bright-green river would make him feel particularly honored. Perhaps we can just try to bestow a little more kindness and love to those who are different than us. I think he’d like that a little more. If you’re intrigued by St. Patrick, here’s a more detailed history.

As I mentioned earlier, COVID-19 served as a starting board for my St. Patty’s recipe. I wanted to make a green cocktail for this holiday but I was not about to brave the crazed aisles of my local grocery store again. So, I resorted to looking through my pantry for green things. Hm… limes… tonic… OH! MATCHA POWDER… honeydew milk tea powder… cardamom… Turns out mixing honeydew milk tea powder with vodka is not very good. Maybe I’ll take that challenge on another day. BUT I was really into the matcha idea.

The Rub of the Green is a nontraditional St. Patrick's Day cocktail made with matcha simple syrup.

And thus the matcha syrup was born. You can check out the full recipe here. It is delightful and I’m excited to see what else I can make with it. It’s earthy but obviously sweet, hence the “syrup”. I’ve half a mind to use it to sweeten my iced green tea for an extra boost.

If I could go to the store, I would get some lime sparkling water to use in place of the tonic water. Tonic is a bit overbearing for such a delicate flavor like matcha. But, it was still definitely tasty.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all!

The Ingredients

How to Make a Rub of the Green

Make your matcha simple syrup. Add matcha syrup, vodka, lime juice, and bitters to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake. Pour into a lowball glass filled with ice and top off with sparkling water or tonic. Garnish with mint.

The Rub of the Green is a nontraditional St. Patrick's Day cocktail made with matcha simple syrup.