Summer Cocktails

It's high summer and the bar is now open!

The Bar on our Patio

Ann and I decided a fairly long time ago that we needed a small table on our front patio to serve as a bar for summer Happy Hours. Some years ago, Ann bought an old window sash at Habitat for Humanity. I thought it would be cool to reuse it for a sign reading BAR to hang on the wall above the table. Both bar table and sign are now installed and have made a beautiful addition to our favorite outdoor space.

Bar Sign Mock-Up

I refinished the sash by scraping off tons of mustard yellow overspray from the glass pane and painting the sash black. My fingers ached for days from the hours with a razor blade, scraping and scraping. I found a carnival lettering font on the internet and mocked up what I wanted painted on the glass, then took it to a local sign painter who specializes in gold foil signs. Totally coincidentally, he happens to be a neighbor who lives two houses away. A month or so later, we got back this really gorgeous work of art that you see in the photo below.

While the sign was away being painted, I made the bar table in the same style as all the cocktail tables that I had made for our outdoor spaces. Each is topped with French white oak staves recovered from wine tanks. Tank-aged red wines often have staves of oak hung inside to simulate barrel ageing; when the wine is bottled, the staves are no longer good for winemaking.

I'm working on ways to reuse them after leaving them outside in the weather for the winter so that the rains gently wash away most of the red wine lees and built-up tartrates. I could scrape, sand, or pressure wash the staves, but I want them to have a rustic look and not look raw and brand new.

The Finished Bar Table and Sign

We have certainly already started to put the bar to good use and I am back to creating cocktails. While we mostly drink red wine during cold weather, we drink a lot more beer and cocktails in hot weather. Here are three recent cocktails, all tonic based. Our cocktails have a tonic focus because we both like complexity in our drinks and we don't really appreciate sweet drinks: we want them to be balanced and refreshing. This rules out a lot of juice- and soda-based cocktails.

Red, White, and Blue Berry Smash

Red, White, and Blue Berry Smash

Conceived at Ann's request on the Fourth of July, "Make us a red, white, and blue cocktail!," this refreshing cocktail takes advantage of the abundance of summer berries here in the Willamette Valley. It's kind of a cross between a Tom Collins and a Gin and Tonic. The quantities in the recipe below are for two cocktails.

1/4 cup red raspberries

1/4 cup blueberries

1 sprig rosemary

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3 ounces lemon vodka (Absolut Citron)

3 ounces London dry gin (Aria)

1-1/2 ounces elderflower liqueur (St. Germain)

8-10 drops lemon bitters (Fee's)

juice of 2 lemons

2-3 ounces simple syrup

6 ounces tonic water (Fever Tree Citrus)

Fill two tall glasses 2/3 full with ice cubes. Add 5-6 red raspberries and blueberries to each glass.

In a mortar, smash the remaining berries and rosemary with the sugar.

Add the berry mash and the remaining ingredients except the tonic water to a large mixing glass. Stir, then taste for balance. Ann likes more simple syrup; I like less. I like heavy bitters.

Strain into the two glasses. Top with tonic water and give a light swirl. Garnish with a lemon slice and a sprig of rosemary.

Summer Rosemary Tequila Tonic

Summer Rosemary Tequila Tonic

I find that a splash of tequila in a cocktail adds an herbal smokiness that can't readily be attributed to tequila and that makes for a really interesting flavor profile, especially when paired with rosemary.

1-1/2 ounces London dry gin (Aria)

3/4 ounce Triple Sec

3/4 ounce silver tequila

1/2 lemon, juiced

equal amount of simple syrup

4 dashes old fashioned bitters (Angostura)

tonic water

In a tall glass filled with ice, add the liquors, lemon juice, simple syrup, and bitters. Add tonic water to fill. Stir gently. Garnish with a lemon slice and a rosemary sprig.

Pomegranate Gin & Tonic

Pomegranate Gin & Tonic

This is a straightforward and delicious cross between a G&T and a gimlet. 

juice of half a lime

equal amount of simple syrup

1-1/2 ounces of London dry gin (Aria)

4 dashes pomegranate or rhubarb bitters (Fee's)

splash of pomegranate liqueur (Pama)

tonic water to top (Fever Tree)

In a tall glass filled with ice, add all the ingredients, stir gently, and garnish with a lime wedge.