Some days, you feel like a nut. Other days you don’t. Honestly, I don’t know what that has to do with anything, except blueberry! Did I mention that I’ve recently come back from backpacking in Yosemite? You can’t expect everything to make sense when you’re cut off from everything for a few days. The one thing that I can make sense of though is a great cocktail and the one, much maligned alcohol that I hold so dearly: gin. As I needed to cool off after the hike, but wanted something refreshing and a touch debonair, well, I knew what I needed. A blueberry gin cocktail. Ask and ye shall receive, introducing the Blueberry Ginger Refresher.

Honestly, the name gives away the cocktail. It’s blueberry, there’s a hint of ginger in there to make sure you’re paying attention and it’s refreshing. How do we get that refreshing nature? That’s easy, it comes from the lime juice (freshly squeezed, but I don’t need to reiterate that again, do I?).

For this one, we made our own blueberry syrup. Do you have to make your own? Nah, I’m sure you can find some at the store somewhere, but come on, treat yourself to something a little extra special.

Making the blueberry syrup is pretty darn easy, get your carton of blueberries (reserving a few for garnish, it’s gotta look good too), wash them, plop them in a pot with some sugar, water, heat, mash, reduce and strain. Easy, simple, done.

You can use that same basic methodology for your ginger syrup: make a standard simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water) with some nobs of ginger tossed into it. Strain those out and voila, you have ginger syrup!

Having those components is the easy part; the real trick comes in selecting the right gin. You want the ideal mix of botanicals and fruit flavors that will work in a Blueberry Ginger Refresher. Luckily, our friends over at Brockmans Gin had just what we needed, a gin with the right botanicals, smoothness and hints of blueberry both on the nose and while sipping (I kid you not. Seriously, try it for yourself and see.)

Our final components are an egg white and some bitters. Why? Well, I wanted a smooth, creamy mouthfeel that a well-frothed egg white provides and the bitters round everything out quite nicely.

How does it taste? Blueberry-y, gingery, refreshing and delicious.

Now, go make yourself a Blueberry Ginger Refresher!

 

August 21st, 2015 | by morgan