Tag Archives: gin cocktail recipes

Drink of the Week: Strawberry Collins

Posted on June 8, 2012 | 1 comment

It’s been a tough week between potty training trials and tribulations (look for a blog on that soon), crazy thunderstorms and night waking on top of the usual deadlines. Add in a craftastrophe and I’m looking forward to my weekly dose of medication in a hurricane glass.

Enter the Stawberry Collins from the Sandstone Lounge at the Hyatt Calgary’s summer cocktail menu. I am new to gin cocktails and this drink hits all the right notes. You can taste the gin and lime juice right away, but plunge deeper with the straw and you’ll come away with sweet strawberry puree. It’s very refreshing — just what mommy needs before she picks the children up from school!

It’s sweet and tart plus — bonus! — there’s gin.

Strawberry Collins

  • 1-1/2 oz No. 3 gin
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp. simple syrup
  • Soda water
  • 2 tbsp. strawberry puree

Build the drink over ice in a hurricane glass. Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup, top with soda water, then dollop on the strawberry puree. Stir. Yum.

–Recipe courtesy Tracy Burton, Sandstone Lounge

1 Comment

Posted in Cocktails

Tagged , , ,

Drink of the Week: Income Tax cocktail

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 comment

If you’re like me and your taxes are filed, you’re doing the happy dance tonight. I realize the deadline is Monday, but do you really want that hanging over your head all weekend? No, better to “get ‘er done” today and toast your effort with an Income Tax cocktail.

Here's a cocktail you'll want to spend your return on.

Yes, such a drink really exists. I drank one last weekend at Crowbar, Calgary’s pop-up cocktail lounge (more on that in an upcoming Calgary Herald column). What’s even more intriguing? This isn’t a drink that was created just for the event; it’s a cocktail that’s been around for a century. I can see why: it’s basically a martini sweetened by a bit of orange juice, and spiced with a couple dashes of Angostura bitters. It’s strong, yes, but that’s a good thing whether you’re celebrating a big return, or drowning your sorrows over all the money you owe the Feds. So drink up!

Income Tax Cocktail

  • 1-1/2 oz Beefeater gin
  • 3/4 oz dry vermouth
  • 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
  • 3/4 oz orange juice
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Orange curl garnish

Shake ingredients with ice then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange curl.

— Recipe courtesy Wade Sirois, Crowbar

1 Comment

Posted in Cocktails

Tagged , , ,

Drink of the Week: Departure Cocktail

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

This time of year, we in Calgary look longingly across the snowy Rocky Mountains toward B.C. and, specifically Victoria, where trees are leafing out and flowers are blooming. To tempt us land-locked, green-starved, prairie-dwellers into hopping the first flight west, Tourism Victoria hosted a seafood and cocktail affair at Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar last week. On the menu: lots of news about all the great goings-on in B.C.’s capital city, plus a whack of delicious seafood appys and one amazing signature cocktail featuring Victoria Gin.

One sip and you'll want to depart for Victoria. Image courtesy Tourism Victoria.

The Departure Cocktail was created by Katie McDonald from Veneto Tapa Lounge in the Hotel Rialto. I love how the lychee liqueur stands out, just enough for my palate to take notice. It pairs gloriously with the gin and lemon juice, too. Let’s call it the taste of Victoria’s spring, in a glass.

The Departure Cocktail

  • 2 oz Victoria Gin
  • 3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz lychee liqueur
  • 1/2 oz honey syrup*
  • 1 dash lemon bitters (optional)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a ribbon of cucumber.
(*To make the honey syrup: 1 part honey to 1 part boiling water. Stir and cool.)

Leave a comment

Posted in Cocktails

Tagged , , ,