Cocktails of the month

April rained, May came and June is almost over.  July is bringing in an abundant supply of many different produces, too many to make just one cocktail!  May is sort of a down time month here in Virginia so I supported the fresh supply of mint that came in and made a rendition of my very popular Cucumber Cooler cocktail from last year named, the Newcumber Cooler.  The original called for lime juice, vodka, cucumber juice, dill muddled kosher salt, a little water and sweetened with a cucumber simple syrup.  I decided to do a little ode to the Mojito this year and substituted the vodka with rum, opted out the kosher dill salt and instead muddle fresh mint into the concoction where the juice and syrups were both made with the cucumbers being skinned this time.  Peeling the cucumbers causes the drink to be lighter and sweeter which compliments the mint and rum for this version.

Strawberries were the big seasonally fruit this month, I started looking into pairings with Strawberries that sounded interesting and not as common.  My wife was making a raspberry vinaigrette for a house party and asked me to look up what pairs well with her dressing.  I discovered that in the culinary world, the absolutely epic pairing of strawberries with an aged balsamic vinaigrette have enhanced salads and main course dishes consistently.  With a little experimentation I came up with the Strawberry Smash.  A wonderfully light, zippy fruit drink that defies other strawberry based cocktails.  Muddled fresh strawberries with your choice of clear spirit (Here I chose vodka to showcase the flavors, but interesting with gin, sweeter with rum and awesome with tequila!) flavored with strawberry infused white balsamic vinegar, homemade grenadine (none of that black light glow in the dark neon red stuff from the stores!) Click here for Todd Thrasher's Homemade Grenadine Recipe with an aged balsamic vinegar float.

The plans for next month's cocktail is to utilize the stone fruits getting ready to come into the area.  Many are already being harvested.  Peaches, Apricots and cherries are all here as well as all the berries ranging from blueberries to raspberries are starting to surface.  Sadly, the only consistency this month will be the stone fruits, so the focus is going to be on them.  Stone Fruit Sangria anyone?  I'll let you know how everything goes shortly.  Till then, enjoy the summer, utilize nature's bounty and do not be hesitant to make up your own syrups, infusions or aged perfections.

And once again, a moment of thanks to those who continue to support my cocktails, thanks for the love and support (And not to mention your exceptional palates and good standards!)

Cheers!