Who hasn’t had a crap day at work? I know I have had my fair share recently, and after an awful day, I know I can use a drink when I get home. This is a recipe I found a while ago while browsing the New York Times cooking section. It sounded easy and tasty so I saved it for later, and promptly forgot about it. I ended up re-discovering it when looking for dinner inspiration this past week. I really wonder what kind of day the creator had in order to invent their own drink, and call it the “Bad Day at Work”. Recipe via the New York Times:

1 cup Sugar

1.5 oz. Bluecoat or other high quality gin

4 oz. Clementine orange juice

Generous splash of seltzer

Fill a tumbler with crushed ice and set aside. Make simple syrup: in a small saucepan, mix the sugar with 1 cup of water. Simmer over low heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool, about 5 minutes. In a shaker, combine the gin and orange juice with 1 teaspoon simple syrup (remaining simple syrup can be refrigerated up to one week.) Shake well and pour into the tumbler. Top with a splash of seltzer, add a stirrer and serve.

Initial thoughts on this is that this seems like it is more than a mixed drink than a true cocktail. It is very light, and refreshing. Light is the key word here. I felt that it could be stronger than the proportions call for here. It could be due to the seltzer top off. There is no exact measurement, so the proportion is up to the creator’s discretion. However, even with the little bit I added, I could not taste any kind of gin flavor, which almost seems like a waste of gin. If I am drinking gin, I want to have some sort of gin taste to the drink.

The added seltzer (I used Schweppes orange) does add a nice bit of carbonation. The bubbles do help brighten the overall feel and brings the orange taste to the front. Of which, definitely use clementines as suggested. Using an orange I think would be a little too harsh. Clementine juice is not as acidic and a touch sweeter than orange juice is. Speaking of sweetness, Cointreau can easily be subbed in if you don’t have (or don’t feel like making) simple syrup. All told, this drink reminds me of a spiked Orangina. Given the lack of strength of the base, and the overall sweetness, this would not be at the top of the list after a terrible day at the office. I think I’ll stick with my bourbon, rye, or Scotch.

(Banner image found here)