Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Summon the Heroes

Hello and happy Olympics Friday. The opening ceremony is tonight and I will absolutely be watching. As I mentioned the other night, I am an Olympics junkie. I love watching them and will watch as many of the events as I can. Specifically, I’m looking forward to rugby 7s, which may be my favorite event in the summer games.

I do feel a little guilty watching given *gestures wildly* but I felt the same way about the NFL and NHL seasons last year and this year and watched them anyway. I still feel like this is a bad idea, but these athletes busted their asses to get there and it is the best competition in the world so I will still watch, and hope for the best for the health and safety of everyone involved, especially the television production staff, some of whom have been there months on end already.

Moving on.

This week, I’m re-visiting the Gin Sour. The reason being I was sent this lovely bottle gin from our very own Litre!

I’ve never had haskap gin before and was eager to try it. I sipped some neat and it has a tart flavor to it. I tried it with soda and lime as Litre suggested and that was quite refreshing. I also made a haskap gin and tonic which again was a huge hit. Sipping on the G&T got me thinking about other cocktail applications and the gin sour almost immediately came to mind. The sour might be taken care of with the gin itself, which really then becomes haskap gin and simple syrup. The original recipe I used called for lemon juice, but in this instance, I’m going to use lime because I already know lime works well with this flavor profile. I’m also going to stick with a wedge on the side to start. I have concerns that the equal portion of simple and citrus on top of the already tart gin might push the boundaries of sourness too far. With that in mind, this is the recipe I’m using:

2 oz. Haskap gin

.75 oz. Simple syrup

Lime wedge

Combine gin and simple syrup in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze the lime over the top.

The nose is all gin. I think I get a slight hint of the berry in the aroma, but the normal botanical aroma you get with gin is definitely the star here.

Initial taste with the lime on the side is way, way too sweet. The simple syrup completely dominates the flavor. I get berry flavored sweetness with little to no input from the gin flavor profile. This definitely needs the lime squeeze.

Adding the lime helps a lot. The citric acid cuts through most of the sweetness and allows the gin flavor to take more of a central role in the sip. There is still an over abundance of syrup flavor though, so my above prediction was most definitely wrong. This needs the citrus fruit. Hands down. I think the wedge I cut is doing just enough for now. However when I make this again (and it will be when) I will measure out the equal part of the citrus. If you are able to find it, I suggest stocking your bar with a bottle of this type of gin to add a little extra something to your cocktail repertoire.

(Banner image found here)