Perfect Margarita (rocks)

It might be a little late in the season for margaritas, but I'm in Albuquerque, and tequila seems like the official beverage of the southwest. The proportions of this Margarita are from Dale Degroff, of course, but I've added a little agave nectar to smooth things out. This was my first use of Patron Citronge (read more about how it compares to Cointreau and other alternatives here), and I have to say that I'm a fan. 

• 1.5 Tequila (Milagro Blanco)
• 1.25 Patron Citronge (cheaper than Cointreau and very tasty)
• .75 Lime juice, freshly squeezed, no pulp.
• .375 agave nectar

Shake with ice and strain into chilled glasses with ice.

margarita atop formula

Ginger Lemonade Martini

Based on Dale DeGroff's Ginger Lemonade Highball, but in a martini form factor, and much gingerier.

A great follow up to Erin's Vegan Ginger Cookies.

• 1.5 vodka
• 1 fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 simple syrup
• 1 ginger juice (not ginger syrup -- juice from pressed ginger)
• dash of grenadine
• dash of Q tonic (no club soda handy)
• lemon twist to garnish

The verdict: Extreme ginger, but good. 

The Sling

As noted in Dale DeGroff's superlative The Essential Cocktail, the class of alcoholic beverages known as slings have been around longer than the venerable cocktail itself: a sling is simply strong liquor plus water plus sweetener, so a cocktail was a bitters sling until at least 1806. According to Jerry Thomas in 1862 (by way of the helpful Musings on Cocktails), a sling was a teaspoon of powdered sugar, half a glass of water, half a glass of spirits (probably whiskey or a Holland gin), and a lump of ice. The sling did long and honorable service in a number of forms as it morphed into the fruitier and currently better-known Singapore Sling, while the rest of the sling family languished in obscurity.

Tonight we mostly followed DeGroff's recipe, with a few necessary and a few improvised substitutions. This makes a very light and summery drink--an alternative gin and tonic, perhaps for those who really can't stand quinine.

• 1 1/2 oz gin (we used Beefeater's)
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (we used Lillet, more by dogma than anything else)
• 1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice (we used lime cause that's what we had)
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• Dash of Angostura
• top with club soda
• garnish: lemon

lemon garnish by feleghazy