My original plan was to make a cocktail a week but they’re so easy and fun to do that uhhh I’ve been doing them way more often than that. I’ve also been discovering that really there are really only like five cocktails and everything else is a variation on those five.

Gin

I don’t like gin. But, as part of my quest, I will try it.

I was so intrigued by the arugula gimlet that I had to try it. And since we’re the type of people who have arugula and lime juice sitting around, this was pretty easy to whip up. This variation uses vodka instead of gin: vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, arugula. Muddle the simple + arugula before shaking with everything else. We were both really surprised to discover that we liked it! The arugula flavor is not super strong but gives it a leafy taste (technical term) that is really nice with the lime. I also really liked the color of it. Check out my artful leaf floating, for drama.

I was so intrigued by the arugula gimlet I had to try a standard gimlet: gin, lime juice, simple syrup. My favorite part was of course the lime, and the gin tasted like gin, so obviously I preferred the vodka gimlet (even with leaves in it).

The Southside, aka the mint gimlet, aka the gin mojito. It’s a gimlet with mint in it. I liked this one the best of the variations, but it’s possible that I put in more lime and simple than the recipe actually called for—combined with the mint it really overpowered the gin. D: So of course I liked it the most, it tasted the least like gin. 🙂

Dark and Stormy

Fun fact: “Dark ‘n’ Stormy” is a registered trademark of Gosling Brothers Ltd of Bermuda. I suppose for this reason America’s Test Kitchen calls it a Dark AND Stormy, and so will I. 🙂 Building this drink is pretty easy, once you’ve got the ginger syrup. We made our own (per the book) and it wasn’t very hard—you just steep ginger in simple syrup overnight and strain. But, it does require pre-planning.

This was my first experience doing a liquor float and it went about as well as you’d expect, i.e., I poured rum all over my kitchen island. It doesn’t seem like it should be hard. And yet…

The float looks very cool but I would definitely mix this for actually drinking; otherwise, you just get all the rum at once and then the ginger (which is very good if you make the syrup—gingery heat).

Whiskey Sour Variation

After my adventure with the Dark and Stormy (non-trademarked) I was looking up liquor floats (like ya do) and discovered a New York Sour, which is a Whiskey Sour with a red wine float. I also learned that a Whiskey Sour with the egg white is actually a Boston Sour, although America’s Test Kitchen does not make that distinction (this version does not have an egg white, which makes sense. The foam would be lost when you floated the wine on top).

The New York Sour was a little weird at first but it grew on me, somewhat to my surprise. And yes, I poured red wine all over my kitchen island trying to do this.