This zero-proof G&T will ensure all your friends can enjoy summer’s quintessential cocktail.
• 1 oz. spirit-free gin syrup (recipe below)
• 0.75 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
• 5 oz tonic water
Spirit Free Gin & Tonic
La Bicicletta Gin & Tonic
Bright, fresh and lightly herbal, this G&T will whisk you to an Italian piazza.
• 2 oz La Bicicletta Gin
• 0.5 oz lemon juice
• 0.25 oz simple syrup
• 4 oz tonic water
Royal Gin & Tonic
Butterfly pea flowers add a royal purple hue to this citrusy-floral G&T.
• 2 oz. Royal Gin
• 0.5 oz mandarin juice
• 0.25 oz. simple syrup
• 4 oz tonic water
DIY Gin & Tonic
Make summer’s favourite cocktail your very own with these bespoke ideas
Gin is unlike any other spirit. Simply put, gin is a distilled grain mash that produces a neutral alcohol or vodka. The spirit is then redistilled with botanicals, herbs and spices to achieve the final product. It doesn’t rely on aging in oak barrels like whisky, and it doesn’t rely on one agricultural product to achieve its flavour, like agave for tequila. The infusion process will determine the flavour profile of each gin.
In other words, gin is essentially a botanical-flavoured vodka. And that means, even though not very many of us will ever have access to a still, we can make our own quality gins by working with infusions.
Joey Watermelon Drink
This perfect patio cocktail recipe is from Joey Restaurants.
• 8 (1-inch) cubes of fresh watermelon
• 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves
• 1.5 oz Absolut vodka
• 0.25 oz agave syrup
• 0.5 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
Negroni Inverso
Try this negroni at Nicli Antica in Gastown, or make it yourself at home.
• 0.75 oz Espolon Blanco
• 0.75 oz St-Germain
• 0.75 oz Contratto Bianco
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 2 oz Lambrusco
In Bloom
Created by Jeff Savage, head bartender at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, this cocktail captures all the berry bright, delicately floral flavours of summer. Note that you will need an electronic scale to measure the ingredients for the sherbet.
• 1.5 oz raspberry-infused pisco (see note)
• 0.5 oz Aperol
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 0.5 oz Grapefruit and Rose Sherbet (see recipe below)
Donnelly Caesar
With a few aromatic tweaks, the Donnelly Group’s Trevor Kallies has updated the classic cocktail created by Walter Chell in 1969. If you prefer it zero proof, he suggests substituting Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit for the vodka.
• 2 oz Absolut vodka OR Seedlip Garden 108
• 1 dash Tabasco hot sauce
• 1 dash Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
• Top with Walter Caesar Mix
Garnish:
• Celery salt rim
• Skewer of Castelvetrano olive, pickled onion and cucumber spear
• 1 lime wedge
• Sprig of rosemary and thyme
The Last Word: Bees Knees #2
All the buzzzzz
June is National Pollinator Month. Celebrate all the winged things that keep us alive with an updated classic that’s the Apis patella.
Garden’s Keeper G&T
Spanish-style G&Ts like the one on our cover are the coolest drinks of summer 2019. This one was photographed at Botanist at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, and created by head bartender Jeff Savage.
• 1.5 oz Star of Bombay gin
• 0.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Haskap Bitters
• Fentiman’s tonic water