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Summertime and the living is lazy, or at least it should be. So when it comes to our favourite cocktails of the season, we not only crave something light and thirst-quenching, we also want it to take as little effort as possible, but maybe just a bit more effort than cracking open an RTD.
Enter the spritz. The Aperol spritz has been ubiquitous for more years than we like to count; last year, summer was all about the Hugo spritz, which is made with elderflower liqueur rather than Aperol.
5 oz Grey Goose vodka
1.75 oz Lillet Blanc
0.75 oz Strega
2 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz honey syrup (equal parts honey and warm water)
2 oz black wolfberry tea
2 oz cold-brewed jasmine tea
3 oz coconut milk
• 1.5 oz gin
• 0.75 oz Lillet Blanc
• 0.5 oz light crème de cacao
• 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
• Garnish: Lemon twist
¼ Lillet Blanc
¾ Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit
Garnish: grapefruit wedge
• 1.25 oz Long Table Distillery Dry Gin
• 1 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters
• 1 oz Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 oz (30 mL) Old Camp Peach Pecan Whiskey
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) Lillet Blanc
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) Canadian whisky
• 3 oz (90 mL) unsweetened iced tea (any black tea will do)
Garnish: Okanagan peach slices
• 1 oz (30 mL) blanco tequila
• 1 oz (30 mL) watermelon-infused Lillet Blanc (see note)
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) Campari
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) agave syrup
• 1 oz (30 mL) lime juice
• 3 dashes black peppercorn tincture (see note)
Stir—or swizzle—all the ingredients together in a highball glass, then fill the glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serves 1.
This classic cocktail dates back to 1937 and is named not for the time period, but for the stylish 20th Century Limited train from New York to Chicago. It’s a perfect example of how an aperitif (Lillet) and a liqueur (crème de cacao) can combine to lift a cocktail above the ordinary.