Drinks, Lockdown Libations

Lockdown Libations no. 8: Campari-Gin Old Fashioned

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If you know me, you know I like bourbon. If you know I like bourbon, you can guess I love an Old Fashioned. (I do.)

It’s one of the few cocktails I’ll make on the regular, partly because they’re so damn easy. And you get a lot of bang for a small-effort buck.

It never occurred to me to make one with something other than brown liquor. It certainly never would have crossed my mind to use gin.

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned I

Gin is mostly for fizzes and tonic and martinis, no? Apparently not.

I decided to focus on Campari this time around as I have two bottles (one mostly finished, in my defence) and one yet to be cracked. I keep them on hand for Boulevardiers and Negronis, but wanted to see what else this bittersweet, beautifully coloured liquor could do.

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned ingredients

I actually stumbled on this one for a Campari-Gin Old Fashioned last week but was missing an orange and didn’t want to make any substitutions since I had an inkling this needed all the right bits to make for a balanced cocktail. It was at the top of my grocery list this week.

orange peel

It’s a quick and straightforward cocktail but has lovely depth of flavour. I like how the sugar and orange lifts the bitter of the campari and plays up the flavours in the gin. I went with Eau Claire Distillery’s Flourish and it was a perfect match.

The result is a highly sippable, sweet, bitter, fruity drink that I think really exemplifies something being greater than the sum of it’s parts — Hi, Gestalt! Thank you, Grade 12 psychology.

And while I suspect it would be good at any time in the year, I feel this will be a dangerously delightful addition to drinking on my balcony this summer.

(Aside: the original recipe called for a splash of soda water, but I didn’t think that would benefit the drink at all — just water it down. So I skipped it. And I have zero regrets.)

pre-muddle

muddling

muddled

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned IV

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned II

Campari-Gin Old Fashioned

  • a sugar cube
  • 1 piece of orange peel
  • 1/2 ounce Campari
  • 2 ounces dry gin
  • ice

In a rocks glass, muddle together the sugar cube, orange peel and Campari until the sugar has mostly dissolved.

Add the gin and stir to combine. Add ice and stir until chilled.

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Drinks

Juice of a Few Flowers

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Last year was one of celebrations: plenty of new babies and a wedding or two.

That, inevitably, meant many a shower.

Some involved sipping tea out of dainty china cups, others a glass of wine or two, perhaps a tipple of Champagne.

This year is gearing up to be slightly slower showerwise. No weddings on the calendar and only a few friends expecting to add to their families.

Which is too bad, because I’ve just discovered a lovely multi-purpose cocktail.

Juice of a Few Flowers

It’s a drink with a tart citrus punch and a nice kick of vodka. An ice-cold glass, a sugared rim, a sprig of mint.

It’s downright civilized.

So, it’s no surprise then that Juice of a Few Flowers was apparently created in the 1920s by a couple said to give glamorous parties in the East Hamptons.

The original version used gin, but Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten, in her book Back to Basics (Clarkson Potter, $40), has updated the recipe to use vodka.

She notes, though, Gerald Murphy often mixed up the drink without alcohol, pouring it into martini glasses and serving them to the children.

And that makes it a great mocktail for mothers-to-be.

Shower guests and the guest of honour can all sip (relatively) the same thing.

With puckery grapefruit and tart lemon and lime juices, this drink could head toward sour territory, but it’s mellowed by the addition of sweet orange juice, then tempered further with the sugared rim.

Shaken until ice cold (freeze the martini glasses in advance to keep it even further chilled), the drink is smooth and oh-so sippable.

So much so that I don’t think I’ll be waiting for a shower or other celebration to be pulling out this recipe again.

Citrus

Juice of a Few Flowers II

Juice of a Few Flowers

Ina Garten notes if your juicer doesn’t strain the juice, use a sieve to remove the pulp, otherwise it will clog the holes of the cocktail shaker.

  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice (1 grapefruit)
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
  • 1 cup (250 mL) vodka
  • extra lemon juice
  • granulated sugar
  • fresh mint sprigs

Combine the orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, lime juice and vodka in a pitcher.

Dip the rims of 4 martini glasses first in a dish of lemon juice and then in a dish with sugar. Set aside to dry.

Pour the cocktail mix into the glasses, garnish with mint and serve.

This story first appeared in the Real Life section in the Calgary Herald. For more delicious recipes, visit CalgaryHerald.com/life.

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