Gartending: Bug-B-Gone
[image error]
For the Spring and Summer growing season, we bring you a new feature at Beekman 1802, the Soused Gnome. He’ll teach you how to “gartend”–create perfect seasonal cocktails using fresh ingredients from the garden.
Klaus is thirsty. No, not just thirsty of a cool drink on a sizzling hot day, but thirsty for an adventure. This summer has been many things to Klaus. It’s been a vacation and a gar-tending lesson all in one neatly packaged bundle.
Klaus has a thirst for the New Jersey early peaches, grilled over hard wood coals then pureed to yield a rich and sumptuous mouth-coating finish. Klaus is quite fond of grilled grapefruit juice along with his grilled peaches. Grapefruit when grilled over hard wood coals becomes tart and sweet at the same time.
I usually sprinkle a bit of raw sugar over the top of the grapefruit and peaches before they go onto the grill. The sugar caramelizes a bit and gives more depth to the cocktail. Klaus has been growing basil out in the garden; it’s flourishing in this heat and humidity so a bit of this also goes into the mix. Basil gives a mysterious edge to cocktails that have grapefruit and peaches in them.
Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t add some firewater! Klaus is quite thirsty and something with a kick adds to the character of this drink. With all the choices in the bar, Klaus demands something with a honey like finish and a deep aromatic quality. In this case the kick comes from Tequila from Arrogante. Arrogante utilizes used Bourbon barrels for their highly expressive Tequila. The aromatics and burnt sugar nose is just perfect for a muddle of grilled peaches, basil and grilled grapefruit juice.
If the Tequila, grilled peaches and grapefruit juice with basil wasn’t enough, Klaus enjoys a bit of Mariposa Agave Liqueur in his Tequila based cocktails. This liqueur is a revelation of flavor and quality of the finish. I liken the Mariposa to plunging my hands into a bee hive, rife with honey. Agave Honey. Don’t mind the bees, they only sting once! Klaus is most careful in this regard and always suits up in the finest beekeeping gear when working around these fussy creatures…. Now this drink, according to Klaus also repels mosquitoes!
The Mosquito Chaser Cocktail
Ingredients:
Arrogante Reposado Tequila
Mariposa Agave Liqueur
Bitter End Mexican Mole’ Bitters
Grilled peaches and grilled grapefruit (slice peaches and grapefruits into rounds, sprinkle with raw sugar and grill until uniformly browned)
Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water for a nice fizzy finish
Preparation:
Grill the peaches and grapefruit slices over a charcoal grill, set aside to cool
In a Boston shaker (the stainless steel kind) muddle a few slices of grapefruit and some chunks of the grilled peaches until about ½ cup of juice is rendered
Roll some of the basil leaves and slice them on the bias, add to the shaker
Add 2 shots of the Arrogante Reposato
Add 1 shot of the Mariposa Agave Liqueur
Add a couple handfuls of ice to your shaker
Shake, shake, shake, shake…
Double strain into short rocks glasses with crushed ice and short bar straws
Garnish with a slice of grilled peach and a slice of grilled grapefruit
Top with Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water for a nice fizzy finish
Finally drip about four drops of the Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters over the top and sip through
(What is double straining a drink? Pour the grilled, muddled grapefruit, basil, peach, Agave Nectar and Tequila mixture through two hand held strainers to remove the fruit from the final result)
CHEERS!!
