Gartending: Davy Jone’s Locker
[image error]
It’s true that thunderstorms do one of two things to the wise gardener-gnome. Klaus looks upon a summer thunderstorm as a welcome relief from the heat and humidity, but also as part of one of his sports- slug collecting. We all know Klaus as the “soused-gnome” but did you know that Klaus was a world-class slug wrangler? Sure he is. How does Klaus wrangle slugs and keep them from chewing the tender lettuces and cucumbers???
With beer of course! Slugs love beer! They cannot resist it. They go in to the beer bath for a drink then they drown! It’s the perfect end to their slimy existence and the lettuces live for another day.
In effect they go for a swim in Davy Jones’s Locker.
That leads me to our next cocktail. It is a beer cocktail- inspired by the Brazilians who know a thing or two about beachside parties. It is refreshing, bold and effervescent. It drips onto your tongue and fizzes away- slaking your thirst and stimulating sips and splashes of citrus flavors, some metallic and crystalline, others soft and creamy. This cocktail is memorable in the fact that it tastes like a summer-vacation trip to Ipanema Beach in Brazil. No other cocktail is as vibrant on your memory as your first beer cocktail.
I’ve taken the classic Brazilian Beer cocktail and twisted it up a bit “Klaus-Style.” The addition of your own garden fresh cucumbers, stone and citrus fruit simple syrup and sugar cane based Cachaça gives this drink a uniquely Brazilian feel. Of course like any good beer cocktail, I use a crisply aromatic spiced, wheat beer.
In this case I love to use New York’s own, Ommegang Witte Ale. The citrus and spice augmented Belgian Style Ale is my choice (and Klaus’s of course) for this beer cocktail named the Davy Jones’s Locker. The ingredients for this cocktail are ones that you may have in your pantry already or in your garden, escaping from the slugs. Davy Jones’s Locker is served in a tall rocks glass, if you add ice to the beer it will foam like crazy so have the ice in the glass before you add the beer!
Davy Jone’s Locker
Ingredients:
Makes four sensuously dreamy cocktails
1 home grown cucumber, skinned, de-seeded and sliced into coins
Simple syrup of Roses- from Royal Rose muddled with crushed orange, tangerine, lime, lemon and peaches and cucumber coins
Fresh Basil rolled into cigars and sliced on the bias
4 shots of the best Cachaça you can buy. I used Sao Cachaça in my cocktail because it is certified Organic and quite delicious!
Preparation:
To a Boston Shaker add several chunks of orange, lemon, lime, tangerine and peaches
Add 4 tablespoons of Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses
Muddle the fruits and the Royal Rose syrup together
Add 4 Shots of Sao Cachaça
Add the basil threads
Add ice and shake, shake, shake your booty
Strain into tall glasses filled with ice made with the Mavea “inspired water” pitcher (Buy one at Williams-Sonoma)
Top with about two shots Ommegang Witte Ale and garnish with a lime slice or two
Have one of these and walking the plank won’t seem like such a bad idea!
