Drinking at Home in Brooklyn

Lavender is one of my favorite scents and flavors. It’s like magic in drinks—it brings a wonderful floral aroma to a variety of concoctions. It pairs especially well with gin; the aromatic compounds in the lavender and juniper berries complement each other perfectly. Add a splash to your next gin and tonic!

Lavender is also delicious with lemons. One of my favorite summer drinks is a freshly-squeezed sparkling lemonade sweetened with Lavender Simple Syrup. It is delightful—a truly refreshing beverage on a hot day.

Lavender Simple Syrup is, just as the name implies, quite simple to make. You can use fresh or dried lavender, although keep in mind that you may need to use more fresh buds than dried since their flavor is not quite as potent. It can be a bit of a pain to de-stem the buds but trust me, this syrup is worth it.

Lavender Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 1 C. sugar
• 1 C. water
• 2 T. dried lavender buds

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Remove the syrup from the heat and add the lavender buds. Stir to combine.
3. Steep lavender for 1 hour in the syrup.
4. Strain the syrup into an airtight container or bottle. Syrup will keep for at least a month in the refrigerator.

Yield: 1 1/2 C.

Total Time: 1h 5 min.

Active Time: 5 min.

I had some friends over this weekend to try a drink featuring the Ginger Lime Syrup I made last week. I wanted to keep it simple so I made a modified whiskey sour. Since St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and we’re going to need some Irish Whiskey anyway, I thought it’d be fun to go Irish for the spirit this week too.

The ginger adds a nice extra kick to the sour, and the Irish Whiskey (we used Tyrconnell Single Malt) brings another level of smoky complexity. If you don’t have Irish Whiskey on hand, feel free to substitute rye or bourbon—it’ll certainly do the trick.

Gingery Whiskey Sour

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz. Ginger Lime Syrup
• 1-2 oz. seltzer
• orange peel (garnish)
• lemon wheel (garnish)

Directions

1. In an old-fashioned glass, measure 2 oz. of whiskey, 1 oz. of ginger lime syrup, and 1-2 oz. of seltzer water. Stir.
2. Using a vegetable peeler, peel a half-dollar sized segment of orange peel. Squeeze it gently over the glass to release the essential oils and drop it into the drink.
3. Add ice to the glass and stir.
4. Fit lemon wheel over the rim of the glass and rotate it around the perimeter once. (This will add a nice lemony flavor).
5. Enjoy!

Yield: 1 drink.

Ginger and lime are a wonderful combination. The spiciness of the ginger and the tartness of the lime compliment each other really well. You can use this syrup in a variety of drinks—it pairs with bourbon or rye nicely—or just have it with sparkling water to make a refreshing soda.

I was inspired to make this after spying a recipe in Tart and Sweet for a key lime and ginger syrup. I made a version following their recipe a few weeks ago and thought I would give it another go making a few tweaks. In their recipe, they call for quartering the limes and boiling them together with the sugar. I found the pith and rind imparted an unpleasant bitterness when kept on and so I opted to segment the limes to create a cleaner flavor. Another modification I made had to do with the ginger. The book suggests placing the grated ginger into cheesecloth and squeezing the ginger juice into the lime syrup. In order to impart a stronger ginger flavor, I put the grated ginger into the pot with the lime syrup and let it steep for an hour before straining out the solids.

The syrup will keep for a month or so in the refrigerator. Look for some recipes featuring this delightful syrup coming soon!

Ginger Lime Syrup

Ingredients

• 4-5 limes
• 1 C. sugar
• 3-4 T. freshly grated ginger

Directions

1. Cut off the ends of each lime. Using a paring knife, carefully cut off the rind and pith.
2. Working directly over a small saucepan, remove each segment of the lime with a paring knife. After removing all the segments, squeeze gently to extract any remaining juice.
   
3. Add 1 cup of sugar to the saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring sugar and lime segments to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium and allow the sugar and lime to cook down for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, peel and finely grate a ginger root until you have 3-4 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger.
6. Off heat, add the grated ginger to the lime syrup. Allow the mixture to steep for about an hour (or at least until the syrup has cooled to room temperature).
7. Strain the ginger-lime syrup into a measuring cup, pressing gently on the solids with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to extract as much syrup as possible.
   
8. Pour the syrup into a bottle and refrigerate for up to one month. Enjoy your syrup in sparkling sodas or to give a spicy kick to a cocktail.

Yield: 3/4-1 C. of syrup, depending on the juiciness of your limes.

Total Time: 1h 30 min.

Active Time: 30 min.