Ginger Smash

With the encouragement of my friend Kent, I will live to blog again. Lately we have been meeting up at one of my favorite cocktail places, Employees Only for drinks and heart to hearts. In a terrible time such as this, I find well-crafted cocktails to be soothing and restorative to my soul. I have completely gone off food (see the death of hotforhoundstooth here) but can still hold down one or many of these delicious drinks.

Fall is the time for hearty solid ingredients and they are not fooling around at EO. I ordered a Ginger Smash and watched the talented bald barkeep grab a hand full of cranberries and 3-4 slices of fresh ginger as big as Pal’s paw. He violently muddled it in a glass with some sugar, Berentzen Apple Liqueur and Beefeater Wet. This was then poured into a highball glass with 4 of the most perfect cubes of ice. If I am not eating, all the vitamins from this drink will surly keep any beastly germs away.

Wild Mountain Thyme Julep

On this dreary sad day, I am going to try to bring myself out of this funk by reminiscing about this past summer. Beautiful fields of purple wild mountain Thyme surround my parents’ house in the Catskills. Adam had used it in salads. But I felt the need to use it in cocktails. The farmer’s market allowed me to experiment with lemon thyme this year. And at Café Gray I recently had a Pisco Thyme Sour.

So here is my take on a summer classic:

Wild Mountain Thyme Julep

Bourbon

Thyme

Maple Syrup

Club Soda

Muddle or infuse the Bourbon with the thyme. Add syrup, ice and shake vigorously. Pour over crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of thyme.