Fizzle for Shizzle

I actually came down with a cold on Friday which is a horrible thing to happen in the summer. But I am a trooper and I struggled through to test two different gin fizz drinks. This blog is hard, hard, work and there is no give up in me. Besides, gin fizzes are the perfect summer drinks and there is only a week or two before I switch back to bourbon, so I felt that there was no time to waste.

A little nugget about gin. Gin is made from a mash of cereal grain (usually corn, rye, barley, or wheat) and is flavored with botanicals. Juniper is the most prominent flavor but others include coriander, lemon, fennel, cassia, anise, and almond. A Dutch chemist apparently created gin in the mid-sixteenth century. He called it ginievre which means juniper in French. He declared it an attempt to enhance the therapeutic properties of juniper in a medicinal beverage. (from Dale DeGroff's The Craft of the Cocktail)

So here's to the therapeutic properties of juniper as we enjoy these final days of summer...

Gin Sling
This drink looks simple to make, and it is, but the flavor is anything but. There were subtle hints of pineapple and peach that made me forget I was in a 100 sq foot apartment...and I am sure I heard waves lapping on the pavement 7 stories below. This is a real summer drink.
1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
soda water
lemon peel for garnish
Shake all ingredients except the soda water with ice and strain into ice filled glass. Top with soda and garnish with a spiral of lemon.

Gin Daisy
There is only one word to describe this drink...refreshing. Enough said.
2 ounces gin
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tsp grenadine
Soda water
Pour ingredients into an ice filled shaker. Shake, then strain into ice filled highball. Top with soda water.