SUNSET GIN FIZZ
Here’s a hot take: A delicious cocktail should not break your bank, require weird - impossible to acquire- liquors or be a pain in the ass to make. (Call me crazy).
I do however believe in seasonality. This delicious, fresh, sweet and ever so slightly spicy cocktail started with the question: What if instead of making my current favorite summer salad, I drank it with Gin?
The result was The Sunset Gin Fizz. A hilarious name that took an actual Whatsapp poll to land on.
It does not require any special equipment. (No, not even a blender). Just a grater, fresh produce, fizzy club soda (I tried with tonic water, as some of you might’ve noticed in the IG Reel, and salty club soda was undoubtedly superior) and LOTS of ice. The only thing that can take a bit more time is making the Simple Lemon Syrup, but consider that once you make it, you can keep in your fridge and effectively have delicious, lemon flavored syrup to use for the rest of the summer so… You’re welcome?
In a Sobremesa context, I would hapilly serve these cocktails (Batch make them, so that you’re not playing bartender in your own home) with actual fresh pieces of watermelon on ice to snack on. A perfect way to end the night or start whatever happens after your dinner.
Ingredients (Serves 6)
¼ fresh watermelon (Peeled & cubed. Aprox 900g)
1 English cucumber
1 nub of fresh ginger (30g aprox)
2 Lemons (Plus more for garnish)
2 Cup granulated sugar
2 Cups water
Gin
Ice
Club Soda
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
instructions
In a small saucepan mix in your sugar and your water, and let the mixture come to a boil for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add a full lemon, sliced without the seeds. Set aside and let cool. Keep in a jar in the fridge for 6 to 8 weeks.
Once you have your cubed watermelon, place in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and begin smashing the cubes with a potato masher or a fork. Do this for a couple of minutes to release as much juice as possible. Afterwards strain and press on the fiber to extract the last of the liquid. Discard the fiber.
Add the juice of one lemon to the watermelon extract and combine.
In another bowl, finely grate half of your English cucumber. It helps if you roughly peel the cucumber before hand. After you’re done, finely grate your ginger in the same bowl.
Mix everything with a pinch of salt and let rest for about five minutes. Both the cucumber and the ginger will release their juices and aromatics. Then drain, and discard the fiber.
Add one tablespoon of the lemon syrup and mix well. (Make sure the syrup is cool).
To serve in batch form I recommend serving on separate pitchers your cucumber extract, your watermelon extract, ice and slices of lemon and cucumber for garnish.
The idea is to serve about two tbsps of gin to a dressed glass, and fill up to the first half with equal parts of cucumber and watermelon extracts. The rest of the glass gets topped with club soda and finished with a crack of black pepper.
