The reality of cable knit sweaters, led heavy snow boots, and frozen fingertips tends to kill the romance of winter when we find ourselves knee deep into February. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to impossible to feel sexy with all of those thermals and sweaters as we slide underneath our Snuggie for another night in. In these trying times, it is necessary to dream. And in this dream, we will live as big as The Great Gatsby. The story of glamorous inhibition during the prohibition throws us into a world of indulgence and surface pleasure. Not only do we relish in the heat of romance, but also in the sizzling heat of a summer spent as the neighbor of Gatsby on Long Island. However, to keep the good times rolling, we will cut this story short by handing off these two fabulous Gatsby Bathtub Gin Cocktails:
Thyme Infused Gin
Syrup recipe
Ingredients:
5 (2 cups) sugar
5 (2 cups) water
3-4 handfuls fresh thyme
Combine water and sugar in a medium size saucepan and over low heat dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the thyme. Put a lit on and let it rest and cool for at least one hour. Strain the syrup and toss the thyme. Pour into a bottle and refrigerate
Cocktail recipe
Ingredients:
4 (1.5 ounces) Gin – I use Tanqueray or Hendrick’s
4 (1.5 ounces) Thyme syrup (recipe above)
4 (1.5 ounces) Lime
1/2 Nectarine or Peach
Few Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Ice Cubes
Splash of Champagne or Sparkling water
Muddle the nectarine, syrup and lime with a wooden spoon in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin. Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake it all you can. Strain and pour to a glass with one-two ice cubes in it. Dash with champagne or sparkling water. Garnish with a slice of nectarine and some fresh thyme sprigs
Lavender Bee’s Knees
Ingredients:
2 oz gin
3/4 oz lavender honey syrup
1 oz lemon juice
Lavender Honey Syrup:
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup hot water
1 teaspoon dried lavender
To make the lavender honey syrup, combine hot water with honey and stir until evenly mixed. Add lavender, stirring to combine. Let cool, approximately 30 minutes, then pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove lavender.
For the cocktail, combine all ingredients in a shaker full of ice. Shake vigorously for 10 full seconds. Double strain into a cocktail glass and obviously, garnish with a lavender sprig.
