I was remarkable thirsty last night as I was pondering getting dinner ready. I had just cleaned up after a post-work run (How do you think I eat and drink as much as I do? Pact with the devil? Good genes help, but man, you gotta exercise!) and was in a cocktail mood. How unusual, I know. I'm in that mood as often as GWB is in a democracy spreading mood. Anyway, I knew I had some extra lemons laying about needing juicing, and something tart and slightly sweet sounded just about perfect . None of my usuals were what I wanted. Negroni? Nah. Martini? Not now. Hendrick's gimlet? Close, but I had lemons, not limes. So I jumped on one of my favorite drinks sites, drinkboy, where you can look up drinks by ingredient. I scrolled through their "lemon" suggestions, and came across this little gem that sounded just about perfect. A White Spider? I know, I've never heard of it either. I did a little further research and found this (with a slightly different recipe than below) on the Saveur magazine website: "London-based fashion journalists used to order this old-style cocktail at the Blue Bar of New York's famed Algonquin Hotel." Hm, anything good enough for old-school fashionistas has got to be good enough for me. And it turned out to be exactly what I wanted! Of course, any cocktail starting with gin gets me halfway there. And the slight citrus sweetness from the Cointreau and simple syrup perfectly offset the lemon juice twang. Fast, easy, and delicious. Here's to the old school!*** *** ***
White Spider
ingredients:
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce Lemon Juice
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1 tsp Simple Syrup (for syrup boil 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water until sugar dissolves, then cool)
method:
Combine ingredients with ice in cocktail shaker. Give it a few vigorous shakes and strain into a cocktail glass.
5 comments:
The thought of putting anything but vermouth or tonic water in my gin is disturbing... but this looks so tasty... you're confusing my deeply held booze prejudices.
Ha...it's time to step...temporarily, because I promise I hold gin in as high a regard as you do....out of the "comfort" zone. This was a great cocktail, and I'm telling you that Hendrick's Gimlet...which is quite similar.... recipe is fabulous!!
I just went to the Algonquin Hotel a couple weeks ago for Happy Hour and they had this specialty drink that was perfectly shaken blueberry lemonade concoction --- good stuff!
Kim...that's why we all love bartenders who know their craft! Sounds perfectly refreshing, too.
Sounds like a refreshing drink for summer. And my gin always wants citrus and a touch o' sugar, so i'm down to test this spider.
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