Good news!  It’s cocktail time!  What’s that you say?  You’re feeling a little under the weather?  You know what’ll fix you up in no time?  Ginger!  Let’s get mixing!

First up is a drink found on the piece of paper tied around the neck of a bottle of liqueur.
A bottle of Bols Ginger Liqueur to be exact.  It’s called the Ginger Bourbon Smash!

Ginger Bourbon Smash

2 ounces bourbon
3/4 ounce Bols Ginger Liqueur
1 ounce lemon juice

Muddle or juice half a lemon in a cocktail glass.  Add ice and pour over bourbon and ginger liqueur.  Stir lightly to mix.

Sound great doesn’t it?  Bourbon and lemon juice and ginger.  Do you know what it tastes like?  Bourbon and lemon juice with a little something else.  Ginger?  Not really.  Maybe, some sort of sweet something with a hint of ginger?  Sure, if you say so.  It really tastes like bourbon and lemon juice, which would be ok if it was called “Bourbon and Lemon Juice” but it’s not.  It’s called a Ginger Bourbon Smash.  We got no smash of out this cocktail.  If however, you’d like to drink bourbon and lemon juice, with a hint of something sweet that could be ginger, then look no further.  This is the drink for you!

Next up is a much more interesting drink.  Gentleman Fred found it on the Absolut website and this is just the sort of drink we like to feature here on the G of EL.  It’s called the Shanghai Fizz.  Check out their website right here.  They’ve even got a video!
The problem with the recipe is that they use “parts”.  We made each of those parts an ounce for easy measuring.

Shanghai Fizz

1   part  Gin  (we used an ounce)
1   part  Lychee Liqueur  (we used an ounce)
1   part  Pineapple Juice (we used an ounce)
1   dash  Simple Syrup  ( we used a teaspoon)
Ginger ale (we used Cock and Bull ginger beer)
2   lemon wedges
1   mint leaf
1  whole peeled lychee (we used one canned lychee)

Fill a shaker with ice cubes. Add lychee liqueur, pineapple juice, gin, simple syrup, mint leaf, lychee and lemon. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Top up with ginger ale.

Sneezes Twice this is a good drink!  It’s really well balanced and because everything was smashed together in the shaker, you get to taste a little bit of everything.  It’s not too sour.  It’s not too sweet.  It’s light and refreshing and you’d better go make one right now!

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of them!

In the meantime, enjoy these clips!

What happens when you combine hot hot weather with a broken refrigerator?  You lose a Gentleman of Elegant Leisure, that’s what happens.  With Gentleman Jason out of commission, Gents Fred and Dave carried on though and have brought this combination of cooling cocktails to you to help beat the heat. 

What happens when the writer of this blog also happens to be the Gent that wasn’t there?  You get a very flimsy blog post. 

First up was the Crushed Strawberry Fizz.  This is based on the classic gin fizz as made by Jerry Thomas and is taken from David Wondrich’s book, “Imbibe”.  The difference between the gin fizz and this drink is that this has crushed strawberries in it.


Crushed Strawberry Fizz
-Jerry Thomas 1876, from Imbibe by David Wondrich

2-3 fresh strawberries
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 ounces gin
4-5 dashes (1 1/2 tsp) of gum syrup
soda water

Use a small mouthed 6 to 8 ounce glass.  Muddle strawberries with lemon juice and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker.  Add gin and ice and shake well.  Double strain into the glass and fill glass with chilled soda water.

Knock this one back quick.  It’s not meant to be lingered over.  You don’t want a slightly warm, slightly fizzy drink.  You want a really cold, sparkling drink.  You’ll have to listen to the Gents to see what they thought of it.  

Also from Imbibe, Gents “D” and “F” tossed together a Florodora.  This drink is named after a musical that was first performed in London and then crossed the pond to entertain the Broadway audiences of New York City.  

Florodora
-The New York Evening World, 1901 from Imbibe by David Wondrich

2 tsp raspberry syrup
juice from a whole lime
1 1/2 ounces gin
ginger ale (the Gents used ginger beer)

Put the first 3 ingredients in an “ordinary glass” and half fill it with cracked ice.  Fill the remainder og the glass with the ginger ale and stir until it is ice cold.  Pour the whole thing into a “cold stein” (how about a chilled glass) and garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.  You could also build the whole thing in the glass you’re serving it in.

Again, dear reader, you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out what the Gents thought of it or, better yet, make it yourself and leave a comment below.

Gentleman Jason's fridge is working fine.  Thanks for asking!