In an earlier post, I talked about how my exposure to some of the incredible craft cocktails at places like The Boiler Room and J.Coco’s inspired me to want to learn more about the art of the cocktail. About this time I also found a great local whiskey and started to discover a lot of the classics like the Old Fashioned and Manhattans, leading me to learn about the history as well as learning more about the basic alcoholic elements of cocktails. One of the most historic spirits is gin and anytime you delve into the world of classic cocktails, you will run into many gin based drinks.
Gin has been distilled since the 1600s and was often used as a medicinal remedy to help calm the nerves, solve stomach and kidney ailments and to relive gout and lumbago. Gin exploded into popularity during the 1700s when England banned the import of spirits and wine from France, forcing the English people to find new ways to quench their thirst. With beer brewing already an established industry and the primary user of high quality (aka expensive) distillers grains, the masses turned to gin whose use of poorer quality grains than beer and a with no licensing requirements for distillers, a new cheap source of spirits was born. Gin became hugely popular and make a large lasting impression on the English and all their colonies. Classics such as the Gin and Tonic spread all over the English empire as its use as in malaria prevention gains popularity.
Fast forward to the 1920 and early 30’s and with drinkers in the US suffering under the bridle of Prohibition, gin once again springs to the forefront of the cocktail culture as its lack of barrel aging makes it easier to produce in secret than whiskeys. Bartenders at speakeasies around the county shifted from whiskeys and rum based cocktails to gin, resulting in many classic cocktails that are popular today. With the craft cocktail and distillery trend bubbling up all across the nation, a resurgence of new gins and recipes have opened new avenues for gin drinkers to discover. While researching good drinks to use my homemade brandied cherries in, I ran across the Superlative Juvenile, an adult twist on the classic kid’s drink the Shirley Temple. Troy Patterson, writer for Slate.com’s The Gentlemen Scholar blog, came up with this inventive recipie to honor the passing of Ms. Temple. This is our spin on this drink.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ounce pomegranate liqueur
- Juice of ½ lemon (approx .75 oz of lemon juice)
- 2 teaspoons of brandied cherry liquid
- Ginger Ale
- Lemon slice
- 2 Marasca cherries (we used our brandied cherries!)
Instructions
- Drop one of the cherries into the bottom of a chilled highball or rocks glass, and gently press it to release some of the juice. Fill the glass with ice. Stir the gin, pomegranate liqueur, and lemon juice with ice in a mixing glass and strain into the glass. Top with ginger ale and a lemon twist.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Is there an alternative to gin? Something non-alcoholic? Thanks! x
http://www.theprettycitygirl.com/
If you want it non-alcoholic, just leave out the gin, and then it’s like a Shirley Temple.
This sounds delicious! I like gin drinks a lot – usually pairing it with muddled cucumber but I will definitely try this one out as I loved shirley temples growing up!
Thank you! I agree, it’s great with cucumber, but this drink is great, too! Hope you try it!
What a gorgeous bottle! I love that its called Deaths Door!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
I know, isn’t the name great?! The bottle is so interesting, too!
I find gin to be a better base than vodka. It has more character.
Agreed! There are so much more flavors in gin, and they are all so different from each other!
I’ve been experimenting with mixing a lot of gin drinks that are more fruity lately (Tried a Gin & Jam last weekend actually) so you totally have my attention with a pomegranate liqueur. I can’t wait to make this one!
Thanks! It’s kind of like a grown up Shirley Temple! 🙂 Cheers!
I love anything with gin, so I’ll for sure be trying this!
I haven’t tried a lot of gin cocktails in my life, but it’s about time that I did!!
Do it! They are so good, especially if you find a gin you really like! (we had to try a lot to find the ones we like the best!)
This sounds so refreshing for the hot weather in my part of the world. It’s going on the list!
Thanks! Yes, it would be great for those hot days! Cheers!
This sounds like a perfect drink for our girls night – as we are kinda crushing on pomegranate. Love the Gin bottle n the name of the drink ‘Superlative Juvenile’ 🙂
Thanks! We love the gin bottle, too, it’s so neat!