cherry/lime/ginger/bourbon

wow, it's been more than a month since i featured a cocktail recipe.

lest you be concerned, this in no way relates to the frequency of my cocktail-drinking. that is still going on, but i've been sticking mainly to classics; namely, the gin + tonic. i haven't even been making my own elderflower gin cocktail. what can i say? i don't think g+ts can really be improved upon too much as far as balance and tastiness.

that being said, woman cannot survive august's heat on gin alone. this past weekend, portland's temperature got up past 90 degrees for the first. time. all. summer.

let us (particularly those from warmer climes) pause and marvel at that for a minute. i still can't believe it myself. being from texas, i am used to 90 degree days in march. to pass the bulk of the summer in cooler temperatures is nothing short of a miracle to me.

that being said, i think my blood has thickened or something, because it felt really hot in our house. even the dogs were moping around everywhere searching for somewhere cooler to flop. this drink was a great help in the general cooling-down effort (note: we did not give cocktails to the dogs).

it combines fresh (or you could use frozen) muddled cherries with lime juice, ginger beer, and bourbon. when you sip it, you feel immediately as though you're in jamaica or something. although i've never been to jamaica myself, i assume that's due to the ginger beer and the relaxation that washes over you as you drink up.

cut the cherries in half (maybe 4-5 per drink) and remove the pits (if you don't much care for your guests, leave the pits in for a nice surprise!). add the juice from a quarter of a lime and smash them together with a muddler or a wooden spoon or something like that. add bourbon and ice and fill the rest of the glass with ginger beer. you could use ginger ale instead, but ginger beer is way more gingery and delicious. it makes ginger ale look like sprite in comparison. and sprite is really not what you want for this drink. if you can't find ginger beer, you could use ginger ale and some fresh ginger, muddling the fresh ginger with the cherries.

whatever you do, make this soon. it is extremely refreshing and may just usurp gin + tonics for the all-too-brief bit of summer we have left. i am thinking of calling it "the chillax" - ask for it by name!

*ingredients*

4-5 cherries

juice from 1/4 lime

bourbon

1/2 or so bottle of ginger beer

lots of ice

*after you finish the drink, make sure to eat the gingery bourbon-y cherries - they're perhaps the best part.