buffalo gals - bourbon with meyer lemon & rosemary

you don't have to call this drink "buffalo gals." you don't have to make it with buffalo trace bourbon, for one thing. making it with a different bourbon would make the name make even less sense than it already does.

also, it isn't just for gals. i don't even ever say "gals," even though i am from texas and some people expect that. although it does have a nice bright floral thing going on with the meyer lemon syrup, this is not a stereotypical girly drink.

this drink means business. or lounging on a sunday afternoon/evening. it is flexible.

although you could just use regular lemon sorry, you really need meyer lemon in here. or maybe something similarly complex, like cocktail citrus or possibly mandarin oranges with lemon juice as well.

anyway, peel the lemon zest in long strips, trying not to get too much white pith. a little is not a big deal, but don't like dig down in there.

sorry, my brain isn't working well. too much studying and not-studying. when i'm stressed out, i like to play stupid games that don't really require you to think that much. things like solitaire and, lately, asteroids. do you know that game? basically you're a little spaceship and you shoot asteroids and flying saucers and try not to get blown up. it's mindless but also vaguely entertaining, even though i am pretty bad at video games. i don't generally play them, since i don't like doing things i'm not good at, but for some reason, asteroids doesn't bother me like that. i guess i just figure that sure, i'm not particularly skilled at shooting space rocks, but that's why i went to law school rather than asteroids school.

i suppose the same could be said for games where you're a spy or whatever, but i've always sort of imagined that i'd be pretty good at being a spy, so i don't like the idea of discovering via video game that i would suck at it.

but anyway.

once you've peeled the lemon (it does take a sharp peeler, as they have very thin skin), add it, a smallish sprig of rosemary or two (see above) and half a cup each of sugar and water to a pan. bring it to a boil, let it boil for ~ 1 minute or so, then turn it off and let it cool.

this is a very simple drink, so you're almost done already.

bourbon. this one's good. there are also other ones.

once the syrup is cooled, mix the juice of 1/3 - 1/2 a meyer lemon, 1 1/2 - 2 ounces bourbon (to taste), and maybe 1 ounce or so (also to taste) of syrup. the amount of syrup you use depends on how sweet you like your drinks. the amount of bourbon you use depends on how bourbon-y you like your drinks.

that's it! stir, add ice, and sit out on the patio and enjoy the spring. i'll just be in here, alternately studying wills & trusts and playing asteroids.

*ingredients* for 2 drinks (you'll have syrup left over)

syrup

peel/zest from one meyer lemon

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

2 smallish sprigs fresh rosemary

drink

2 ounces bourbon (+/-)

juice from 1/2 meyer lemon

~ 1 ounce lemon-rosemary syrup (to taste)

*if you want to make it a little more afternoon-y and a little less Serious Whiskey, add some club soda or sparkling water

listening to: explosions in the sky

pear/ginger/lemon/bourbon

i know it's officially been fall for awhile now, but somehow late october is when fall starts seeming real to me. i think partly that's because in texas it's generally ridiculous-hot until then. here in portland, it's been pretty cool for awhile, but over the last couple of weeks the trees have started getting really colorful and the smell of woodsmoke is in the air. that's how you know.

fall has always been my favorite season. in texas, it means you lived through another summer (no small feat). in portland, it means scarves, boots, and brisk walks where you crunch through leaves and can see your breath. then when you get home, you can drink this to warm up!

this drink has a wealth of classic fall flavor - the sweet pear, spicy ginger, and, uh, lemony lemon combine with bourbon to make the perfect pick-me-up après-hike. or après-thrift-shopping. or après-whatever-you-like-to-do-on-a-saturday.

plus, you can make a batch ahead of time and then if people drop by unexpectedly, you can nonchalantly be like, "oh, would you like a fancy cocktail? i just whipped this up, no biggie." and they will be all, "wow, you are the fanciest!" and you will smile demurely and pass the cheese straws.

anyway. ginger:
you definitely want some fresh ginger for this. i use a spoon to scrape the papery skin off and then just slice it up (probably not with the spoon, unless it is one of those weird grapefruit ones). it doesn't really matter how thick they are, but think coins, rather than chunks.

i leave the skin on the pear and slice it from the top, also into coins. but you can totes slice it into wedges or whatever. i just think the extra surface area of the coins makes it easier to get it infused into the bourbon (yeah, that's where this is going). but follow your bliss.

then just put the pear and ginger into a thingy, add some strips of lemon rind (you can use a vegetable peeler or knife - just avoid the white pith part) smash them a few times with a wooden spoon to get the oils and whatever started, and add some bourbon.

i ended up using about a cup or so of bourbon, one small pear, maybe an inch and a half or two inches of a thinnish ginger root, and about 1/4 or 1/3 of a lemon's rind. then just cover it and let it sit for awhile. it doesn't have to be too long, but i would leave it for at least a few hours. overnight would be good as well.

then you can strain it, put some in a glass, maybe add some lemon juice if you aren't a fan of the sweetz, top it off with ginger ale or (preferably) ginger beer (it's stronger and much more gingery) and ice, and add a sliver of pear if you want to feel super-fancy. you could also use rye or another kind of whiskey or maybe even dark rum. hooray for fall!

*ingredients* for a number of drinks (4? 6? it depends on how much bourbon you want in yours)

1 small ripe pear

1 1/2-2 inches of ginger root, cut in coins

peel from 1/4-1/3 lemon

1 cup (+/-) bourbon

ginger ale/ginger beer

lemon juice, to taste

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.

the rapture (!)

soooo, we are all eagerly awaiting the rapture, right?
that special time when ... okay, i looked it up, but i kind of don't understand or want to understand it, so i think it is when the besties are allowed up to heaven and all the other losers are left here to loot and wallow in our own filth.

anywho, i thought i was going to have a thing about cold-brewed coffee, which is delicious regardless of your faith (uh, sorry mormons, but i am 99% sure that it would be good with decaf), but the rapture! has come upon us! like (as i was reading somewhere earlier) new year's eve! you can watch asia celebrate, then europe, then new york, etc., as you await your own party-time.

now that i am in a fairly western time zone (portlandia ftw!) i am looking forward to watching the rapture unfold tomorrow as more easterly nations rise and fall with the coming of ... and here is where i should have read a thing about it and didn't care to...

but! if you are not that concerned, or if you are concerned enough to want a drink in hand while awaiting whatever fate Fate decides to bestow upon us, you could actually do worse than the drink, "the rapture."

seriously, i am as surprised as anyone. this was originally intended to be the sad combination of a joke and an excuse to buy bourbon, but in fact it is really delicious.

here it is (as evidenced in the above picture): bourbon (because kentucky is the home of the creation museum, featuring adam and eve and dinosaurs frolicking, as the new yorker has so astutely mentioned); sriracha (aka rooster sauce) for the hellfires that will perhaps burn the unfaithful; lime, for the sour taste that will be left in the mouths of those who must loot to survive and will never taste heaven's ambrosia; and coke, because it is coke and is all-american and sweet, to boot.

seriously, i never thought this would be good, but in fact it is(-ish).

so, if you want a cocktail to ease the transition to a new world order, you could do worse than the rapture.

take a measure (whatever measure you fancy) of bourbon (early times was on sale! end times!) and add a squirt (not too crazy-big, unless you really like vinegar and hotness) of sriracha and a larger squirt (perhaps even up to a half's-worth) of lime, stir, then fill with good ol' coca cola and some ice.

it totally sounds gross, but it is actually ... pretty good. we were all surprised. maybe this rapture thing won't be so bad.

***just so everyone's on the same page, this was pretty good in the sense that it was not totally nasty. however, in the interest of full disclosure, i only had like 1/2 of one. but it was a drinkable 1/2. i don't think you want to go out and buy all the stuff just to make this, though.

until, apparently, next october! can't wait!
*ingredients*

bourbon

coca cola

lime

sriracha
ice!