Back Down South

The Drink: If you Google “the best Pimm’s Cup in the world,” Jamie’s recipe on BarNotes is the first thing you’ll see. And it totally is.

Jamie wanted make a Pimm’s Cup for a dinner club. After doing a ton of research he discovered that, like so many classic cocktails, there are tons of ways people make their Pimm’s Cups. The main split is between the UK and American version. The UK (the originators) use lemonade and Pimm’s. The American’s (that’s us) use lemonade and Pimm’s. But what’s the difference? Well, “lemonade” in the UK is more like ginger ale. So, Jamie took the best of both words. He created this using fresh American lemonade (lemon juice + simple syrup) and lemonade (but with ginger beer instead of ale).

• 2 oz Pimm’s No. 01
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup (1:1)
• Gosling’s ginger beer
• 2 strawberries
• 2 lemon wheels
• 2 sprigs of mint
• Thin cucumber slice

Drop 1 strawberry, lemon wheel and 1 sprig of mint in the bottom of a Collins glass for a bottom of the glass garnish.
Add lemon juice, simple syrup, and Pimm’s.
Add ice and top with ginger beer.
Garnish with lemon wheel, half a strawberry, spring of mint and a thin cucumber slice.

The Glass: Collins glass from The Boston Shaker.

The Drink: This is another one from The PDT Cocktail Book that we’d never made before. It sounded like summer in a glass and turns out, that’s exactly what it is. It is SO DAMN REFRESHING! All caps. This was created by Jane Danger who named it after her Minnesota dream bar, Jane’s Sweet Melon Stand. We slightly adapted it by adding mint which really brought it home for us.

• 2 oz gin – the recipe calls for Plymouth but we used FEW American gin. Any straight gin would work in this, just avoid dry.
• 1 oz watermelon juice
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Aperol
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• Sprig of mint

Slap mint to release oils and drop in the shaker.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled Collins glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish with 3 watermelon balls on a pick.

The Glass: Collins glass from The Boston Shaker.

The Drink: This is one of the best drinks (and so easy to make at home) from The Stone Fox in Nashville, one of Jamie’s favorite bars.

• 1.5 oz St. Germain
• 3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• PBR

Build this cocktail in the glass starting with the grapefruit juice and St. Germain.
Add handful of crushed ice and top with PBR.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

The Glass: Handblown glass from Mexico.