It’s finally feeling like spring on a weekend in Western Washington, and we took all kinds of advantage of that yesterday. Beating the crowds to the tulip fields in Skagit Valley, hiking up to great views of Samish Bay from Oyster Dome, and shucking fresh oysters from Taylor Shellfish. In the backpack, we needed something that felt equally celebratory and spring-y.
Context
A spring flask cocktail was difficult for me to come up with – I wanted it to feel light and fresh, but without anything fresh or carbonated I wasn’t sure how to achieve that. I started thinking about a gin martini and how those manage to taste stringent and fresh at the same time, but I didn’t actually want to use vermouth (for once).
So instead, I looked to St. Germain and green Chartreuse to provide herbaceousness and complexity. I used Big Gin as the base, which has tons of juniper and bark notes in it, to deepen the profile. To round out the drink, I grabbed a bunch of bitters (sage spice from Addition, woodland bitters from PBP, and the trusty standby Regan’s Orange Bitters).
Making the Drink
I did dilute this one by stirring for a while with ice to tone down the flavors and open the drink up just a bit. So, fill a mixing glass with ice and add several dashes of each of the bitters. Then, add 1 part each of the liqueurs and 3 parts of the gin. Stir it, and strain it into a flask!
Tasting Notes
This is extremely bitter to start, tasting almost like pure gin. But then it very quickly gives way to herbs and spices outside of the gin, with more floral, sweet notes than the alcohol heat on the front. It finishes dry with the floral and spice notes lingering a bit, and overall it’s a satisfying swig that doesn’t linger.
Riffs
If you have some left in the flask at the end of they day, this makes a delicious highball. Pour 2.5 ounces into a glass with ice, throw in a few drops of a fresh citrus juice for added brightness, and top it with a fizzy sparkling water for a more refreshing sipper when you take your boots off and sit down on the couch for a while.
You could also use different bitters or add an amaro in instead of the chartreuse to get a similar drink with a more aggressive profile if that’s what you’re looking for.