Southern Mixology with Laura : Volume 1

I am so very excited to introduce a new contributor to The Tales of a Tumbleweed Blog - Meet Laura, a most excellent mixologist here in Chattanooga. She is a writer for nooga.com and bar manager/educator at a local, downtown bistro. We have become fast friends and since I received many requests to share drink recipes in addition to Dude Food, I thought it only fair I bring in an expert! Today, Laura is sharing two recipes for some great late summer cocktails. Perfect for a weekday evening when the sun gets low and the fireflies begin to dance. Hope you love them as much as we loved making them for you!

This version of a “Horse’s Neck” is light and fruity, but bitter and refreshing. With the cool weather coming a little more quickly than usual, I’m finding myself trying to hold on to the last bits of summer and transition into fall. What better way to savor summer fruit (and keep it for a few months) than by infusing it? I like to use one peach per jar, and then fill the rest of the way with bourbon. Don’t worry about using the fancy stuff when you’re infusing, you’ll lose some due to absorption by the fruit. 

For bitters, I like the house-made stuff, so you can manipulate the flavor. (we'll show you how to make your own bitters in a few weeks!) Other flavors I’ve put into my mixture are peach, orange and Angostura.

Top with ginger ale and grab a large peel of lemon and voila! Try this if you’re into bourbon + ginger ale or Old Fashioned’s.

Here's the recipe!

1.5 oz Peach infused Bourbon
.75- 1 oz Bitters
Ginger Ale
Lemon Peel

This Pimm’s Cup is an homage to late season rhubarb. Pimm’s Cups are everywhere now and rightfully so. There’s no better patio sipper than this, when it's well made.

Pimm’s is low in alcohol and slightly bitter, so I like to add a little gin to liven it up. Find some fruit (or in this case, rhubarb + cucumber) to muddle and shake with the booze, *simple syrup and lemon.

If you have mint, I recommend adding that as well! Strain it off and top with soda (the flavored Pellegrino’s are the best!) Garnish with what remains of your fruit and find a porch swing, stat. 

Here's the recipe!

1 oz Pimm’s

.5 oz Gin
.5 oz Syrup
.5 oz Lemon
Soda
Seasonal Fruit

*Syrup from Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. You can find it HERE and this stuff is amazing. For non-drinkers, it would be so good in a sprite with some lemon slices and a splash of cranberry!

Hope you enjoyed the first installment of Southern Mixology with Laura. She'll be back soon with a recipe for bitters and some more early fall cocktails, and one very special punch we'll be making for the Southern Blogger Mixer! 

xo,

Beca