A refreshing way to use up your garden’s herbs this summer, the garden rambler tastes eerily similar to a tequila-based mojito with a lovely pineapple simple syrup and anise-flavored chartreuse to up the flavor ante.
It’s not red, white, OR blue but I have your July 4th cocktail right huuuurrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
OMG you guys are gonna love this.
I still don’t know whether I’ll be working on the 4th so I decided to celebrate early with some cocktail experimentation. Not mad about that.
Recently I got a cookbook called Batch Cocktails, which has basically revolutionized the way I make cocktails. The whole premise of the book is that when you’re making cocktails for a party it’s a big pain to make them as you go or feel pressured to make them the day of (along with the billion other things that probably also need to be prepped at the last minute). I’ve totally run out of time to make cocktails for parties/holidays and just end up nixing it and pulling out a bottle of wine instead. We’ve all been there.
But NEVER AGAIN because each cocktail in the book can be prepped a day or two ahead of time so that all you have to do on the day of is maybe stir in an ingredient or two, add ice, and serve!
SO EASY.
I’m never cocktail-ing any other way again.
Plus how awesome is it to have a pitcher of homemade cocktail mix in your fridge, ready to go at any second?!?!
HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY is my new motto.
This cocktail, called the garden rambler, is kind of like a mojito in that it is lime-y, minty, and totally refreshing.
However, instead of rum it uses tequila (my fave!!), gets some fruity notes from a pineapple simple syrup, and some extra herbiness from a dash of green chartreuse. The drink then gets topped off with chilled club soda so it’s sparkling and fizzy.
The recipe calls for mint and basil, but you can also add extra herbs at the end to add some different flavor notes. Go where your garden tells you, you can’t go wrong.
- ½ cup fresh pineapple juice
- ½ cup sugar
- 1¼ cups blanco tequila
- ¼ cup green chartreuse
- 1 recipe chilled pineapple syrup
- ¾ cup fresh lime juice
- 2¼ cups chilled club soda
- 5 sprigs each mint and basil, plus other fresh herbs if desired
- Combine the pineapple juice and sugar in a small pot. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until chilled or up to 2 days.
- Combine the tequila, chartreuse, and pineapple syrup in a large pitcher. This can be stored in the fridge up to 2 days before serving.
- When ready to serve, pour in the lime juice, chilled club soda, and the herbs. Fill the pitcher with ice and stir gently to chill the mix. Serve immediately.
I am all in on this book!
LOVE. WANT. Bookmarked.