Lemon and Ginger Divine

Welcome to the Cocktail Chatterbox!  To give you a bit of background, I'm a 25+ years bartender with a passion for flavor pairings and mixology!  I'm also a single mom, an avid furniture restorer and beach paperback reader, and animal enthusiast (thanks to my dog and cats).  I tell you this because I'm a "normal",  well-rounded individual, who appreciates that the world cannot revolve around a recipe ... #justsayin !

I thought I'd start this blog with one of my favorite past creations .... Enjoy at your own risk, and hit me up if you have any questions!

The Lemon Ginger Martini

Citrus and Spice always seem to go quite well together ... Kind of like Sonny and Cher, or Rogers and Hammerstein.  In this case, a hint of rosemary compliments the pairing fantastically.

What you'll need (tools and ingredients):

• Cocktail Shaker
• Cocktail Strainer
• Muddling Tool
• 2 oz. of lemon vodka (optional .. if you want to create a mocktail, simply don't use the vodka & follow the rest of the recipe)
• 1 slice of ginger root
• 2 slices of fresh lemon
• 1 oz of rosemary ginger syrup*

Directions:

• Muddle the fresh lemon & ginger root in the rosemary ginger syrup in your shaker until slightly pulverized (essentially, until you feel the muscles in your arm starting to wake up, or until you see that the ingredients being muddled are mushed and have the ability to float .... whichever comes first!)
• Add 2 ounces of lemon vodka, a splash of water, and ice
• Shake until frosty (literally this means until the shaker has frost on it ... in physiological terms, either your hands are cold from holding the shaker, or your arm feels like your tricep and/or bicep is buff!)
• Strain into a martini glass (After removing the smaller cup from the shaker, place the strainer over the top and press forward so that pulp does not flow into the martini glass while pouring)
• Feel free to garnish with a lemon twist or whatever makes you feel spectacular about the fabulous drink you've just created and are about to consume!
• Enjoy!!

*Rosemary Ginger Syrup

• Dissolve equal parts of sugar into boiling water (1 pint of sugar + 1 pint of water .. or whatever amount you want to make!)
• Add 1 broken up stalk of Fresh Rosemary and 1 piece of Peeled & Sliced ginger root (ginger root tends to be a variety of sizes ... {if you can hold the entire unpeeled root in your hand without it overlapping off the edge, you should have enough for 1 to 2 quarts of syrup.  Essentially, its up to you on how much spice you want in your syrup, but I would suggest half a palm of uncut root per pint.)
• Bring to a "tiny bubbles boil" and let simmer for 20-25 minutes (Take my advice, Do Not Bring This To a Full, Outright, Mega-Hilt Boil!  The sugar in it will cause the creation of interesting rock candy upon cooling! Sadly, I learned this the hard way ... #Oopsmoment )
• Strain the syrup into a container and cool. (The easiest way is to strain it from one pot into another that's sitting in ice, but that's if you need immediate cool down.  If you've got the time, you can strain the syrup into whatever you plan to store it in, then simply do not put a lid on the container until it's cooled completely.)

Now that you've created your cocktail or mocktail, let me know how it goes!  Better yet, send pics!  Happy Drinking!