I’ve never been a huge gin and tonic fan.
Margaritas? Definitely.
Vodka sodas? The drink of my choice in my 20s.
Dirty martinis? Oh, hell yes.
But gin and tonics, the summertime standard drink, never really appealed to me until we hosted some family earlier this year, and the red wine we had on hand was running precariously low.
“Do you have any liquor?†a cousin asked. We did – a lone bottle of gin given as a gift.
We also happened to have tonic water. But no lime.
I quickly whipped together the standard gin and tonic, replacing the lime with rosewater (which I had used in the biryani I made earlier).
“MMMMMM! Oh, it’s so good!â€
I quickly whipped up one to taste for myself. She was right.
Since then, it’s been my go-to cocktail on hot days. It also got me to purchase dried organic rose buds for some extra rosiness – and to make it prettier.
Ingredients
- Gin
- Tonic (splurge on Fevertree – you won’t regret it)
- Rosewater
- Dried organic rosebuds
- Ice cube tray
Directions
- Fill an ice-cube tray with 2-3 rosebuds per cube. Pour 1 teaspoon of rosewater in each cube, and fill 2/3 with water. Freeze.
- In a cocktail shaker, add 1 part gin, 1 tablespoon rosewater, and regular ice. Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds.
- Pop 2-3 rosewater ice cubes in a rocks glass. Strain and pour the gin and rosewater mixture, and top with tonic.
- Garnish the cocktail with some additional rosebuds.
You can use the rosewater and rosebuds in this delicious mocktail. Other cocktails in my arsenal – this festive mimosa and the world’s greatest hot toddy.
I share a new recipe on Mondays. You can find them all here.
