Drinks should be just as special and well thought out as food. Period.
Not once had I ever tasted St. Germain, before I happened upon it one fine day in NYC. It's a highly addictive liqueur made from wild elderflower (picked in the Alps), that once you inhale a bit, you're done in. It's over. The stars align, the birds chirp and life seems to continually be on the up and up!
This drink found its way into my happy little paws one night in in the city after a pals play. The bartender had crafted up this doozie one day in the middle of the summer to take advantage of all the fresh produce. Namely watermelon and cucumber. It's so easy to recreate, which I have done multiple times to the delight of all who get enveloped in her gracefully sippable aura.
So - you muddle cucumber. You muddle watermelon. Toss both into a glass and add a couple hits of St. Germain as well as some somewhat dry Savignon Blanc. Shake it super well and strain the whole bit into a fresh glass of ice (with a bit of the muddle at the bottom).
Literally off the charts as far as drinks are concerned. I was thinking another good one would be Texas Tears. But this time, use ginger liquer and something really spicy like baby bits of jalapeno juice to top it off.
Once you have drinks like this, everything else seems so pedestrian and blase. I can almost never drink another vodka or rum drink again. Unless, of course, its Bison Grass vodka. And, there is that rum I discovered in Nicaragua, Flor de Cana. And, I still love my Indo rum, Jamaica.
But still...like I said, all drinks quaffed should be just as special as the food ya shove down. If only bartenders 'round the world understood this.
