Tuesday, June 26, 2012

In the Pink - The Jasmine Cocktail

A terrific summer cocktail created in the 1990's by master bartender Paul Harrington for Matt Jasmine, a regular customer of Emeryville, California's Townhouse Bar and Grill.  The drink was inspired by the classic Prohibition cocktail, the Pegu, the signature drink of Burma's Pegu Club.  Like the Pegu, Harrington used gin as the base spirit, but substituted lemon for the lime and Campari for the bitters.  Manly pink in color.  The lemon and Cointreau counter the bitterness of the Campari and balance the drink nicely.  The recipe for a Jasmine is as follows:  combine 1.5 oz. gin (I prefer Plymouth), .25 oz. Cointreau, .25 oz. Campari, and .75 oz. lemon juice.  Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy with abandon.

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