when winter tastes like endless summer cocktails ~

it has been a whole year already that I am finding myself in magical Guatemala. feeling so lucky to be feeling warming sun on my skin almost every day, a luxury in all its beautiful simplicity. while it was snowing back home in Berlin, memories of winter flooded my imagination when designing my cocktails for my last Wild Cocktail Popup at Luna Zorro surrounded by lush garden scapes and coffee plantations.

We created two cocktails that I would love to share with you, they are best enjoyed around the fire while it is cold outside or with friends in the wild outdoors under blue skies. refreshing anda little nostalgic ~ a mix of simmer vibes and winter feels embracing what our local surrounds provide

Golden Curcuma Gin

recipe

1 1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin

3/4 oz Curcuma Syrup (home-made or by Monin)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger juice

3/4 oz lime juice

we love using Bombay Sapphire Gin given its sweet tangy flavour notes backed with mild botanicals that complement the curcuma so well in this drink

preparation

~ add all ingredients in your shaker over ice and mix well

~ served in a whiskey glass, pour over fresh ice cubes

~ garnish with a dehydrated orange

Curcuma Syrup

mix one cup of washed and roughly chopped turmeric together with 1/2 cup of lime juice in a blender until both are well combined in a smooth paste. if too dry add a little filtered water
squeeze the paste through a fine cloth and allow all the juices to be extracted. this may take a little while and you may want to leave the mix to drip through the cloth overnight in the fridge
then heat up the extraction gently (not boiling) over low heat and add equal parts of sugar (1:1 liquid to sugar ratio). stir for a few minutes and take off the heat. allow to cool down and stir every 20 minutes for an hour for all the sugar to dissolve
keep refrigerated in an airtight glass jar or bottle until use

Mango Chile Mezcal

recipe

1 1/2 oz Mezcal

1 oz mango chile cobanero infusion

3/4 oz lime juice

splash of soda water

Garnish: salt chile rim, thyme

preparation

there are so many beautiful mezcal, my favourite ones come from the Oaxaca region in a small town called Matatlan. for this recipe a beautiful smokey Mezcal lends itself best. Did you know that the smokyness that Mezcal often carries is actually a defect during production? yet a subtle smokey flavour goes so nicely with the fresh and sweet Mango cutting through the spice of the chile.

~ add all ingredients in your shaker over ice and mix well

~ served in a short tumbler, pour over fresh ice cubes

~ finish off with a splash of sparkling soda water

~ garnish with a twig of thyme and a salt chile rim

prepare the mango chile blend

peel 4 large, ripe and sweet mangos and remove the core
blend the mango together with 2oz of organic apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup of filtered water and a pinch of ground cobanero chile (depending how hot you like it). the heat of the chile will develop over time. I suggest to allow the chile infusion overnight and use the blend in the cocktail the next day
keep the mango chile mix refridgerated until using

Golden Curcuma Cocktail