Welcome to our 100th post! It’s hard to believe that nearly an entire year has passed since we got off of our butts and actually brought this dream to fruition. In the true spirit of celebration, we wanted to feature a spin on one of our favorite cocktails, the Mimosa. Have we mentioned that we’re absolute slaves to a good brunch? Wanting to pay homage to the summer season, we thought it might be nice to add a little watermelon purée to this denizen of Sunday mornings. Watermelon Mimosas sound fantastic, right? The problem is that for as lovely as they sound, they’re basically watermelon purée and champagne. We love simple, but we were going for something that requires slightly more effort than could be managed by a chimpanzee in an apron. Back to the drawing board we went. Of course we weren’t there for very long when Kyle brought up the French 75, which coincidentally celebrated the 100th anniversary of its origins just last year. Talk about kismet.
The traditional version of this libation contains gin, lemon juice and sugar, but the ingredient that made it so perfect for raising a glass on this momentous occasion is…wait for it…champagne! You can, of course, use any sparkling wine, but we already have Kool & the Gang blaring, and little bubbly always spells party. Also, we got to stay in the same family of cocktails while simultaneously exercising our creative muscle a little. Word. Up. Wanting to put our own stamp on it (duh), we added a couple of particularly summery ingredients.
Frankly, we just couldn’t shake the idea of the watermelon purée. It added such a beautiful color and flavor, and it’s so abundant right now that we just couldn’t resist, so into the mix it went. We also love adding herbal elements to our cocktails, which you already know, of course. This compulsion is particularly strong when there is gin anywhere near the recipe, because it just plays so darn well with so many different herbs. We wanted something that would also complement the watermelon and lemon. Basil was the perfect choice, as it met all of those criteria, and it’s a little more interesting and unconventional than simple mint. (Um, Basil Lemonade, anyone?)
Having all of the components that we were aiming for in place, it was time to break out the cocktail shaker and the fancy-schmancy champagne flutes. For this recipe, we omitted the simple syrup contained in the traditional French 75. The watermelon purée was sufficiently sweet and the resulting cocktail is pale pink, lightly sweet and supremely refreshing, with a perfect herbaceous note to tie it all together.
It seems we have found not just a signature cocktail for celebrating our first 100 recipes, but one that is also certain to become a staple of our summer cocktail repertoire. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to make some Corn Ricotta Crostini (our first published recipe) to pair with this lovely drink.
Thanks go out to everyone who has followed us on our journey, offering feedback, actually making the recipes, and celebrating the bits and pieces of success and recognition that we’ve had along the way. It’s made the work all the more enjoyable, and considering that we’ve barely scratched the surface of our recipe “wish list,” we look forward to sharing this adventure in food with you all for many years to come. Cheers and love to you!
- 1 ½ ounces gin
- 3 ounces watermelon puree
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 3 - 4 basil leaves, torn
- 4 ounces sparkling wine
- Lemon peel and thinly sliced basil, for garnish
- To make the watermelon puree: Scoop out half of a small watermelon into a blender and puree on high until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds and pulp. This will yield about 2 ½ cups watermelon puree.
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add gin, watermelon puree, lemon juice, and basil. Shake vigorously and strain into 2 champagne flutes. Top each glass with 2 ounces of sparkling wine.
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