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My New Favorite Drink: The Boozy Garden

Just before embarking on my week-long stay at a cabin with my in-laws and friends, I posted to Twitter and Facebook, hoping to find a local cocktail that would impress the crowd. My friends chimed in helpfully, offering suggestions such as "gin and lake water" (thanks Graeme!) and "lemonade with Shaker vodka, muddled local raspberries or Door County cherries, and mint (thanks nearly everyene else?)."

Although the lemonade drink was - by far - the biggest hit with my wife, I found myself drawn to something entirely different. It's a cocktail suggested by The Strip Club's JD Fratzke, with the following ingredients:

Here's how I made it:

  1. Peel and cut cucumber, wash mint.
  2. Muddle cucumber and mint at the bottom of a tall glass.
  3. Add ice.
  4. Add a shot of vodka.
  5. Add a (generous, in my case) teaspoon of honey. Stir.
  6. Fill the rest of the glass with club soda or ginger beer. Stir again.

Those of us who liked this drink really liked it - if the ingredients sound appealing to you, it's a shoe-in. My wife doesn't like the idea of cucumber in her drinks, for example (she doesn't do Hendrick's Gin either), so there was no way this was going to work for her. As always, it really helps to use great ingredients (like the ones I've listed above). When we ran out of Ames Farm honey, we used whatever we could find in the local grocery store. The difference was enormous.

A friend said the drink reminded her of drinking straight from a fresh garden, so I've named the drink The Boozy Garden. Thanks JD - I hope I made you proud!