The Sugar Hollow | Watermelon Gin Cocktail with Cardamom and Lime | #Drinkthesummer
Today is a special day. It's a day I get to love on and celebrate tons of talent in the blogosphere. It's the #DrinkTheSummer Cocktail bash, hosted by me and Sherrie of With Food and Love!
Sherrie and I have been planning this special day of boozy celebration for over a month. We started emailing about collaborating a while back. And we immediately knew that we wanted to focus on the joy that eating with the seasons brings to both of us. And inspire you guys with the beauty and bounty of the late Summer harvest!
So what's the easiest way to get a gaggle of bloggers to show off seasonal goodies? Get em to turn that sunshine-sweetness into dranks. Can't say no to that, can we?
Read on for links to the amazing cocktails & drinks everyone made!
On my part I've got this pink watermelon gin cocktail with campari, cardamom, and lime. At first glance it seems completely girlish. What with the color and all. But let's not judge a cocktail by it's color. This sipper is subtly sweet and refreshing -- as you might expect. But with nuanced bitter-sweet herbal overtones from the campari and cardamom. The lime adds enough acid to balance out the sweetness and round out the flavor. It's juicy, fresh, and sippable. With a twist.
It reminds me of hot days spent seeking escape from the sun and humidity. Driving along windy Southern roads in search of the many swimming holes around Charlottesville. Spending whole afternoons lazy alongside ice cold pools of fresh mountain water. Sinking my teeth deep into a huge slice of chilled watermelon. Juice dripping down my arms.
The most famous local swimming hole is Sugar Hollow. It's a series of different swimming spots, all linked together alongside a hiking trail. It's glorious. And it badly needs a drink named after it.
It's the Drink the Summer Cocktail Bash! | 40 Recipes to Swirl, Shake, Foam, Swizzle, and Sip
- Watermelon Juice
- 1 cup roughly chopped seedless watermelon, rind removed
- Cocktail
- 1 inch lime peel
- 1.5 ounces gin
- 1 teaspoon campari
- .5 ounces lime juice
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup (or simple syrup)
- 4 ounces watermelon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon black cardamom, ground
- 2 ice cubes
- Optional: thin slice of watermelon rind, to garnish
- Add the watermelon to the bowl of a high powered blender. Blend on high until the watermelon is liquified.
- Strain the juice through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or glass cup measure. Discard the fiber.
- Rub the inner rims of a coupe (stemmed cocktail glass) with lime peel. Discard the peel.
- Combine the gin, campari, lime juice, maple syrup, watermelon juice, ground cardamom and ice in a cocktail shaker.
- Cap and shake vigorously until the cocktail shaker is very cold to the touch (10-15 seconds).
- Add the watermelon rind to the glass.
- Strain the cocktail into the glass.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!