Sundress Season: The most wonderful time of the year and the name of a cocktail I created
Perfect for any occasion as soon as the weather breaks a bit. Yes, the analogy applies to the dress and the drink.
Sun’s out. Knees out.
Growing up in Oklahoma as a young teenager, that was my philosophy when deciding what to wear to school in the Springtime. The thought is that yes, it will likely be in the neighborhood of 50 degrees when I leave my mom’s domicile at 7:45 a.m., but by the time noon hits in the Sooner State, the temps would be closer to 80. Such is life when you live in a high variance weather state.
Nowadays, I am a California resident, and I can pretty much wear shorts year-round if I so choose. However, for women, their wardrobe choices are much more vast and varied, depending on the season. And there’s one particular option that, when chosen, you immediately know that Springtime is here.
The Sundress.
Last week, I put together a story on the 2022 trends of the whiskey industry. In it, two voices were highlighted that I can’t recommend enough for their work. One is OJ Lima, co-founder of Taste Select Repeat, who runs one of the best online bottle shops on Al Gore’s internet. The other is Kurt Maitland, author of Drink: The Ultimate Cocktail Book, and someone willing to share advice and libations with me in the past. He also shared a copy of his book with me and even signed it.
And here’s where the embarrassment hits.
(looks left)
(looks right)
(sighs)
I allowed the book to be used as decor in our living room.
For months on end, there it sat on a shelf under our flat-screen TV in our living room. I looked at it, and then The Boy would cry, or dinner would be made, and I’d tell myself that I’d take it off the shelf one day.
Nine months later, I finally did.
GOT DAMN YO, WHAT THE HELL WAS I WAITING SO LONG FOR? THIS THING HAS MAGIC IN IT! GOOD GRIEF ED, YOU FOOL!
Drink: The Ultimate Cocktail Handbook officially has over 1,100 recipes in it. However, your boy zoomed right for the section that held Maitland’s whiskey cocktails. I’ve experimented a bit and found a few gems, but with my wife having her sorority line sister visiting for the weekend, the entertainer in me wanted to drop something fresh for the duo.
Maitland has a cocktail called Derby Season, which uses a sturdy bourbon and pairs it with lemon juice and simple syrup. Once stirred with ice and strained, the drink demanded to be topped with a Dry Rosé and garnished with a lemon peel.
It’s a good drink, but I aspired to revamp it into something of my own in typical Ed fashion.
See, the lemon juice and wine bring plenty of acidity to the drink, and my initial thought was my simple syrup’s sweetness didn’t bring enough punch to balance things out. My solution? Agave syrup.
After a few trials and two willing participants, I tweaked Maitland’s ratios to something more suited for the ingredients. By Sunday, it was 80 degrees, sundresses were flowing and requests for my elevated cocktail were coming in.
But first, I needed to put on a pair of shorts and name my new creation.
Recipe: Sundress Season
Serve:Â A big wine glass
Garnish:Â Lemon wedge
Ingredients:
2.0 oz — Wild Turkey 101 (Any bourbon will suffice, although I’d recommend using one that’s higher than 80 proof)
0.75 oz — Lemon juice
0.5 oz — Agave syrup (Could go to 0.75 oz if using a light agave syrup)
0.5 oz — Dry Rosé (for topping)
Make: Place the bourbon, lemon juice and agave syrup in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir. Strain into a wine glass filled with ice, top with Rosé and garnish with the strip of lemon peel.
A few things here.
One, use a nice large wine glass. Like one of those goblet ones if you have one.
Use plenty of ice for mixing and in the glass. Trust me on this.
I used a bottled lemon juice from the grocery store, but fresh squeezed is the way to go if you can.
This will be one of my favorite drinks to make because it’s approachable and fun. It has good color, it smells good and it’s delicious.
Ladies, break out the sundresses and enjoy Springtime. Fellas, this is the year we show off a bit more thigh meat this year. I’m thinking 7-inch inseam. Who’s with me? Anybody? Hello?
Enjoy the drink and Sip Mightily. If you made this, let us know if you liked it.
I'll make for the wife, but I'm gonna stick with a minimum 9" inseam.
Ooooo gonna make this for me!