Cheers! It’s World Cocktail Day!

These recipes are brought to you by Salt Creek Grille – Princeton.

On this day in 1806, the earliest use of the word cocktail was recorded, in the May 1806 edition of The Balance and Columbian Repository.

To celebrate, Salt Creek Grille’s Bar Manager, Pat McMenamin, offered up recipes for three delicious summer-is-coming cocktails. Cheers!

 

Strawberry Basil Mojito

The strawberry basil mojito (pictured at top) is a sumptuous twist on a classic cocktail. The strawberry and basil flavors are refreshing and pretty, cool and citrusy, and a great sign that summer is right around the corner.

Ingredients:

  • 1½ oz light rum
  • 2 or 3 strawberries, sliced (see instructions for strawberry simple syrup below)
  • 4 or 5 fresh basil leaves
  • ½ oz fresh lime juice
  • club soda

For strawberry simple syrup: Combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup quartered strawberries in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes while stirring. Let cool before using.

Directions:

  1. Muddle strawberries and basil at the bottom of a tall glass.
  2. Fill glass with ice; add rum, strawberry simple syrup, and lime juice.
  3. Stir all ingredients together and top with club soda.

 

Watermelon Mojito, Jersey Bites, World Cocktail Day
Watermelon Mojito, from Salt Creek Grille – Princeton

Watermelon Mojito

Ingredients:

  • 1½ oz Bacardi rum
  • ½ oz Roses lime juice
  • 5 mint leaves
  • 2 red watermelon cubes
  • 1 lime wedge
  • soda water
  • splash of watermelon purée

Directions:

  1. Muddle mint and watermelon cubes together.
  2. Add a splash of watermelon puree and shake with rum and lime juice.
  3. Pour into a highball glass, top with a splash of club soda, garnish with a lime wheel.

 

SCG Gin Blossom, Jersey Bites, World Cocktail Day
Gin Blossom, from Salt Creek Grille – Princeton

Gin Blossom

The gin blossom is a modern, fruitier take on the classic martini, created by Julie Reiner, owner of the Flatiron Lounge in Manhattan and the Clover Club in Brooklyn.

Ingredients:

  • 1½ oz gin
  • ½ oz St. Germain
  • ½ oz lemon juice
  • ½ oz orange blossom honey syrup (equal parts orange blossom honey and hot water)

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice.
  2. Stir and strain into a martini glass.
  3. Garnish with an edible orchid.

Salt Creek Grille – Princeton
Forrestal Village
1 Rockingham Row
Princeton
609-419-4200