5 Fresh Spring Cocktail Recipes

Tingle your taste buds and lighten your spirits with these five delicious cocktails this season

 

1. Lind’s Lemonade

Recipe by lead bartender Jimmy Shelton, Chambar

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 oz Matusalem Rum (or rum of choice)
• 1 oz Limoncello
• 1 oz lemon juice
• ¾ oz hibiscus syrup*
• 2 oz Strange Fellows Pale Ale (or ale of choice)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Shake all ingredients together, except Sle.
2. Build in tall glass.
3. Top with ice.

HIBISCUS SYRUP INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup dried hibiscus
• ¾ raw honey or raw sugar
• 1 cup of water

METHOD

1. Bring water to boil.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Mix in dried hibiscus petals and honey/sugar.
4. Steep for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Strain and refrigerate until cool.
6. Store in jar (up to one week).

*Hibiscus syrup also available for purchase at Vancouver-based company Cahoots.

 

2. Naughty Lemonade

Recipe by bar manager Max Borrowman, Juniper

INGREDIENTS 

• 1½ oz Tanqueray No. Ten gin (or gin of choice)
• ½ oz Meyer lemon oleo saccharum (recipe below) or limoncello as a substitute
• 1 oz grapefruit juice
• ¼ oz lemon juice
• 1 dash lime leaf bitters

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all ingredients together.
2. Shake with ice.
3. Pour into glass of choice.
4. Garnish with lemon twist.

HOW TO MAKE MEYER LEMON OLEO SACCHARUM

1. Soak lemon peels from one Meyer lemon in sugar and leave overnight.
2. The sugar eats away at the peels and turns to liquid, becoming an extremely fragrant lemon-flavoured syrup.

 

3. Capitan Melendez

Recipe by bartender Scotty Marshall and co-owner Ron Oliver, Mamie Taylor’s

INGREDIENTS 

• 1½ oz Pisco (or brandy of choice)
• ½ oz Suze Liqeur (aperitif)
• 1 oz barrel-aged house vermouth (or vermouth of choice)
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine ingredients in shaker and fill with ice.
2. Shake vigorously.
3. Strain into cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

 

 

4. Persephone

Recipe by beverage director Stephen Whiteside, Minami

INGREDIENTS

• 1 oz Absolut Vanilla vodka
• ½ oz Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth (or vermouth of choice)
• ½ oz Sakagura Nigori Umeshu (or sake of choice)
• 1? oz sparkling wine
• Amaretto-rinsed glass
• 3 edible flowers

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Coat champagne flute with amaretto.
2. Shake vodka, vermouth and sake with ice.
3. Strain into flute.
4. Top with sparkling wine.
5. Garnish with edible flower petals.

 

 

5. Emarosa

Recipe by Bartender Kris Girard, Torafuku

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ oz strawberry-infused Pisco (or other strawberry-flavoured liqueur of choice)
• 1½ oz lemongrass jasmine tea simple syrup (recipe below)
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 oz egg whites
• 2 to 3 dried rose buds

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all ingredients together.
2. Dry shake once (no ice), then shake again (with ice) and double strain.
3. Garnish with dehydrated and crushed rose buds.

LEMONGRASS JASMINE TEA SIMPLE SYRUP INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup chopped lemongrass
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 jasmine tea bag

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring water to boil.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Mix in sugar and lemongrass.
4. Add jasmine tea bag.
5. Steep tea for approximately 5 minutes.
6. Refrigerate until cool.
7. Store in jar (up to one week).

Suggested substitution: Lemon simple syrup, available for purchase at Vancouver-based company Cahoots.