Here in the northwest it is starting get a little less overcast and with it comes a new sense of life.  I have lived in the Midwest, East Coast, and So cal; all three have great summers.  The difference though is that in Seattle, we appreciate the hell out of summer.  We have two seasons, the rainy one and August!  The more we get of August, the better everyone feels about being here.  My last post was a chartreuse ice cream for the hot weather and I have another summer drink that is sure to please.  It has an unusual ingredient though… a Gastrique?
   Gastrique is a fancy French word for vinegar simple syrup.  You can make them a million ways but a good base recipe was in the Jan/Feb 2008 of Imbibe.  One of the most common vinegars people have in their shelves would be red or white wine vinegar.  They are very popular in Europe and their Mediterranean neighbors; wine vinegar is a huge “untapped” resource for the cocktail enthusiast.  You can of course use any vinegar, or wine for that matter but there are countless varieties of vinegar that you can experiment with to cater to your specific customer base.  To name a few that you can buy online or at a hippie grocery store are; Beer, Rice, Fruit, Infused, All sorts of colors, Malt, Cider, Balsamic, Coconut, Palm, Raisin, Cane, Honey, and Kittens.  The last one I hope is fake;) but the point is that the list is huge.  With a little experimentation, you can create a very sweet, very unique tasting syrup to add to anything you would like.
   I am sharing with you my recipe for Lemon (hint of pepper) Gastrique, here goes:

 
       The Possibilities cocktail

       13/4 oz gin
       1 oz lemon Gastrique
       1/2 oz simple syrup
       1/2 oz sweet vermouth
       2 dashes lemon bitters
       Put all in a shaker with ice and shake well, double strain into cocktail glass.

 
       Lemon Gastrique

       1 cup (cheap) red wine vinegar
       1 cup sugar
       Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
       10 crushed peppercorns (about 1/4 teaspoon)
       1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (what for?)
       1/8 teaspoon coarse (sea) salt
       Add all together in a pot and bring to medium heat and a very light boil.  Bring heat down just a little and reduce by one third (1/3).  Take off of heat and let sit to cool and continue to infuse flavor for about 10 minutes or so.  Put into squeeze bottle, add a little vodka, and use for the next week or two.  Makes a little over 1 cup, so if you like this as much as I do, double and triple the recipe as needed.

   Once you taste the possibilities of this you will understand why I love Gastriques so much.  Enjoy this drink and any others you come up with, Prost!

Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer