The Gin Buck!

   A “Buck” is a type of drink originating from the late 1800’s made with a liquor base, juice from a lemon OR lime wedge, and topped with ginger ale.  For this month’s MixMo, hosted by Bibulous, which is 19th century cocktails I wanted to pick a drink that was off the radar a little.

  Ginger ale was invented in Ireland in the mid-1800’s but it took until the late 1800’s to early 1900’s to catch on in the states commercially.  So I’m assuming that the ginger ale in the early bucks was made in-house.
   What’s the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer you ask?  Ginger ale is less gingery!  With that basically being the big difference you can use spices and seasonings which will shine through more than the potent ginger beer.  I doubt ginger is an ingredient in most commercial ginger ales these days and you can taste the difference with this recipe but it is still subtle and familiar.
   This recipe is for one 16oz bottle:

       Homemade Ginger Ale
       1/2 oz ginger juice
       1 oz lemon juice
       14 oz spice water (see below)
       Combine all into a 16oz ez-cap bottle, warm, and carbonate with yeast.
       You can get ginger juice with a juicer or grating then straining with a cheese cloth.

       Spice Water
       14 oz water
       2 oz cane sugar
       2 whole cloves
       1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
       1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
       Bring all just barely to a boil then simmer covered for about twenty minutes, cool, strain.
       Now that you have your homemade ginger ale, mix up a Gin Buck.

       Gin Buck
       11/2 oz gin
       1/4 oz lemon juice
       4 oz (or to taste) ginger ale
       Build in highball glass with ice and stir until cold, serve.

Article by: Mark Sexauer