In the garden, I’m no different than I am in any other part of my life.  That is to say, I’m intermittently intensely interested.  The rest of the time, the garden sees a lot of neglect.

This is a cocktail recipe that might keep me engaged; at least in one small part of the yard.

We have a few canes each of 3 different types of raspberries.  Of course, my favorite, a golden ever-bearing variety has suffered from neglect and I think it’s down to one small plant due to being crowded by the more vigorous varieties.  That is going to have to change.

Dana picked raspberries this morning and because she knows I really like them, she kept a small amount (maybe 1/2 a cup) of the delicious golden raspberries in a separate bowl and left them out on the kitchen table.  I, somewhat obliviously, walked past them several times over the course of the day, occasionally snacking on one or two.   At the end of the day, sitting next to the pond, sipping Mai Tais, Dana threw out the suggestion that perhaps I could make an interesting cocktail with the golden raspberries.

WHAM!  What a great idea!  We never get enough of those berries to do anything else with.  A cocktail would be a perfect use.

Having recently had a very nice Strawberry Smash down at Quoin, I was thinking about something similar.  That’s when this fully formed and delicious cocktail popped into my head.  It’s really a winner.

Of course, this is not ‘new in the world’ but it’s a new direction for me.  Damn tasty!

Golden Raspberry Smash:

Put about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of golden raspberries (red will do in a pinch) in a shaker.  Fill shaker about half way with ice and shake the crap out of it for about 10 seconds.  You really want to destroy the fruit.  Note: I suppose you could muddle but in this case, I think it just makes more dirty dishes so why bother?

To the shaker, add:

2 oz.                   Pear Infused Woodford Reserve Bourbon
1 barspoon        Lime Juice
1+ barspoon     Cummin Simple Syrup
.5+ barspoon    Aged Balsamico (The thick stuff you might put on ice cream or fruit).

Shake briefly to mix and strain into a Collins glass full of crushed or pellet ice.

Garnish with; what else?  A raspberry.