This past Sunday I had rare the opportunity–via my cocktail consulting and event company, Life’s a Cocktail–to use the power of mixology to help the forces of good, serving up cocktails in the name of marriage equality as a vendor in the first ever Illegal Wedding Fair.  The event was held in an amazing West Village townhouse called 632 on Hudson (which notably housed MTV’s Real World 2001 cast), and featured a number of other wedding vendors willing to take a stand on this pressing issue. 

Umamimart’s own Erin Gleeson and Vanessa Bahmani also pitched in on the effort, both as co-organizers of the event and as vendors via their wedding photography company, E & V Weddings, where they set up their signature wedding photo booth featuring a vintage turn-of-the-century 8×10 camera.

The massive townhouse venue also has a basement ”speakeasy” space, which is where I was assigned to dish out my drinks.  Although the lack of air conditioning in the basement made it feel hotter than the Devil’s ass crack, which in turn wreaked havoc on my ice, I still managed to turn out a couple of crowd pleasers. 

I created two cocktails specially for the event.  I called one the Summer of Love (above right, pink), made with fresh strawberry-rhubarb puree, vodka, and seltzer.  The other I named the Gay Hemingway (above left, light golden color), which was a marriage equality-inspired variation on the Hemingway Daiquiri. It consists of vodka, fresh grapefruit juice, Lillet, apricot liqueur, and honey.  Initially my idea was to use a light rum in the Gay Hemingway, like the Hemingway Daiquiri itself, but Absolut was kind enough to sponsor with some bottles, so a switch was made at the last minute–and luckily, it worked fine.

Summer of Love
1 oz vodka
1  1/2 oz strawberry-rhubarb puree (recipe provided below)
1/2 barspoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp)
seltzer to top

Combine the puree and vodka in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake hard and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with seltzer and stir. Serve with a straw if you have one on hand.

Strawberry-rhubarb puree
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
4 stalks rhubarb, sliced about 1/4-1/2 inch thick
1/4 tsp almond extract

Place strawberries, brown sugar, boiling water, and almond extract in a blender and puree until smooth and combined.  Pour into a square baking dish and add the rhubarb, stirring to assure even distribution.  Bake uncovered at 300˚ for about 40 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes to make sure the rhubarb cooks evenly.  Once the rhubarb has softened, remove from the oven and puree in a blender.  At this point you can allow the puree to cool and use as is (which is what I did) or strain it if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Gay Hemingway
2 oz vodka (can also be made with a light rum)
1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
1/4 oz apricot liqueur (I used Rothman & Winters brand)
1/4 oz honey syrup (2 parts honey diluted in 1 part water)

Combine ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake it like big Papa’s belly on a boat during a hurricane. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and enjoy. Then do as Hemingway would and have about 16 more.

Every now and then you’re fortunate enough to be a part of an event that matters beyond the dollars and cents, and this was one of those opportunities. And regardless of whether actual political change was made (it wasn’t), it was no less refreshing to see other like-minded businesses using their enterprise as a tool for progress.  Cheers!

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

**Photo credits: Erin Gleeson Photography and E&V Wedding Photography

Last week, while reminiscing about the various fun summer activities I engaged in as a child, I remembered a game some kids liked to play which I was not so fond of–Leap Frog. I remember lots of kids getting a huge thrill from the game, but never me. Frankly, the idea of kneeling down and having some kid jump over my shoulders from behind, with the inevitable and all too common risk of his crotch smacking the back of my head, well, let’s say it wasn’t something I was thrilled to be a part of. Equally unappealing was the idea of being the jumper and chancing either a mistimed jump or having the kid lift his head slightly too soon, so as to cause my crotch to crash full speed into the back of his dome–I’ll pass, thanks.

Now I’m an adult, and while I still have no love for the crotch-crash game (unless it’s of a different kind, if you know what I mean) there is a different version of Leap Frog that I’ve come to enjoy–a version which of course comes in liquid form. Leap Frog also happens to be a name for a fairly old yet simple drink comprised of gin, lemon juice, and ginger ale in a highball glass. It’s easy to make and quite on-the-money for those of you interested in putting in minimal labor during summer’s final moments.

For the sake of being thorough I should mention there’s another drink by the same name, but with completely different ingredients and definitely not as tasty as the first one mentioned. It’s essentially like a grenadine-spiked Hotel Nacional cocktail. I’m not posting the recipe because it’s just not that good (try the Hotel Nacional instead) but the recipe for this lesser version of the Leap Frog is at CocktailDB if you’re interested.

To add to the confusion I’ve discovered a third cocktail called Leap Frog, which is the one pictured above. This one’s the newest of them all and it comes from Jim Meehan of famed NYC speakeasy PDT. Although I haven’t been able to ask Jim about this, it seems his version is actually a cross between the two aforementioned versions, with some additions of his own–if you compare the recipes you’ll see the similarities. This one requires a tad more prep time but if you aren’t overly dreading the countdown to fall and can spare a few more minutes for the sake of mixological magnificence, I assure you this one’s worth every minute of your effort. But first the original.

Leap Frog
1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz fresh lemon juice
ginger ale to top

Tools: something to stir with

Glass: highball

Throw a few lumps of ice in the glass and add the gin and lemon juice; top with the ginger ale and give a brief stir.

The thing to remember about highballs is that their very simplicity is the reason you don’t want the flavors to mix too much. Instead, you want the taste to vary slightly with each sip, so a mere light stir is enough. Also, since highballs usually have a carbonated component, overstirring will allow too much carbonation to escape which produces a flatter tasting drink.

Leap Frog (pictured above, adapted from Jim Meehan of PDT)
2 oz gin
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz apricot liqueur (used Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot)
1/2 oz caster sugar
1/2 oz hot water
9 mint leaves
2 dashes orange bitters

Tools: muddler, shaker, strainer

Glass: cocktail

Pour the sugar and hot water in the shaker and stir until fully dissolved. Add the mint and lightly crush it with the muddler. Fill the shaker with ice, add remaining ingredients and shake like you got hit unexpectedly in the back of the head. Double strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy.

Double straining still leaves a few tiny mint pieces in the drink, which is actually what I wanted because they remind me of little lily pads. If you want a drink free of small floating mint pieces, use a tea strainer with smaller filter holes instead of a standard strainer.

How any of these drinks–perhaps with the exception of Meehan’s hybrid–came to be called Leap Frog is anyone’s guess, as I surely don’t know and haven’t been able to track down the answer. Perhaps a conversation with Meehan may reveal something I don’t.

Nonetheless the moral of the story should not go unheeded–don’t involve yourself in summertime activities that lead to crotches crashing in the back of other’s heads (or into your head for that matter, unless of course you’re into that sort of thing) thereby preventing bad summer memories. Instead, make cocktails that won’t unduly interfere with your noggin (except for inducing inebriation) and allow yourself to make it to next summer in one piece.

Cheers!

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below!

Paystyle was born in Tehran and grew up in Los Angeles (aka Tehrangeles) before moving to Brooklyn with his wife and co-pilot Vanessa Bahmani who provides the stunning photography of Pay’s cocktail concoctions. Return to UMAMIMART every Wednesday for his weekly Happy Hour column.