School’s out for summer. For parents, it can feel like school’s out forever. To help moms and dads dealing with all the stress and schedule changes, we asked five bar stars–all parents themselves, so they can totally commiserate–to share recipes for painlessly simple cocktail recipes. Please remember to drink responsibly, even if your children are acting irresponsibly.
Pinky’s Out
By Gina Chersevani, owner of Buffalo & Bergen
6 raspberries
1 sprig of mint
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce hibiscus syrup (recipe follows)
2 ounces Cotton and Reed dry white rum
Sparkling rosé
In a Collins glass, muddle raspberries and mint together. Then add lemon juice, hibiscus syrup, and rum. Fill with crushed ice and top off with sparkling rosé. Gently stir with a swizzle stick. Optional garnish: mint and edible flower.
To make the hibiscus syrup, bring 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to boil. Add 1/2 ounce dried hibiscus flowers, turn heat off and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain before using.
One by One
By Jeff Faile, beverage director of Pineapple & Pearls
1 1/2 ounces Green Hat gin
1 ounce blackberry liqueur
1/2 ounce lemon juice
Tonic water
Lemon twist
Combine gin, blackberry liqueur, and lemon juice in shaker. Shake and strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass. Top with tonic water and garnish with a lemon twist.
Strawberry Mint Capitol Cooler
By Torrence Swain, head bartender at Bourbon Steak
2 ounces mezcal
1 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce lime juice
A few leaves of fresh mint
A few fresh strawberries
Muddle the strawberries in shaker. Smack the mint against the palm of your hand and add to shaker. Add in ice and liquid ingredients. Shake and strain over ice in a tumbler.
Lose the Moustache
By Own Thomson, co-owner of Archipelago
1 1/2 ounces Del Maguey Vida mezcal
1/2 ounce Bittermens Citron Sauvage liqueur, or other bitters
1/4 ounce lime juice
Stiegl-Radler beer
Mix mezcal, bitters and lime juice. Salt rim of a Pilsner glass, add ice and fill with Stiegl-Radler beer.
The OG Martini
By Eileen Richardson, lead bartender at Alta Strada Mosaic
2 ounces Old Tom gin, such as Ransom
1 ounce Dolin Blanc vermouth
Couple of dashes of lemon bitters
Lemon twist
Mix together gin, vermouth and lemon bitters. Serve on the rocks in a tumbler with a lemon twist.
Nevin Martell is a parenting, food, and travel writer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Saveur, Men’s Journal, Fortune, Travel + Leisure, Runner’s World, and many other publications. He is author of eight books, including It’s So Good: 100 Real Food Recipes for Kids, Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes from America’s Favorite Rural Bakery, and the small-press smash Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his wife and their six-year-old son, who already runs faster than he does.
