It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a glorious sunny day in possession of birds, bees, flowers, and meandering strolls through rambling English gardens, should be in want of a refreshing libation. Of course, I live in Australia, so if it’s gloriously sunny most of the rambling gardens within easy reach of me will be tinder dry, and quite possibly on fire.

Luckily for me, alcohol is rather good at evoking a sensory experience, which saves me from having to fly to Europe every time I feel like seeing a faux Roman rotunda next to a pond. In the previous post we went through a chamomile and lavender syrup, scents that I find remind me of the traditional English country garden. The classic drink for a summers afternoon in such a garden is a fruit cup of some variety (commonly Pimms), but on the particular evening I was playing around with this recipe I was keen for something a bit sharper and stronger. For this purpose a basic gin sour seemed perfect, with the floral syrup complimenting the gin’s botanical notes.

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Loudon Drop

45ml dry London gin
20ml lemon juice
20ml chamomile & lavender syrup
Dash of bitters

Shake gin, lemon juice, bitters and flower syrup with ice. Serve in a chilled cocktail glass, garnished with lemon peel and/or edible flowers.
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As a tremendous lush I’d be inclined to make myself one on a double shot of gin, but this results in a fair bit of liquid, which is not quite as elegant in serving. I’ve also noticed this tends to cause some of my guests to throw up or remove articles of clothing. I’ve opted for a dry London gin as I particularly wanted good bit of juniper, but it’s worth playing around with gins that feature different botanicals, such as Gin Mare, which would go well with the lemon and lavender (two quite Mediterranean flavors), and bring the drink a Provencal note.