This cocktail was one of the entries in the Hugo cocktail competition, seeking a place on the summer cocktail menu.

2-3 strawberries
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Peach Brandy (or pear brandy will work nice too)
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz sour mix
Sparkling moscato

Muddle 2-3 strawberries in a shaker, then add ice. Add the brandy, pineapple juice, sour mix, and shake vigorously. Strain into a hurricane or large wine glass rimmed with sugar, filled with ice. Add 2 oz of sparkling moscato on top, and garnish with a fresh strawberry.

Cocktail courtesy Rachel Hart.

This cocktail was one of the entries in the Hugo cocktail competition, seeking a place on the summer cocktail menu.

2 oz Watershed Gin
½ fresh lime juice
1 dash cardamom bitters
1 dash grapefruit bitters

Add a few cubes of ice to a shaker, combine ingredients, and stir. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top to fill with pink grapefruit sparkling water. Garnish with a sprinkling of sugar and a torched grapefruit peel.

Cocktail courtesy Lauren Nicole Schott.

This cocktail was one of the entries in the Hugo cocktail competition, seeking a place on the summer cocktail menu.

Muddle:
1 slice of lime
1 tsp. coconut palm sugar
Leaves from 1-2 sprigs of tarragon

1½ oz Mosby's Spirit
¾ oz Licor 43
½ oz lime juice
2-3 dashes orange bitters

Muddle the first three ingredients. Then stir in the remaining ingredients over crushed ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top with club soda or sparkling water. Garnish with a lime twist or sprig of tarragon.

Cocktail courtesy Alex J. Goldberg.

This cocktail was one of the entries in the Hugo cocktail competition, seeking a place on the summer cocktail menu.

2 oz Mosby's Spirit
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz gum syrup
1 oz water
½ oz Elderflower liqueur

Pour over crushed ice and top with a splash of club soda.

Cocktail courtesy Alexandra Heard.

This is another great punch from Chad Robinson, and was the featured punch at the "Super Gin Punch Out" held recently at 1905 Restaurant in DC, along with fellow distillers Caledonia Spirits (makers of Barr Hill gin), and Green Hat.

25 oz Watershed Gin (one 750mL bottle)
12 oz strong green tea
8 oz Capillaire syrup*
6 oz Curaçao
6 oz fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wheels for garnish
6 oz fresh lime juice, plus lime wheels for garnish
32 oz sparkling water (or sparkling wine for more punch in your punch)

Combine all in a punch bowl and float slices of lemon and lime on top.

*Capillaire syrup
(courtesy David Wondrich, Punch)

1 cups of water
⅛ oz orange blossom water
2 cups sugar

Bring water and sugar to boil.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Add the orange blossom water. Will keep in the fridge for a couple months.

Courtesy Chad Robinson.

This is Chad Robinson's signature cocktail for the 2016 RAMMYS.  A traditional whiskey swizzle, this cocktail is the third in his series incorporating local paw-paw fruit.

1 oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz Mosby's Spirit
¼ oz Short Hill Mountain Peach Brandy
½ oz Falernum
½ oz paw-paw syrup*
½ oz orange juice
1 oz lime juice
Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a highball glass or hurricane glass and fill glass halfway with crushed ice. Swizzle the cocktail until the glass begins to frost. Top off the glass with crushed ice and add 2-4 dashes of Angostura bitters to the top of the drink.

*Paw Paw syrup - Mix 1 qt of 1:1 simple syrup per lb of frozen paw paw pulp. Heat the simple syrup on the stove with the frozen paw paw and stir regularly to help the pulp blend with syrup. Once paw paw pulp is fully thawed and incorporated, add ½ oz of Mosby's Spirit store in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Recipe courtesy Chad Robinson. Photo courtesy R. Lopez, Eater.

This cocktail comes to us from Emily Landsman, who writes for the Jewish Food Experience.  Combining orange juice and Mosby's Spirit along with a refreshing dose of mint, and you have a very satisfying summer cocktail!  This one could easily be upscaled into a punch.  Try floating a few sprigs of mint on the punch bowl and you'll have something that will keep your summer party guests raving!

1½ oz Catoctin Creek Mosby's Spirit
1½ oz freshly squeeze orange juice
¼ Triple Sec or orange liqueur
2 large sprigs of fresh mint
Large pinch of superfine sugar (do not use powdered sugar)
Orange zest
Additional mint for garnish

Preparation:

• In a rocks glass, muddle the mint and sugar until the mint is broken up into tiny pieces.
• Next, shake the Mosby’s Sprit, triple sec and Minneola orange juice with ice*.
• Add ice to the rocks glass and strain the drink into the glass. Stir.
• Twist the orange zest over the glass to release oils and drop it into the glass, then add a fresh mint sprig to garnish.

* Batch the Mosby’s Spirit, triple sec, and orange juice ahead of time to easily serve several cocktails. Do not add ice until ready to serve. At that point, add ice, stir well and then pour into glasses.

Recipe and photo courtesy Emily Landsman and the Jewish Food Experience and used with permission.

Another Chad Robinson original.  This one was featured at Alfie's for our #WhiskyWedneday Roundstone Throwdown against bartender Fabian Malone, who featured the ever popular Dude, Where's My Bikeshare?

1½ oz Roundstone Rye
½ oz Curaçao
½ oz salted honey syrup*
½ oz lime juice

Add ingredients and ice to a shaker tin until cold and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a lemon peel.

*Salted Honey Syrup: Add 1 gram of salt per 150 grams of water and allow the salt to fully dissolve. Heat the salt solution in a small saucepan and add 150 grams of clover honey. Fully incorporate the honey and the salt solution until you have a uniform syrup. Allow to cool and store for up to a month.

(This, by itself, tastes just like Honey Nut Cheerios)

Recipe courtesy Chad Robinson.

Hooray!  Summer is here!  And summer is a great time for refreshing cocktails from whisky, gin and moonshine!  Check these out!

Lavender Lemonade

2 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz fresh pink lemonade
a few dashes of lavender bitters by Embitterment (D.C.)
garnish with a sprig of lavender

Summer Suzie

Inspired by M. Carrie Allen of the Washington Post.

2 oz. Watershed Gin
1 oz chamomile tea
½ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz honey
garnish with a lemon peel

Whisky Sour

2 oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
garnish with a maraschino cherry

Virginia Buck

A Buck (such as the Kentucky Buck cocktail) is a genre of cocktail perfect for summer. It consists of a combination of citrus and ginger beer.

2 oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz strawberry lemon simple syrup*
top with ginger beer
garnish with a lemon twist

*strawberry lemon simple syrup: chop up a few fresh strawberries and lemons and put them in a crockpot with a simple syrup mixture (equal parts water and sugar) for about 3 hours.

You might need to add extra lemon juice because the strawberries are very sugary by themselves!

Mosby's Mule 2 oz Mosby's Spirit
1 oz ginger beer
½ oz lime juice
garnish with a wedge of fresh lime

 

Summer is nearly here, and strawberries are in high season!  Our friends at Great Country Farms brought us a bunch of freshly picked strawberries today, and asked us to make them a cocktail!  So I came up with the Strawberry Mosbito, a fun play on the mojito, except with our own Virginia moonshine.

1½ oz Mosby's Spirit
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
Mint leaves
Strawberries
Sparkling water

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint, three strawberries and lime juice until well mixed and mashed together.  Add ice and the Mosby's Spirit to the shaker, and shake vigorously.  Strain the contents into a tall glass of ice, top with sparkling water and garnish with mint, strawberries, and a lime wheel.

Inspired by the phrase, "A very blue puppy cries"—Appalachian Valley, Blue Ridge Mountain, Piedmont, Coastal Plain.

1½ ounces Catoctin Creek Watershed Gin
1½ ounces honeysuckle, blueberry, allspice, hibiscus and sugar tincture
¾ ounces Dolin Vermouth Blanc
2 shakes Angostura orange bitters
1 chocolate mint to garnish

Combine gin, tincture, vermouth and bitters in an ice-filled Boston Shaker. Shake vigorously and serve in a chilled champagne coupe. Garnish with a leaf of mint.

Recipe courtesy of Hunter Johnson, Lucky, Roanoke.

Todd Thrasher’s riff on the Old Fashioned plays homage to his home state with the Virginia figs and local rye.

¾ oz fig simple syrup*
2 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
liberal dash of orange bitters
orange peel to garnish

Combine fig simple syrup, bitters and rye in a mixing glass, stir and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with orange peel.

Fig simple syrup:

1 quart sugar
1 quart water
1 quart dried Virginia figs

Heat water over medium heat, add sugar and whisk until dissolved. Add figs, reduce heat to a low simmer for 20 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool. Strain through a fine chinois. Refrigerate.

Recipe courtesy Todd Thrasher of Bar PX, and used with permission.