Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown share their pick of the season’s abundance.

---

Basil

It’s basil season. The Gin Basil Smash cries out annually to be given just one more ingredient to create an entirely new drink. What about elderflower syrup made in June to replace simple syrup? Dill can add herbaceous depth and dimension. A touch of fresh cucumber juice or muddled cucumber could also do the trick. Truth is, it’s wildly good.

Gooseberries

Gooseberries are back in the market. We can never resist making a posset riff on the classic gooseberry fool.

Apricots

Apricot liqueur made from fresh fruit brings a brightness not found in commercial brands and is incredibly easy to make. Simmer fresh or dried apricots in simple syrup (20-30 minutes works for either). Strain and add an equal measure of brandy, gin or bourbon. Save the simmered fruit for garnish. If you hold off on adding the alcohol, the apricot syrup is phenomenal in place of sugar or simple syrup in an Old Fashioned. 

Nasturtium

We have always loved the nasturtium garnish Erik Lorincz places atop one of his Martinis at Kwant, with a single drop of liquid from the drink on the leaf. Now we have them in abundance in the garden. You can easily grow them in a decent-sized pot on the windowsill as well. Nasturtiums’ peppery flavour also works as garnish for a Bloody Mary or Red Snapper.

Samphire

Samphire. Salinity in its various forms will become as ubiquitous as citrus in cocktails in the near future. It is an essential flavour that our predecessors overlooked for the most part. Samphire, most easily used as a garnish, brings crisp saltiness and a touch of umami to a drink. It also looks like nothing else, bringing a unique visual element to a drink. 

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are better and cheaper than at any other time of year, along with thyme, basil and other herbs that cry out for a revival of a Bloody Mary that we fell in love with 20 years ago in New York. Chef Patricia Yeo was making fresh golden tomato juice for her Bloodies and regularly sold out of them on Sundays.

Mint

With more than a dozen kinds of mint pushing up in our garden (and in the lawn around their patch), we have no excuse to overlook Juleps at home. While whiskey was our go-to for years, we then discovered Gin Juleps and, surprisingly, Metaxa Juleps. But lately, Armagnac is winning out. 

Cherries

When cherries emerge in our local farm shop, we bring home a load to make a year’s supply of cocktail cherries. Just about every year, Anistatia seems to end up in a friendly argument with Matteo Luxardo. He asks why she isn’t happy just using his cherries. She likes a larger cherry garnish. But they always end as friends because she cooks them down in Luxardo maraschino. We also await the cherries for another reason: a memory from a long-ago summer on a New York rooftop. Dale Degroff and his wife Jill arrived with all the fixings for Black Cherry Caipirinhas. Dale settled into a chair outside the window of our tiny bedsit and began pitting and halving the cherries. It was a long process and the anticipation undoubtedly added to the mystique of the drink and cemented it in our memories.

Mandarins

While most citrus varieties hit their peak in the winter months, mandarin season runs through June, July and August. Sweeter and more intense than oranges, we love working them into sours. If you are working with mandarins, be sure to save the peels. They make one of our all-time favourite oleo-saccharums. Its colour and honeyed sweetness set the mandarin above all other citruses for this in our experience. 

Pineapples

Pineapples may be available year round, but now we see them on special and in best condition, as this is officially pineapple season. We love to submerge fresh-cut pineapple wedges or half-circles in Angostura bitters (use a corkscrew to extract the dasher from the bottle and pour the whole thing into a shallow dish. Any remnants will be tinged with a little pineapple flavour but we’ve never gotten a complaint about that). After soaking the wedges, we grill them. A broiler works well, too. Summer is the best time for experimentation and exploration. Relish the abundance! 

SEASONAL INGREDIENTS

DOMESTIC

Angelica (JUN), Apricots (JUN), Basil (JUL/AUG), Bilberries (JUL/AUG), Blackberries (AUG), Blackcurrants (JUN/JUL/AUG), Blueberries (JUL/AUG), Bramley apples (JUL), Cantaloupe (AUG), Cherries (JUN/JUL/AUG), Chervil (JUN/JUL/AUG), Coriander (JUN/JUL/AUG), Cucumber (JUN/JUL), Dill (JUL/AUG) Elderflowers (JUN/JUL), Figs (AUG), Gooseberries (JUN/JUL/AUG), Greengages (JUL), Loganberries (AUG), Melons (JUL/AUG), Mint (JUN/JUL/AUG), Nasturtium (JUL), Nectarines (JUN/JUL/AUG), Oregano (JUL/AUG), Peaches (JUL), Peppers (sweet) (JUL), Plums (AUG), Raspberries (JUN/JUL/AUG), Redcurrants (AUG), Rhubarb (JUN/JUL), Rosemary (JUL), Sage (JUL/AUG), Samphire (JUN/JUL), Sorrel (JUL), Strawberries (JUN/JUL/AUG), Tarragon (JUL/AUG), Thyme (JUL), Tomatoes (JUN/JUL), Watercress (JUN)

IMPORTED

Kiwi (JUN) Mandarins (JUN/JUL/AUG), Pineapples (JUL/AUG), Pink Grapefruit (JUL/AUG), Shiso (JUN/JUL/AUG)