cocktail hour: the jasmine

My husband and I are having dinner out with some good friends tonight. I’m so excited about it – not only because it’s a night out, with no kids, but because I don’t get to see these friends outside of work very often. We all have kids, and we all work a lot, so it’s hard to coordinate our schedules after 5pm. Our dinner will be at an Italian restaurant here in town that I’ve heard very good things about. We’re eating later than usual, mostly because that major university in town is having spring graduation weekend.

Which means we didn’t plan our choice of evenings very well.

This town isn’t very big – just under 131,000 people – so there aren’t many celebration-worthy, non-chain restaurants. For tonight’s outing with friends, I called each of those restaurants I could think of – there are six, maybe? – and there were no reservations to be had. None.  Those darn college students and their parents took up all the good seats.

That’s okay. I remember being one of those college students on graduation day.

Well, with that flashback, I think it’s time for a cocktail. Who’s with me?

This is a drink called The Jasmine. If you love grapefruit, this is the drink for you. If it weren’t for that alcoholic kick, you’d think you were drinking a  full glass of grapefruit juice. A great summertime sipping drink.


The Jasmine

This is a wonderful cocktail for sipping. In fact, it tastes best when consumed on your front porch while sitting in that lovely white rocking chair you have.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce Campari
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
lemon peel for garnish

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin, Cointreau, Campari, and lemon juice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel and serve.

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Just a quick note: For the next two weeks, my posts here may be scarce. I’m headed into an intensive work schedule starting on Sunday until closer to the third week of May. I hope to come up for breaths of fresh air periodically, and I plan to sneak in some cooking  – and photographing and writing! – when I can.

 

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25 Responses to “cocktail hour: the jasmine”

  1. 1
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    spiceblogger — April 29, 2011 @ 3:07 pm

    Cocktail hour? I’m ready! This drink looks divine!
    May have to whip this up tonight in celebration of FRIDAY! 🙂

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    Liren — April 29, 2011 @ 3:24 pm

    Aww, love the graduation photo flashback! You look adorable! And also stunning: that cocktail! Cheers!

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    This looks so tasty and refreshing! Have fun with your friends tonight!

  4. 4
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    Brian @ A Thought For Food — April 29, 2011 @ 4:22 pm

    Did you and Amanda from The Cilantropist plan this??? You both have similar cocktails today… similar, but very different. Wish we could both gather around and have drinks!

  5. 5
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    Jersey Girl Cooks — April 29, 2011 @ 4:24 pm

    Mmmmnnn! I love grapefruit. Love the picture!

  6. 6
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    Looks and sounds so refreshing! I love the taste of Cointreau. Cheers.

  7. 7
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    Barbara | VinoLuciStyle — April 30, 2011 @ 11:32 am

    I’ve just lucked onto some great grapefruit from the market; sounds perfect. Can I do it for breakfast, hmm?

    Adorable photo.

  8. 8
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    Kare — April 30, 2011 @ 1:39 pm

    Very elegant looking, and a gin-based drink to boot! That’s my kind of cocktail. Hope you had a fabulous time with your friends.

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    Aggie — April 30, 2011 @ 5:50 pm

    I normally don’t do gin, but I would be willing to try this because it looks so darn good!!

  10. 10
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    Maris (In Good Taste) — April 30, 2011 @ 8:22 pm

    That cocktail looks so enticing! The picture from graduation is lovely!

  11. 11
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    TheGourmetCoffeeGuy — May 2, 2011 @ 12:49 am

    Your Jasmine cocktail recipe sounds absolutely delicious and very refreshing, we will definitely try it. Enjoyed your post and the “flashback”– sometimes the best evenings with friends are the ones that are impromptu.

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  13. 12
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    Jennifer (Savor) — May 2, 2011 @ 7:40 pm

    unm, I NEED this drink but prefer someone bring it to me. Volunteering?

  14. 13
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    Greg — May 2, 2011 @ 8:44 pm

    Great cocktail. Bet the Campari really gives it a kick.

  15. 14
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    Yuri — May 2, 2011 @ 11:20 pm

    Great cocktail, MJ 🙂 I linked to this post in today’s Delicious Links post. Love finding new-to-me blogs!

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    TheCilantropist — May 3, 2011 @ 1:40 pm

    Oooo… I just shared a drink with campari too! Clearly great minds think alike! 😉 I love love love grapefruit juice, and I love anything that has cointreau so I am sure I would adore this – especially on a hot summer day.

  17. 16
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    Katie — May 4, 2011 @ 3:47 pm

    Oh my goodness, this sounds absolutely divine! I must acquire the ingredients to make one…stat!

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