Seasonal Sips: Spring Cocktails

Spring and summer are my favorite seasons to craft new cocktails. The transition from the brutal cold to warmer temperatures, a greater presence of sunlight, and blooming nature increases serotonin, which I feel has an enormous effect on my creativity. In addition, we start seeing seasonal fruits, herbs, and vegetables that are essential to creating some really amazing drinks.

I like to take inspiration from classic cocktails and attempt to make them a bit of my own creation. “The Food Bible” acts as my main resource when coming up with cocktail ideas. This book, originally meant for culinary purposes and food pairings, is also incredibly helpful when pairing spirits with other ingredients.

Discovering different methods to manipulate your ingredients is also a game changer. Gum syrups, shrubs, 1:1 syrups, 2:1 syrups, acid adjustments, and infusions—there are a number of ways you can really elevate your cocktail.

Here are some ways I like to mix things up:

A Twist on the Spritz

Aperol spritz has been an extremely popular spring/summer cocktail in recent years, and there are countless ways to elevate it and make it your own. Introducing fresh fruits such as mango, pineapple, or passion fruit can take the drink to a completely different level. This cocktail pairs beautifully with bruschetta, prosciutto, salty cheeses, and any kind of melon. It is the perfect cocktail to pair with a charcuterie on a warm summer day.

Smashingly Good

One of my favorite ingredients to use in cocktails is strawberries. A strawberry basil smash—muddled strawberries and basil with vodka as the base spirit, a little simple syrup, and lime—is a refreshing drink to have during the hotter parts of summer. This cocktail can be very versatile as well. Try swapping out the strawberry with watermelon, blackberry, raspberry, kiwi, or mango. There really is an endless number of creations anyone could create with a smash cocktail.

Thyme to Be Creative

A specialty cocktail we feature at Bowman’s is Thyme Aggregation, which is a big hit with our customers. It isn’t necessarily a riff on a classic cocktail, but the creation uses ingredients known to work well together. With tequila as the base, Green Chartreuse and thyme add an herbal component. The sweetness of the honey and ginger liqueur is balanced with a house-made, acid-adjusted green-apple juice. I like to torch a thyme sprig for garnish, which also adds a little extra aroma for the senses as you drink the cocktail. If you’d like to try making one at home (torching optional), follow the recipe here.

SIDEBAR

Thyme Aggregation

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz. Corralejo Silver tequila

• 1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse

• 1/2 oz. Domaine De Canton ginger liqueur

• 1/2 oz. thyme-honey syrup

• 3/4 oz. acid-adjusted green-apple juice

• 1 sprig of thyme (optional garnish)

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a glass. Garnish with a sprig of thyme. To enhance the flavor, try torching the sprig to expand the aroma of the thyme.

Lucas Dunn has been an employee of Bowman’s since 2013, with bartending as his main focus. He has been the bar manager since 2019.

Photograph by Bud Hayman Images