It’s an undeniable part of life in Istanbul that, while it has many things going for it, the city is somewhat lacking in resources if you’re looking for a good cocktail. I’m happy to drink an Efes or a glass of Turkish wine on a hot summer day, but for those of you in the mood for a stronger drink in the months ahead, I’ve found several refreshing cocktail recipes that (1) use ingredients found locally and (2) with the exception of one recipe below, use only one alcohol as its base. Buying gin, bourbon, and tequila can get pricey, though, so if you wanted to only get one, I personally favor gin: it lends itself to a variety of drinks and pairs well with different flavors.
Some notes:
1. A standard shot glass holds roughly 1 oz.
2. Each recipe makes one drink.
3. Simple syrup, used in a few of the drinks below, can be made by dissolving sugar in water over heat in a 1:1 ratio. Let cool completely before using. You can store the remainder in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a month.
You can obviously play around with the following recipes (swapping out gin for vodka, increasing or decreasing the amounts of syrup); these are just the specific ones I tried and liked. Without further ado, here they are…
1. To use rosewater, make this beautiful pale green take on a classic gimlet. Rosewater also makes an appearance in many Turkish sweets and desserts. When it comes to this ingredient, more is not more; pour in too much and the drink will taste like soap and smell like a grandmother (we’re only going for a hint of English garden here). Be sure to shake with plenty of ice so you can serve it straight up in a wide, shallow glass; the fragrance will be at its strongest without the distraction of ice, and with your nose close to the drink.
Ingredients, recipe from here:
1 small cucumber
1/4 scant teaspoon rosewater
2 oz gin
0.5 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
0.5 to 1 oz simple syrup
Fill your glass with ice water and let sit while you mix the drink. Muddle 3-4 thick slices of cucumber at the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add rest of ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into champagne coupe or martini glass. Garnish with thin slices of cucumber or an individual rose petal.
2. To use sweet blueberries, make this refreshing blueberry, lemon, and ginger cocktail. In the coming months, this is a wonderful way to display both fresh blueberries’ gorgeous color and play up their sweetness with a hint of tart lemon. The ginger syrup gives it a nice kick (and, on a hot day, would be delicious mixed with soda water for a nonalcoholic treat).
Ingredients for drink, recipe adapted from here:
1 oz ginger simple syrup, recipe below
2 oz gin
10 to 15 blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Soda water
Ingredients for ginger syrup:
2 large pieces of ginger (about 8 inches)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Peel ginger and slice into thin rounds. Put, along with one cup water and one cup sugar, into pan over heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer slowly for 30-40 minutes. Let cool completely.
Muddle about 10 blueberries in cocktail shaker with cooled ginger syrup and lemon juice. Add gin and shake with ice. Strain over ice into large tumbler. Top with soda water. Garnish with some blueberries and a sprig of mint.
3. To use tart cherry juice, make this sweet, fizzy version of a gin & tonic. Cherry juice can be easily found here, and its richness is tempered with fresh limes when boiled with sugar to a syrup. I personally like this cocktail with less gin and more soda water; you can serve it in either a champagne flute, seen here, or a highball glass with crushed ice. It would be pretty garnished with thin slices of fresh limes, too.
Ingredients for drink, recipe adapted from here:
1 oz gin
1/2 oz to 1 oz cherry lime syrup, recipe below
soda water
Ingredients for cherry lime syrup:
1/4 cup cherry juice
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
Place all ingredients into pan over heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Let cool completely.
Shake cooled cherry lime syrup and gin with ice in cocktail shaker. Strain into champagne flute, or into highball glass over crushed ice. Top with soda water.
4. To use red pepper flakes, make this spicy margarita. This is the only drink that uses another type of alcohol (Cointreau – I found a bottle at Macro Center), but I had to include it on this list; margaritas, to me, are such a summer staple. Though it might seem counterintuitive to have a red pepper-filled drink on a hot day, eating spicy food is a common method in many warm weather cultures to counteract the heat. You can strain the liquid through a tea strainer to get rid of the individual pepper flakes if they bother you.
Ingredients, recipe adapted from here:
Salt (I used rock salt in the photo)
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.25 to 0.5 teaspoon red pepper flakes, depending on your threshold for spice
2 oz tequila
0.5 oz Cointreau
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Start by salting the rim of your glass. To do so, run a wedge of lime across the top to moisten, then dip the glass at an angle into a shallow bowl filled with salt so only the outside is coated – you don’t want to end up with chunks of salt floating around in your drink (sad!).
Muddle the red pepper flakes in a cocktail shaker with simple syrup. Add tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice. Shake vigorously with ice. Strain into your glass over ice.
5. To use fragrant mint, make this simple and classic mint julep. This is a great way to use the bunches of fresh mint you’ll see at any greengrocer, and has the upside of being a three ingredient drink. Sometimes, simple is best. You’ll see a ton of variations on this ever popular cocktail, but here’s the traditional recipe.
Some notes before starting: use crushed ice. You can freeze small ice cubes, then whack them inside a Ziploc bag. Crushed ice, particularly when paired with a metal cup—if you have one, which I didn’t—will make the drink stay colder for longer because… something something science. Anyway, using whole ice cubes won’t necessarily make it taste any worse (hello, it’s mint, bourbon, and sugar!), but just stick with crushed. Also, when you’re muddling the mint, easy does it. You want to release the oils, not shred the mint to pieces.
Ingredients:
5 to 8 sprigs mint
1 to 1.5 oz simple syrup, divided in 2
2 to 4 oz bourbon, depending on mood, company, and time of day
Crushed ice
Strip the leaves off of 4-7 sprigs of mint and gently (gently!) muddle at the bottom of your glass with about 0.5 oz simple syrup. You can spread the mixture around to coat the sides of your glass as well. Add in your crushed ice up to the top of your glass, then pour in the bourbon. Top with the remaining simple syrup, then give everything a gentle stir. Garnish with a nice sprig of mint, and drink with a straw.
Enjoy! Readers, if you’ve got any other recommendations for seasonal or local produce that can be used in summer drinks, please share! I would love to hear.
Diane Zhang is a contributor to Yabangee and also blogs at thedailydilk.blogspot.com
These look great Emma Harper!