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Prior to the closure of restaurants, I really didn’t think much about making cocktails at home. I mean I had the basic liquors on hand like bourbon, gin, scotch, rum, Sambvca, homemade limoncello, and of course craft beer and wine for when I had people over for dinner and the holidays.

But depending on where I went for dinner, I would occasionally have a specialty craft cocktail. So with extra time on my hands, I decided to try and make some of my own craft cocktails. I did a bit of research on the classic old school cocktails and added my own twist. I now make my own flavored simple syrups.

For instance, I made a mint flavored syrup for mint juleps and a jalapeño flavored syrup for the classic daiquiri. I use a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar. For the mint syrup, just add 1/2 cup of mint leaves with the water and sugar and dissolve over a medium heat, and bring to a boil for a minute. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from the heat and let the leaves steep until the syrup is cooled. Strain and refrigerate for up to two weeks. For the jalapeño syrup, just substitute a 1/2 jalapeño pepper for the mint and follow the same instructions.

One other important and unique part to flavoring your cocktail are the addition of bitters. I found an incredible chili lime bitters at The Boston Shaker in Davis Square. This was a great addition to that daiquiri I made with the jalapeño syrup. This addition provided a great subtle heat and made for a perfectly refreshing drink.

In a more recent visit to The Boston Shaker, I picked up a few other items to add to my mixing collection, a tin on tin Boston Shaker, a strainer, and a Japanese style jigger. They offer every tool needed to stock up your bar. The vast array of glassware for all sorts of specialty drinks, really unique Tiki glasses and mugs, fixings including cherries, onions, specialty ice cube trays, books about cocktails, gift sets, many types of bitters, some really great quality specialty syrups, and much more.

I highly recommend checking them out either online or in person. Sláinte!

The Boston Shaker
69 Holland Street
Somerville, MA 02144
thebostonshaker.com

Monday – Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday – Closed
(617) 718-2999

Visit Dorothy’s website at http://ddimarzo2002.wix.