drink

A Welcome Cocktail

One of the most refreshing drinks ever - gin mixed with fresh lemonade and mint!

Macheesmo’s

A Welcome Cocktail

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If you are lucky enough to have visitors come over at some point this summer, you should greet them with a cold beverage.

It’s freakin’ hot out there and anyone who ventures out of a controlled A/C environment deserves a cocktail.

There’s really nothing fancy about this drink, but it’s one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever had.  Not only will it cool off your guests, but it’s a great way to start off happy hour.

drink

Gin Lemonade

One of the most refreshing drinks ever – gin mixed with fresh lemonade and mint!
4.05 from 20 votes
Prep Time 5 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Drinks
Servings 4 Servings
Yield 4-6 Cocktails

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Cups simple syrup make syrup with 1 part water and one part sugar
  • 2 Cups lemon juice freshly squeezed (about 12-14 small lemons)
  • 1 ½ Cups gin
  • 15 fresh mint leaves

Instructions
 

  • Add sugar and water to a pot over medium heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Cool completely.
  • Juice lemons and add syrup to lemon juice.
  • Wash mint and smack them a few times to release oils.
  • Add mint to a large pitcher with gin and lemonade.
  • Add ice and serve!

Nutrition

Serving: 1CocktailCalories: 691kcalCarbohydrates: 132gProtein: 1gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.04gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 101mgPotassium: 255mgFiber: 1gSugar: 126gVitamin A: 167IUVitamin C: 48mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 6mg
Keyword Gin Cocktails, Gin Lemonade, Lemonade Cocktails, Refreshing Cocktails, Summer Cocktails

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The Simple Syrup

If you wanted to take a shortcut you could use one of those frozen lemonade mixes for this drink, but I really think it tastes better with freshly squeezed juice.  It only takes a few minutes and it’s worth doing it right in my opinion.

As you might guess, two cups of lemon juice has a pretty tart flavor so you’ll need a lot of sugar to counteract it.  The best way to get sugar into a beverage is with a simple syrup.  The ratio I always use for my syrup is 1 part water to 1 part sugar.

In this case, two cups of each should do the trick.  Add these to a pan and set them over medium heat.  Stir until the syrup is hot and the sugar is dissolved.

syrup
It’s simple really.

You’ll want to let the syrup cool before using it which is fine because you have some lemons to squeeze anyway!

Lots of lemons!

lemons
Any lemon will do really…

If you’re a good juicer, you should be able to bust these out in a few minutes.  If you make drinks a lot with fresh squeezed juice, it might make sense to get a really nice juicer.  They make automatic ones that make juicing really easy.  I haven’t quite gotten there yet, so I still do the work by hand.

juiced
Juiced!

Finishing the Drink

There’s one trick to this drink that makes it pop:  slapping the mint!

Mint leaves have lots of oils in them which give them the wonderful fragrance.  The oils won’t really come out though unless you bruise the leaves somehow.  You could do this by muddling them, but for this drink, I like the whole leaves in the pitcher.

So I just lay the leaves out on a cutting board and literally smack them!

slap
Slap that mint!

Giving them a few slaps will bruise them and make them really fragrant.

Then add them to a large pitcher and you’re ready to go!

ready
Pretty simple…

Add the lemon juice, simple syrup, and gin and stir it all together!

If you’re serving it immediately, add ice to the pitcher as well.  If you’re making this in advance, chill it without ice in it so it doesn’t get watered down.

This is one of those drinks that people will be able to smell as soon as they come in.  It’s really tasty!

glass
Delicious drink!

The only thing I’ll mention about this drink is to be careful!  There’s a fair amount of booze in it and you can barely taste it.  When I was having one of these guys, I felt like I could’ve easily put down the whole pitcher, which would’ve been a bad idea.

If you are having some friends over during these hot days or just want to treat yourself to a nice little happy hour, give this guy a shot!

17 Responses to “A Welcome Cocktail” Leave a comment

  1. Great trick about slapping the mint! Makes me want to go buy some mint so I can slap it around.

    Have you ever made caipirinhas? (didn't look up the spelling) I had them in Brazil and they're fabulous. The recipe is similar to this one but with cachaca liquor, which is made from sugar cane.
    My recent post Three Ways to Tell a Deep Sea Story

    1. Oh yea. One of my favorite drinks. Slap some mint, add a tablespoon or so of sugar and the juice from one lime. Then a few ounces of cachaca. Delicious.

    2. It’s 11:30am and I’m havin one of these and wonderfring whre my life went so wrongg. God I hatwe them all so much.

  2. Yum! I make a much simplified version of this (more suitable when it's just me recovering after my kids are in bed). Take a scoop of frozen lemonade concentrate (I use the pink stuff because it makes it pretty!), add a healthy glug of gin, stir to combine then toss with ice and seltzer. I usually garnish with a lime but I may try adding some mint–the flavor profile for your cocktail is pretty similar.

  3. OK, I'm going to give this a try, but I'm desperately wanting to know where you got that fantastically awesome pitcher?! I NEED one of those!

      1. Thanks – I always wanted a pitcher similar to that. Lemonade looks fantastic in it – MUST GET ONE!

  4. I made this last night and it reminded me of a Tom Collins receipe I once tried. This is too tart for my taste. I think I may add 1/2 cup to a cup of more simple syrup.

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