cantaloupe

Today is one of those days where I’m really not sure what story I want to tell you guys. I originally posted this on Serious Eats last week and if you want, you could read what I wrote about street food vendors over there. I did edit it so that my roadside vendor food poisoning stories did not make an appearance in the article (didn’t seem fitting for the general public). But I still don’t see that as a fitting topic on here either. I guess I could just put up a bunch of photos and give you the recipe. You’d all be OK with that right? OrÂ maybe we can talk about impulse grocery shopping?

The base of this cocktail is the summer melon pictured above. I actually bought thisÂ little guy based solely on a photo I saw online. One great thing about living in a major city like Los Angeles is the sheer number of delivery services available to us. Did you guys see the Booze News where I mentioned you can get booze delivered by underwear models? Yeah, that’s a thing here. But not everything is pointless like that. We have so many farmer’s markets in allÂ corners of the city that one would just assume that on every given day you could drive or bike or walk over to one of them, get your produce for the week and carry on. Somehow that just wasn’t working out for me. Work, unfortunately, was becoming a 7 day a week affair and breaking to get fresh, local produce was suddenly becoming a far away dream.Â

In the past, we’ve used a few of the CSA delivery services. Which, for the most part are awesome and ensures we get fresh, local produce thrown at us every week. The problem was: it wasn’t always what we wanted to work with, or quantities were just wrong. For example, how the hell does one lemon suffice for a whole week? Answer: it doesn’t.

About a month ago we tried out a new service that combined both CSA boxes, single produce items and dairy and pantry staples. Pretty much like a virtual farmer’s market. With free delivery. That melon sat on the page, looking delicious and so more appealing than a regular cantaloupe (even if itÂ wasÂ just, well, a cantaloupe). So I impulse bought it. In fact, I impulsively added a whole bunch of stuff into my cart. And then I saw the price. And then I slowly decided what to put back. I mean, part of being able to pick exactly what you want is also so that you’re not wasting food; I absolutelyÂ hate throwing anything uneaten in the trash.Â

This post is in no way sponsored by this delivery service, which if you’re interested you can check out Good Eggs yourself. They have no idea how much time and effort they are saving me. I’m just admitting to you all how sometimes in life I like to throw money at my problems to try and make them go away. Eating local and seasonal seems like a reasonable cause to throw money at. That cilantro up there also came from them.

OK, so let’s get to the cocktail.

There are a few components to this that are make ahead. You know how I love my projects! It’s probably why I can’t make it out to the farmer’s market. The first is that the melon gets steeped in gin for a few days; it’s so worth it. Next, cilantro gets chopped up and mixed into a simple syrup. Then everything is combined with some Dolin Blanc, lime juice and cayenne pepper. This whole concoction was really based on the fruit cart vendors I see all over Los Angeles. Another food item I used to impulsively buy until I learned just how simple it was to make at home.

For the Melon-Infused Gin:

1 cup London Dry gin, such as Fordâ€™s
1 cup chopped skinned and seeded cantaloupe (about 1/2 melon)

Combine gin and cantaloupe in an airtight container; cantaloupe should be completely covered with gin. Let stand at room temperature for 3 days. Strain into a clean bottle. Refrigerate up to 6 months.

For the Cilantro Simple Syrup:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely minced cilantro leaves and stems

Combine water with sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Add cilantro and let stand for 1 hour. Strain out cilantro. Cool before using. Simple syrup will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For the Cocktail:

2 ounces Melon-Infused Gin
3/4 ounce Cilantro Simple Syrup
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice from 1 lime
1/2 ounce Dolin Blanc vermouth
Pinch cayenne pepper, plus more for garnish
Melon slice, for garnish

Combine melon-infused gin, cilantro simple syrup, lime, vermouth, and pinch cayenne pepper in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 25 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a melon slice sprinkled with additional cayenne and serve immediately.

A strong juniper palate, along with the herbal and citrus hints found in a London Dry gin style work really well to balance the sweetness of a melon like cantaloupe. Adding the element of grassy cilantro into the mix here gives the whole drink a touch more savoriness. A generous squeeze of lime juice and a big pinch of cayenne transforms the base into a juicy, fruity, spicy cocktail.

Ok folks, let’s shake off that sugar hangover from the last Low Rent Cocktail. Thank god those are only once a month! Now back to the class…

Can a cantaloupe be classy? I think so. No, wait. I KNOW so.

The last of the season’s melons had landed in my CSA basket and I stared them down thinking what to do with them. I’d made watermelon ice cubes, and a melon salad, but I wanted to showcase them in a cocktail. Last year I was all a-craze with this watermelon cocktail, the Salty Melon. I was making them by the pitcher with no shame what-so-ever and drinking them, mostly, all by myself. This year I decided on cantaloupe syrup. Surely I would find a cocktail to put it in…

But it sat next to the Dijon mustard for 3 weeks.

3 weeks and maybe a few days. Until a bottle of Dobel Tequila showed up on my doorstep.

As I have been desperately clinging on to daylight as it starts to get cooler here in Los Angeles, one reminder of summer, besides taco trucks, is melon gazpacho. There is something SO refreshing gulping down this sweet and savory soup. I like mine with a little heat, go figure, and a sprinkling of cilantro. So why not spike this melon syrup with a bit of tequila?

1-1/2 oz. Dobel Tequila*
1/2 oz. Cantaloupe Melon Syrup (recipe below)
1/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
3 slices of serrano pepper with seeds removed, adjust according to your desired heat levels

cilantro sprig for garnish

In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle the pepper slices with lime juice. Add ice, then add in syrup and tequila. Stir for about 30 seconds and then strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

For this cocktail, I wanted to keep the heat to just a flavor and tiny bit of fire. Overpowering the cocktail with too much spice kills the delicate cantaloupe flavors and in turn ruins the drink. The cilantro gives a nice aroma and you can decide whether to drop it in you drink or not. I almost always wantÂ more cilantro on everything, personal preference. The drink is well balanced between the earthiness of the tequila, the just-sweet-enough melon syrup, tart lime and touch of spice. The sudden blush refers to the color the drink takes as you pour it, turning a cloudy silver to a peachy blush color with tiny specs of red from the pepper (yours might have tiny green, orange or yellow depending on your pepper).

One word on the garnish. I think the cilantro looks dainty and fragile, Christopher says it looked sad. I think that if we were looking at a bunch of a Ballerinas I would think they looked dainty and he would probably think they were all sad statues.

Cantaloupe Syrup

1/2 cantaloupe, orange flesh only cut into cubes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

In a nonreactive medium sized sauce pan, combine sugar and water over medium heat. Throw the cantaloupe chunks into the pan and with a potato masher or large fork, crush the melon, breaking it down into the sugar water. You want it to resemble the consistency of a thick soup, with no visible large melon chunks. Bring mixture to a boil and then let simmer over low heat for a half hour. Stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, remove from heat, cover and let cool completely. Fine strain mixture into an airtight bottle. Add 1/2 ounce of vodka if not using entire syrup completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

*This bottle of Dobel was generously given gratis and appears here because I like drinking it. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.Â