strawberry mint julep, the ginger tantrum

On Saturday afternoon, we were sitting at this bar that just recently opened in SOMA, The Bloodhound. It's pretty rad- owned by the people who also own Double Dutch. It's a great space with good design, a little bit of a kitsch and a whole lot of fully stocked bar! We often plan out our weekly menus this way- sitting in a quiet bar, writing ideas down on a cocktail napkin. We were talking about how great the lemon mojitos were and how that post is one of our most commented on. So Kenny mentioned wanting to come up with some more ways to incorporate the fruit we receive into cocktails.

Well the next logical step was to call up our dear friend Chris Lane. For those of you not in the know, Mr. Chris Lane is many things. He's a handsome and stylish fellow. He's an incredibly talented illustrator. And he's THE BEST at mixing drinks. A quick phone call later, we had some awesome ideas. Here they are! We made these with our neighbors on Saturday night, got thoroughly drunk and annoyed our whole apartment building with our superb Rock Band skills.

Ingredients:
Strawberry mint julep:
2 strawberries, sliced
8 mint leaves
4 oz. Maker's Mark bourbon
3 drops liquid stevia
2 oz. cold water

Add all ingredients to a pint glass, muddle, strain into rocks glass and add ice. We used a little stevia in this recipe only because the strawberries we received were not quite so sweet yet. It is just the beginning of the season right now, so if you get some super ripe berries, the addition of a sweetener would be unnecessary.

The ginger tantrum:
3 oz. orange juice, fresh squeezed (We juiced some clementines, tangelos and oranges we had)
4 Tbsp. minced ginger
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 oz. bacardi rum

This drink was amazing! Add the ginger, water and sugar to a small sauce pan on low heat. Stir until just boiling, when the sugar is completely dissolved into the water and your kitchen smells like a ginger paradise. Set this ginger simple syrup aside to cool. When it does, add 2 tablespoons of the syrup to 4oz. of rum and 3 oz. of fresh squeezed orange juice. Shake or stir to incorporate, and pour over ice. Sooooooo good!

** Update ** We decided to call this drink The Ginger Tantrum. What do you think?