Driveway Drinks: Nasturtium Gin & Tonic
Put your garden to work.
This time of year, my garden is on its own path. My tank of spring and early summer motivation is empty, if there was much of any at all (I am nothing if not a gardener in theory more than practice). The herbs are left to flower and feed the bees, cherry tomatoes, wholly ignored yet somehow prospering seem to come off the vine by the pound, and my nasturtium plants, planted late in the season by seed (!), are FINALLY ON FIRE just days before the first frost. Typical.
Nasturtiums with their pleasant round leaves, peppery bite and gorgeous yellow, red and orange flowers are probably one of my favorite things that I grow, so it made sense that I then willed it into a cocktail. Flowers steeped in sugar and water make a gorgeous, slightly peppery syrup, and added to my favorite gin & tonic make an easy, pretty to look at and tasty to drink cocktail for your Friday.
Nasturtium G&T
Ingredients
For the syrup:
10 nasturtium flowers
1/2 C water
1/2 C granulated sugar
For the cocktail:
1.5 oz nasturtium simple syrup
2 oz gin
tonic
Method:
To make the nasturtium syrup: Place the flowers (you can use any mix of yellow, orange, red....they all come out to this pleasant pinkish color no matter the combo), sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a strong simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 1 hour. Transfer to container and refrigerate for up to one week. Strain out petals before serving.
To make the gin & tonic: Fill a glass with ice. Add syrup and gin and stir well to combine. Top with tonic and stir again to mix. Garnish with nasturtium leaf if you like. Cheers!