Nectarine spritzer

I often find it very frustrating when things are supposed to be in the season even where I live and all I can get are some wilted veggies at the supermarket or super expensive ones at the farmers market. Of course, living so far North and East and nowhere near lush fruit gardens, we get most of our larger stone fruits imported from Spain and Morocco. So, when I spy some good-looking and relatively plump nectarines at the store, I have to buy. Of course, they need at least another month before there will be more sugar and juices, but these ones weren’t as bad either. So I decided to do the only sane thing and make a cocktail. This nectarine spritzer is an easy stone fruit cocktail made with gin, peach liqueur, lime juice, and fresh fruit.

It is a fresh nectarine cocktail with some fresh herbs, a crack of black pepper, and a pinch of salt to bring it into another dimension. While working in different bars, I made these complex cocktails with many different spirits and modifiers, and while I do have all of them at home. And I really do have “ALL OF IT” since we moved our bar out and it is now sitting in my basement. At home, I like to make longer drinks and cocktails to sip while watching something or working on a Friday evening. And somehow when you have to buy the ice at the supermarket, you start viewing it as more precious and stirred drinks to fall out of that category. This is a muddled nectarine cocktail that anyone could make, not a nice gin martini which I am dying to have again.

This nectarine spritzer was made using McQueen and the Violet Fog gin. I decided to go for a fun and fresh gin for this fun and fresh cocktail. This nectarine gin cocktail is fresh, fruity, and boozy. While I like to keep my classic gin cocktails within the classic range of gin, London dry for most, this one, made in Brazil, is a very refreshing spirit.

Now, to be honest, since these nectarines weren’t very juicy and done, there wasn’t any Maillard reaction going on and no caramelization so all I got were some charred griddle lines on the fruit. They did add some smokiness to this fresh nectarine cocktail.
This drink practically screams spring and summer evenings on the patio or balcony. I had it sitting in two sweaters but the mood was there.