Over the past few weeks there have been a variety of holiday parties; editors attended the Cincinnati Insurance Board holiday party, their own ALM holiday party, and the Insurance Library's Virtual Holiday Party. While we don't like to play favorites, and a party in person is generally better than a virtual party, we have to admit that the virtual party with the Insurance Library was tops. Why, you might ask? What can a virtual holiday party offer that an in person party with food and beverages can't? A class on making cocktails is the answer.
The Library was fortunate enough to be able to have Naomi Levy , a truly fabulous and world-renowned bartender, teach the class how to make a few cocktails, explaining the whys and wherefores of the tools and techniques of the trade. Not only that, but she created a cocktail specifically for the library and the library had a cocktail naming contest since all good cocktails need a good name. A number of great entries were submitted but the winning name was created by our very own managing editor Christine Barlow, and the cocktail is The Assumption of Risk. So how does one make this fabulous, insurancey cocktail? Here's the recipe:
Assumption of Risk
2 oz Gin .75 oz Simple Syrup .75 oz Lemon Juice 8-10 Blueberries 1 Sprig Thyme Butterfly Pea Flower tea Ice Cube
First let's talk about the ice cube – Butterfly Pea Flower Tea is an herbal tea that changes color when mixed with an acid, such as lemon juice. It's crucial to the drink, but it is fun. You can get the tea from Amazon and other vendors. You simply brew the tea and freeze into ice cubes.
It is strongly recommended that you use real lemon juice – the stuff in the bottle or little plastic lemon just isn't the same. Squeeze the lemon over a tea strainer in order to strain out any pulp or seeds.
Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water. You don't even need to heat it, just stir it until the sugar dissolves. You can also buy some simple syrup at the store if you'd prefer, it's readily available.
This is a shaken drink, and if you don't have a shaker, it's easy enough to improvise. That tumbler that you're taking with you full of coffee to the office or water to the gym will work nicely.
Add all ingredients except gin (strained lemon juice, simple syrup, blueberries) in your tumbler. Muddle until all juices are released. Add gin, ice, and shake. What's important about shaking is that it's not like shaking up the whipped cream – you don't need to shake it like a dog that's caught a fuzzy toy, you're making a drink. So shake it a few times and taste – do you taste too much lemon, or gin, or syrup? If you do, then shake another few times. When it tastes good, you're done.
At this point, you take your glass and add the butterfly pea ice cubes. You strain the drink into the glass. The drink will change color once the lemon juice mixes with the ice cubes. We'll keep the color change a surprise. This makes one drink, so we recommend increasing proportions, depending on how many you're serving. You could also use the ice cubes in nonalcoholic drinks, and as long as the drink has something acidic like any citrus juice, you'll get the color change.
It was a great time and the Insurance Library has created a monster. Our managing editor now has a shaker set, a selection of bitters, has pretty much perfected her Old Fashioned for a quick and easy-to-make drink aside from gin and tonic, and is rapidly accumulating recipes and various alcohols for experimentation. We welcome any drink recipes you have – our managing editor is partial to gin and bourbon, don't ask about margaritas….