One of the nicest things about cocktails is how like cooking it can be. You see a recipe from somewhere else that looks good and you think about whether you can make it even though it has something in it that you don’t have in your kitchen. Is is worth buying the ingredient or can you substitute something else? If you make it and it’s good, you make it again, maybe for someone else and after a while it becomes your recipe.

This is how the Summer in a Glass came into being and it’s still one of my favourite cocktails.

I’m a big fan of the people at Putney Farm, the food and drinks are great as is the photography and I always come away from the blog with new ideas. Today’s FNC is entirely down to the guys at Putney Farm and their Kentucky Monk. Because it looked good and I wanted one but I don’t have Chartreuse in either it’s green or yellow version. But I really like ginger beer and I wanted a more summery drink, although last week when I made this, the weather has been what is commonly referred to as ‘English’ and leaving the house without sunglasses and an umbrella and a jacket/pashmina was the act of hope over experience! Yesterday and today though the weather has been much warmer, so we’re hopeful that summer is around the corner, but you never know.

So I adapted somewhat. I used Kamm & Sons instead of yellow Chartreuse and grapefruit instead of lemon juice. My ginger beer of choice is always Fever-Tree. This is what happened.

What

2oz bourbon

2 strawberries

1 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1/2 oz Kamm and Sons

2 dashes Angostura

Ginger beer

How

1) Muddle the strawberries in a cocktail shaker, add ice bourbon, grapefruit juice, Kamms and bitters.

2) Shake until cold, double strain into a long glass filled with ice and top with ginger beer.