Recipe

The David Lawrence

Iced lemon ginger drink garnished with a lemon slice, with a lemon, ginger beer can, and bottle of syrup in the background.

This is a variation on any number of lemon and ginger beer-based summer drinks, but it’s become my absolute favorite warm-weather cocktail. For this I blame my friend David. He first made it for my wife and I when we were spending the weekend with his family in upstate new York and could freely enjoy tumbler after tumbler without worrying about driving home. If you’re pool-side, it’s acceptable to start drinking this around 2pm in the afternoon or, if you need further reason, as soon as the barbecue is lit.

  • 2oz ginger-infused vodka (see What you should know, below)
  • juice of half a lemon
  • ginger beer
  • ice
  • tumbler
  • Fill tumbler with ice and squeeze half a lemon over the ice.
  • Add vodka and top off tumbler with ginger beer.
  • The grill, or any open flame, is essential for making the ginger vodka. Before the spring thaw, buy a 1.5L bottle of vodka and a large piece of ginger. Cut the ginger into ⅛in slices and grill over open flame until char spots appear. Wait until slices cool, then add to the bottle of vodka. If you’re going to have a number of guests over the summer, make a few bottles and then store them in the cupboard until needed. The char on the ginger will likely add some black flakes to the vodka.


    cocktail ginger summer vodka

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