It may have been an absurdly mild Chicago winter and temperatures may still be oscillating but I have officially decided that spring is upon us. Is there a snowstorm in our future? Probably. Does that need to dampen my excitement for abundant sunshine and the return of color to the world? Not at all.

I wanted to celebrate my heightened spring spirits with a refreshing and floral cocktail. My wonderful photographer and friend, Belen, offered up a bottle of Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka for the occasion. Generally, I stray away from flavored spirits because I find them overly sweetened, poorly flavored or simply limiting. A bottle of plain vodka can be used for a much wider array of recipes if you're not seeking to highlight a single infusion. However, successful flavored and infused spirits can save you effort and elevate the complexity of your cocktails.

Crop's Cucumber Vodka impressed me with it's smoothness and accuracy of flavor. The cucumber element felt natural, fresh, and easy to work with. In the past, I've loved pairing cucumber and elderflower flavors. I decided to try something new with this cocktail but to stay in the floral realm for a fragrant spring feel. Conveniently, I have a ginormous jar of dried lavender flowers in my pantry. As a relevant side note, if you ever choose to work with lavender in home cooking or mixology, it's significantly cheaper to stock up on it in bulk. I picked up a pound on Amazon and haven't made a dent in it after over a year of semi-frequent use.

I finished the cocktail off with some lemon for a hint of tartness and club soda for a lighter, more refreshing feel. If you're feeling adventurous with your garnish, you can fairly easily recreate this cucumber ribbon at home - all you need is a medium sized, preferably firm cucumber and a veggie peeler. Simply peel a few strips off the long edge of the cucumber to get to the flesh, then run the peeler carefully along the cucumber from end to end. You'll be left with a long ribbon that has peel on the outside and flesh on the inside. Form the ribbon into a squiggle shape with your hands, then run a cocktail spear through and adjust as needed.

Awaiting Spring

2 oz Crop Cucumber Vodka
0.5 oz lavender syrup*
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
Club soda, to top
Fresh cucumber, for garnish

Mix vodka, lemon juice and lavender syrup in a shaker and shake with ice until chilled. Strain into a collins glass over ice, then top with club soda and garnish with a cucumber ribbon or slice. Enjoy repeatedly until spring finally arrives.

To make in bulk for an event, mix an entire 750 ml chilled bottle of Crop Cucumber Vodka, 1 cup of lavender syrup and juice of 7 small lemons in a large pitcher or punch bowl (you can add fresh cucumber slices for presentation). Top with chilled club soda and serve over ice.

*To make lavender syrup, add 1 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar to a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add 1 tbsp dried lavender flowers. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, then strain and allow to cool. Store excess in fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography.

After taking some time to travel the world for our belated honeymoon, I’m back to share some exciting summer entertaining cocktails with you. Conveniently, you’ll have these recipes just in time to create an unforgettable 4th of July party!

For us, summer is all about spending time outdoors with friends and enjoying the fresh flavors and availability of seasonal fruit and herbs. It helps to have a rooftop garden with over 10 different herbs just a few steps away! If you enjoy herbal flavors in your cocktails, growing herbs is a much more cost-effective way to satisfy your palette.

Don’t have a green thumb? In my experience, mint is the heartiest and easiest to maintain! It's a great first step to creating your own self-replenishing herb garden.

My first recipe in the summer entertaining series incorporates an herb that’s as beautiful as it is fragrant – lavender. I’ve found lavender to be a great cocktail addition in syrup form and wanted to test out pairing it with a fresh summer fruit as a next step. Peaches came to mind as I thought the natural syrupy sweetness would be nicely offset with some herbal freshness.

I’ve learned through multiple iterations of this cocktail that the flavor profile is heavily driven by the ripeness of the peaches. Less ripe peaches will yield a more herbal result while more ripe peaches will create a fruit-forward cocktail. You can try to pick ones out based on smell and firmness but it’s hard to be sure until you bite in (which can be an awkward testing approach at the grocery store).

I started this cocktail by creating a peach, lavender and brown sugar syrup. While simple syrup recipes typically call for a 1:1 ratio of liquid to sugar, this syrup gets most of its sweetness from the peaches. The touch of brown sugar just rounds it off with a nice, caramel flavor. This recipe is a spin on a whiskey sour but the syrup is also fantastic with sparkling wine or vodka. I suggest making it in bulk and keeping it on hand for future concoctions.

I wanted something tart, yet refreshing and easy to make in bulk. Cold brewed tea is always a great mixer for that purpose as you typically have everything you need to make it on hand and it tames otherwise boozy cocktails without watering down the flavor profile.

The resulting mix of peach, lavender, tea, bourbon and lemon is a wonderfully peachy, slightly herbal, refreshing whiskey sour.

The Boardwalk Bay

2 oz bourbon
2 oz peach lavender syrup*
2 oz cold brewed black tea**
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
lavender sprig (if available)

If making 1-4 drinks, mix all ingredients in a shaker, shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. If making in bulk, adjust recipe for the desired number of servings and mix in a large pitcher. Serve over ice while frolicking under glorious summer sunset.

* To create peach lavender syrup, cut up 8 small peaches and place in a medium pot with 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. It will take about half an hour for the peaches to start to break apart when you press on them with a spoon. At that point, add a heaping tablespoon of dried lavender and boil for about 5 more minutes. Strain the syrup by pouring through a fine mesh strainer and pressing down on the peach mash with a large mixing spoon to extract all of the liquid. You can bottle up what you don't use and store in the fridge for around 2 weeks.

** To make cold brewed black tea, follow a ratio of roughly 1 tea bag to 8 oz room temperature water. Allow to steep for 30-40 minutes. Cold brewed tea can also be stored in the fridge for future use.

A huge shoutout to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography and to Gather Vintage Tablescapes for the inspiring glassware.