At Silver Star Cafe in Park City, owner Lisa Cilva Ward says, “We did an elderberry gastrique for fall cocktails, and our lead mixologist Lucas Anderson has come up with a watermelon version for summer.” Typically, a cocktail gastrique calls for caramelizing the sugar, then adding vinegar and fruit.
Daytime sipping: The “Melondramatic”
- 1¼ oz. local Beehive vodka
- 1 oz. watermelon basil gastrique*
Evening enjoyment: “When Life Gives You Melons”
- 1¼ oz. Wahaka Mezcal
- ½ oz. St. Germaine
- ½ oz. watermelon basil gastrique*
*Watermelon basil gastrique
- 2 cups Slide Ridge honey wine vinegar
- 1¼ cups Condimento Bianco (white vinegar, balsamic vinegar,
- grape must)
- 3 cups loosely packed, torn fresh basil
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1½ cups freshly squeezed watermelon juice
- 4 cups watermelon chunks
- Make a simple syrup by combining the sugar with the fresh watermelon juice and warming just enough to dissolve the sugar.
- Pour over the watermelon chunks and torn basil; mix.
- Add honey wine vinegar and Condiments Bianco.
- Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for two hours.
- Strain watermelon and basil out of mixture, and crush them in the strainer to release the remainder of the juice into the mixture.
- Add water to taste (optional).
