cocktail

Penicillin may sound medicinal but its a cocktail created in the early 2000s by Sam Ross, a bartender who worked at one of New York’s most famous bars Milk & Honey. I generally make a half litre (quadruple the recipe) of this syrup and keep it in the fridge. I use this syrup for all kinds of desserts and cocktails when I have guests over.

Ingredients

2 oz blended Scotch Whisky
3/4 oz Fresh lemon or lime juice
3/4 oz Honey-ginger syrup
1/4 oz peaty single-malt whisky such as Lagavulin (8 years) or Laphroaig (use a teaspoon)
Optional Garnish: Candied ginger or lemon twist

Honey Ginger Syrup

In a saucepan mix 1 cup honey, 1/4 cup peeled and sliced fresh ginger root and 1 cup water over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and let cook until reduced to half original volume.Cool then strain with a small strainer into an airtight glass jar. Cool completely before using

If you don’t have honey substitute with jaggery and use more water. Jaggery has a far stronger flavour and darker color than honey and more fiber so it will change the flavour of this cocktail but its pretty taste in its own way. Use about a 1.4 cup of jaggery to replace the honey.