Even if you couldn’t be at this year’s Monterey Car Week and Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance California, you can still raise a glass in their honor with these two unique craft cocktail recipes that were served for the first time at the Lexus 2016 LX and GS unveiling event. Of course, drinking and driving is a terrible (and illegal) idea, but since everyone was chauffeured by Lexus to the model unveilings, there was plenty of celebratory imbibing. And since the grand reveal was catered with wine and food pairings by Lexus Culinary Master and James Beard winning chef Dean Fearing, the evening was a true feast for the senses. A lavish craft cocktail bar set the stage, featuring a master ice carver and two drinks invented for the special occasion. The mixologists got into the “spirit” of things by creating their own syrups, tinctures and garnishes made that day from foraged ingredients found right off the roadside of Monterey’s world-famous 17-Mile Drive: lemons, mint, juniper, cypress, fennel flowers and sea salt.
Next time you’re feeling like raising a toast to your car—or to anything, actually—try your hand at these tasty drinks.
LX Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces Absolut vodka
- 2 ounces cantaloupe juice
- 1/2 ounce orange & fennel pollen syrup
- 2 1/2 ounces lemon juice
- 1 ounce mint juice
- 1 teaspoon pink peppercorn tincture
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- Freshly cracked pink peppercorn
Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake for 20 seconds. Strain into a copper mug filled to the top with crushed ice. Garnish with a fennel flower and sprinkle with a pinch of Big Sur sea salt and freshly cracked pink peppercorn.
GS Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1/2 orange; juice only
- 1 lemon; juice and zest
- 2 ounces huckleberries (or 5 fresh blackberries)
- 1 ounce juniper and cypress tincture
- 2 ounces Hendricks gin
- 2 ounces honey elderberry syrup
Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into an old fashioned glass over one ice cube. Garnish with a Meyer lemon spear and juniper sprig.
