Peachy Keen

This evening I made a lovely beverage called the Peach Keen, which I found in Geoff Dillon & Whitney Rorison’s book, “Craft Cocktails: Seasonally Inspired Drinks & Snacks from our Tasting Room.” The Dillon Small Batch Distillery is located in Lincoln, Ontario and I can say just from flipping through their book that I would love to visit. Every page looks delicious! Speaking of seasonally inspired, my Tacoma people refer to August as Peach-O-Rama! Everyone gets excited when our local grocery brings in peaches so when I saw the recipe for the Peachy Keen, I was all over it. The cocktail calls for peach syrup, rye, amaretto, lemon juice, and mole bitters. To make the syrup, you purée peaches in a blender and then strain with a fine mesh strainer. It’s not overwhelmingly difficult and once you make the syrup, the rest of the cocktail is easy. The cocktail tastes like late summer. I love how the sweetness of the peach syrup and amaretto balances out the spice of the rye whiskey and bright lemon. The cocktail is served over ice and the drink actually gets better as the ice dilutes just slightly.

To be honest, I haven’t been feeling particularly “peachy keen” this week. Living on the west coast, the many wild fires are heartbreaking and our summer skies are often filled with smoke. Covid continues to raise anxiety with new surges in cases and hospitalizations throughout the country. Just when we were starting to feel some relief, we’re reminded that we’re still very much in a pandemic. Sometimes the news can be overwhelming. That said, I strive to find a sense of calm and create joy where I can. I think Friday evening on the porch with a cocktail in hand is a good start, and why not make it Peachy Keen?

Peachy Keen

Ingredients:

1 oz peach syrup (recipe below)

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey

1/2 oz Amaretto

2 dashes mole bitters

peach slice, as garnish

Method:

Combine peach syrup, rye, amaretto, lemon juice and bitters in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled and double strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with a fresh peach slice, if desired.

Peach Syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup peach juice (purée 3 peaches in a blender and strain into a bowl with a fine mesh strainer)

Method: combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and remove from heat. Once cooled to room temperature, add peach juice. Stir to combine. Syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.