Photography by Camille Lizama
You’ve probably imbibed one of Erik Eastman’s creations, though you may not know it. A fixture of the Twin Cities food and drink scene, he’s been called in to consult on cocktail menus at notable eateries like Revival St. Paul, Saint Dinette and Octo Fishbar, the latest concept from James Beard Award–winning chef Tim McKee (and where he’s pictured here). And he wants to let you in on a little secret: Making lip-smacking libations doesn’t have to be difficult.
“Long before I started making cocktails, I loved to cook,” explains Eastman, owner of Easy & Company and sales director at Minnesota Ice. “I would spend days planning and organizing elaborate meals for friends, and one thing I learned was how much effect could be wrung from a simple twist on a standard ingredient. These days, I love to incorporate those little civilized surprises into the cocktails I make. Premium-quality sherry, salt, Banyuls vinegar, preserved lemon, brown butter: These are not necessarily cocktail ingredients, but with one easy move, you can use these ingredients to create a really memorable cocktail. It’s a form of courtesy, really — a way to tell the people you serve that it matters to you that they be delighted.”
Here, he shares recipes for a few of his favorite springtime drinks, each incorporating one easy move that transforms the everyday into the extraordinary.
“Brown butter has a distinctive nuttiness and is always on hand in my refrigerator for cooking and cocktails.”
Brown Butter Old-Fashioned
Illustrations by Mandy Ebert
1 pound Kerrygold salted butter
750 milliliters 100-proof Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
2 cups demerara sugar
Angostura bitters
1 Minnesota Pure & Clear ice cube
Orange twist
1. To make brown butter, heat butter in a small saucepan over low heat without stirring about 1 hour. Remove from heat when a spoonful of butterfat is a pleasant nutty brown color. Let cool. Slowly decant through several layers of cheesecloth, leaving the browned solids in the pan.
2. To make brown butter–infused bourbon, combine ½ cup brown butter with bourbon in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake to combine. Let steep at room temperature overnight then refrigerate several hours to let butter harden. Poke a hole in the top of the butter cap and strain infused whiskey through a coffee filter.
3. To make demerara simple syrup, combine sugar and 1 cup water over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.
4. To make cocktail, combine 2.5 ounces brown butter–infused bourbon, .5 ounce demerara simple syrup and 3 dashes bitters in a mixing glass with ice. Stir to desired dilution and decant over ice cube in your favorite lowball glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
“What follows are two spring-forward interpretations of the classic gin-lemon-honey cocktail called the Bee’s Knees. The first employs a honey-lemon cordial that is steeped (not cooked) to preserve the vibrancy of both the citrus and the honey. The second utilizes peas and mint, one of my favorite spring flavor combinations.”
Bee’s Knees
10 lemons
Best-quality honey, gently warmed to thin
2 ounces Hayman’s Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin
.25 ounce Averna Amaro
1. To make honey lemon cordial, zest lemons with a microplane and reserve zest. Juice lemons and combine juice with an equal amount by weight of honey. Whisk until combined, add zest and let steep at room temperature 24 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
2. To make cocktail, combine 1.5 ounces honey lemon cordial, gin and amaro in a shaker with ice. Shake well and double strain through a fine/tea strainer into a coupe glass.
Pea’s Knees
250 milliliters Beefeater Gin
½ cup sugar snap peas, roughly chopped
2 cups cane sugar
2 large handfuls fresh mint
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1. To make sugar snap pea–infused gin, combine gin and peas in a Mason jar and shake well. Steep at room temperature at least 3 hours. Strain through a coffee filter.
2. To make mint simple syrup, combine sugar with 1 cup water over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add mint to warm syrup and steep at least 1 hour. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
3. To make cocktail, combine 2 ounces sugar snap pea–infused gin, .5 ounce mint simple syrup and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake well and double strain through a fine/tea strainer into a coupe glass.
