Head Barman Kevin Burke of Denver’s Colt & Gray, who enjoys making cocktails at home just as much as he does behind the bar, showed us how to create a delicious spring cocktail with seasonal ingredients and no fuss. He chose a gin and grapefruit medley that you can easily manage at home.

Ingredients:
1 ginger cluster
1 grapefruit
1 basil leaf
1 bottle of Old Tom Gin (we recommend Ransom or Hayman’s)
1 bottle of Campari
1 bottle of (pink) champagne

Tools:
Muddler
Mixing glass
Cocktail glass

Instructions:

Step #1: Hit the grocery store or local farmer’s market, and choose your seasonal ingredients. Burke has the luxury of shopping in the Colt & Gray walk-in cooler, and his ingredient of choice is grapefruit. He says he wants to savor the tail end of grapefruit season.

Step #2: Slice thin horns of ginger (Burke slices 4 because he loves the taste and wants a little extra in his cocktail). No need to peel it – you’re at home, after all, and the ginger peel is actually pretty darn good for you. Slice grapefruit, and add three or four hunks into the cocktail glass. “I love [grapefruit] as an acid,” says Burke. “Lemon and lime juice are lovely, but you have to add sugar for cocktails to combat their intense citrus flavors. Grapefruit you can enjoy on its own.”

Give the basil leaf a quick dice to open it up, and add it to the cocktail glass to deliver a hint of bitter taste to the mix’s sweetness. Muddle ginger, grapefruit and basil.

Step #3: “Now we need liquor,” Burke says with a smile. He adds an Old Tom Gin because it’s not as sweet as some of the other styles of gin. He doesn’t want to add any extra sweetness to this fruity drink. Then he adds ice. “At this point you could go away and wait,” says Burke. “I would make this, wash some dishes and clean up the kitchen, and then come back and have my cocktail as my reward.”

Step #4: “But I’m not sure that gin is the only thing we need. Maybe some bitters,” Burke says with a giddy smile. He pulls out Campari, adding a dash on top to enhance the drink’s pink color, as well as the grapefruit flavor. He then tops it with a splash of champagne on top. “I always try to have a bottle of bubbly at home, like every self-respecting adult should,” advises Burke. “And this one is pink — ’tis the season.”

Step #5: Take the cocktail you’ve created, and pour it into a mixing glass, and then back into the cocktail glass. Burke explains that this is a technique that bartenders call “rolling.” “I’m a big fan of one-glass cocktails where I don’t have to do a lot of dishes afterward.”

The final step, adding a grapefruit peel garnish, is optional. You could also shake, strain and pour the ginger and basil particles out, but Burke doesn’t think you need these extra touches if you’re at home. “So much of what’s done is for aesthetic reasons, but at the end of the day, if you’re making a drink for yourself, it should be easy.”

This cocktail seems pretty easy, and with minimal clean up, you’ll be enjoying the best of spring in no time.

While London Dry style gin is the most commonly made style of gin throughout the world, the innovative New Western style gin is getting a lot of attention. In addition, there are several other styles of gin coming into vogue. Here’s our gin style guide for keeping them straight, as well as a few great bottles of hooch to try.

Dutch Gin – The original gin.
This style represents the first gins, or genievres, ever crafted in Holland in the 17th century. Dutch gins incorporate both infused neutral spirits (what we know to be gin today) and bready tasting malt wine. The percentage of malt wine used in the gin determines its designation within this category. Jonge style uses a maximum of 15% malt wine, while Oude style uses a minimum of 15% malt wine. Korinwijn, a rich and rare style of Dutch gin, uses more than 50% malt wine.
What to try: Glorious Gin, Breuckelen Distilling

London Dry Gin – The common gin.
This neutral spirit blended with botanicals, mainly juniper, is the most commonly distilled type of gin. The botanicals play a secondary role after the juniper in gins like Beefeater, Boodles, Gordon’s, and Tanqueray.
What to try: Bulldog Gin, Bulldog Gin Distillery

Navy Strength Gin – The hot gin.
Great Britain’s Royal Navy demanded high proof alcohol on the their ships because it wouldn’t ruin gunpowder if spilled. The traditional navy strength gin had 57% alcohol by volume.
What to try: Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin, New York Distilling Company

New Western Style Gin – The nouveau gin.
Distillers still have to use an abundance of juniper berries for their spirits to be considered gin, but they are balancing the juniper with exotic botanicals, creating spirits with flavor profiles vastly different than what we might expect gin to taste like.
What to try: Aviation Gin, House Spirits Distillery

Old Tom Gin – The hybrid gin.
Old Tom Gin is the love child of Dutch gin and New Western gin. These recipes, which include added sugar or orange flower water, emerged after the first creation of Dutch gin to hide impurities imparted through poor distillation practices. This style is nearly extinct, but some new distillers are attempting to bring it back — without the impurities of course.
What to try: Hayman’s Old Tom Gin

Plymouth Dry Gin – The local gin.
European law mandates that this style of gin must be made in Plymouth, England. It is distilled with a wheat-based neutral spirit that masks the juniper berries, making it taste earthier than other gins.
What to try: Plymouth English Gin (of course), Black Friars Distillery

Sloe Gin – The fruity gin.
When you flavor a neutral grain spirit with ripe blackthorn, or sloe, berries and add sugar you get this red liqueur.
What to try: Plymouth Sloe Gin