DRINK

DECK THE COCKTAILS, TOO

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERICA SAGON

Adam Quirk, co-founder of Cardinal Spirits, the craft distillery in Bloomington, remembers one of the fi rst Christmases he spent with his in-laws. He wanted to make a cocktail that would impress.

He went simple: the classic, crowdpleasing Tom Collins. But instead of a typical lemon wheel for garnish, he trimmed each cocktail with a rosemary sprig skewered with raspberries.

“They were a huge hit, and it struck me that I could have put pretty much any liquid in that glass so long as it had that pretty, Christmas-y garnish, and they would have been well-received,” Quirk said. “Presentation is everything when it comes to holiday cocktails.”

TOM COLLINS

Makes 1 cocktail

1½ ounces gin (recommended Cardinal Spirits

Terra Botanical) ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice ½ ounce simple syrup Club soda Rosemary and raspberries, for garnish

Add gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and ice to a cocktail shaker and shake thoroughly. Strain into a Collins glass fi lled with ice and top with club soda. Skewer a raspberry or 2 with a rosemary sprig, and garnish.