Peach & Gin(ger) Tonic

Twice last week I got to dip and participate in MICA’s freshman orientation. As an Alumni Council member and a local alum I get asked to come and mingle, speak, and connect with the current students pretty frequently. It’s one of the best things about being in Baltimore, getting to meet the up and coming stars, getting to give my advice, whatever it’s worth. Standing there on Sunday talking about the art of the critique, watching the wind blow and seeing all the excited 17 and 18 year olds in carefully selected outfits I couldn’t help dwell on my own first day of college. The anxiety, the half joking plead to my father to keep driving, to just take me home, the Sanitary Fishmarket shirt I chose because what screams I’M FROM NORTH CAROLINA more than a Sanitary shirt, right? All the nerves, the excitement, the disbelief that I was THERE. That I had made it to art school.

Every fall, walking around Bolton Hill, I think about those first days of the school year. It’s the curse of fall, isn’t it? The change of weather has an almost visceral effect, flashing us back to early mornings waiting for the bus and ice breakers and cold dawns followed by hot sunsets. The feeling of excitement that a new chapter is starting, but sadness that the endless days of summer are over. Even now, free from the binds of a school schedule, I find myself eager to slip on jeans in the cool mornings, but clinging to the tastes of summer. Sipping a cocktail bursting with fresh peaches and savoring the season while it lasts.

Peach & Gin(ger) Tonic

ginger simple syrup:

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 tbsp fresh ginger

cocktail:

1 oz ginger syrup

1/2 peach, cubed

1 oz gin

Tonic

Sprinkle of sugar

To make your syrup combine all ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, once the sugar has dissolved, cut the heat. Let cool.

To make the cocktail mash together peaches and a sprinkle of sugar. Combine with gin and syrup. Top with tonic, and serve.