Rockford Peach
The Rockford Peach cocktail is inspired by our local Ontario peaches. The Ontario peach, when in season, and perfectly ripe, is tender to the touch, and when you bite down through its gently fuzzy exterior, yields an abundance of sweet, slightly tart juice that tastes the way the warm sun feels on your skin in the first days of summer.
The name, as many of you likely guessed, comes from one of my favourite films of all-time, A League of Their Own. Do you remember the scene where the players sneak out one night to a bar to go dancing? I imagine this is the kind of drink they might have enjoyed in a hip bar in Chicago in 1962. Even though Chicago’s relationship with alcohol prior to the resurgence of cultural culture in America primarily focused on beer and whiskey, there are a few brilliant cocktails invented in Toronto’s sister city, including one, The Cohasset Punch, which also features lemon juice, ice and peaches. Really though, I’ve named this cocktail the Rockford Peach because sipping it brings me as much joy as I get watching that film over and over again.
What you’ll need:
1 1/2oz gin
2-3 peeled, muddled (very ripe) peaches
1oz simple syrup
1/2oz lemon juice
Top with club soda
How to make it:
Combine peeled, pitted peaches with lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and muddle. You can use the end of a wooden spoon if you don’t have a muddler. Press the juice out of the peaches until it’s blended in nicely with the lemon juice. Add gin, simple syrup and ice. Shake it up until sufficiently chilled. Now, to strain, you’ll want to use either a Hawthorne strainer or pour it through a small independent strainer to ensure you get all of the liquid without the pulpy peach bits. Strain into a tall, chilled glass filled with ice. Top with club soda, stir and enjoy!
Description:
The colour is a bright, daffodil yellow. The first sip is like biting into the juiciest, seasonal peach without the fuzzy exterior. Sweet and slightly tart with a hint of effervescence. Like a slice of peach cobbler a-la-mode.
Glassware:
This sexy gold-rimmed glass can be found at my favourite local shop, Cocktail Emporium.
