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In this summer-ready highball, The Botanist gin is infused with dried chamomile flowers that amplify the gin’s floral profile and soften its edges. Dry vermouth and bergamot liqueur bring further botanical complexity and some acid, while a cucumber-lime sherbet adds body and a verdant tint. Built over ice in a chilled highball glass before being topped with tonic water, the resulting cocktail drinks like a holiday.

Ingredients
  • 1 ounce chamomile-infused The Botanist gin (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1 ounce chamomile-infused The Botanist gin (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1/4 ounce Italicus bergamot liqueur
  • 1/4 ounce Italicus bergamot liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
  • 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
  • 1/2 ounce cucumber-lime sherbet (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1/2 ounce cucumber-lime sherbet (see Editor’s Note)
  • tonic water, to top
  • tonic water, to top

Garnish: long slice of cucumber, fresh mint

Directions
  1. Fill half of a chilled Collins glass with an ice spear or cubed ice.
  2. Pour all ingredients except for the tonic water into the glass.
  3. Top with more ice, and gently stir with a bar spoon to chill.
  4. Add more ice as needed, then top with tonic water and garnish.
Editor's Note

Chamomile-Infused The Botanist Gin
Steep half a handful dried chamomile flowers in 1/2 cup gin for at least 1 hour; after that, infuse to taste by checking every 30 minutes until the infusion reaches desired strength. Strain and bottle.

Cucumber-Lime Sherbet
3 small cucumbers
4 limes
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon citric acid powder (optional)
Yield: ~ 1 cup (8 ounces)

1. Peel cucumbers and limes; discard cucumber peels and set lime peels aside. Slice cucumbers into coins and combine with lime peels in a bag.
2. Pour in sugar and, optionally, acid powder, and let macerate for at least one hour at room temperature, until the liquid is extracted from the cucumbers and lime peels and the sugar is mostly dissolved.
3. Pass the resulting syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bottle.
4. Juice the peeled limes, fine-strain the juice, then combine with the syrup to create sherbet. Keeps, refrigerated, for one to two weeks.