After that incredible Lemon and Oregano Grilled Chicken, I felt the need to try a refreshing lemon beverage recipe. This Lemon Thyme Gin Spritz fit my lemon theme perfectly–it even helped me use the thyme leftover from the chicken. Perfect! Oh, and have I mentioned that I love gin? You might have noticed that if you’ve been reading my blog for a while. But in case you missed it or are new here, I’m a big fan of gin. That may or may not have influenced my willingness to try this recipe…
Crisp and bright with a subtle herbaceous sweetness, Lemon Thyme Gin Spritz cocktails are perfectly refreshing!
The Ingredients
I had a bottle of Martin Miller’s gin leftover from the Strawberry Black Pepper Gin and Tonic recipe I tried a while back, so no need to make a trip to the liquor store. And as I already mentioned, I had thyme leftover from the chicken recipe I just made. Really, all I had to buy for this recipe was extra lemons. Another short grocery list and I’m not mad about it.
The Process
I have a split cooking personality. Part of me loves super easy recipes, and the other part appreciates complex recipes. It really depends on how much energy I have as to which cooking personality is out. This Lemon Thyme Gin Spritz happens to be a nice in-between option. It’s just a little more complex than the average cocktail in that it requires making a thyme-infused simple syrup.
The syrup was easy to make, especially since the thyme leaves don’t need to be stripped from the stems and chopped. Just throw them into the saucepan whole and let them steep. Another thing I liked about this recipe was it makes exactly the amount of simple syrup required. There’s no extra leftover which is a plus if you don’t like it.
It took me 18 minutes to make the simple syrup. I wasn’t ready to make my cocktails when it was finished, so I put it into the refrigerator to chill. The instructions don’t say that’s needed, so I assume you could use it right away if you wanted to. The actual cocktail took me just 3 minutes to mix, pour, and garnish. Total time on this recipe was 21 minutes.
