One evening last fall I came home from a long day of work (I’m a teacher and working musician, and those days can be extra, extra long, putting me home later than most folks reasonably go to bed) and my lovely husband asked if he could make me an evening cocktail. After rifling our bar, none of our usual favorites sounded good, but we did have a random can of pear nectar mistakenly bought when we were scouring pandemic-era grocery stores for a passionfruit cocktail we’d been experimenting with. I was tired and cranky and didn’t feel like making decisions, so I told Greg to come up with something delicious and probably fizzy and get back to me and went upstairs to get into my pajamas. By the time I came back down, he’d whipped up this cocktail, and it as so light and fizzy and refreshing that we forgot what time it was and stayed up talking to each other and sipping until much later than we intended.
One of the great joys of a refreshing cocktail is its ability to clear the cobwebs from your mind and cleanse your palate. Maybe my favorite thing about this one is that it starts with the juice of half a lemon, which serves to cut the sweetness of the pear nectar and make it fragrant and almost floral. I’m not always a huge fan of gin, but here the astringent flavor of juniper adds dimension to the sweet and sour combination of juices and the fizz of the tonic elevates it all, giving it the loft of a cool breeze on a bright spring evening. The garnish of a slice of ripe pear adds the final note of freshness, the sense of sitting in a gently rocking chair on a breezy porch with all of the time in the world to converse and laugh.
A note of warning: this cocktail is stealthy. The combination of flavors neatly masks the presence of the gin and you can easily dial up or down the level of spirits included to your taste. Personally, I love it served in a large pint glass with lots of ice, so I usually top it off with more tonic than might seem necessary so I don’t somersault off the couch when I’ve sipped it down. That said, it also provides a nice diverting base for an afternoon of hammock naps when mixed with a heavy hand, just be careful how much gin you add or your afternoon might be more memorable than you’d like. It also makes a fantastic party punch if you’re having folks over, just mix up the gin and juice base in a pitcher and pour it and then the chilled tonic out glass by glass over ice. Fantastic conversations guaranteed.
The Perfect Pear Cocktail
Description
The perfect cocktail to wash away a long day of work or refresh your mind on a breezy afternoon, made with pear nectar, lemon juice, gin and tonic.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Pour the lemon juice into a highball glass.
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Add ice.
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Add gin and pear nectar.
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Top off the rest of the glass with tonic and lightly stir.
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Garnish with a pear wedge.
Note
On Serving Size: My preferred size for this drink is in a pint glass— use your best judgement for what the rest of your day looks like. For this size serving, double the gin and the pear nectar, but not the lemon juice (trust me on this one.) Add ice to this mixture and fill the rest of the glass with tonic and stir lightly. Garnish with a pear wedge or simply drop in a straw and forget your worries.
