March’s Pop In & Sip Awhile was a special one… not only because it’s always one of my favorite nights of the month, but because it also happened to be my birthday month. So naturally, I chose the cocktail. :-)
This month we featured the Empress 75, which has been a favorite of mine since 2020. It’s one of those drinks I started making during that season at home and truly never looked back. If you’ve never tried it, here’s the recipe I use:
Empress 75
1 oz Empress 1908 Gin
½ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
Champagne or prosecco to top
I make my own simple syrup and squeeze the lemons and it truly makes all the difference.
Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice. Strain into a glass and top with champagne. The color alone makes it feel a little extra special.
You can read my original post on it here: Happy Hour: Empress 75
A sweet friend gave me the prettiest ice stamp tray for my birthday, and while this cocktail didn’t actually call for ice, I still loved having a reason to use it for the first of what I know will be many occasions. I cannot wait to try out the ice stamp feature, but it worked great as a bar mat too!
The little syrup jars are a funny story. I had actually ordered them for my party, but they were much smaller than I anticipated, so I initiated a return. They ended up refunding me and told me to keep them, so they sat on my desk for a few weeks waiting to be donated. As I was squeezing lemons and making the syrup for this gathering I decided they’d be perfect for this. I’ll admit, I felt a little funny using them after being refunded, but I suppose Amazon couldn’t care less.
As always, the idea behind these nights is simple. No formal dinner, no heavy menu… just a standing invitation to pop in for a sip and a little time together.
I did put out one thing to snack on… Vidalia Onion Dip from the VeryVera cookbook. A friend gifted it to me for my birthday, and I’ve already made this dip three times since. It’s that good.
It was another easy, happy night… the kind that doesn’t require much planning but always ends up being one of my favorites. We’ve got to squeeze in April quickly here!
December: Dixie Dill-ightful Pickle Martini
January: Cozy Cocoa Edition
February: Espresso Martini Night
March: Empress 75
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