From its tasty Troublemaker fall specialty drink to its featured spring MI Thyme signature cocktail, the mixologists at Ann Arbor’s The Kensington Hotel offer a flavorful selection of aftermeeting options.
“After a long winter, the Rel·ish restaurant bartending team wanted a fun spring/summer drink that would get our guests excited about the upcoming season and compliment the fantastic Michigan spirits available. Inspired by Jean-Georges Lemonade, our team set out to make it their own. And Rel·ish MI Thyme was born,” says Kristin Pedersen, the hotel’s business and media development manager.
“Our customers love the refreshin g taste that’s not overly sweet and tastes like summertime. This is a big college sports town, so the name was inspired by both the ingredients and our proximity to and support for The University of Michigan sports teams. New Holland is a Michigan-made vodka, and we use a dry sparkling wine and house-made lemonade,” Pedersen says.
INGREDIENTS:
—2 oz. New Holland Duchess citrus vodka
—2 oz. sparkling wine
—1.5 oz. lemon-thyme syrup* (simple syrup will also suffice)
—3 lemon wedges
—1 sprig fresh thyme
—dash of house-made lemonade
—sugar for rim of glass
DIRECTIONS:
Run one lemon wedge over the rim of a highball glass; dip the rim into sugar. Reserve the lemon wedge.
Put the remaining two lemon wedges in a cocktail shaker along with the syrup and vodka. Muddle hard, breaking the lemon skins to release their oils. Cover and shake.
Carefully fill the rimmed glass with ice. Pour the syrup mixture into the glass, lemon wedges and all. Top off with sparkling wine, then squeeze the reserved lemon wedge over before dropping it into the glass. Garnish with the thyme sprig and serve immediately.
*HOW TO MAKE LEMON-THYME SYRUP
INGREDIENTS:
—1 oz. sugar
—1 small bunch fresh thyme, preferably lemon thyme (.5 ounce)
DIRECTIONS:
In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water and the sugar to boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the thyme, remove from the heat, and let stand until cool. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.
Courtesy of Rel·ish at The Kensington Hotel
