Watermelon Gin Cocktail

In their book Prairie: Seasonal, Farm-Fresh Recipes Celebrating the Canadian Prairies, food journalists Dan Clapson and Twyla Campbell share recipes sourced from notable chefs in the Prairie provinces – as well as a few of their own favourites. This recipe is Campbell’s, and was inspired by a Harry Styles song – you can probably guess which one. “’Watermelon Sugar’ is my 2020–2023 song because I pretty much listened to Harry Styles non-stop,” Campbell shares. “He (and his former bandmates) kept me moving forward, or you could say, in the ‘one direction’ I needed. To honour Mr. Styles, I created this summery cocktail, Watermelon Sugar, named for the catchy track on his album Fine Line. This cocktail is pure Harry Styles: good-looking, slightly unconventional, a little sweet and a little spicy.”

In keeping with the “Canadian prairie” theme, Campbell likes to use a range of locally-sourced beverages. “Anohka gin, an award-winning London dry-style gin from Alberta, takes the lead as a nod to Harry’s UK roots, while Field Notes’ Don’t Call Me Sweet Pea Garden Amaro, a delicious Alberta spirit made from distilled field peas, is added for balance,” she writes. “An Italian amaro like Montenegro makes a good stand-in if you can’t find the Alberta product.”

Watermelon Gin Cocktail

A sweet-and-spicy summer cocktail with fresh watermelon and London Dry gin, finished off with Thai basil and a sugary rim.

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Course Cocktails, Drinks

Servings 1

Ingredients

  

• pink sugar for rim
• flaked salt for rim
• 1 lime wedge for rim
• 2 cups 2-inch cubed fresh watermelon
• ½ cup loosely packed whole Thai basil leaves
• 1½ oz London dry-style gin see note
• ½ oz mellow amaro see note
• 1 tsp chili-infused honey I use Hive Gourmet’s Hive on Fire
• juice of ½ lime
• 2 oz rosewater

Instructions

 

• Mix the sugar and salt in a shallow dish and set aside. Wet the rim of a rocks glass with the lime and dip it into the sugar-salt mix.
• Muddle the watermelon with the Thai basil in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, amaro, honey, lime juice and rosewater, add ice and shake for 30 seconds. Add fresh ice to a rocks glass and strain the cocktail into the glass.

More prairie recipes from Dan Clapson & Twyla Campbell

Spatchcocked Paprika Chicken With Savoy Cabbage & Carrots

An easy recipe for paprika-spiced sheet-pan chicken roasted with cabbage and carrots.

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Stir-Fried Tomatoes and Eggs

Carmen Cheng's recipe for a childhood comfort food favourite: stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, served over rice.

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Raspberry Clafoutis

A recipe for a classic French dessert using seasonal Prairie ingredients, created by Dan Clapson and Twyla Campbell.

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Excerpted from Prairie by Dan Clapson and Twyla Campbell. Copyright © 2023 Dan Clapson and Twyla Campbell. Photographs by Dong Kim. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.