A less known but delicious classic is the Sensation Cocktail. It’s a cousin of the more popular Aviation cocktail but replaces the Creme de Violette for mint. If I’m being honest, I tend to love the Sensation Cocktail more so. Creme de Violette can be a little too floral for my preference and the Sensation Cocktail is dry, more tart, and super refreshing! It first appeared in a book by Robert Vermeire in 1922, Cocktails: How to Mix Them, and the recipe is credited to James Berkelmans, Paris.
There has been so much going on behind the scenes that it’s been a struggle to update the blog over the last week or so. I have a ton in the works that I can’t wait to share with you soon. On top of a crazy workload, right after finishing the One Room Challenge, I jumped into repainting the kitchen and starting on the bathroom. These lemons you see as my backdrop is actually a new accent wall. As soon as I shoot it I’m going to do a kitchen tour post. Oh — I’m also fostering 4 adorable 4-week old kittens. Make sure to keep an eye on my Instagram stories, and starting today I’m officially using the hashtag #cocktailsandkittens. If you want to find out why keep reading. 😉
Sensation Cocktail, serves 1
2 oz. gin
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
small handful of mint
mint sprig and lemon twist, for garnish
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, fill completely with ice and shake. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnishing this drink with a brandied maraschino cherry is perfectly acceptable but I love to roll up a lemon twist and stick a mint sprig in it. It looks beautiful and adds so many aromatics. You can also double strain this drink if you don’t want mint in it. I prefer little mint floaters because I think it looks nice and adds texture but some people like a clean strain. To each their own!
I love making classics at home because, for the most part, they are fairly simple (3-4 ingredients). The Sensation Cocktail is one of my favorites to drink this time of year, especially on a warm day. It’s crisp, refreshing, and quenches my thirst immediately. Maraschino liqueur makes this drink sharp and dry. If you tend to like slightly sweeter drinks you can add 1/4 – 1/2 oz of simple syrup to this recipe to sweeten it up.
Okay, now it’s time to meet the kittens. Meet Elsie, Murray, Gertie, and Ethel! They were not cooperating very much on set so I will have to keep practicing. I had to hold them to get some shots of them. They. Are. So. Tiny.
A few years back I frequently fostered with a local rescue, Jersey Cats. For about 2 years my old apartment was a kitten hotel. I’d get kittens, keep them for a few weeks or months, they would get adopted, and then I’d get new kittens. My life was definitely full of sweet, cute, cuddly moments — but fostering is hard. It’s a lot of work and sometimes you get attached to cats. The number one question I always get about fostering is how do you not keep all the kittens? It’s REALLY HARD but I like to remind myself of the bigger picture. The more cats or animals I have the harder it is for me to help others. There will be more kittens, and they will all be cute. I just want to save the world one kitten at a time!
So why am I fostering again? I originally stopped when I adopted my Chinese Crested dog, David Bowie. Having a dog was much more work, my apartment was tiny, and it was just too much. After my cat Phil died in October there has been a void. Now that I have more space I thought it might be fun to start at it again and Jersey Cats needed a foster. So happy to help again!
I hope you guys like kittens because I’m hoping to include them in some of my posts until they find their forever homes. If you’re local please check out Jersey Cats to stay updated. I hope you enjoyed my silly kitten and cocktail photos and I hope you will try the Sensation Cocktail this Spring/Summer. As always, I would love to hear from you, so chime in on the comments below. Either about the cocktail or these sensational kittens! xo