Cocktail I made last night: The Polish Sidecar

IT'S ALWAYS NICE WHEN A drink surprises you. See, we at The Bottle Gang like to muck around a bit, and for every Stiletto, there's a Pink Panther. Or even an Alaska, which is a nice drink for certain circumstances, but we don't think you'll be rushing home to make one the way you would a good solid martini.

You may have noticed there's no picture for this drink. Well, guess what? It's Friday, and we're a little more interested in drinking and writing a quick recipe than setting up a photo shoot and all that argle bargle.

We picked up a giant handle of blackberry brandy a couple of weeks ago with the express purpose of making this drink, and it's nice to reach your goals. Here's the recipe for this lovely little drink, straight from a sight that might be Polish (it might be Swedish):

6 cl gin
3 cl bjørnebær-brandy
3 cl nypresset sitronsaft
friske bjørnebær

Lemme help you: combine 2 pts gin (we used Hendrick's, which continues to impress-- you'd think that a gin with hints of cucumber and rose petal would clash with a lot of ingredients in mixed drinks, but really: it's just lovely), 1 pt blackberry brandy and 1 pt fresh squeezed lemon juice in a shaker with ice and shake it like a Polaroid™ picture. Serve in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with friske bjørnebær, er, fresh blackberries. Or possibly frisky blackberries. Your call.

Once again, it's all about the conversation the ingredients are having. A good mixed drink is like a good cocktail party-- everybody gets along famously, and everybody has something to say. The blackberry and the lemon are a naturally compatible pair, and the freshness of the cucumber overtones livens everything up a bit. The cumulative effect is not unlike some cosmos we've had, although with more zing and less sweet.

Highly recommended. (McPHERSON)