Common Ground Spirits February Blog 2023

Happy February friends!

‘Tis the month of love-themed everything, and it’s also Black History Month (a great time to support your favorite Black-owned businesses)!

If you’re looking to shake up something special for your valentine, we’ve got a frothy red concoction with a nod to Afro-Caribbean culinary traditions that is sure to impress your date. If you plan on stepping out in the Bay Area, we’ll tell you where to get a swoon-worthy Common Ground Spirits cocktail. And if you’re snuggling in until spring, we got you too. Whatever you’re up to this month, we hope you’re warm, safe, and surrounded by love!

Date Night with Common Ground Spirits!

Try one of TWO Common Ground Spirits Cocktails at Sobre Mesa in Oakland, CA.

We celebrated Ginuary all last month and culminated the festivities at Sobre Mesa! Chef Nelson is the talented chef behind both Sobre Mesa and alaMar Kitchen & Bar in Oakland, and you might recognize him from season 18 of Top Chef! He and his team concocted two beautiful cocktails with our gins, and they’re still available at Sobre Mesa. 

Belly up to the bar and ask for an Old Man Common (Gin Recipe 01), coconut syrup, mint, & lime) or a Sobre Negroni (Gin Recipe 02, Suze, & Cocci Americano). 

Crash-land at Last Rites in San Francisco for two festive libations.

Tropical-noir is the vibe at this SF cocktail lounge, and it’s a magical, mysterious spot to lap up some Common Ground Spirits cocktails with your friends! Be sure to order a Kick the Tire, Light My Fire (Gin Recipe 01, red pepper shrub, basil, soda) and an Ingleside (Gin Recipe 02, cassis, cacao, vermentino, Colombian and overproof rum, sasparilla).

Celebrating Historic Black Distillers and Mixologists

For Black History Month, we are remembering the Black trailblazers in the spirits industry who helped make way for us today. While Nearest Green, America’s first Black distiller, has become a household name, so many other Black innovators and entrepreneurs remain woefully under-recognized. In particular, Black mixologists have been making their mark on the industry since the dawn of the cocktail, and deserve to be celebrated today and everyday. One such inspiring alcohol alchemist was Tom Bullock, who published a beautiful, meticulous, and mostly original compilation of cocktails in 1917 called The Ideal Bartender. 

ince Black History Month lasts all year long here at Common Ground Spirits, we’ll be delving into some of Tom’s historic cocktails over the coming months and sharing them with you. Cheers to those who came before us, and to continuing their good work.S

The Only Cocktail You Need

We love hibiscus in all its sweet-tart complexity, and we love it even more for its centuries-deep roots in the African Diaspora serving as a delicious symbol of hope and cultural connection. 

What better way to celebrate Black History Month and Valentine’s Day than with a boozey ode to that reddest of flowers, that tart-est of plants, that emblem of pride for so many? For this cocktail, we started with the basic elements of a pre-Prohibition Clover Club and added a romantic and memorable twist with hibiscus, fresh strawberry, and our black currant and peppercorn gin. 

Tart, frothy, and complexly fruity, this gorgeous and easy-to-assemble cocktail is romance in a glass.

Common Ground Clover

Syrup Ingredients (yields enough for 10 cocktails)

½  c boiling water

½  c (approximately 9 individual) strawberries, hulled and cut in half

½  c sugar

8 dried hibiscus flowers (5 g)

Cocktail Ingredients (Yields 1 cocktail)

2 oz Common Ground Spirits Gin Recipe 02 

¾ oz strawberry hibiscus syrup

¾ oz fresh lemon juice, strained

1 egg white

Angostura bitters for garnish

Make the Syrup:

1. Boil the water in a kettle or pot. Place hibiscus flowers in a measuring cup, pour in the hot water, and allow to steep for 4 minutes. 
2. Place strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan and top with the steeped hibiscus water, including the flowers. Crush the strawberries with a potato masher or large fork, stirring and smashing until the strawberries are broken up and the sugar is dissolved.
3. Allow to steep for 30 minutes, then strain into a measuring cup and set aside.

Make the Cocktail:

1. Fill a coupe or martini glass with ice water.
2. In a cocktail shaker, combine, gin, hibiscus-strawberry syrup, lemon juice, and egg white. Shake well, so as to fully froth the egg white.
3. Add ice to the shaker and shake the cocktail again with ice.
4. Dump the ice water from the glass and strain the cocktail into the glass.
5. Create a design on the top of the cocktail foam by dragging a toothpick through few a dots of angostura bitters. Serve and enjoy!

**For an egg-free version of this cocktail, assemble the cocktail as directed, omitting the egg white. Shake, strain into a rocks or Collins glass, and top with seltzer.