Start of Summer

Photo: Heami Lee • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen. Photo: Heami Lee • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen

This frosty baijiu-based cocktail recipe is adapted from a drink created by Garrett Marks , bar director at San Francisco Chinatown restaurant Mister Jiu’s , for Moongate Lounge , the cocktail joint upstairs from the eatery. It incorporates earthy, herbaceous rhum agricole, which contrasts nicely with the tropical notes in strong-aroma baijiu (Marks recommend Ming River ), maraschino liqueur for sweetness, and a splash of fresh orange and lime juice to balance everything out. While Marks served the Start of Summer over crushed ice in the past, he recently began making the concoction in Moongate Lounge’s slushie machine to great success—we love it either way.

Featured in “ Baijiu, the World’s Most Popular Spirit, Is Coming for Your Cocktail ” by Megan Zhang.

Yield: 1 cocktail Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1½ oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. rhum agricole
• ¾ oz. fresh lime juice
• ½ oz. strong-aroma baijiu
• ½ oz. simple syrup
• ¼ oz. maraschino liqueur
• Mint sprig, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. To a blender, add ½ cup of ice cubes and pulse on low speed until slightly crushed. Add the orange juice, rhum agricole, lime juice, baijiu, simple syrup, and maraschino liqueur and blend on low, raising the speed and pausing to stir if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and slushy. Transfer to a chilled coupe or other cocktail glass, garnish with mint if desired, and serve immediately.