Summer is a time when graduations and weddings have many people settling into a new home. Here are a few ideas for celebrating a move or stocking up for a housewarming party.
Shrubs and syrups
Erik Ellickson created Atlanta-based Drinkslinger as a way to introduce his customers to the world of craft cocktails, and to make it easier to produce quality cocktails and mocktails at home. A few bottles of his shrubs and syrups will set up any new homeowner’s bar. We tried his spring sampler kit, which included black pepper honey syrup with a bit of Tabasco, cucumber basil shrub made with white wine vinegar, and Ellickson’s smoked apple shrub, which he perfected while slinging drinks at Muss & Turner’s. It was the basis for the restaurant’s best-selling brown thrasher cocktail. Our favorite was the snap pea syrup. Each bottle comes with recipes for a cocktail or mocktail. Drinkslinger’s summer lineup will include an orange clove fennel shrub with Champagne vinegar, a blackberry ginger oregano shrub with red wine vinegar, and a watermelon cilantro anise shrub with white wine vinegar.
$25 for the spring sample kit with five 1-ounce bottles through June 30. $30 for summer sample kit. Shipping for the sample kit is free. Individual flavors are available in sizes ranging from 2 ounces to the 32-ounce party size. Available at drinkslinger.net.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Simple syrups
If you have friends or family who enjoy fancy coffee drinks, they’ll love a set of simple syrups from Charleston, South Carolina-based Daysie. Tara Pate founded the company in the early days of the pandemic, when she missed being able to visit her local coffee shop for her daily latte. She perfected three simple syrups and started selling them in 2022. We sampled all three flavors, and found they not only were delicious in coffee, but our taste testers also loved the Madagascar vanilla syrup for sweetening iced tea and the coconut almond flavor on fruit salads. The salted caramel was delicious drizzled over ice cream. We’d suggest setting up a coffee or iced tea bar and letting everyone add whatever flavor they prefer.
$42 for three-pack of 6.7-ounce bottles of one flavor, or sample pack with three flavors. $9 for a spout, for easy dispensing. Available at the Daily West Midtown and at enjoydaysie.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Dried fruit tray
Connie Deitsch and her daughter, Mookie Deitsch, named their company Bonnie & Pop, after Connie’s parents, who devoted their lives to making people happy. Since 2016, the Deitsches have been offering gift boxes that range from chocolates, cookies and nuts to what we ordered — a dried-fruit basket. The fruit comes arranged on an apple-shaped dish and sits on a wooden tray with a clever design, which can convert to an apple-shaped basket or be used as a trivet. Its multiple uses mean that, once the fruit is gone, the wooden tray won’t catch dust, but actually is useful. And, those receiving the gift will find that it is delicious — a charcuterie-ready assortment of dried and glacéed fruit, including kiwi, pears, yellow peaches, mango slices and more, as well as pistachios and almonds.
$37.99. Available at bonnieandpop.com.
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