Any "sling"-style drink combines spirit and sugar with water (sparkling or still).  The Summer Sling from Spoon and Stable's Robb Jones makes use of fresh watermelon, abundant and delicious during the summer, as both ingredient and serving vessel.

Start by hollowing out a whole watermelon (like you would a pumpkin) and using a blender to liquefy the watermelon flesh.  That fruity base provides a lot of the flavor and dilution for the drink, but caraway-heavy aquavit, anise-flavored absinthe, and even a little salt help to elevate the flavor... making this fun and fruity punch more than the sum of its parts.

Recipe:

• 1 bottle Tattersall Aquavit
• ½ cup simple syrup
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups fresh watermelon juice
• 4 oz Copper and Kings absinthe
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 dashes Bittercube Jamaica #2 bitters
• Fresh lavender sprigs

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing container over ice, and stir.  Can be made up to 24 hours before serving.

For bonus fun, serve out of a hollowed-out watermelon and tap, or ladle.

Spoon and Stable's bar manager, Robert Jones, has created a celebrated menu of seasonal riffs on classic cocktails.  The Summer Sling will remain on tap through summer 2016.

(612) 224-9850

https://www.spoonandstable.com/