Camino’s Gin and Borage Cocktail

 From On the Menu: Backyard Bounty  by Sarah Henry

Photo by Sarah Henry

Borage is an herbaceous plant that grows all over the East Bay in a kind of weedy way. The leaves have a cucumber flavor and the flowers are sweet. The flavor is pretty mild so it requires a little muddling to bring out the oils in the leaves. The blue star-like flowers make a pretty garnish and are edible—just pull off any surrounding greens as those can be a little prickly.

3 medium-size borage leaves
1.5 ounces Leopold’s gin (or other citrusy London Dry gin)
.75 ounce lemon juice
.5 ounce gum syrup (can substitute simple syrup)
Dry sparkling wine

Muddle the borage leaves in the cocktail shaker until they are a little frothy. Measure the gin, lemon juice, and gum syrup into a cocktail shaker. Give it a short shake because you will further dilute with sparkling wine, about 5 seconds. Pour into a 5-ounce glass, top with sparkling wine, and garnish with a borage flower.