leeuwenhoek

1 1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
1/2 Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz Kümmel
1/4 oz Amer Picon
Lemon Twist

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink to release the oils and then add to glass.

This was my submission for the Hendrick's Beantown Bartender Battle. The description was, "Finally, a contest for those yearning to combine their mixology and rhyming skills. The Hendrick’s Beantown Bartender Battle is putting out the call to all Boston-area mixologists — from those who pour booze for a living to those who have never mixed a drink outside their kitchen — for original recipes using Hendrick’s gin. Recipes can use up to six ingredients, but Hendrick’s must serve as the base. The cocktail also must highlight one of the 13 botanicals used in the gin: cucumber, rose petal, elderflower, chamomile, juniper berry, caraway seed, coriander, cubeb berry, orris root, lemon peel, orange peel, meadowsweat, and angelica. (Anyone who highlights cubeb berry should get extra credit.)".

The botanical I was highlighting was caraway seed via the liqueur Kümmel. I wrote, "Given that Kümmel originated in the Netherlands, I named the cocktail after a famous Dutch scientist who invented the microscope -- after a few hours straight of using one of those, my mind definitely needs a drink...". I exaggerated slightly on the inventing the microscope part and the Kümmel I used wasn't Dutch (we got ours through Andrea's boss via Germany), but it did unite my interests in booze and science.

Alas, I never heard back so I believe that my recipe was not chosen (which does save me from having to write a lymerick about my drink), so I posted it here for others to try.