[lavender menace]

1 3/4 oz Bols Genever
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lavender Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Hartley & Gibson Amontillado Sherry
2 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
For my second drink at the Sunday Salon, I asked bartender Ben Sandrof for something off the menu. Ben mentioned that he had thought about tea and sherry earlier, and that while he did not have tea accessible at the bar, he did have lavender simple syrup. The drink he created sort of reminded me of the Southend, but the Genever and sherry took things in a different direction. The nose was full of Genever spirit with a hint of lavender floral notes. The malty flavors from the Genever appeared with the lemon on the sip, and the lavender and sherry notes mingled on the swallow. Indeed, the lavender and the botanicals in the Bols Genever made for a rather solid pairing.