jasmine's cooler

3/4 oz Gin (Tanqueray)
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass with soda water (2 oz). Top with ice and garnish with a lemon wedge (lemon wheel).

Two Tuesdays ago, I turned to Michael Madrusan's A Spot at the Bar for my evening's drink. There, I spotted the Collins-elongated variation on the Jasmine called the Jasmine's Cooler that the author strangely credited, "Inspired by the Jasmine Cocktail, by Robert Hess." The drink is generally credited to Paul Harrington and was published in his 1998 book Cocktail; Harrington provided the history that he created it for Matt Jasmine with the Pegu Club. With the Pegu's lime and Angostura Bitters swapped for lemon and Campari in the Jasmine, Harrington declared that his balance was on the tart side to seem more like grapefruit juice. True, Robert Hess' tome was in our collection earlier and easier than it was to come by Harrington's out-of-print book at a decent price, but Hess properly attributed it to his fellow Seattle neighbor.
Misattribution aside, the Jasmine's Cooler was a delight to drink. The freshly cut lemon garnish loaded the air with citrussy aroma. Next, a carbonated grapefruit-flavored sip led into gin and Campari's bitter orange than melded into more grapefruit notes at time on the swallow.