confessions of a mask

2 oz Bols Genever
1/2 oz Kiwi Fruit Syrup (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
10 drop Herbsaint

Shake with ice, strain into a glass, and garnish with a floated lemon peel mask.
(*) Per peeled and chopped kiwi fruit, blend with 1/2 oz water, fine strain, and mix with an equal amount of sugar. Dissolve sugar by stirring without heat.
As I was thinking about what produce to utilize for my night at the Cocktail Lab at Earl's Prudential, I spotted kiwi fruit at the store and remembered how tasty the shrub I used in the Kiwi Kollins was. Therefore, I decided to go with it and take it this time in the syrup direction instead. As I contemplated the soft fruit notes of kiwi fruit, I latched onto Genever as a base for it often pairs well with other fruit flavors such as rhubarb in the Old New York Cocktail, peach in the Under Lock and Key, and pear in the Church Key. To balance the sweet, I paired the syrup with lemon juice, and to accent the Genever's botanicals, I added a hint of Herbsaint. When it came time to naming the drinks, I went with a literary angle, and named all three after Yukio Mishima novels. This one I dubbed Confessions of a Mask after the first book I ever read from that author, and I shaped the garnish into a mask to link it back to the name.
My second drink in the trilogy that night began with a syrup that I made from oregano from my garden. I originally thought about pairing it with sweet vermouth to match the Italian cooking spices, but I ended up switching to Pimm's. While I took it in a Pimm's Cup sort of direction with a split base of gin akin to a Tom Collins, it was much more herbal and less fruity than most Pimm's Cups and more flavorful than a Tom Collins. For a name, I kept on the Mishima track with The Sound of the Waves.

The Sound of the Waves
• 1 1/2 oz Aviation Gin
• 1 1/2 oz Pimm's #1
• 1/2 oz Oregano Syrup (*)
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass with 2 oz soda water, add a straw, and garnish with a lemon wheel and oregano sprig.