Today’s Monday Classic is a far more modern cocktail created by Sasha Petraske, founder of Milk and Honey in New York City, and one of the earliest pioneers of the craft cocktail movement in this country. Petraske believed in the freshest of ingredients, impeccable technique and service, and recipes that are modern spins off of five types of drinks: the Old Fashioned, the Martini or Manhatten, the Sour, the Highball, and the Fix. Petraske helped to launch the careers of many modern bartenders who went on to continue his craft throughout the cocktail world. He was working on an idea for a book when he died in 2015 at only 42 years old. He wanted the book to be a very streamlined guide to making fabulous cocktails at home, and his wife, Georgette Moger-Petraske, made sure that she saw his vision through. Sasha Petraske Regarding Cocktails was published in 2016.

The Gordon’s Breakfast is a variation of Petraske’s Gordon’s Cup, which contained gin, lime, cucumber slices, and simple syrup, garnished with salt and black pepper. The Gordon’s Breakfast adds in some hot sauce and some Worcestershire sauce, making it the perfect brunch drink and an interesting alternative to a Bloody Mary, particularly if you don’t like tomato juice. The gin, cucumber, and lime make this cocktail clean, tart, and refreshing, while the simple syrup adds just enough sweetness. Feel free to change up the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce to suit your own taste buds!

Gordon’s Breakfast

2 oz dry London gin (I used Tanqueray)
6 lime wedges
¾ oz simple syrup (page 20)
3 thin cucumber slices
4 dashes of hot sauce
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously until very cold. Pour into a chilled rocks glass. Finish with a pinch each of salt and freshly ground pepper. I also added a sprig of basil as a garnish because it’s summer and it’s growing in my garden. Cheers!