Home Bar: "Bonnie Mason"

It's floating in the low 80s in Los Angeles, but in about two weeks the levee is going to burst and it's going to bump the daytime high about 20 degrees. So that you're ready, here is a life preserver:

The Bonnie Mason

This here is a summer drink if ever one was invented. Did you just mow the lawn? Come back from a bike ride? Maybe you spent a long, hard day graphic-designing. This drink is the medicine that will cure you.

YOU WILL REQUIRE:

Shaker

Muddler

Ice

IT INCLUDES:

2 oz bourbon

1 scoop apricot preserves

Soda water

Lemon

In Detail:

Take a good spoonful of the preserves and drop it into the shaker. To this, add the bourbon, a squirt of soda water, and a squeeze of lemon. Muddle these things together. Top with ice and shake violently, the ice will help with breaking up and incorporating the preserves. Pour into a chilled old-fashioned glass and top with more soda water (ice too, if necessary). Garnish, sit down, put the cold glass on your forehead for a moment, then enjoy.

Notes:

I got the idea of using preserves from my friend Peter who uses rindless marmalade in one of his concoctions. Don't use too much lemon in this drink, maybe a half-ounce, but go light; the lemon is intended to brighten the drink, not to sour it. For preserves, home-canned is best (naturally). I usually use a store brand that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup. Substituting the bourbon for rye is fine, same with soda water for branch water. The kicker here is that the preserves, upon shaking, will congeal to form little chunks and sink to the bottom of the glass. When you're done with the drink, they will be waiting there for you. You don't have to serve this in an old jelly jar, but... Dammit, yes. You have to serve this in an old jelly jar. There, I said it.