“Nice weather if you’re an orchid,” was my comment to Bill when I opened the door this morning. The heat and humidity have settled in and it’s time for more of Hadi’s Nectar.

Nearly ten years ago I was the matron of honor when my dear friend Kathy married Hadi. Kathy is a Renaissance Woman who speaks numerous languages, has both an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA while also being a Crafting Queen extraordinaire. This woman can do origami structures that makes your jaw drop. Hadi, it turns out has his own wide-ranging skills. Kathy refers to him as a “serial hobbyist.” Hadi is quite the foodie, is an excellent cook and has an espresso machine that looks like something you’d expect to see at Starbucks. This man takes his coffee so seriously that when I ship him Chicago’s Intelligentsia coffee for Christmas, I arrange to have it shipped the day it’s roasted because he can taste the difference.

Luckily for us, they spent Memorial Day weekend at our house. Hadi has taken up Mixology of late and whipped us up a “Ginger Rogers.” Hadi credits the recipe to the book entitled, The Art of the Bar. Bill and I are lightweights when it comes to drinking. We don’t drink much alcohol because we have so many things that we like to do each day and alcohol slows us down. Hadi thoughtfully made us Virgin Ginger Rogers although I may try the gin addition some night when I don’t mind falling asleep early.

Hadi, a Craft Nectar reader, offered to share his recipe. I also love that this recipe uses up some of the out-of-control mint in our garden that may also be in yours. Cheers!

Hadi’s Nectar (aka Ginger Rogers)

8-12 mint leaves
½ oz. ginger syrup (recipe below)
1 ½ oz. gin
½ oz. fresh lime juice
ginger ale
lime wedge for garnish

1. Put mint leaves in a glass, cover with syrup, and muddle lightly until the mint begins to release its aroma.
2. Fill a glass with ice; add gin and lime juice and top with ginger ale.
3. Using a bar spoon, stir the drink from the bottom up to mix. Garnish with lime wedge.

To make the non-alcoholic version, he dropped the gin and used 1 oz ginger syrup to 1 oz lime juice.

Ginger Syrup

Slice 3-4 inches of fresh ginger into thin disks and add it to 1 cup water/1 cup sugar.  Heat until the sugar dissolves and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Remove the ginger disks, let cool and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.  To make bigger batches, just keep in everything proportion.