Let the "First Sunshine" warm your heart and mind

2 cocktails: fresh rosemary, one leaf of fresh sage, a few leaves of fresh mint, cardamom pods, 4 cl Maraschino, 6 cl gin, 8 cl peach juice, ice. BTW, 3cl are about 1oz.

"Spice explosion" might be just as appropriate. But it is what it is. This expedition into the unknown was conceived while enjoying the first rays of an early summer sun.

Rosemary and sage here provide a layer of slightly bitter taste that is essential for a complex and interesting cocktail.

The combination of spices was guided by intuition, and well, by what was available in the back yard. It was inspired, however, by an evening in the Curtain Club, one of Berlins many bars with a unique selection of fascinating drinks.

For this mixture I prefer using cardamom pods instead of powdered material. The pods can be ground with the other spices in a mortar. Add spices to ice, Maraschino, gin and juice. Shake. Double strain with coarse strainer and finer meshed sieve. Enjoy.

Have I mentioned that the quality of your ingredients is absolutely essential? A mediocre gin can spoil your drink, a good one can lift it from obscurity. I like Monkey 47, which supposedly has a unique post second world war story of its own. It begins with a British veteran and his wish to become a watchmaker in Germany's black forest region. Some say that this story is entirely made up and no more than a marketing trick. The gin is great though.

The mixture of sugar, bitters and spirits with its endless combinations provides a rich playground to explore when coming up with new mixtures for cocktails ... which reminds me that I haven't gotten around to todays work on the next lecture. Argh. Slurp, slurp.