The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.”
– Edwin Way Teale
May Ushers In the Spring Season
Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Cinco de Mayo, and International Nurses Day all fall in May.
It’s Drinking Water Month so you could just sit in the spring sunshine and sip water (but use plenty of sunblock, because it is also Skin Cancer Awareness month).
But come on, May deserves more than just water. The sun is shining, spring is in the air, the depression many suffer over winter is fading as the sap rises again, and there are all sorts of official celebrations that could be tucked in between the unofficial ones.
Many of them automatically suggest their own party themes – have a Kentucky Derby theme with winning-enclosure dressing-up and of course mint juleps.
The Derby was won in 2012 by I’ll Have Another – always a good start to a party! In 1994 it was won by Go For Gin.
Spring Season’s Spirit
Gin’s definitely a sunshine drink, so our first suggestions for a May drink are gin based.
Many gin cocktails owe their creation to Prohibition, to mask the awful taste of bathtub gin, although in all fairness the phrase was coined for any home-made spirit. (The spirits weren’t concocted in the bath, but the long-necked bottles could only fit under a bath tap for topping up.) The spring fling would not only have covered the taste, it’s practically your five a day.
There’s nothing wrong with a gin ‘n orange, or the permanent favorite gin ‘n tonic, but we had a little something else in mind
A Couple Of Ideas For Specialty Spring Cocktails
The Brambled Collins
- 3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 6-8 blackberries
- Curshed Ice
- 1 ounce crème de mûre
- 1.5 ounces of Plymouth Gin (or similar)
The Brambled Collins has fallen off of a lot of people’s radars, but it’s a perfect way to welcome Spring as blackberries come into season. Make up a batch, and serve it in a glass jug with lots of ice. Use fresh fruit. Guests can sit and relax, enjoy the spring, top up their own glasses.
May is a month with plenty of celebrations, lots of weddings and of course Mother’s Day. One excellent celebration drink is champagne-punch, easy, fun, fruity, andideal for our May drink list.
Champagne-Punch 
- 1.5 ounces grenadine
- 1.5 ounces Cointreau
- 1 ounce brandy
- 1.75 cups Champagne
- Seasonal Fruit of your choice
Whichever you choose, our recommendation for May is punches and batches.
Spring. It’s here at last!
