I've always loved the Pimm's Cup since I had my first in England years ago and a summer fourth of July party seemed a great opportunity to pour, drink and share it.
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| Borage flowers in the community garden |
Now the back of the bottle tells you to mix it with ginger ale and cucumbers and that is what I've always done here stateside, however after doing some research online and reading reviews I learned that San Pellegrino Limonata appears to most closely resemble the Schweppes lemonade used in the UK to make the drink. And what a pleasant surprise it was to learn that borage flowers were traditionally used but due to the difficulty in getting them, cucumbers were substituted. As it would be there are borage flowers amass growing in the Community Garden that I manage right next door to me! And for those of you who may have never tasted them they have a slight cucumber taste. They are grown from seed and are an annual but have been reseeding themselves in our garden so came back this year just as lush as before.
With this knowledge I went over and picked some flowers (and leaves as well) and we offered our guests the option of a traditional or modern Pimm's Cup.
The traditional Pimm's Cup contained a glass filled with ice, 2 oz of Pimm's No. 1, San Pellegrino Limonata to top it off and a few borage flowers and leaves. I then mixed and muddled it all a bit (making sure to leave some of the lovely borage flowers at the top). The modern Pimm's Cup replaced the San Pelligrino Limonata with Ginger Ale (Zevia ginger ale from Whole Foods) and borage flowers and leaves with cucumber slices.
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Borage flowers peek out of a traditional Pimm's Cup
(accompanied by appropriate July 4th reading material) |
By far the traditional won out. I did a taste test myself and the San Pelligrino Limonata and the borage flowers really do mix well with the Pimm's No. 1, not to mention make for a good looking drink.
If you can get your hands on some borage flowers (I may be able to help here) I would highly recommend you mix yourself up a traditional Pimm's this summer.
Side note: Yes, it has been quite a while since I've posted here. I can't exactly say why I've been gone so long but I'm trying to pick things back up.
