Designer Drinks

Dump the stale tonic water, the boring cola, the lip-puckering jug of margarita mix, the bargain-bin gin and the rot-gut tequila.

This Labor Day, say farewell to summer with a round of top-of-the-line cocktails, made with primo ingredients that will dazzle your (and your guests') taste buds.

You'll be riding a trend in the bartending world, which is placing a premium on premium drinks and the critical role of the bartender.

"I think of myself as a chef - a bar chef," said Julie Reiner, owner of the Flatiron Lounge in New York, a panelist for the Cocktail Cabaret during the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, Colo., last year. "I take a more culinary approach to creating bar drinks. I want to take making drinks to a different level. I prefer to make a cocktail with muddled fresh raspberries than to use Stoli raspberry vodka."

Nate Windham, bartender at The Office in Colorado Springs, is squarely in Reiner's camp.

"We want to take our drinks the extra mile with fresh juice and high-quality liquors," he said.

One way bartenders have raised the bar: using house-made infused liquors with freshly squeezed or pureed fruit.

Take the Beijing Peach that Reiner presented at the Food & Wine Magazine Classic. The drink is made with a jasmine tea-infused vodka, fresh-squeezed lime juice, simple syrup and white-peach puree. She served them in tall-stemmed wine glasses garnished with beautiful edible orchids. The drink had an amazing peachy aroma and an interesting, lightly sweet peach flavor mellowed by the note of tea.

"Men ask for the Beijing on the rocks without the flower and in a martini glass," she said.

Windham is into the infused vodka trend, too.

"I make a ginger-infused vodka for our Ginger Cosmo," he said. "I've been playing with bourbon infused with tobacco."

Sounds weird, but he says that after a cutup cigar hangs out in the bourbon bottle for five to seven days and is filtered, the tobacco mellows the bourbon's sweetness.

"In the fall I'll infuse the bourbon with leather," he said. "That will do the opposite to the bourbon and will bring out the sweetness."

Yes, you can expect to pay more for these major league cocktails. The ones that Windham shakes up for The Office customers top out at $10.

But people are buying. Reiner said in the couple of weeks after putting the Beijing Peach on her menu, she sold 9,918 of them.

"These go for $12 a pop," she said. "You do the math."

If you plan to hop on the classy cocktail bandwagon for Labor Day, why not take it a step further with a sampling menu of drinks, known as flights.

At Reiner's bar, you can get a trio of cocktails of French origin with the Flight of France. The Flight to New Orleans features a trio of cocktails based on Big Easy flavors.

You get the idea. This would be a good way have some fun on Labor Day.

GINGER COSMOPOLITAN

• 1 1/2 ounces ginger-infused vodka (recipe below)
• 3/4 ounce Cointreau liqueur
• 1/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 3/4 ounce cranberry juice
• Crystallized ginger, for garnish

Procedure: Pour vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice into glass half filled with ice. Stir until well chilled.

Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with piece of crystallized ginger.

GINGER-INFUSED VODKA

• 1 liter vodka
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1 cup peeled, sliced fresh gingerroot

Procedure: In large container, stir vodka and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add gingerroot, cover and let sit 1-2 weeks. Strain into a bottle.

FROZEN WATERMELON

• 1 ounce watermelon-infused vodka (recipe below)
• 1/2 ounce amaretto 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 ounce cranberry juice
• Watermelon slice, for garnish

Procedure: Pour all ingredients into blender, along with one glassful of ice. (Using crushed ice when making frozen drinks will produce a more consistent drink.) Blend until ice is thoroughly crushed and mixed.

Garnish with small slice of watermelon.

WATERMELON-INFUSED VODKA

• 1 liter premium vodka
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1/2 small watermelon, cut into chunks

Procedure: Place vodka and sugar in large container and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add watermelon, cover and store in refrigerator 2-3 days, stirring once a day. Strain into a bottle.

SOURCE: Bartender Nate Windham

BEIJING PEACH

• 2 ounces Jasmine Pearls-infused vodka (see cook's notes)
• 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup (see cook's notes)
• 1 ounce White Peach Purée (see cook's notes)

Cook's notes: To make Jasmine Pearl-infused vodka, smash 2 tablespoons Jasmine Pearls green tea (such as In Pursuit of Tea brand, inpursuitoftea.com) with mortar and pestle. Let tea sit in a 1-liter bottle of vodka for 4 hours, then strain through a fine strainer.

To make simple syrup, combine equal parts superfine sugar and hot water until dissolved. Can be refrigerated up to 1 month.

White Peach Purée is available at Whole Foods Market or online at www.amazon.com/gourmetfoods.

Procedure: In cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients and shake well with ice. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with an edible flower.

Source: Julie Reiner of Flatiron Lounge in New York

WHITE SANGRIA

• 2 kiwi fruit, divided
• 10 ounces Sauvignon blanc, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup peach schnapps
• 1/2 cup triple sec (such as Cointreau)
• 1 red apple
• 1 ruby red grapefruit, plus strained juice from 1/2 of another
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 10 ounces dry sparkling wine

Procedure: Peel 1 kiwi and slice into 1/2-inch discs; place in large jar. Add 5 ounces Sauvignon blanc and sugar and bruise fruit. Add peach schnapps and triple sec and stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Add remaining Sauvignon blanc, cover and let sit overnight.

Strain mixture into punch bowl with ice ring and add strained grapefruit juice. Slice remaining kiwi in half lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch moons. Quarter apple and cut away core. Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Cut remaining grapefruit into 1/2-inch moons.

Add all cut fruit and apple juice to punch bowl. Add sparkling wine and stir.

Nutrition data not available.

Source: Bartender Nate Windham

CUCUMBER MELON

• 2 melon balls
• 2 cucumber slices, divided
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 ounce gin
• 3/4 ounce dry vermouth Mint sprig, for garnish

Procedure: Muddle melon balls and 1 cucumber slice with lime juice and sugar. Add gin and vermouth and shake with ice.

Garnish with additional cucumber slice and a sprig of mint.

Source: Bartender Nate Windham