Circles and Seasons

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

This gin drink was named after the 1979 Pete Seeger album that contains the folk song “Maple Syrup Time,” which pretty accurately describes the sugaring off process, right down to warnings about not overcooking or burning the syrup. The gin-maple aspect here was lifted from David Embury’s Old Vermont (a cocktail found in Embury’s 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks) and the maple-grapefruit part was taken from California’s midcentury Don the Beachcomber Tiki classic, the Volcano Bowl. Combined, the complementary flavors sing splendidly together just like the medley in Seeger’s other recording of “Maple Syrup Time,” found on his album Seeds.

Makes 1 cocktail

1½ ounces gin
1 ounce freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
½ ounce maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a Boston shaker and shake with ice for 12–15 seconds; strain into a cocktail glass. Grapefruit oil from a twist would make a great garnish here.

This recipe appeared in the Spring 2023 issue as part of a larger story: Love and Maple Syrup.

FREDERIC YARM is a Boston bartender who got into the industry through writing about cocktails 18 years ago. His work with the CocktailVirgin blog blossomed into two books, Drink & Tell: A Boston Cocktail Book (2012) and Boston Cocktails: Drunk & Told (2017), which capture the cocktail renaissance in his city. After the first book, a night as a guest bartender led Frederic to seek out a barback position at an establishment known for training bartenders and he was soon promoted. Fred has been bartending at various establishments in town for the last 11 years.