Because really, who doesn’t have wood for sheep?

I began with a desire to use up some cantaloupe. I was planning on having a few friends over for some delightful Settlers of Catan and I thought to myself, “Self, why not make a cocktail?”

Q: Well, what goes into a Catan cocktail? A: Wood, Brick, Sheep, Wheat, and Ore, of course. So before destroying your food processor by throwing Ore in, let’s define some stand ins.

Cantaloupe will be our brick. Rosemary for the wood. (these two favors are the basis of the drink.) The liquor will be the wheat, while the rocks will stand in for the ore. And of course, the noble sugar cube will proudly represent the sheep.

Making the cantaloupe rosemary syrup

In a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of water, and four sprigs of rosemary. Cut the cantaloupe in half, and scrape the innards (seeds and all) into the saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring often to make sure the sugar does not burn. Heat until flavors are incorporated, about 5 minutes. Cool the syrup, before making cocktails.

Making the Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz gin, preferably not junipery, e.g., Hendricks or Citadelle
• 1 oz cantaloupe-rosemary syrup
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• Sugar cube, for garnish
• Rosemary sprig, for garnish
• Cantaloupe, cut into a small brick, for garnish

In a shaker, add gin, syrup and lemon juice over ice. Shake and strain into a rocks filled ice glass. Insert sprig into cantaloupe brick. Top drink with our garnish, then add noble sugar cube to garnish.

A Lovely Variation

If you happen to have Whiskey Stones, you can make a lovely variation on this. The whiskey stone will take the place of the ice for the Ore. Now we can use a shallow coupe glass. Put the whiskey stone in the bottom, and build up the island from there with the cantaloupe Brick, sugar Sheep and rosemary Wood. Our golden cocktail is still our ocean of Wheat.