My fiance (how weird to say that?!) and I recently returned from a vacation to Brooklyn & Philadelphia. One of the many souvenirs we brought back were these ‘Elemakule Tiki Bitters from a shop called Whisk. They are quickly becoming our new favorite add-in to new and tried-n-true cocktails. Last weekend Dan whipped up this refreshing drink using some shiso I snagged from our pitstop in New Jersey’s Mitsuwa Market on the way from New York to Philly. Shiso is nearly impossible to find in the DC area, so I always bring some back whenever I can go to a Japanese-centric mart. Unfortunately, since it’s so precious I want to keep it for something special and often times it ends up going bad!

Make this “hapa” version of a drink called the “Age of Reason“–hopefully it will help you survive the current heat wave and kick-off the weekend right.