The Charleston Mule

Do you ever feel homesick for a season? I feel most myself in summer with long days and a leisure pace. Coincidentally, I feel the most productive and inspired by the indiscriminative sunshine and ocean breeze.

A cross country road trip inspired the shop in the very first months of summer. You know weeks on the road brought me a car full of vintage finds and the canoe, but what you didn't know was that I experienced my first bout of homesickness. Six weeks into the trip, in Charleston 2,497 miles from home, I quietly came apart writing postcards at a rooftop bar. A sympathetic bartender served me something that was not quite a mule and not quite a smash, and it felt so much like home in this all too familiar beach setting in a historic district.

It's taken me some time to perfect this recipe, and there have been some variations along the way. But, I'm always transported back to the Vendue, with a stack of postcards, hot southern sun, palm trees, and the restorative ocean mist.

As we slowly say goodbye to summer and clear the path for something new, in another season of COVID, this cocktail is that propper summer sendoff. A celebration of peaches, spice, and happy hours in the hot afternoon sun. It's your medicine for the summer blues and a way to transport you back to the sunshine, garden produce, and naps (whenever you need it).

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