Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
T.S. Eliiot – The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The peach is a wondrous fruit, especially when summer is at its zenith. Indeed, the peach is most precious when we can start to feel summer slipping away. When they are perfectly ripe, peaches are juicy and flavorful as well as relatively high in vitamin C, fiber and minerals. Along with 
nectarines, cherries, apricots and plums, peaches have one large middle seed, making them members of the stone fruit family. The inner flesh of a peach may range from white to yellow to orange. There are three different varieties of peach depending on whether the flesh sticks to the seed: Freestone, Clingstone and Semi-Freestone.
One thing all peach varieties have in common is that they can be delicious in a cocktail. Sure, cherries make great cocktail companions, as do olives and onions, but there is something special about a ripe juicy peach bathing in distilled spirits–the cocktail version of mermaids singing perhaps. And one of a peach’s many attributes is that it is delicious with just about any type of liquor, including gin, whisky and rum.
Whenever possible I like to make this cocktail a few hours before drinking it so that the peach flavors integrate into the liquor.
Makes one Singing Mermaids Cocktail:
2 or 3 bite-sized pieces of peeled peach (or more)
2 ounces gin
2 ounces brandy
1 ounce tonic water or simple syrup
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Refrigerate for two or three hours or place the filled shaker in a freezer for 15-20 minutes. To serve, give the shaker a good swirl (rather than a vigorous shake) and carefully pour the ingredients into a martini glass. Add a toothpick for skewering the pieces of peach.
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