Wilks & Wilson Elixirs Enhance Your Cocktails 

A classic cocktail is no good without great base ingredients.

Our latest drinkable discovery: Wilks & Wilson elixirs from bartender Zach Wilks and homebrewer Greg Wilson, both based in Indiana.

Looking to revive traditional cocktail culture and inspired by drinks from the pre-Prohibition era, the duo debuted a line of syrups ($25 for two 375 ml bottles) crafted from minimal ingredients.

The pair's grenadine is outstanding, and the delicate orgeat is smartly seasoned with a dash of rosewater.

Our favorite is Gertrude's Gomme ($25 for two 375 ml bottles), a sugar syrup thickened with gum acacia. Stirred into even as banal a cocktail as a Vodka Soda, it provided gentle sweetness and body. 

Don't limit yourself, though: The elixirs are useful in more than cocktails. We used the ginger syrup to sweeten a glass of iced tea, and the raspberry syrup would be a brilliant addition to any dessert arsenal.

Maybe in a pie filling or swirled into yogurt?