The Cranberry Bog Lemon Martini combines
cranberry and Absolut Citron vodka. Photo provided
By Jan Norris
Got the holiday spirit yet? Maybe you need a little boost.
Put some cheer in your glass this season with tasty cocktails concocted by local mixologists. They’re busy pouring favorite flavors — cranberry, chocolate and peppermint.
Mark Spivak, local author of the recently released Iconic Spirits: an Intoxicating History (Pequot publishing; www.amazon.com/author/markspivak) says pre-Prohibition cocktails — those made with whiskey or bourbon — are back in vogue. So go retro and stir up a Manhattan or whiskey sour, then make merry.
Dark Chocolate Cherry Martini with Peppermint Foam
(From Max’s Harvest, Delray Beach)
1½ ounces Three Olives Cherry-infused vodka
1½ ounces Godiva Dark chocolate liqueur
dash Cherry bitters
dash simple syrup
Stir ingredients with ice in mixing glass with strainer. Add foam (recipe follows) to a chilled cocktail glass. Strain cocktail through foam into glass. Flame sprinkled turbinado sugar over top of the drink.
Makes 1 cocktail.
Peppermint Foam
(enough for several cocktails)
4 egg whites
6 ounces St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3 ounces lemon juice
1 ounce crushed peppermint candy
Shake well in mixing glass. Pour into an iSi Whipper fitted with charged CO2 cartridge. Shake well. Chill 1 hour. Shake well before dispensing, and shake between charges.
Cranberry Bog Lemon
Martini Recipe
(From Legal Sea Foods, Boca Raton)
2½ ounces Absolut Citron Vodka
3 ounces (about 1/3 cup) cranberry puree — see note
½ ounce sour mix
Dash of Angostura bitters
3 fresh cranberries for garnish
Combine vodka, cranberry puree, sour mix and bitters in an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously six to eight times and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with three cranberries.
Makes 1 martini.
White Chocolate Cake Martini
(From Piñon Grill, Boca Raton)
1½ ounces Cupcake frosting vanilla vodka
½ ounce Frangelico
½ ounce Crème de cocoa light
1 ounce heavy cream
Shake in cocktail shaker, and poured into a martini glass.
Makes 1 cocktail.
Adult Hot Chocolat
(From Tanzy, Boca Raton)
1 cup water
1 package hot chocolate mix
2 ounces Chocolat Royal liqueur
1 handful mini-marshmallows
Heat water in microwave or boil on stove. Mix hot chocolate in water, add Chocolat Royal and stir; top with marshmallows.
Serve in coffee mug or cappuccino glass.
Makes 1 mug.
All I Want For Christmas
is Chocolat
(Tanzy, Boca Raton)
1.75 ounces Chocolat Royal liqueur
1 ounce Sobieski vodka
¾ ounce elderflower liqueur
¾ ounce half-and-half
Stir ingredients with ice in mixing glass. Strain into chilled martini glass.
Makes 1 drink.
Orange Blossom
(Tanzy, Boca Raton)
1½ ounces Marie Brizard Chocolat Royal
1½ ounces Sobieski Orange vodka
Mint leaves for garnish
Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Sprinkle mint leaves on top for added flavor.
Mark Spivak’s Manhattan
Several dashes bitters
2 ounces whiskey of your choice (blended Canadian is my preference)
½ ounce sweet vermouth — use high quality
Several dashes bitters
Orange zest (squeeze into drink to release essential oils)
Straight up: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the bitters and allow them to permeate the ice cubes. Add the whiskey and vermouth, and stir vigorously — do NOT shake. Strain into a cocktail glass, and add the orange zest.
On the rocks: Fill an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Add the bitters and allow them to permeate the ice cubes. Add the whiskey, vermouth and orange zest, and stir vigorously.
Makes 1 cocktail.
Whiskey Sour
(traditional)
1½ ounces whiskey
1½ ounces lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
Maraschino cherry on stem, for garnish
Put whiskey, lemon juice and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well; strain into a chilled sour glass. Drop cherry into glass.
Makes 1 cocktail. Ú
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