Cool and colorful, trendy cocktails make a big splash
By Anonymous Friday, September 01, 2006, 01:48 AM EDT
NEW TWISTS
Whether you choose to kick back at a restaurant, pub patio or in your own backyard, the hottest cocktails are all about fresh fruit and herbs, vibrant color and refreshing flavor.
For cooling off on warm summer evenings, lemonade drinks are all the rage, say bartenders and hospitality-industry professionals.
"They are such a good summer cool-off, especially on our patio," said bartender Jenn Venuto. "We do them frozen or over rocks. Our most popular ones are peach lemonade with Absolut peach vodka and peach Schnapps and lemonade. Another is raspberry lemonade with Bacardi Limon lemonade and a little splash of Chambord to give it the raspberry flavor. Not too sweet, not too tart, very refreshing."
South Beach Lemonade is another beverage making the rounds, said bartender Tammy Jackson.
"It's frozen and really good," she said. "It has raspberry Smirnoff, orange Smirnoff and lemonade, then it's garnished with Blue Curacao. When you mix it up, it looks really summery and festive."
Popularity of the Mojito (pronounced mo-HEE-toe) has not waned a bit since becoming a trend topper a few years back. The Cuban cocktail is traditionally made of five ingredients: mint, rum, powdered sugar, lime juice and club soda. In fact, the drink is more popular than ever, thanks to some refreshing new ingredients.
"We have three kinds - key lime, dessert pear and green apple," said restaurant manager Dave Adler. "They're all handmade with Bacardi and all garnished with fresh mint sprigs and fresh limes."
Martini lovers have obsessed over pomegranate martinis since Oprah named it as her favorite drink. Now there is a new fruit taking center stage. It's the lychee. It is becoming the "it" drink this summer.
"Lychee is a Japanese fruit," said bar manager David Young. "We use lychee puree with Stoli raspberry and a little bit of raspberry liqueur and serve it in a martini glass with a skewer of fresh raspberries."
When the mercury spikes, so do sales of Jamaican Paradise, a chilly tropical drink.
"It's a fun green color and served in a big frosted mug," said bartender Lori Tisdale. The cocktail has Malibu rum, Sauza Gold Tequila, Midori, Blue Curacao and sweet-and-sour mix. Midori is a melon liqueur, and Curacao is a liqueur flavored with the dried peels of larahas, bitter relatives of oranges, grown on the island of Curacao. It is most often used in exotic cocktails and comes in a variety of colors, including vibrant blue and green.
LEARNING THE BASICS
Interested in learning to make a few specialty drinks? It's not hard. All you have to do is master a few basics and you will be on your way to making the beverages that follow.
- Simple syrup. A bar staple and universal mixer. Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool and refrigerate in a tightly covered glass jar until ready to use. Yields 1 1/2 cups and will last for about 1 month.
- Muddler. Like a long wooden pestle for crushing, or muddling, herbs, fresh fruit and sugar cubes. Be sure to get one long enough to reach the bottom of your cocktail shaker. A wooden spoon will do in a pinch.
- Cocktail shaker. Two types. The Boston shaker is the choice of pros and is made of 1 pint glass with a metal canister that covers the top to create a seal. Home bartenders generally use a cobbler, a metal or glass vessel for mixing with a built-in strainer and fitted top.
- Cointreau. French orange-flavored liqueur.
- Chambord. French liqueur with an intense flavor of black raspberries, fruits, herbs and honey.
- Schnapps. Flavored alcohol.
- Pomegranate juice. Nonalcoholic juice of pomegranate, available in refrigerated produce case at supermarkets.
READ ABOUT IT
A must for cocktail and nightlife enthusiasts, Food & Wine's "Cocktails 2006" features 150 drink recipes from the country's hottest bars, restaurants and lounges. It also includes a guide to America's best nightlife and a dozen simple recipes for bar snacks from top spots around the country such as truffled popcorn, mini Stilton sirloin burgers and three-pepper spiced pepitas.
"Cocktails 2006" is available in bookstores nationwide and at www.foodandwine.com for $14.95.
KIWI COBBLER
10 mint leaves
1 kiwi, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2-inch piece of vanilla bean, split
Ice
1 1/2 ounces silver tequila
1 ounce chilled club soda
Yields 1 cocktail.
In a cocktail shaker, muddle mint, kiwi, sugar and vanilla. Add ice and tequila; shake well. Pour into highball glass, top with soda and stir gently.
- Radius, Boston.
OP-M
Ice
1 ounce each citrus and peach vodkas
3/4 ounce Cointreau or other triple sec
1/4 ounce Chambord
1/4 ounce pomegranate juice
1 orange twist
Yields 1 cocktail.
Fill cocktail shaker with ice and add vodkas and Cointreau. Shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Combine Chambord and pomegranate juice and pour on top; garnish with orange twist.
- Rosemary's Restaurant, Las Vegas.
HEAVY PETTING
8 seedless red grapes
1 1/2 ounces Chardonnay
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounces fresh lemon juice
Ice
Yields 1 cocktail.
In cocktail shaker, muddle grapes. Add remaining ingredients and enough ice to fill a highball glass and shake well. Pour contents of shaker into highball glass.
- Bed, New York City
PEACH FIZZ PITCHER DRINK
12 ounces orange vodka
8 ounces peach Schnapps
8 ounces fresh orange juice
Ice
8 ounces chilled lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite)
Yields 8 cocktails.
In a pitcher, combine vodka, Schnapps and orange juice. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
Remove vodka mix from refrigerator, stir and pour into 8 ice-chilled highball glasses. Top each glass with 1 ounce of soda.
- Tayst, Nashville, Tenn.
© Copley News Service
