Special thanks to the Orlando Ale House for introducing me to the following fruit flavored vodkas: Belvedere Black Raspberry, Absolut Pears, and Smirnoff Blueberry.
Here are a few of my new recipes:
Four and Twenty Black Birds
(As in "baked in a pie". Yes, this drink is named after a nursery rhyme.)
1 oz Belvedere Black Raspberry
½ oz Black Cherry Bourbon (try Jim Beam's Red Stag)
½ oz Blackcurrant Liqueur (try Mathilde's Creme de Cassis)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
splash of cranberry juice
splash of ginger ale
Combine vodka, bourbon, lemon juice and cranberry juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Slowly pour in the blackcurrant so that it falls to the bottom, creating a two-tone pink/purple effect. Top off with ginger ale and garnish with a raspberry and black berry on a cocktail skewer.
The Cherry Berry
1 ½ oz Belvedere Black Raspberry
4 oz raspberry ginger ale
Dash of grenadine
Basically Shirley Temple meets Chelsea Handler. Build this drink in a high ball glass over ice. The name comes from the Cherry Berry, a Swedish Fish-like gummy I used to buy from penny candy stores as a child. If you have access to these, put a couple on a cocktail skewer for garnish. If not, a pair of cherries will suffice.
Autumn Sunset
1 ½ oz Absolut Pears
½ oz sour apple schnapps
½ oz Chambord
1 ½ oz white cranberry juice
Combine vodka, apple schnapps, and cranberry juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Slowly pour in Chambord, which should fall to the bottom. Garnish with a pear wheel.
Harvest Sangria
4 parts Riesling
2 parts Absolut Pears
2 parts apple juice
1 part peach schnapps
This would make a great Thanksgiving Day punch. Ingredients should be chilled before hand and combined in a punch bowl or glass pitcher. Stir in slices of fresh apples, peaches, and pears.
Triple Berry Lemonade
1 ½ oz Smirnoff Blueberry
4 oz lemonade
2 large strawberries
¾ oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
Muddle (mash) strawberries in the bottom of a shaker. Add ice, vodka, and lemonade. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Pour in Chambord. Stir in a few blueberries, raspberries, and little strawberry slices. Add a straw and serve.
Blueberry Cobbler
1 ½ oz Smirnoff Blueberry
½ oz real whipped cream
Brown sugar rim
Rim a shot glass with brown sugar. Shake vodka and whipped cream with ice and strain into a shot glass. Enjoy!
