California Dream Drinks

A year ago this week, I started work at the California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. In addition to introducing me to a Snake in the Grass roll (barbeque eel and avocado sushi) and Tanzanian chocolate crème brulée, the restaurant yielded one more amazing find – Charbay vodka. Like the bulk of the Grill’s award winning wine list, Charbay is a product of California – St. Helena in Napa Valley, to be exact.

What makes Charbay different is its flavoring method. Unlike many of today’s popular vodka brands which use commercially produced essences, Charbay uses only whole, organic, fresh ingredients to achieve their vodka flavors. The flavor and color of the fruits and herbs are fully extracted by crushing them whole, “skins and all”. This lends an array of colorful and extremely flavorful results – juices that are then integrated into Charbay’s clear vodka.

The Charbay Winery and Distillery is owned and operated by the Karakasevic family in St. Helena. Son Marko is a 13th generation distiller and was named “Vodka Visionary” by Food and Wine Magazine in 2005. In 1996, Marko predicted that flavored vodkas would become the next big thing. He saw a need for fresh ingredients in a market soon to be dominated by artificial flavoring.

In Florida, I had the opportunity to try and experiment with the Charbay Pomegranate and Green Tea vodkas. The California Grill used the Pomegranate flavor in their Pomegranate COZ, a cosmo comprised of Charbay Pomegranate vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and a splash of lime. A version of this cocktail (using lemon instead of lime) is also featured on the Charbay website. The Green Tea was used in our signature mixed drink, The 19th Hole, featuring Charbay Green Tea vodka, iced tea, and a splash of sour mix.

Here are a few of my recipes. Charbay is currently available in around 40 states.

Green Dream

1 ½ oz Charbay Green Tea vodka
¾ oz Midori
2 oz Ginger Ale
5-7 mint sprigs

Muddle mint in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add ice, vodka, and Midori. Speed shake and top off with chilled ginger ale. Add a swizzle straw and some additional mint for garnish.

Flower Drum Song

1 ½ oz Charbay Green Tea vodka
¾ oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 ¼ oz pineapple juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a fresh purple orchid for garnish.

This cocktail is a guilty pleasure that pairs well with Chinese food.

Curse of Nefertiri

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching The Ten Commandments when I concocted this drink. (It was Easter Weekend, what else would I be doing?)

1 ½ oz Charbay Pomegranate vodka
Several blueberries
Teaspoon of honey
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Sparkling white wine to fill

Muddle blueberries with honey and lemon juice in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka and ice. Shake and strain into a champagne flute. Fill with sparkling white wine. Garnish with a pair of fresh blueberries.

Jewel of the Nile

This drink is made up exclusively of flavors that were available in Ancient Egypt. (Think Ramses II, New Kingdom, way back in the day.) I wanted to combine the pomegranate with grape juice and some type of fig flavor (See the description of the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:7-8. Pomegranates, figs, and grapes were all hot commodities in Biblical times.) A fig liqueur has to be brewed at home, which requires a little extra forethought for this cocktail.

1 ½ oz Charbay Pomegranate vodka
¾ oz fig liqueur*
2 skinless slices of cucumber
2 small chunks of honey dew melon
1 oz Welch’s Sparkling White Grape Juice

Muddle cucumber and melon in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka, fig liqueur, and ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with sparkling grape juice and garnish with three frozen red grapes on a cocktail skewer. (I got the idea for a frozen grape garnish from this Ciroc recipe for a White Grape Martini. Frozen grapes are delicious – creamy and sweeter than normal grapes. I’ve even heard some low calorie snack lovers say they’re better than ice cream. Simply place some red grapes in the freezer for a few hours.)

*Here is a recipe for making your own home-made fig liqueur. It was developed by mixologist Christ Tunstall from Sonoma, California’s The Girl and the Fig. The recipe calls for 6 oz fresh black mission figs, 1 liter vodka, and 8 oz sugar. The vodka needs to be infused with figs for about a week before cooking. Make sure you have good ventilation when heating vodka over an open flame.