My, My, My Negroni

Inspired by Negroni cocktails I had during the recent Negroni Week, I thought I would celebrate the Golden State Warriors' championship win tonight with the tipple.  

I also had almost everything at home for this simple cocktail except orange peel for the garnish.  I ended up garnishing my cocktail with slices of a Frog Hollow Farm apricot.  To complement the garnish I added a splash of peach schnapps. I liked the results and I share them with you as "My Negroni." For a traditional negroni, simply leave out the schnapps and garnish with the orange peel. I thought my version was a tad smoother.

For a more woodsy version of a Negroni, I direct you to the excellent Sunset Magazine version I had on my recent media tour. It is not more complicated, but the taste is more piney and the ingredients are more specific. The Forest Negroni is the creation of Sunset editor Nino Padova.

My Negroni

Makes 1 large drink

I used a traditional shot glass as a measure

1 measure Campari

1 measure sweet red (rosso) vermouth

1 measure gin

1/4 measure peach schnapps

2 slices of apricot or 1 slice peach

Fill shaker with ice. Pour in Campari, vermouth, gin and schnapps. Shake well.  Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with apricot slices.

Skip Cookies this Purim, Go For the Hammered Taschen: Specialty Holiday Cocktails Help Adults Drown out Haman

Shushan Sunset and Sunrise.  I can't tell the difference, so be careful.

While dressing up, acting out Purimshpiels (Purim plays), making noise and listening to the story of how Queen Esther and Mordecai defeated Haman are for all ages, one holiday tradition is strictly for adults – drinking alcohol. Various sources advise us to imbibe until we cannot distinguish the difference between a curse on the evil vizier Haman’s name and a blessing on the Jewish hero Mordecai’s.

Some do suggest drinking only a little bit more than you usually do or indulging only enough to fall asleep since when you are asleep you can’t hear the difference between the two names.

These days moderation and designated drivers are advised, but many of us still take a sip or several to celebrate the Jewish victory, perhaps from a bottle of schnapps or whiskey after the Megillah reading. These cocktails are a little fancier. Think of them as your tipples in Purim costumes.

Two of the drinks are named after the ancient Persian city of Shushan to mark the extra day of fighting that walled city endured. The Shushan Sunrise is non-alcoholic and uses grenadine syrup, a pomegranate flavored sugar syrup available in liquor stores and other markets. The Shushan Sunset features pomegranate liqueur. Both were made with fresh lemonade from the supermarket’s refrigerator section.

Pomegranate liqueur is also featured in the Queen Esther champagne cocktail. Crown Queen Esther by dipping the rim of a champagne flute in lemon juice and then in sugar or powdered sugar before mixing the cocktail.

Vashti’s Venom has a bit of a bite from the bourbon, a bit of sweetness from the cherry cola and a bit of sharpness from the vermouth, giving the drink qualities I imagine Vashti must have had to attract and anger a king. Substitute cola for cherry cola if desired.

The popular apricot jam-filled hamantaschen cookies were the inspiration for the Hammered Taschen. Cookie crumbs on the glass rim and apricot nectar help recreate the flavor of the three-cornered pastry, an Ashkenazi favorite for the holiday.

Shushan Sunrise (Non-Alcoholic)
Serves 1

Ice
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. grenadine syrup
1 cup lemonade, chilled
Mint leaf, optional

Fill 12 oz. glass with ice. Pour 1 Tbs. grenadine syrup over ice. Add lemonade. Stir. Drizzle remaining syrup over top. (Do not stir.) Garnish with mint leaf if desired.

Shushan Sunset
Serves 1

Ice
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. pomegranate liqueur
1 cup lemonade, chilled
Mint leaf, optional

Fill 12 oz. class with ice. Pour 1 Tbs. of the liqueur over ice. Add lemonade. Stir. Drizzle remaining liqueur over top. (Do not stir.) Garnish with mint leaf if desired.

The Hammered Taschen

The Hammered Taschen

Serves 1

2 vanilla wafers
1 Tbs. lime juice plus extra for rim
1 Tbs. triple sec
1 Tbs. peach schnapps
2 Tbs. vodka
3 Tbs. apricot nectar
Ice

Crush cookies into a very fine powder. Dip rim of chilled martini or other cocktail glass in lime juice and then in cookie powder. Set aside. Combine 1 Tbs. lime juice with the triple sec, peach schnapps, vodka and apricot nectar in cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake well and strain into prepared glass.

Queen Esther
Serves 1

1 tsp. pomegranate liqueur
Brut champagne or sparkling wine, chilled
3-4 pomegranate seeds, optional

Pour liquor in bottom of chilled champagne flute. Fill glass with champagne. Float seeds on top as garnish if desired.

Vashti’s Venom
Serves 1

Ice
1 Tbs. bourbon
1 tsp. sweet (red) vermouth
1 cup cherry cola, chilled
Maraschino cherry, optional

Fill 12 oz. class with ice. Pour bourbon and vermouth in glass. Stir. Add cherry cola. Stir gently. Garnish with maraschino cherry if desired.



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This originally appeared in the j weekly.  Plus the cocktails were field-tested at a very fun adults only cocktail party.

Lychee Cocktail for the Lunar New Year

I first had a lychee martini at the lobby bar of the Four Seasons in Shanghai almost five years ago.  It's remained one of my favorite drinks ever since.  I'm not really a fruity cocktail drinker, but there is something about vodka mixed with the lightly floral and slightly spicy taste of the lychee that I really enjoy.

When I came back from China, the first place I looked for ingredients to recreate this cocktail was my local supermarket which had Soho lychee liqueur on sale.  I grabbed a bottle and have been making lychee cocktails since.

My current version of this cocktail involves chilling a cocktail or large martini glass and putting the following in a cocktail shaker over ice (for one large drink):

2 oz. unflavored vodka
2 oz. lychee liqueur
1-2 Tbs. of syrup from canned lychees

Put a canned lychee in chilled glass.  Shake well and strain cocktail into glass.

I've also made this with a vodka-lychee liqueur ratio of 3 parts to 1.  Some brands of canned lychees are packed in syrup that is cloyingly sweet, so taste before using and use the lesser amount if that's the case.
Gānbēi!
And of course, wishing everyone Xin Nian Kuai Le (which I understand is Mandarin for expressing New Year's wishes)  or Gung Hay Fat Choy (which is the Americanized version of the Cantonese expression).

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You can see other posts on the Lunar New Year here.

I'll Have Mine Straight Up with Salt

Living in northern California I am very aware of the area's Hispanic heritage, as are most of the supermarkets in my area.

So, what is the number one Cinco de Mayo item I have seen the two big chains here push?

Booze.

I guess Cinco de Mayo has become a celebration of freedom from being sober and as such has crossed national lines. One need not be Mexican to celebrate by hoisting a beer, margarita other other alcoholic drink.

Safeway featured a display at the front of the store full of margarita mixes and tequila. Albertson's was near the liquor section and featured pinatas (yes, the child's birthday party toy) in the shape of liquor bottles. Of all days not to have my camera in my purse! I had visions of the pinata being stuffed with plastic miniature bottles of booze and inebriated guests trying to whack it open with a stick and then scrambling to pick up the loot as it fell.

On another note, I was very proud to see how many people in this area supported the Hispanic and other immigrants on May 1.

By the way, the photo on this page is of aqua frescas, taken at a street fair in Tijuana this past December. These are refreshing non-alcoholic drinks, although I guess one could add something more potent to them to make an interesting cocktail. The one on the left is horchata (cinnamon and almond or rice or in Spain from tiger nuts), the other was jamaica (hibiscus flower).