BLACK PEPPER COSMOPOLITAN
Spiced cocktails are truly having a moment this winter. It’s the ideal time to refresh seasonal flavours and festive favourites with a spike of heat from various dried, fresh and preserved ingredients, many of which might already be in your pantry!Ingredients
Serves 1
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
¼ fresh lemon, skin-on, cut into chunks
1½ oz (45 ml) Absolut Citron Vodka
1 oz (30 ml) cranberry juice
½ oz (15 ml) Triple Sec Orange Liqueur
freshly ground black pepper and a sprig of rosemary, for garnish
Instructions
- In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, add lemon chunks and clap the rosemary sprigs between your hands before dropping into the shaker. Muddle together until aromatic. Add ice, vodka, juice and orange liqueur and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain through a fine cocktail sieve into a chilled Martini or coupe glass. Sprinkle 2 to 3 grinds of fresh black pepper over the drink. Garnish with fresh rosemary.
Featuring
Beet-Nyk
Raise a glass to the farm-to-glass trend this fall with cocktails made with root vegetables. Prized for their natural sweetness, savoury flavours and vibrant colour, these earthy ingredients taste good not only on the plate but also in the glass.Ingredients
Serves 1
4 cubes cooked* yellow beets, (4 x 1-in (2.5 cm) cubes)
1½ oz (45 ml) Luksusowa Vodka
1 oz (30 ml) lemon Juice
¾ oz (22 ml) simple syrup
2 oz (60 ml) sparkling apple juice
1 sprig fresh dill, for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle cooked yellow beets. Add vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup and cubed ice, shake vigorously to combine. Fine strain into a chilled short round glass, top with sparkling apple juice then fill glass with cubed ice. Garnish with a sprig of dill.
- *To cook yellow beets, remove stems and leaves of 3 to 4 yellow beets. Clean to remove any dirt or debris. In a small saucepan, place beets and cover with water, add 1 tsp (5 ml) salt and boil covered for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fork-tender.
- **Remove beets from saucepan, place in a bowl and let cool until easy enough to handle. Then use fingers to remove beet skin and cut beets into 1-in (2.5 cm) pieces.
Featuring
RAINBOW WARRIOR
Ingredients
Serves 1
½ oz (15 ml) grenadine
crushed ice
ice cubes
1½ oz (45 ml) Pride-supported vodka (e.g. Crystal Head or Absolut)
2 oz (60 ml) pineapple juice
¾ oz (22 ml) fresh lemon juice
½ oz (15 ml) Bols Blue Curaçao*
½ oz (15 ml) water
pineapple and other fruit, for garnish
Instructions
- Pour grenadine into bottom of a tall goblet and fill ⅔ full with crushed ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine ice cubes, vodka, pineapple and lemon juice. Shake vigorously and strain into glass. Fill glass completely with crushed ice. In an empty shaker tin, combine blue curaçao with water and slowly pour over crushed ice to create final layer. Garnish with pineapple and assorted fresh fruit, as desired.
Featuring
Spicy Watermelon Punch
Ingredients
Serves 16 (3L)
50 oz (1.5 L) watermelon juice (need about ¾ medium-sized watermelon, peeled and cubed) plus extra for garnish
2 to 4 jalapeños, sliced (or to taste)
25 oz (750 ml) Iceberg Vodka
12½ oz (375 ml) fresh lemon juice
12½ oz (375 ml) Simple Syrup*
jalapeño slices and watermelon cubes, for garnish
Instructions
- Use a juicer or blender to juice or purée fresh, peeled and cubed watermelon along with jalapeño slices. Add juice to a large vessel and combine with vodka (if using), lemon juice and Simple Syrup. Fine strain batched cocktail into a large pitcher with ice. To serve, pour 6 oz (180 ml)** prepared cocktail over cubed ice in a glass then garnish with jalapeño slices and cubed watermelon.
- * 1:1 ratio of sugar dissolved in boiling water. Allow to cool before using.
- ** If starting with a non-alcoholic mix, measure 4 1/2 oz (135 ml) into glass, add 1 1/2 oz (45 ml) of vodka, then fill glass with ice.
Featuring
Sesawi
Ingredients
Serves Serves 1
¼ oz (7 ml) Green Tree Absinthe
1 lime wedge
Sesame-Kiwi Rim*, for garnish
4 fresh basil leaves
½ oz (15 ml) Simple Syrup**
1 oz (30 ml) Sesame-Kiwi Purée***
1½ oz (45 ml) Long Table Texada Vodka
½ oz (15 ml) fresh lime juice
½ oz (15 ml) Cointreau
fresh herbs, for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a rocks glass with ice, add absinthe and stir for 20 seconds, then discard ice and absinthe. Wipe edge of glass with lime wedge. Scatter Sesame-Kiwi Rim on a plate and dip edge of glass into mixture to coat. Set aside. In a steel cocktail shaker, muddle basil leaves until leaves are crushed. Add remaining ingredients to shaker and fill with ice. Cover and shake until outside of shaker becomes frosty, about 15 seconds. Fill prepared glass with ice and strain contents of shaker into glass. Garnish with fresh herbs.
- * To make Sesame-Kiwi Rim, dehydrate reserved kiwi skins from Sesame-Kiwi Purée in a dehydrator on medium, or in an oven at 165 F (74 C), for 2 to 3 hours, until no moisture remains. In a blender, combine dried kiwi skins with ¼ cup (60 ml) sea salt and blend until it becomes a coarse dust. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. In a small, dry frying pan over low heat, toast 1/8 cup (25 ml) black sesame seeds until seeds start to pop, about 5 minutes. Add to bowl and stir to combine. Makes enough for 8 cocktails. Will keep for up to 1 month in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
- *** To make Sesame-Kiwi Purée, peel 6 kiwis (reserve skins for Sesame-Kiwi Rim) and transfer to a blender. In a small, dry frying pan over low heat, toast ¼ cup (60 ml) black sesame seeds until seeds start to pop, about 5 minutes. Add to blender along with 3½ oz (100 ml) Simple Syrup. Blend for approximately 30 seconds, until smooth. Makes about 2 cups (500 ml). Will keep for up to 4 days in refrigerator in an airtight container.
Featuring
Midnight Limelight
Ingredients
Serves 1
4 lime leaves, save 1 for garnish
1 oz (30 ml) Tito’s Handmade Vodka
1 oz (30 ml) El Gobernador Pisco
1 oz (30 ml) lime juice
1 oz (30 ml) Oolong Tea Syrup
4 dashes Ms. Better’s Bitters
Miraculous Foamer or 1 egg white (optional)
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 lime leaves with remaining ingredients. If using foamer or egg white, first “dry shake” (without ice) to combine ingredients, then add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupe or stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with remaining lime leaf.
Drink Pairings
Cosmopolitan
Ingredients
Serves 1
1½ oz (45 ml) Absolut Citron Vodka
1 oz (30 ml) cranberry juice
½ oz (15 ml) Cointreau
¼ oz (7 ml) lime juice
1 strip of orange zest, for garnish
Instructions
- Place a martini glass in the freezer. In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, cranberry juice, Cointreau and lime juice with cubed ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled glass. Garnish with orange zest after expressing its oils over the surface of the drink.
Featuring
Rosemary Salty Dog
Ingredients
Serves 1
kosher salt, for garnish
1½ oz (45 ml) Sipsmith London Dry Gin*
3 oz (90 ml) fresh pink grapefruit juice
2 sprigs rosemary (save 1 for garnish)
grapefruit wheel, for garnish
Instructions
- Sprinkle a handful of kosher salt on a small plate. Moisten half the outer rim of a rocks glass and dip into salt. In a cocktail shaker with cubed ice, combine gin, grapefruit juice and 1 sprig rosemary. Shake vigorously to chill and infuse flavours, then fine strain into prepared glass over new cubed ice. Garnish with 1 sprig rosemary and a grapefruit wheel.
- * Can substitute vodka, if desired.
Featuring
Martini
Ingredients
Serves 1
2 oz (60 ml) Bombay Sapphire Gin* (Can substitute with vodka.)
½ oz (15 ml) Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth
1 dash orange bitters (optional, but recommended)
pimento-stuffed olive and/or lemon twist, for garnish
Instructions
- Place a martini glass in the freezer. In a mixing glass, combine gin, vermouth and bitters with cubed ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with either a pimento-stuffed olive or a lemon twist…or both.
Featuring
BLOODY MARY
Ingredients
Serves 1
1½ oz (45 ml) Grey Goose Vodka
4 oz (120 ml) tomato juice
½ oz (15 ml) lemon juice
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 pinch each salt and pepper
celery stick, for garnish
lemon wedge, for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine all ingredients and gently rotate shaker to mix. Do not shake, as the aeration and extra dilution will change the consistency. Strain over new ice into a chilled hurricane or Collins glass and garnish with a celery stick and lemon wedge.