The Kitchn: Turn a classic fruit cocktail into an actual cocktail
Growing up in rural Ohio, most of my snacks had one thing in common: the top peeled off. Looking through that veiled plastic window into my snack of pale orange and off-white, I was anything but excited. I just couldn't bring myself to tear into it the way I would a snack cake. That was until something magical happened: the halved cherry. Something about looking into the cup and seeing that nuclear-red addition mixed among the peaches and pears gave this snack a second chance.
I decided to focus on the cherry angle with this cocktail. Maraschino liqueur takes the tart fruit, and blends it with a soft sweetness and subtle hints of bitter almond. Agricole rum, which is distilled from pressed sugarcane juice instead of molasses, has an earthier rum flavor. I used a high-proof gin, which is great at attaching itself to citrus flavors while not having its herbal qualities washed away. The gin's higher proof is balanced by falernum, which is an infusion of spices, rum and lime that carries a faint sweetness throughout.
The Fruit Cocktail Cocktail
Serves 1
1/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
3 slices fresh-cut pineapple
1/2 ounce velvet falernum
3/4 ounce Hayman's Royal Dock gin
1/2 ounce Rhum J.M. agricole blanc
1/2 ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1/2 ounce Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear liqueur
For garnish:
1 Cubed pear
1 Maraschino cherry
1 White grape
1 Pineapple leaf
In a mixing tin, muddle pineapple, lime juice and falernum until it is of a nice pulp.
Combine the rest of the ingredients into the tin. Add ice and shake until cold. Strain over new crushed ice in a sundae glass or Mason jar.
Skewer the pear, cherry and grape. Garnish glass with skewer, pineapple leaf and paper straw.
(Joshua Gandee is a bartender and founding partner/consultant with The HR Department in Columbus, Ohio. TheKitchn.com is a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.)
