After a long day of work there’s no better way to relax than with some Bravo TV and a delicious cocktail. Luckily with the likes of PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur there’s no need for well-honed mixology skills to put together a tasty concoction in a short amount of time.
Just take 2 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur (17% alcohol), and 2 oz. Champagne. Pour PAMA into a champagne flute and top with Champagne. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and voila! Alternatively 1.5 oz. of PAMA, 3/4 oz. Sour Apple Schnapps, and 1/2 oz Cranberry juice make for a great PAMA Kiss!
PAMA is the world’s first true pomegranate liqueur and it’s made with all-natural pomegranate juice, vodka, and a touch of tequila so it can easily be enjoyed straight up. There’s a light sweet and tart-ness to it that makes it a very versatile liqueur. To boot, I’m loving the long slender bottle — great for showing off the crimson red color of the liqueur!
Sonoma Syrup Co., a maker of pure and natural classic American infused simple syrups– though there is certainly nothing simple about the complex taste of their balanced varieties — are handcrafted in small batches.All their products are made without artificial colors or flavors and they come packaged in beautiful glass bottles. The syrups can be used to sweeten a variety of beverages — including wine. I recently taste-tested their No. 24 Acai Black Currant with Champagne and it not only was a great complement it enhanced the flavor of the bubbly goodness (in this case a bottle of Pommery Blue POP, NV — though I would recommend using a Cava or Prosecco over Champagne). The Acai Black Currant syrup is full of antioxidants and though it adds palpable sweetness it is relatively low in sugar (it is lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar). This particular syrup was, in fact, selected as a Silver Finalist for Outstanding New Product in the 2009 sofi Awards from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trace, Inc. For sweeter notes their No. 3 Lavender is relatively high in sugar and while it would work with sparkling wine, it would make a much better complement to an iced tea, margarits, or a marmalade.
Sonoma Syrup Co., also makes premium artisan extracts including lemon, vanilla, almond, and organic vanilla extract that make a great addition to a variety of culinary treats including creme brulee, custards, tarts, muffins, curries, stews, cupcakes and weddings cakes — all of which would bear wonderfully with a variety of wines and cocktails.
Simple syrup is the most universal bar mixer and this particular range with its versatility and depth of flavor makes for a particularly good choice (love that their are no artificial flavors!). To boot, they’re especially useful for making cocktails with a limited amount of time and steps. Learn more on Sonoma Syrup Co. website!
Making a perfect cocktail is not an elusive skill that belongs only to experienced bartenders that look like Tom Cruise did (15 years ago) in “Cocktail.” Instead a few basic principles make it not only easy to mix a great cocktail but also to create your own drink recipes guaranteed to taste great.
When creating your own cocktail recipe, remember the most important part of any drink is its balance. You don’t want to take a sip of a drink and think “Dear God, this is so sour,” or “This burns; I need a chaser.” Instead, a great cocktail, like a great dish, makes you say “Oooh” and “Ahhh” (like you were starring on a Food Network show and tasting the food for the camera) or better yet, nothing at all, because you go for another sip.
Of the four predominant flavor groups (we’ll leave umami out of this one) sweet, salty, sour and bitter every cocktail should involve at least two of these groups. When beginning to mix-up your own drinks it’s probably best to stick with just two groups, lest the drink become confusing, complicated or, simply, kind of gross. Start with a few complementary flavors, figure out what works for you and then allow your drinks to get more complicated.
To illustrate, take the now classic example of the Cosmopolitan. A Cosmopolitan is essentially a healthy dose of good quality citrus vodka shaken with a little cranberry juice, triple sec or other orange liqueur and just a splash of fresh lime juice. It’s served straight up. The clean, crisp, slightly sweet, slightly sour citrus vodka is a good starting point for any number of cocktails, but, in this case, the other ingredients basically reinforce the original sweet and sour ones. That is, cranberry adds more sweet and sour (the fruit itself is quite tart, but it is always sweetened in juice form), the triple sec adds more sweet (its strong, viscous and sweet) and the hit of lime at the end adds more sour (or tart). So, what is now one of the most famous cocktails is really just layers of sweet and sour, mixed in smart proportions. A good Cosmopolitan is a little more sour than sweet, making it more elegant and decreasing the likelihood of bad hangovers!
When creating cocktails, use the Cosmopolitan as a guide. Try making your own sweet and sour cocktail. Switch the lime for lemon, the cranberry for pomegranate, the citrus vodka for cucumber gin. Voila! Or, think of another of your favorite cocktails, figure out what flavors it’s working with, then play around with those flavors retaining the general balance and proportion of the original. Chances are it’ll be great.
There’s probably a reason the cocktails that become popular and stay popular have done so. But this doesn’t mean all the great cocktails have already been invented; far from it.
So start experimenting with your signature cocktail now and have it perfected for your next cocktail party, dinner or happy hour.
Cosmopolitan Recipe:
2 ounces citrus vodka
ounce triple sec or orange liqueur ounce
lime juice
Splash cranberry juice
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake thoroughly. Serve in a chilled martini glass with a lime twist.
Making a perfect cocktail is not an elusive skill that belongs only to experienced bartenders that look like Tom Cruise did (15 years ago) in “
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