I missed Friday Cocktails this past week. I was thinking that both I and most readers would be absorbed with family time and that a cocktail for the coming New Year festivities might be best presented today. And well, the fact that I didn't even get this Winter White Cosmopolitan made until yesterday might have entered into my belated sharing as well!
This Winter White Cosmopolitan came about at the suggestion of a reader; she had wondered if I had ever had one at the Bonefish Grill; a chain restaurant that is highly regarded by the people I know that frequent it the most. I had not; but my interest was piqued and a quick search found several websites with a recipe and one that even had a Bonefish Grill bartender leaves comments about the updated cocktail (now served with a small amount of St. Germain liqueur).
I was especially curious about the notion of the words 'white' and 'cranberry' co-mingling. As an avid lover of all things cranberry I thought those two words an anomaly when combined but with a simple bit of discovery I found that white cranberries are simply regular cranberries that have been harvested after the fruits are mature, but before they have attained their characteristic dark red color. They are not found in abundance and finding the juice to make this cocktail was not the easiest mission I've ever been on.
I checked all of the local grocery stores that I normally frequent and turned up empty handed. I finally left a comment on the Ocean Spray Facebook Page and son of a gun, they responded with the address for their product locator. The one local grocery store I never visit, Safeway, carried the juice. Whoo Hoo!! Now considering that it's the holidays and it was the day before Christmas when both traffic and shopping are at their peak, I decided to call first, to make sure that my mission would not be for naught. Gotta chuckle at this one. When I queried the person who answered the phone if they carried White Cranberry Juice, she replied that she had not seen any come through when she was working the register. Now I don't know about you but I thought that the most unscientific method of inventory control EVER. I asked if she would please have someone check the stock and lo and behold, it was on the shelves. Glad I insisted; I just did not trust her method for determining availability! I've seen other cocktails call for this juice too so if you're like me and want to find some, try using the handy Ocean Spray Product Locator and save yourself some of the hassle I encountered.
Everything else is pretty straightforward. The difference between the original recipe I found and the updated one were pretty significant so mine is something of a blend of the two. The original called for Cranberry vodka so I bought some. The updated one did not but I used it anyhow so this recipe is sort of my blend of the two. Either one works just fine. The original also did not call for the St. Germain liqueur and it's pretty pricey stuff. Look for the small bottle that I've seen available in some stores and also check out the other brands of Elderflower liqueur now showing up on liquor store shelves; it's not as expensive as the St. Germain. Only one tablespoon of St. Germain is used per cocktail so it could even be excluded; your call.
A beautiful winter cocktail; one suitable for celebrating the coming New Year or all winter long!
Winter White Cosmopolitan
