I’m constantly looking for inspiration, and a lot of times it will come from the most unlikely of places, and that was definitely the case here. I found the most outlandish, colourful, sprinkle filled, pink hot chocolate and I thought…why can’t I do this with a cocktail? And to defy all odds and to tease the senses and mind…it’s not sweet.
Most of us eat and drink with our eyes. Hell, if you’re following Liquid Culture, it’s a library of teases and photos, with the end goal that you will want to experiment yourself. Now I will state, this cocktail is not for the faint of heart. It requires a bit of prep work, and I wouldn’t suggest this to beginners, but it’s a cocktail that I am extremely proud of. It’s strangely balanced, tart, creamy and delicious all at the same time. I’m going to explain my thought process and break down how I’ve been able to do this here!
Let’s start with the base. Since I wanted to create a cream styled cocktail, I immediately thought of a refreshing Ramos Gin Fizz. I used this classic as a loose guideline, but I still find it’s unique in its own way. I had wanted to create a light pink hue without any artificial additives, so that’s when I knew I wanted to muddle raspberries. For this recipe, I muddle 6 raspberries and it creates that light pink hue, but if you wanted it darker, be my guest and add more. Just be mindful that with more raspberries, means more acidity, and you may need some additional sugar to balance.
Another truly unique aspect I have added to this cocktail is something that I rarely experiment with, and that’s infused wine syrups! Now by calling this a syrup, I would use that term loosely, because it’s far from the sweet simple syrups I create for Liquid Culture. It’s pretty much a reduction, as I boil down Vinho Verde with a touch of sugar and a Granny Smith Apple. It’s so tart and refreshing, that I’m mad I didn’t get on this train sooner. So why did I create this? I wanted something that would compliment the green apple pop rocks on the rim of the glass. That’s right, this rim has pop rocks, but I’ll explain more later.
There’s more! I didn’t use any ordinary cream, but instead I infused it with some white chocolate. Think about it, white chocolate and raspberry together?! If that isn’t a winning combination then I don’t know what is. This aided to my reasoning with the granny smith apple Vinho verde syrup and to keep it as tart as possible, so that it may balance the white chocolate.
When it came to deciding my choice of Gin, I didn’t want anything sharp like a Plymouth or London styled Gin. For this cocktail, going with a delicate gin is definitely the way to go. Hendricks is a great option here or one of my favourites is the Botanist, which is what I used here. I almost forgot that I threw in some Calvados in the mix. This was again to compliment two things, the Apple Vinho Verde Syrup and the apple pop rocks. I knew I wanted a sweeter liquor to compliment this gin cocktail, but instead of my typical route of St Germaine or vermouths, I took the opportunity to try Calvados. Boy, am I glad I did. It’s subtle notes really tied in all the flavours together.
The rim you see featured here is a blend of sweet and sour. You have colourful sprinkles with a predominant mix of poprocks. I’ve been wanting to create that popping effect in a cocktail for a while now, and this was definitely the fun opportunity to use it! And that’s pretty much it folks, with a bit of lemon, soda and cotton candy to top, this is one of my most inventive cocktails to date that I’m extremely proud of. Follow the recipes attached below for details on how you can pull this together. Cheers to a magical weekend!
TBD
A White Chocolate, Raspberry and Green Apple Fizz, that will surely please the mind and senses!
Difficulty: Expert
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin Botanist Gin used here
- 0.5 oz Calvados
- 8 Raspberries
- 1.5 oz Green Apple and Vinho Verde Syrup
- 1 oz White Chocolate Cream
- 1/3 oz Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 oz Club Soda
- 1 Handful Cotton Candy
- 3 packages Poprocks Flavours: Cherry Green Apple and Blue Razz
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the 3 flavours of poprocks. Using a lemon wedge, rim the edges of glass and dunk into the poprocks bowl. Set this aside
In a shaker, muddle 6 raspberries and pour in the Gin, Calvados, Green Apple Syrup, Cream and Lemon juice and Dry Shake (without ice)
Add ice to the shaker and vigorously shake for another 20 seconds, until shaker is cold to the touch.
Place ice into the rimmed glass and strain the cocktail over top.
Slowly pour in the soda and let it settle before giving this a small stir
Garnish with Cotton Candy and 2 raspberries. Optional sprinkle of poprocks.
Recipe Notes
For recipes to the White Chocolate Cream and Granny Smith Apple Vindo Verde Syrup, make sure to follow the links attached!
