Add sparkling wine to give cocktails some added fizz
By Michelle Locke |
January 24, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOMETHING new is bubbling up in the world of cocktails as canny mixologists skip the soda and turn to sparkling wine as their new go-to mixer.
The practice stems from the added care being given to cocktail ingredients in general. After all, it hardly makes sense to drown the top-shelf hard stuff in something cheap and sugary.
"It's not the best thing to be putting club soda or any type of soda in a cocktail," points out Chad Furuta of Del Frisco's Grille in New York.
Furuta traces the emergence of sparkling-wine-as-mixer to the popularity of prosecco, the slightly sweet Italian fizz that pairs well with liquors.
"It definitely brought a new aspect to the table and gave bartenders like myself a new outlet to bring out the natural flavors in a cocktail, as well as the celebratory factor."
He recommends using lighter-tasting spirits when using sparkling wine, and also keeping an eye on the overall alcohol level since you don't want to create a booze bomb.
For his signature ginger snap cocktail, Furuta mixes prosecco with Domaine de Canton, a ginger liqueur that's less than 60-proof (compared to the 80-proof of most spirits), using a mix of three ounces prosecco, one ounce liqueur and one ounce fresh sour mix, which he makes with equal parts fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice and one and a half parts simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated until the sugar melts and then cooled).
The liqueur and sour mix is shaken with ice and strained into a chilled martini glass that's had the rim rubbed with a lemon wedge, then dipped in a bowl filled with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Top it off with the prosecco and lemon garnish and you have a light but zesty drink.
One obvious point that comes up with a sparkling wine mixer: Should you use the good stuff?
Sure, says Eileen Crane, director of winemaking at Domaine Carneros, the Napa Valley producer known for its premium sparklers.
Just mix those drinks with a light hand. If you use something good you don't want to overwhelm it, and if you use something bad - "What's the point?" she asks.
And if you're concerned about what happens if you open a bottle of bubbly and then don't use it all, don't be, says Crane.
Sparkling wine stoppers are cheap, readily available in kitchen stores, and do a great job of keeping in the fizz, she says.
Given that there are about five glasses of wine in a bottle, you could come home and have a sparkling wine drink at day's end for a week. "What a nice thing to look forward to when you come home," says Crane.
The practice stems from the added care being given to cocktail ingredients in general. After all, it hardly makes sense to drown the top-shelf hard stuff in something cheap and sugary.
"It's not the best thing to be putting club soda or any type of soda in a cocktail," points out Chad Furuta of Del Frisco's Grille in New York.
Furuta traces the emergence of sparkling-wine-as-mixer to the popularity of prosecco, the slightly sweet Italian fizz that pairs well with liquors.
"It definitely brought a new aspect to the table and gave bartenders like myself a new outlet to bring out the natural flavors in a cocktail, as well as the celebratory factor."
He recommends using lighter-tasting spirits when using sparkling wine, and also keeping an eye on the overall alcohol level since you don't want to create a booze bomb.
For his signature ginger snap cocktail, Furuta mixes prosecco with Domaine de Canton, a ginger liqueur that's less than 60-proof (compared to the 80-proof of most spirits), using a mix of three ounces prosecco, one ounce liqueur and one ounce fresh sour mix, which he makes with equal parts fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice and one and a half parts simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated until the sugar melts and then cooled).
The liqueur and sour mix is shaken with ice and strained into a chilled martini glass that's had the rim rubbed with a lemon wedge, then dipped in a bowl filled with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Top it off with the prosecco and lemon garnish and you have a light but zesty drink.
One obvious point that comes up with a sparkling wine mixer: Should you use the good stuff?
Sure, says Eileen Crane, director of winemaking at Domaine Carneros, the Napa Valley producer known for its premium sparklers.
Just mix those drinks with a light hand. If you use something good you don't want to overwhelm it, and if you use something bad - "What's the point?" she asks.
And if you're concerned about what happens if you open a bottle of bubbly and then don't use it all, don't be, says Crane.
Sparkling wine stoppers are cheap, readily available in kitchen stores, and do a great job of keeping in the fizz, she says.
Given that there are about five glasses of wine in a bottle, you could come home and have a sparkling wine drink at day's end for a week. "What a nice thing to look forward to when you come home," says Crane.
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