Tag: cherry blossom cocktails

Posted on

Classic Recipe with a Twist: Cherry Blossom Negroni

Cherry-blossom season is basically over in the District.  But cherry-blossom drinking need not be.  So far I’ve offered you two cherry-blossom cocktails.  The Sakura Sparkler is a refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail made with Seedlip.  In that recipe, I also showed you how to make your own cherry-blossom ice cubes.  Bookmark that, because we’ll use it again here.  I also brought you another original recipe – the Cherry Blossom Cocktail – which was made with Cerasum cherry-blossom liqueur by D.C.’s own Don Ciccio & Figli.  Now I bring you one last recipe for this cherry-blossom season:  the Cherry Blossom Negroni.

Cherry Blossom Negroni

The Negroni needs no introduction.  It is made with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.  One of the classic cocktails, the Negroni has one of those colorful and contested histories.  The leading versions agree that the drink is named after a Count Negroni of Italy.  But they disagree as to when the drink was invented, and by which Count.  And other historical research casts doubt on whether the inventor was really a Count at all.

What is certain is that the drink is a legacy of which any family should be proud.  The same is true of Don Ciccio & Figli, that District-based distiller that traces its roots to a family liqueur-making business back (also to Italy) in 1883, somewhere in between the competing dates (1857 or 1919) on which the competing Counts Negroni might have first invented their eponymous drink.  In one of its latest offerings, Don Ciccio has brought forth Cerasum, a cherry-blossom-based liqueur that stands in very nicely for the Campari that usually serves as the Negroni’s signature ingredient.

The Cherry Blossom Negroni is a worthy cousin of the original.  The classic bitter taste of the Negroni is still there, but softened slightly, with subtle floral and cherry flavors that give the drink a smoother, almost velvety finish.  Here’s the recipe:

Cherry Blossom Negroni recipe
Print Recipe

Cherry Blossom Negroni

Try this twist on the classic Negroni recipe, substituting Cerasum, a cherry-blossom liqueur by D.C.'s own Don Ciccio and Figli, for the traditional Campari.  It's a velvety-smooth cocktail perfect for enjoying cherry-blossom season!
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Keyword: cherry blossom Negroni
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 190kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

Cocktail

  • 1 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1 oz. vermouth I used Cocchi di Torino
  • 1 oz. Cerasum

Ice cubes

  • cherry blossoms

Instructions

Ice cubes

  • In advance of making the drink, fill large ice cube tray with water. Add 1 to 3 cherry blossoms per cube. If working with dried cherry blossoms, be sure to rinse the salt off the flowers before adding. Try to orient the flowers in the cube so they will appear near the surface when the ice freezes. Leave in the freezer until completely frozen.

Cocktail

  • Combine the gin, vermouth, and Cerasum in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into a rocks glass.
  • Add cherry-blossom ice cube.

Enjoy!

Posted on

Original Recipe: Cherry Blossom Cocktail

As you have probably been able to gather from my posts of cocktail events in March and April and of my non-alcoholic Sakura Sparkler recipe, I’ve got a thing for cherry blossoms.  As I’ve noted, cherry blossoms are not only beautiful but also edible, meaning you can use them in your cocktails.  In this post I have another such recipe for you.  And this one uses cherry blossoms in three different ways.  For lack of a more imaginative description, I’m calling it the Cherry Blossom Cocktail:

Cherry Blossom Cocktail

There are other ingredients, but let’s start with our three cherry-blossom constituents.  The first is the cherry-blossom garnish, visible in the picture and plucked from a local tree (if you don’t have your own tree, ask a neighbor – most won’t deny you a lone blossom).  The second is Sakura Cherry Blossom Honey Syrup, which I used in my Sakura Sparkler recipe and is available on Amazon.  And the third is Cerasum, a new aperitivo from D.C.’s own Don Ciccio & Figli.  Don Ciccio explains that Cerasum is made from three different kinds of cherries, sakura blossoms, and “10 selected roots and herbs,” pursuant to a recipe dating back to 1906.  What it is is delicious – not sweet like many cherry-flavored liqueurs but tart, adding a distinctive flavor to the drink.

These cherry-blossom influences are accompanied by gin and freshly squeezed lemon juice.  They combine to produce a bright and tangy cocktail with cherry, citrus and light floral and herbal flavors.  It’s just the cocktail for enjoying the cherry blossoms on a nice spring day.

Here is the recipe:

Cherry Blossom Cocktail recipe
Print Recipe

Cherry Blossom Cocktail

Celebrate cherry-blossom season with this cocktail, which mixes gin with flavors of cherries and cherry blossoms.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Keyword: cherry blossom cocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 226kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1/2 oz. Cerasum
  • 1 oz. Sakura Cherry Blossom Honey Syrup
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cherry
  • 1 cherry blossom

Instructions

  • Combine the gin, Cerasum, cherry blossom honey syrup and lemon juice with ice in a shaking tin.
  • Shake vigorously and strain into a coupe.
  • Garnish with a cherry and a cherry blossom.

Enjoy!

Posted on

Dry Recipe: Sakura Sparkler

As foretold in my March cocktail events round-up, cherry blossom season is upon us.  This year, celebrate not merely by getting outside to see them, but by adding them to your drinks.  I’ve already offered you a recipe that uses an edible flower as garnish in the Blood Orange Daiquiri.  And cherry blossoms (or sakura) are also edible and thus fair garnish game.  You can even find cherry blossom comestibles on Amazon if you don’t have a tree of your own at hand.  We’ll get to that, but first let me introduce you to what we will be making:  a refreshing, non-alcoholic, sparkling beverage called the Sakura Sparkler:

Sakura Sparkler

Like my previous non-alcoholic cocktails (see the Mexican Candy Soda and the Actually Dry Martini), this one is made with Seedlip’s Garden 108.

The cherry-blossom component comes in two parts.  First, the drink itself includes a Sakura Cherry Blossom Honey Syrup, which provides a sweet floral flavor that goes well with the Garden 108 and is balanced against freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Second, I took some dried cherry blossoms and made ice cubes out of them.  Dried cherry blossoms are available on Amazon; so are large ice cube trays.  Making cherry-blossom ice cubes is simple.  If you’re working with the dried variety, rinse them thoroughly to remove the salt.  (If you’ve got fresh cherry blossoms, you probably still want to wash them.)  Next, fill the tray with water and drop a couple cherry blossoms in each cube.  If you’re working with dried cherry blossoms, you might want to gently unfold them in the water, and I pushed mine toward the bottom of the tray so they would be more visible from the surface of the ice when frozen.  Finally, place them in the freezer and allow to freeze.

Mine came out looking like this:

Cherry Blossom Cubes

Put these all together and you have a refreshing, alcohol-free drink perfect for welcoming spring.  Here is the recipe:

Sakura Sparkler recipe
Print Recipe

Sakura Sparkler

Enjoy the Sakura Sparkler, a Seedlip-based cocktail perfect for spring, featuring cherry-blossom honey syrup and cherry-blossom ice cubes.
Prep Time10 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 70kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz. Seedlip Garden 108
  • 3/4 oz. Sakura Cherry Blossom Honey Syrup
  • 3/4 oz. Freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • soda water

Ice cubes

  • cherry blossoms

Instructions

Ice cubes

  • In advance of making the drink, fill large ice cube tray with water.  Add 1 to 3 cherry blossoms per cube.  If working with dried cherry blossoms, be sure to rinse the salt off the flowers before adding.  Try to orient the flowers in the cube so they will appear near the surface when the ice freezes.  Leave in the freezer until completely frozen.

Cocktail

  • Combine the Seedlip, syrup and lemon juice in a shaking tin with ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into rocks glass.
  • Add cherry-blossom ice cube.
  • Top with soda water and stir gently to combine with the other ingredients.

Enjoy!

Advertisement:

Posted on

March 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

Spring is coming!  And I’m here to help you plan for it with a round-up of March 2018 cocktail events in the District.  This month we have two categories of events:  (1) cherry blossoms; and (2) everything else.

Cherry Blossom Events

“Cherry blossom” is the byword (are the bywords?) this month, with multiple events celebrating the annual bloom that typically begins at the end of March.  That seems fair – cherry blossoms are worth celebrating.  One shot from my archive:

Cherry Blossoms

If past is prologue, many D.C.-area bars will have cherry-blossom-themed cocktails on offer this month.  Those who enjoy mixing at home might experiment with these pickled cherry blossoms or this cherry blossom honey syrup.  In any event, here are two places you can go to get your cherry blossom/cocktail fix:

Cherry Blossom Pop-Up Bar at Mockingbird Hill and Southern Efficiency.  The folks from Drink Company (they of the Christmas Bar pop-up in the same space) have done the cherry-blossom-themed pop-up before.  They are back again this year, this time as an official partner of the National Cherry Blossom Festival (detailed preview at Eater).  If you have hit the Christmas Bar or other pop-ups in this space in the past, you know this will be a must-see event.  If you haven’t, here’s a preview to help convince you:

A post shared by Drink Company (@drinkcompany) on

That, and the menu:  10 Japanese-inspired cocktails to celebrate the occasion.  So, yeah, see you there.  1841 7th Street N.W.; March 1 through April 29.

Cherry Blossom Cocktail Class at Via Umbria.  If you want to go beyond consuming cherry-blossom-themed cocktails and get some tips on creating your own, there is a class this month at Via Umbria that promises to do just that.  They will walk you through three recipes:  a Gin Blossom Dearie, a Sake Blossom, and a Cherry Blossom Daquiri.  Tickets are are $35.  1525 Wisconsin Avenue N.W.; March 21, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

Read on for the best of the rest of March events, not necessarily cherry-blossom-themed.

Continue reading “March 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up”