Raspberries Raspberries Everywhere

With the summer solstice almost upon us, and the weather actually cooperating, I decided that it was time to get myself to the local market to see what new produce was available.

Walking the aisles of the local farmers, I was delighted to see that raspberries, which have been available for a little while, were now reasonably priced, meaning that they were in season. This made sense to me, as I had seen several bushes in nearby parks offering up their bounty in past days.

Grabbing a couple of pints of raspberries, two recipes were made for the first time since last year, and allow me to tell you, they were as good as I remember!

Stay tuned for more fresh produce posts, as I noticed that watermelons, blackberries, blueberries and peaches were available as well.

With the sun blazing in the sky, Coppertone and caipirinhas are in full force, but instead of giving you the recipe that you can find in any half-decent bar book, I’ll supply you with an interesting raspberry variation which can be easily replicated. Vigorously muddle the raspberries to ensure that you force them to release every bit of flavor that they possess. Beat them like your red-headed step-child on Welfare Wednesday! The raspberries should give you enough sweetness, but if not, just add some simple syrup.

The original Caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink, is muddled lime, sugar and cachaça, a spirit derived from sugarcane.

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RASPBERRY CAIPIRINHA
2 oz cachaça
¼ oz lemon juice
¼ chopped orange
10 raspberries
2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters

muddle in shaker
add ice and shake
strain into a rocks glass and add crushed ice
add two squeezed lemon bits
garnish with lemon or lime, as desired.
…………………………………………………………………….

and….

I love eggs in drinks. Whether it is just the whites, taking off the edge of alcohol, or as in the case of the flip, the whole egg, eggs make drinks better.

A flip is essentially a nog without the cream. The whole egg in a flip gives this drink a great, creamy body and takes off any edge that would be present from the Bourbon. If you have a lady-friend who thinks she hates Bourbon, this is the drink for her!

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RASPBERRY FLIP
1 ½ oz Bourbon
½ oz raspberry liqueur
6 raspberries
1 whole egg
2 dashes peach biters

place all in shaker and shake hard
strain into cocktail glass
garnish with raspberries
……………………………………………………….

Drinks and pictures by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

~ by Jamie Boudreau on June 20, 2007.