Drinks with fresh fruit

[JAZ]

Although I've never been a fan of the "fruit-smoothie" style of drink like strawberry margaritas or peach daiquiris, this past summer I've been using fresh fruit in drinks in a more subtle way -- muddling or shaking them for flavor, and straining out the pulp.

At Tales of the Cocktail in July, I tried a Clover Club, mixed with Plymouth gin by Francesco Lafranconi. The drink served by the kitchen was made with syrup, I believe, but the one he made for the demonstration used fresh raspberries. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of the drink he made (note: it pays to sit in the front row; I did share, although I really didn't want to), and it was so fabulous I had to try it at home. My version was 2 oz. gin (Plymouth really does work best in this -- you want something light), 1/4 oz. simple syrup, 1/2 oz. lemon juice and egg white. Plop in 8 or so raspberries and shake like mad. If you get the balance right, it's simply ethereal.

I've also been making a drink with fresh peaches and basil, mixed with gin, Falernum and lime juice. I tried this one with rum, but, call me contrary, I'm not crazy about fruit and rum, or at least not the combinations I've tried.

My latest experiment was with fresh cherries -- gin, Maraschino, Cherry Heering, lemon juice and cherries -- it was good after a couple of iterations, but wasn't quite there yet, and I ran out of cherries. Around here, it's past cherry season, so I guess I'll have to wait until next year.

Has anyone else tried or made any drinks with fresh fruit? Is this just my obsession?

[Amarantha]

Does grating fresh ginger into chilled vodka count? I suppose it's not really a fruit. But it was very nice

[slkinsey]

Death & Company is going a good drink that uses fruit in an interesting way. The Ramble is a fairly simple drink with lemon juice and gin in a tall glass over crushed ice. What makes it interesting is that the poured drink is topped with several muddled raspberries, small pieces of which, along with the muddled-out raspberry juice, gradually seep down into the drink.

I've also had a good Blinker variation (made, I think, by Jim Meehan) that substituted muddled fresh raspberries and simple syrup for raspberry syrup (double strained for the seeds, of course).

Edited September 13, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[eje]

There does seem to be a trend towards using fresh fruit or fruit purees rather than liqueurs in cocktails.

I guess it makes sense seasonally, especially given the low quality of the widely available liqueurs in the US.

Though, I have to say, if you do have access to any of the nicer French Crème de Mûre, I'm not sure I see the need to "improve" Bradsell's Bramble, especially given the cost of keeping fresh berries behind the bar.

[slkinsey]

Cross-pollinated from over here:

well, the important thing is that we all agree fresh fruit is better when available...

Hmmm... Well, not really.

A well made liqueur or Eau de Vie can capture more of a fruit (and especially a spice or herb)'s essence than simple muddling.

That's like saying fresh fruit is always better than jam.

Hmm. I'm not sure I agree with that first statement. I don't think one could argue that a spectacular kirschwasser has more of the "essense of cherries" than fresh cherry juice, or that the highest quality crème de pêche has more of the "essence of peaches" than peach puree, or that a wonderful calvados pays d'auge has more of the "essense of apples" than cresh apple cider (I could continue with examples of tender herbs, etc.). Rather, what these things do is capture a certain slice of the ingredient's essense, and to a greater or lesser extent, transform them (eau de vie is a good example of this). Only perhaps with ingredients like Cointreau versus muddled orange peel do I think the alcoholic version is better at presenting the essense of the ingredient.

Now, as to your second statement: I agree. Fresh fruit is not always better. Sometimes we want the once-or-more-removed presence of an eau de vie, aged fruit brandy or crème liqueur. I'd rather have Apry than muddled fresh apricots, for example. But that doesn't mean that Apry has captured more of the apricot than muddling would.