I need a pink drink

[Liz Johnson]

I'm planning a baby shower that's actually an excuse for a cocktail party. The parents-to-be don't know the sex of the child. To honor the theme, I'll be serving a Blue Pegu Club (with blue curacao), and ..... I need a pink drink — not gin.

Any suggesions?

[slkinsey]

Pink but not gin, eh?

I can't offer any non-Cosmo pink cocktails with vodka, not being much of a vodka drinker (but just about anything with a splash of cranberry will turn out pink). How about a pisco sour with Peychaud's bitters? Or a caipirinha with muddled cherries and/or blood orange?

[Liz Johnson]

I don't want to use gin since the Pegu Club is already on the table. Some people just won't drink gin.

Pisco sour might work. Anything rum-based?

[Behemoth]

How about something like white rum with a little pomegranate juice? (not that I've tried it or anything...)

Personally I would do pomegranate juice with prosecco. Or a little campari in prosecco.

[slkinsey]

Pisco sour might work. Anything rum-based?

How about a Bacardi cocktail (Bacardi white rum, lime juice, grenadine)?

[Liz Johnson]

Or a caipirinha with muddled cherries?

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This sounds more like it. It's at the end of April so some people might be getting the mojito-caipirinha bug.

How would you make this?

behemoth... what a great idea. I know we'll have champers around anyway, so I'll make sure to have pomegranate to give it a nice color.

[ludja]

I really like this drink, called simply, a "campari, vodka and grapefruit cooler". I got it out of a compilation chef cookbook called "Home Food". The contributing chef for this drink is Paul Albrecht (at the time of the book, ~ 10 yrs ago, he had a restaurant in Atlanta called "Pano's and Paul's".

This recipe makes 6 and it is easy to scale up. I've made it for larger groups before.

1 1/2 cups Campari

1/2 cup vodka

2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (Texax Red)

2 cups club soda

3 Tbs finely grated ginger

1 lime, thinly sliced

1/2 cup sugar syrup, or to taste

cracked ice

mint for garnish

Combine everthing but sugar syrup and mix well. Then add in sugar syrup and pour over ice in glasses. Garnish w/mint if you like.

Very refreshing, nice and 'pink'. I've also played around a little bit making a ginger syrup. Then you can get the ginger flavor with out the bits of ginger in the final drink.

This drink has echos of the campari cocktail called Romanza brought by eje in this thread. Maybe this drink would be an option as well...

Edited March 25, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Liz Johnson]

That sounds refreshing and delicous, ludja.

Two questions:

When you make ginger syrup do you use the same ratio? ie: 3 T ginger to 1/2 cup ss?

And why when you mix it do you not add the syrup?

[Behemoth]

Or a caipirinha with muddled cherries?

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This sounds more like it. It's at the end of April so some people might be getting the mojito-caipirinha bug.

How would you make this?

You could use creme de cassis instead of the cherry puree -- it might end up cheaper and a little less work. That would make it very similar to a cocktail I saw in one of my books called "el diablo". (cracked ice cubes, lime peel, and then lime juice, white tequila, creme de cassis 1:3:1)

Looking through my books now, I keep coming across tons of pink drinks. Might be worth a half hour at your local borders.

Oh, they also have one called "wild night out" that is white tequila, cranberry juice, lime juice and club soda. Very light girly pink I bet that would be fine with white rum also.

There's also a planters punch with grenadine....

[birder53]

Kir Royale! Pink and festive.

[kvltrede]

I hate to be contrary but I think you should reconsider the blue Pegu Club. I think you are doing an exceptionally fine cocktail a disservice by subbing blue curacao for the Cointreau or Marie Brizard Triple Sec it deserves. I feel confident stating that there isn't a blue curacao made that's worthy of replacing either. Besides with the Angostura bitters the drink is pink as is.

Some might argue that a brandy or cognac-based curacao should be used in a proper Pegu Club but, as blue curacao is not one of those, I'm assuming you make yours with a triple sec of some sort. Which, I suppose, might well mean that you are perfectly happy with using a lower-proof, sweeter triple sec. Which would then mean that I should just keep my big mouth shut....

If you do happen to reconsider the blue Pegu Club I guess I better help out with a substitute blue drink without gin. Well, a friend makes what he calls a Blue Martini. It's not well-named but it might work pretty well for you. It's essentially a strong Greyhound served up and with a dash of blue Curacao for color and a little sweetness. Two parts vodka, one part grapefruit juice, blue curacao to color and taste. Be sure to get a white grapefruit (or grapefruit juice if you aren't squeezing fresh).

There are also dozens of other "blue" cocktails at CocktailDB.com. Most seem only to have "blue" in the name but others use blue curacao or creme yvette as the coloring agent. I don't believe I've ever seen a bottle of creme yvette let alone tasted it so I can't vouch for any of those cocktails. The Blue Hawaii looks tasty. It calls for a rocks glass but I can't imagine that it wouldn't work just as nicely served up

Best of luck with the party.

Kurt

[ludja]

That sounds refreshing and delicous, ludja.

Two questions:

When you make ginger syrup do you use the same ratio? ie: 3 T ginger to 1/2 cup ss?

And why when you mix it do you not add the syrup?

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Add the syrup at the end so that you can add more or less to your taste... I can't remember if I've gone with less syrup or not.

I used a ginger syrup recipe based on one by Barbara Tropp's (which is also used for her divine ginger ice cream in China Moon Cooking). It comes out similar to the original ratio in the drink I believe.

Combine 1/3 cup water + 1/4 cup sugar in small saucepan and heat to a near simmer to dissolve sugar. Add 1/4 cup finely minced (pureed, grated) ginger to the mix and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for ~ 5 min or so. Remove from heat and let cool. (I think this makes ~ 1/2 a cup).

Fun idea re: the blue and pink drinks too. Let us know how it turns out...

[Liz Johnson]

  I feel confident stating that there isn't a blue curacao made that's worthy of replacing either.

←

I've tried both cointreau and regular ol' cheap curacao and found that because of the aromatics of the gin and the flavor of the two bitters that it doesn't make THAT much of a difference in this case. Of course, I may not have as exceptional a palate as you!

Well there's always food coloring!

Edited March 25, 2005 by Liz Johnson (log)

[Jason Perlow]

What's wrong with the classic Malibu Bay Breeze? Made with Malibu Rum, Cranberry Juice, Grapefruit Juice (or is it pineapple) Thats pretty pink.

[little ms foodie]

I have had strawberry drops (instead of lemon drops) that are sooo tastey. Just us strawberry infused vodka.

btw....great idea for the cocktail shower!

[Liz Johnson]

What's wrong with the classic Malibu Bay Breeze? Made with Malibu Rum, Cranberry Juice, Grapefruit Juice (or is it pineapple) Thats pretty pink.

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It sure is! (Why am I suddenly humming the Psychedelic Furs?)

btw....great idea for the cocktail shower!

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Thanks!

[slkinsey]

What is the expecting mother going to drink? A nonalcoholic libation would be a nice thing to have.

[Jason Perlow]

Malibu Bay Breeze:

1 1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum

2 oz cranberry juice

2 oz pineapple juice

The other drink with grapefruit juice and cranberry is a Sea Breeze. Thats also pretty pink.

1 1/2 oz vodka

4 oz fresh grapefruit juice

1 1/2 oz cranberry juice

[Liz Johnson]

What is the expecting mother going to drink?  A nonalcoholic libation would be a nice thing to have.

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Good idea. Whatcha got?

Virgin versions of Jason's cocktails might work.

[LindyCat]

Kretchma Cocktail is our favorite pink drink here, and it's extremely easy to like for ordinary (non-cocktail) folks. It's 3 parts vodka, 1 part white creme de cacao, 1 part lemon juice with a couple dashes of grenadine, shake and serve in a cocktail glass. We like to garnish it with a cherry...when you get to the bottom of the glass, the cherry and the last mouthful of alcohol make a fun and delicious chocolate covered cherry kiss at the end.

[cdh]

I heartily recommend the The Jasmine as a wonderfully tasty pink drink that still tastes like a classic cocktail.

1.5 oz gin

1/4 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Campari

3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice

It's got the gin... but it is a close cousin of the Pegu, so everybody would be drinking very similar beverages, making your bartending much easier.

[edsel]

Liz, how well do you know the cocktail tastes of the crowd you'll be entertaining? In addition to avoiding a gin-based "pink" drink because you're already using gin in the Pegu Club, you might want to go with a somewhat fruitier style of drink. It's a sad fact that some folks don't care for gin because it's too medicinal for their taste. I happen to love Campari, but the people who dislike gin may well turn up their noses at Campari as well.

Little ms foodie's Strawberry Drop sounds like a good candidate, as does anything with pomegranate (Grenadine) or cranberry. Maybe if you do a fruit-juice-and-soda drink it will be easier to provide a non-alcoholic alternative. Aside from the mother to be, there may be people who don't drink alcohol, or who simply want to drink more than one without getting sloshed.

[prasantrin]

In Japan, one popular cocktail is pink grapefruit juice with creme de cassis. I don't know what proportions they use, but you could have a good time experimenting .

Edited to add:

I just found a site where you choose which ingredients you want to use and it comes up with cocktail recipes. I selected pink grapefruit juice and creme de cassis, but came up with nothing--it did display similar recipes, though. It's a fun site, if nothing else!

Edited March 26, 2005 by prasantrin (log)

[birder53]

I heartily recommend the The Jasmine as a wonderfully tasty pink drink that still tastes like a classic cocktail.

1.5 oz gin

1/4 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Campari

3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice

It's got the gin... but it is a close cousin of the Pegu, so everybody would be drinking very similar beverages, making your bartending much easier.

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I just finished my first Jasmine this evening. What a wonderful drink!

[cdh]

Glad you enjoyed. It is a stellar drink.