CELEBRATION COCKTAILS

by Kim Krieger

Finding excuses to celebrate the festive season is now more important than ever, and nothing says celebration like champagne!

Fairwinds French 75

If you’re tasked with thinking up a flavour to evoke the refreshing ocean winds coming off Fairwinds Marina during a winter storm, I don’t think you can do better than cranberry. The way the tart tannins in cranberry makes our mouths pucker reminds me of how we steel ourselves against the wind, hunching over our shoulders, narrowing our eyes, and wrapping our arms around ourselves. Too dramatic? Ok, maybe cranberry and lemon just go wonderfully well together. This cocktail is a perfect way to showcase the pairing. Enjoy!

2 oz gin 1 ½ tsp simple syrup ½ oz freshly squeezed lemon juice ½ oz pure cranberry juice (no sugar added) chilled champagne lemon zest, to garnish ice for cocktail shaker

1. Add ice to champagne flute and place in the freezer to chill.

2. Add first four ingredients to a cocktail shaker, then fill with ice.

3. Shake vigorously until frost forms on the outside of the shaker.

4. Discard ice from champagne flute; strain ingredients from cocktail shaker into it.

5. Top off with champagne and garnish with lemon zest.

Fountain of Youth

If you know any Fairwinders, you’ll agree that being young at heart is something all community members have in common. Every resident has a youthful way about them. Maybe it’s because they truly, as the saying goes, live their passions? Perhaps it’s the incredible natural surroundings. Or maybe this magical place just attracts magical people. We may never know the true secret, but we can pretend we do with this elixir. To perpetual youth – because it’s not how old you are, but how you are old!

½ oz vodka 2 oz pomegranate juice 1 oz diced fresh ginger chilled champagne fresh pomegranate seeds, to garnish ice for cocktail shaker and finished cocktail

1. Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice and place in the freezer to chill.

2. Add first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker, then fill with ice.

3. Shake vigorously until frost forms on the outside of the shaker .

4. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass half-filled with ice.

5. Top glass off with champagne and sprinkle with a few pomegranate seeds.

The Spicy Spendthrift.

New to this column: an alcohol-free option! I am noticing a growing trend towards sophisticated options for booze free drinks. Whether you’re purposefully avoiding alcohol or just need a tasty break between drinks, this spicy little number is sure to impress. It may not have any champagne, but carbonation gets us close enough. For an alcoholic version, mezcal works wonderfully! Add 1 ½ oz with the flavoured soda, then continue the recipe.

4 oz The Great Jamaican Spicy Pineapple soda chilled club soda jalapeno, sliced crosswise into wheels Tajin seasoning ice for collins glass

1. Half-fill a collins glass with ice and add pineapple soda slowly, to avoid fizzing.

2. Top with club soda and stir slowly, until just combined.

3. Slice into two to three jalapeno wheels and place on the edge of the glass as garnish.

4. Dust with tajin seasoning.