lunaticsinge.com - Basque Cuisine Drinks

Vermouth - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/2 orange

4 Manzanilla olives, pitted

2 cups sweet red vermouth

4 teaspoons Campari

4 teaspoons gin

Angostura or orange bitters

Seltzer (optional)

1. Prepare the garnish by cutting the orange in 1/2 inch slices, and then cutting the round slices into half-moons. Skewer one olive on each of four toothpicks and then slide on the orange slices.

2. Fill four short tumbler glasses with ice. Divide the vermouth evenly among the glasses. Add 1 teaspoon of Campari and gin to each, and give them a stir. Shake a dash of bitters into each glass.

3. If using the seltzer water, which is traditionally used to lighten up the drink, Add a splash. Place the olive-orange skewer into each glass, swirling slightly for one last stir. Serve.

Red Wine-Cola Cocktail - (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Large ice cubes

16 oz. red wine

16 oz. Coca-Cola

4 lemon wedges

1. Place a handful of ice in each of four tall glasses.

2. Pour 4 oz. of wine into each glass. Slowly pour 4 oz. of cola into each glass. Gently give a half stir with a spoon, then add a lemon wedge to each glass, squeezing the lemon slightly before dropping it in.

Gin & Tonic - (Serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 oz. gin

1 (6 3/4 oz) bottle tonic water, chilled

1 green lemon or lime

Juniper berries (optional)

1. Add large pieces of ice to a glass until it's about two-thirds full. With a long-handled spoon, move the ice in circles, vigorously, for about 10 seconds to cool down the glass. Using a cocktail strainer, drain any water that has melted and top off the glass with more ice.

2. Pour the gin over the ice to chill before adding the tonic. Pour the tonic over the ice very slowly. Insert a long-handled spoon to the bottom of the glass and gently give a half stir.

3. Hold the green lemon over the glass, and with the large hole of a citrus zester, remove one strip of peel and allow it to fall into the glass. Repeat twice more to allow the citrus's essential oils to mist the drink - whether the last two peels fall in the drink is up to you. Add a few juniper berries, if desired, and serve.

Basque Sangria - (Makes 1 liter)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 (750-mL) bottle red wine (preferable from the Rioja Alavesa)

1 lemon

1 peach, fresh or canned

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 1/3 cup water, the sugar, and the cinnamon and heat over high heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Set the simple syrup aside.

2. Empty the wine into a container with at least a 1-liter capacity. Add the simple syrup (including the cinnamon stick) to the wine. With a vegetable peeler, peel the zest of the lemon, avoiding the white pith, and add the zest to the wine mixture.

3. Cut the lemon in half and juice one half. Stir the lemon juice into the wine mixture. Cut the peach in half and add to the wine mixture. Close the bottle and set aside in a cool place for at 3 days before serving. Stir or shake, then refrigerate and serve cold.