“While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads”…Have you ever wondered what exactly a sugar plum is? While interestingly when “The Night Before Christmas” was written they weren’t referring to the fruit but a type of hard candy dating back to Victorian times, although there is a variety of plum called the sugarplum. This Sugar Plum Martini is a sweet, plum based cocktail using a wonderful plum liqueur from Japan. It is made with 100% Nanko Plums and is all natural. I wanted to make the color purple, so I had to do some color mixology and combined blue (Blue Curacao) and red (Grenadine) which magically transformed the cocktail to a beautiful plum purple. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Cocktail Shaker
- Jigger
- Martini Glass
- 2 Small Plates
- Small Saucepan
- Slotted Spoon
- Measuring Cup
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients – Serves 1
- 1 oz Vodka (Titos)
- 1 oz Plum Liqueur (Hakutsuru Ume Plum)
- 1 oz Cranberry Juice (Simply)
- .5 oz Blue Curacao (DeKuyper)
- .5 oz Grenadine (Finest Call)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar (1/2 cup for simple syrup, 1/2 cup for cranberries)
- Cocktail Sugar for Rim (Clear, Snowy River) *you could also use the granulated sugar instead.
- Cranberries for garnish
- 2 Rosemary Sprigs for garnish
Method
- Prepare your garnish. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water until syrup comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. On low heat, add the washed and dried cranberries (at least 4 per cocktail), stir to coat with the syrup for 1 min. Remove with slotted spoon onto parchment paper (be sure to remove them before they pop) and let cool. Sprinkle sugar on the parchment paper and roll the cranberries in the sugar to coat. Wash and dry 2 rosemary sprigs. Set aside.
- Prepare your glass. Pour .5 oz simple syrup (from saucepan) onto a small plate. Pour cocktail sugar onto the other plate. Roll the edge of your glass in the simple syrup then the sugar. Pro tip- tap the sugar with the glass for a more even coating. Set aside.
- Make the cocktail. Add the vodka, plum liqueur, cranberry juice, blue curacao and grenadine to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to combine and strain into the sugar rimmed martini glass. Garnish with the cranberries (they will float on top) and the rosemary sprigs. Cheers!
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