Stir & Strain

limoncello

Strawberry-Rhubarb Amaro Cobbler Cocktail

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Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comThis post is made in partnership with Amaro Lucano. Recipes and ideas are my own.

If you’re looking for a springy cocktail to serve for your Easter weekend that’s bursting with flavors, fruit and flowers: look no further! We’ve teamed up with Amaro Lucano, one of our fav amari for mixing up cocktails, to show you how you can create a low ABV cocktail that is a sheer delight to look at and to drink!

Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comThe flowers here in SoCal are everywhere (I’m sure you caught a poppy or two on Instagram)! But did you know some of those gorgeous blooms are edible? And today our cocktail is brimming with a whole bunch of colorful spring flowers that are safe for cocktail garnishes and also super pretty to look at. While you may not want to taste all of them, if you do, you’ll find tastes ranging from cucumber (borage) to raw green beans (bachelor’s buttons) to slightly bitter and spicy (chrysanthemum). All of these can add to the flavor and aroma of this amaro-based cocktail, a Strawberry-Rhubarb Amaro Cobbler Cocktail.

Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comIsn’t cobbler a dessert?! Well, yes. Many people will be familiar with the cobbler as a baked good, but a cobbler cocktail is like a fancy dessert… in the cocktail world! I go into the cobbler a bit in this post, but for brevity, a cobbler is a very old style of cocktail that is made with crushed ice and garnished by decorating the drink in a fanciful manner with seasonal fruits (and here we’re adding flowers as well). Usually it is served with a tiny spoon to eat the fruits with as well. Sherry is often the spirit used most with this drink, but I thought an amaro would be a great base.

Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comAmaro Lucano has been a staple in my home bar for awhile now (and that 93 point rating from Wine Spectator would tell me some of you enjoy it a lot too!). Amaro Lucano has a mild, bittersweet taste that is great on its own, but lovely in cocktails. There are some citrus and herbal notes here too (which isn’t surprising as it’s blended with over 30 herbs!) and I thought they’d pair really well with the strawberry-rhubarb syrup as well as the flowers in the garnish. Since I wanted an easy drinking, low ABV cocktail to pair with my Easter brunch, Amaro Lucano fits the bill with an ABV of 28%.

And what does it all taste like? Well, you get a bittersweet start to the drink with a nice sweetness from the strawberry-rhubarb syrup. I included a float of Lucano’s Anniversario Limoncello for a sharp note of citrus and to further enhance the citrus profile. The finish has some herbal notes to it but I like the surprise subtle licorice flavor that ends your sip.

Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comI really love that people are so into flowers, and gardening, and just taking some time to enjoy nature; this is one current trend I can get behind! Maybe we could all do it with a lot less handheld devices though… but still, at least everyone’s getting outdoors.

If you’ve been following along on Instagram and my Stories this past month or so, you’ve heard me talk about how easy it is to grow a few essentials in a “Cocktail Garden” whether you’ve got a whole back yard to work with, or just a windowsill. Currently I’m growing in a windowsill (cilantro, basil), on a porch (chives, strawberries), and I have an entire front yard area overrun by rosemary (if you’re in SoCal and need some send me a DM). Plans are underway to start some landscaping and garden building in my backyard but that’s going to take awhile. Until then though I am fortunate enough to have my friend Kristin, who runs DineXDesign.com, and her wonderland of a garden who generously provided all of these edible blooms for me to garnish drinks with. All of these flowers you could easily grow in containers so you too can have a variety of blooms to garnish your cocktails with.

Ok, let’s mix some drinks!

Amaro Lucano Strawberry-rhubarb Cobbler Cocktail // stirandstrain.comStrawberry-Rhubarb Amaro Cobbler Cocktail

1 tablespoon reserved strawberry-rhubarb compote from syrup
1-1/2 cups crushed ice, divided
2 ounces Amaro Lucano
1-1/4 ounce strawberry-rhubarb syrup (recipe below)
1/4 ounce Lucano Anniversario Limoncello
fresh fruit and edible flowers for garnish

In a double rocks glass or goblet glass, build your drink by spooning in fruit at bottom of glass. Add in about one cup of crushed ice. Pour in Amaro Lucano and strawberry-rhubarb syrup. Pack glass with additional ice, leaving about 1/2″ from top of glass. Drizzle Limoncello over the ice. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with fruit and edible flowers and enjoy with a straw (or eat fruit first, your choice!).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup – yields about 1 cup

1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup rhubarb chunks (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped strawberries

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. When sugar has dissolved, add in rhubarb (if using frozen no need to defrost) and strawberries. Stir to combine and let the mixture come to a boil. Once a boil is reached, lower to a simmer, cover, and let simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain solids and set aside. Let syrup cool to room temperature before using. Once cool, use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to two weeks.

Cocktail Quickie: Yuzu Lemon Sparkler

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A cocktail does not need to be complicated. It does not need to contain 7 ingredients. It doesn’t need herbs freshly harvested from my backyard. Sometimes a cocktail is something you threw together in 2 minutes. Sometimes it looks like this.

I’ve been going through those watermelon chunks like crazy and came to a point where I ran out but still had half a bottle of OK champagne in the fridge. Ah dilemma. I could have gone the Champagne Cocktail route, but I’m trying to get through that bottle of Limoncello because I need that bottle to make a new batch soon. So this became a marriage of convenience (of ingredients).

I like the idea of sometimes having something in my brain Rolodex that I can throw together quickly without having to think too much on it (like after a grueling day at work). This is one of them, and may possibly be a new vein of recipes on here: the quickies.

1-1/2 oz Limoncello (homemade if you got it)
2 dashes of Miracle Mile Yuzu Bitters
3-4 oz of Champagne

Pour limoncello and bitters in a chilled Champagne flute. Swirl gently to mix. Pour in champagne. Bottoms up.

I love the heightened citrus and woodsy notes that the Yuzu bitters adds to the mix (DO go and find these bitters. So worth it.). Can you drink champagne without any extras? Yes. But if you want an extra punch to the drink, this quick fix will do you right.

Salty Melon

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Watermelon is a wonderful fruit if you’re the type of person who loves to break down fruits and veg. Pineapples also fall into this category. Thank god my local grocery store caters to us lazy kitchen skills people to give us these fruits already broken down and cut into chunks. Awesome, thanks Fresh & Easy.

It’s been hot in LA for the last week or so. Summer hot. The rising temps tricked my inner self into thinking it was already time for tropical fruit drinks on the patio and I found myself seeking out fresh pineapple chunks at the grocery store and for kicks threw in a pack of watermelon chunks too. I had started out thinking I was going to make some kind of tropical sangria. Until I remembered the whole pouring it into a pitcher (which I need to buy), and also hey, you can’t drink this for 24 hours. So that will have to wait for another time. But I had champagne and something sparkling seemed the right thing to make. And suddenly I wanted watermelons.

My mint plant has been out of control lately with this new plant food I’m giving it, so pretty much I’ve been throwing it into everything. No exception here.

In the first version of this drink, I found that I wanted…salt. So on the next round I added a bit more mint and a pinch of salt and OH YUM. Hello new summer drink. It was so tasty I made two more.

It’s a bit of work, but if you’re reading the this and enjoy making cocktails then this isn’t all that much. Note: with the desire to drink several of these I thought I’d try this as a blender drink (minus the champagne). Don’t do it. The beautiful pink color you get from the muddled melon disappears with the addition of the blended mint leaves. Also, it’s a lot more on the watery side when you do it this way. I would just advise making it by the glass.

1 oz Limoncello (homemade if you got it!)
2 sprigs of mint
3-4 chunks of watermelon about 1-1/2″ in size
pinch of salt
2-3 oz of champagne (decent quality. but since you’re mixing it, don’t use up the really good stuff)
1 sprig of mint for garnish

In a Mixing Glass, muddles the mint with the limoncello. Add the pinch of salt and muddle just enough to mix it in. Add the watermelons to the glass and muddle until smooth (this may take a few minutes). Strain through a medium-fine strainer into a rocks glass. You’ll need to use the back of a spoon to push the solids through to help get the remaining liquid in your glass. Add the champagne and garnish with a mint sprig.

This drink is a great balance of flavors with the addition of salt (just like in baking). The watermelon is present, but not overpowering to make it too sweet. That champagne cuts through to help aid in that as well. And in the background there is a nice herbal-citrus note that finishes well. I was really happy with this, and I hope you can enjoy it too.

UPDATE: instead of using the strainer to get the last bits in, you can mix and muddle your ingredients in a bar shaker and then flip it over into the glass and push solids through the top. Less dishes and mess.