Yesterday we met Charleen Badman, the chef-slash-bartender-slash-plateful-of-awesome who cooks up food and cocktails over at FnB. Today she shares with us the recipe for her Pomegranate Fig Gimlet, which premieres on the cocktail menu this week and makes use of her specialty, a fruit infused vodka.
"I use dried Turkish figs from Trader Joe's," Badman says. "They need to be dried; that's very important. If you use a fresh fig, it'll ferment and won't turn out very good. It's a pound of figs for a liter of vodka. You just add them in the bottle and let it sit for one week. Then strain and refrigerate."
It's a pretty drink that tastes far less foofy than it looks, with a ninja-like tartness that sneaks up from behind a deceptively sweet beginning and smacks you right in the mouth.
The ingredients:
2 oz. pomegranate juice
3 oz. fig-infused vodka
1 oz. lime juice
½ oz simple syrup to adjust sweetness
How to make it:
Pour all of the ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with fresh figs. Sip, and watch out for that sneaky sourness.