After Anderson adds in some Cachaça Divininha and St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, she points a French-tipped finger at the fuschia-colored work-in-progress beverage.
"Whatever you're making looks really good," she says, grinning. "Can I have a taste?"
A sly grin plays across the bartender's face as he pours his ingredients into a martini shaker and makes like a maraca musician.
His MILFish customer eventually gets a sip, declaring the drink to be "really sweet...like candy."
Such reactions are common when customers sample the Red Brazilian, Anderson explains, which is why it's one of Olive & Ivy's more popular cocktails.
"It's also one of our staff favorites," he says. "We usually recommend it to new customers or people who want to try something different."
He feels the success of the drink (as created by the establishment's corporate director of beverages and wine Regan Jasper) is due to its inclusion of fresh fruit, which complements the sweets of the Cachaça (a Brazilian liquor made from cane sugar) and the flowerly nature of the St. Germain.
"I think it's a well-balanced drink with a great flavor and just the right amount of sweetness without being overpowering," he says. "I really like using fresh fruit, which gives it a fuller flavor and adds a more natural sweetness to a drink without being cloying or too saccharine. The tartness of the raspberries is balanced out by the tartness of the lime component."
Plus it goes great with many of the small plates and appetizers on the joint's Mediterranean-meets-California menu, including an order of hummus.
See if you have a similar lip-smacking reaction when preparing it in your kitchen or perhaps for an upcoming holiday party.
The Red Brazilian:
½ ounce of simple syrup
1 ½ ounce of Cachaça Divininha
¾ ounce of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Six slices of lime
Three raspberries
Muddle the limes, raspberries, and simple syrup in a glass. Add in both the Cachaça and St. Germain and shake that mother up using a martini shaker and ice. Pour into a highball glass and serve.
