Mike's Mix: Mother's Day Cocktails, Mocktails
Whether your Mother's Day plan includes brunching, relaxing, or maybe working like every other day, a cocktail might be nice for mom. Or even a mocktail, if she's a teetotaler. Here are three from Bittercube's Marco Zappia.
The Best Mimosa Ever
Ingredients
2 oz orange juice
3 oz sparkling wine (Marco recommends Critstalino)
½ oz Tattersall Orange Crema liqueur
1 eye-dropper Bittercube orange bitters
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a champagne flute; garnish with an orange twist.
Taste Test
The beauty of the mimosa is its simplicity; that also makes it somewhat of a blank canvas to improve upon, or tailor to your tastes. Think of sugar as the liquid equivalent of "fat" or "butter" in your cocktail (it adds depth and roundness), where bitters are liquid spice. Both combine in the humble-sounding "Best Mimosa Ever" to give a more rounded flavor than in a traditional mimosa. This cocktail, too, is easy to make – but also stands out as special!
Marquette
Ingredients
¾ oz Herradura Blanco tequila
¾ oz Cocchi Rosa vermouth
¾ oz lemon
¾ oz Tattersall Orange Crema
¼ oz simple syrup
1 eye-dropper Bittercube Jamaican #2 bitters
Directions
Rinse a cocktail (coupe) glass with absinthe. Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin, and shake over ice. Strain into rinsed glass, and garnish with an edible flower.
Taste Test
This cocktail is a riff on the classic gin-based brunch cocktail called a Corpse Reviver No. 2. Mom's rules say that it's totally appropriate to have tequila with brunch, especially when it's part of this easy-drinking, light and bright cocktail. The absinthe rinse on the glass is designed to hit you on the nose, and not in the tastebuds, so don't be afraid; it complements the peppery tequila!
Captain Crunch
Ingredients
2 oz orange syrup*
5 oz seltzer
2 eye-droppers Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters
* To make orange syrup: whisk an equal part of granulated sugar into room-temperature orange juice until dissolved.
Directions
Add all ingredients to an iced lowball glass. Garnish by creating an orange rose by rolling up a long orange peel.
Taste Test
This cocktail is essentially a virgin mimosa (with seltzer standing in for sparkling wine); the "Captain Crunch" flavors come from Bittercube's Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters. This one can be served safely to the kids, and moms-to-be!
About Bittercube
Bittercube bitters can be found in nearly every liquor store, and online at here. Their cocktail creations are on bar menus around town, including Scena Tavern and Eat Street Social, in Minneapolis, and in the forthcoming café from Restaurant Alma.
