Mischief Gin Cranlet Martini

Cranberries are so wonderfully tart, they make the perfect alternative to lime for a fresh gimlet. It is super easy to make your own cranberry syrup. This is a great cocktail to serve to a large gathering since you can make the syrup up ahead of time, then to make the cocktail just add gin and shake over ice to serve, easy-peassy but super classy. Leaves you plenty of time to be the perfect host.

Homemade Cranberry Syrup

1 lb fresh or frozen whole cranberries
2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
Zest from one orange
Zest from one lemon
Juice from orange after zested
Juice from lemon after zested

Cocktail

2 ounces Fremont Mischief Gin
2 ounces cranberry syrup

Garnish

Fresh cranberries
Lemon juice
Raw sugar

To make the syrup rinse cranberries (if fresh) and put in sauce pan. (Reserve a hand-full for a garnish.) Add water, sugar and syrup and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Then zest the orange and lemon peel with a  grater. After you have added all the zest, cut the orange and lemon and add the juice. Don’t worry about seeds or pulp, it will all get strained out. After the berries have cooked for a while, use a masher to smoosh them all up to make sure you are getting all the zingy goodness. Cook for 3-4 more minutes, turn off. Once cooled a bit strain using either a fine wire mesh strainer, or cheesecloth. The syrup will last for a few weeks, refrigerated.

To make cocktail pour 2 oz cran syrup and 2 oz Fremont Mischief Gin into shaker with ice, shake till frosty and pour into martini glass.

To garnish take a few fresh (or frozen) whole cranberries. Squeeze some juice from 1/2 a lemon onto small bowl, roll the berries around in the juice, then roll them around in some coarse raw sugar to make them sparkle. Skewer with a long toothpick.

Enjoy being the life of the party!