On November 27, 2015

Cocktail Corner: the cranberry cobbler

By Tom Joyce

The cranberry cobbler is a festively adorned  selection on the  cocktail menu at On the Rocs on Killington Road, Killington.

By Tom Joyce

The cranberry cobbler. Jane Danger, a bartender in New York City, created this cocktail for On the Rocs in Killington during the winter of 2014.

One of the things I like to do at the bar is ask someone what is their go-to drink and then create a cocktail that is a little different but in the same ballpark. Ms. Danger did that to me when I told her I used to drink Stoli Orange and cranberry with lime. The result ended up on our cocktail menu as the cranberry cobbler.

A cobbler is a category of drink originally made with wine, sugar and some sort of fruit. It was easily recognizable by the garnish, which was usually piled high with fruit and sometimes sprinkled with powdered sugar. I’m sure it produced lots of oooohhs and aaaahhhs as it was placed in front of its imbiber. Think about the first time you saw a sizzling fajita carried through the dining room. “Ohmigod look at that, it’s smoking, and sizzling, and hissing, oh goodness what is that, I think I’ll have one of those!”

We played around with the drink a little and found it worked great with gin or vodka. I also found that a couple of dashes of orange bitters add depth to the flavor especially if you choose to use vodka. The recipe below uses the delicious Silo Gin from Hartford, Vt., produced with local juniper berries and apples.

The cranberry mix that we’ll make is dolloped on top and slowly melts into the drink, changing the taste as you go along. If you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to bother with the cranberry mix, I’m sure a nice natural cranberry sauce will suffice. Just don’t use the stuff that slides out of the can, the ridges on the side are a little tacky.

Recipe

  • 2 oz. gin or vodka
  • 3/4 oz. simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar)
  • 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice

Shake hard over ice and strain over fresh ice into an Old Fashioned cocktail glass, top with 2 tablespoons of cranberry mix.

Garnish with some fresh mint to make it festive. Limes also work, but the leafy top of a mint sprig works particularly well.

Cranberry mix

Combine 12 oz. cranberries, 5 oz. sugar, 5 oz. water, and 10 dashes Angostura bitters. Cook in a pan until all berries have burst, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add 1 oz. gin and the zest of one lemon. Refrigerate.

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a safe holiday and remember, the road probably doesn’t need one so please tipple, don’t topple.

Tom Joyce is a bartender at On the Rocs in Killington, Vt.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

VFFC reopens Farmers Hall and welcomes the return of the winter farmers’ market

November 13, 2024
RUTLAND — The Vermont Farmers Food Center (VFFC) welcomed the community back into Farmers Hall on Nov. 2. “We are incredibly happy to host the Winter Farmers Market again in Farmers Hall,” said an enthusiastic Heidi Lynch, the VFFC’s executive director. During the renovation of the VFFC buildings at the former industrial site at 251…

Milk cows! Not taxpayers! 

October 30, 2024
Dear Editor, I am a delivery driver and service technician for a home heating company. The candidates on the ballot who will not destroy the home heat industry, which my coworkers and I rely upon to support our families in Vermont, are Republicans. The candidates on the ballot who will not increase our home heating…

Vote for Windsor Dems

October 23, 2024
Dear Editor, I urge my friends and neighbors to elect Joe Major and to re-elect Alison Clarkson and Becca White to the Vermont Senate. Major offers intelligence and extensive management experience. He listens with an open heart and an open mind. Clarkson and White have risen to the challenges of governing in a time of…

Gov. Phil Scott’s shelter plan met with relief and skepticism

October 23, 2024
By Carly Berlin/VTDigger This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public. Some service providers and municipal leaders are suggesting that the Gov. Phil Scott administration’s plan to assemble three family shelters in state-owned buildings amounts to too little, too late.  For weeks, local officials, lawmakers, and service providers have been…