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A cobbler is a category of drink originally made with wine, sugar and some sort of fruit.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.
