Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Back To Reality

Oh man did that last 10 days fly by. Thanks Balls for filling in while I was in Hawaii drinking Mai Tai’s like it was my job. Alas, all good vacations must come to an end, and after a brief stop in LA on the way back, I am back home in the cold.

Also, this is going to be one of my shorter posts since we only got back Tuesday and hosted Thanksgiving at our house so the usual time and effort I put in was just not there this week, but I’ll do my best. The drink this week comes via a friend of mine, who was serving this Cranberry Orange Bourbon cocktail at his Thanksgiving dinner and shared it with our group chat. Thanks to him for sharing and getting me an idea for a drink to write about on short notice!

Cranberry Orange Bourbon Cocktail:

2 oz. Bourbon
2 oz. Cranberry juice
2 oz. Orange juice
Orange slice and cranberries for garnish

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice combine all the ingredients and shake to blend. Strain into a glass with ice and garnish with an orange slice and whole cranberries and serve.

There really isn’t much aroma here. I get some slight hints of orange from the (admittedly giant) garnish, but even still, I don’t get a whole lot. I don’t think cranberry on the garnish would really effect that either, since they’d be whole (sans the cocktail skewer through them). I’m kinda surprised nothing really shines through here.

The first sip is pretty good. I don’t immediately get much rye flavor, but what I do get is a lot of acidity from the orange and cranberry juices. It isn’t overpowering by any means, but it does bring this on the border of what I would consider a sour. Neither juice takes over either. Cranberry and orange are a great combination in most things, and this drink is no exception. Surprisingly the juices also give the drink a light, almost airy feel. There is a decent amount of foam from the shake when poured into the glass, despite there being no carbonation which adds to this palate effect.

Going back in for some sips, I start to pick up more of the rye spiciness underneath the juices. I tend to prefer rye anyway, so I like what it adds here. The extra bit of spice is a welcome addition to the flavors provided by the twin juices. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that bourbon would be worse per se, but I think the subtler flavor would be more hidden under the twin acidic attack of the juices, and make it hard to pick up here/

Overall, I liked this. There certainly Beauty in simply, and on a day like Thanksgiving, you need something simple and this hits the mark extremely well. It’s seasonal and isn’t heavy so you can have a few of these with your appetizers and not feel full when the main course is served. Another advantage this drink has going for it is that it can easily be batched and served for a crowd if you happen to be hosting.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)