A Valentine’s Day Cocktail: My Muddy Valentine
My Muddy Valentine
Valentine’s Day falls during that time of the year when we Portlanders are all too focused on the long slow march to Spring. We fight against the cold, the dark, and the damp with gallons of good coffee, heroic dedication to bicycling rain or shine, and the occasional Wii Fit session. But this year New Deal Distillery offers a chocolaty enhancement to the lovers’ holiday – our new Mudpuddle vodka.
Mudpuddle is like that old commercial where chocolate and peanut butter collide except this marriage pairs hand roasted cacao beans and our finest local vodka. When Mudpuddle is shaken with fresh raspberry puree and a bittersweet port, the result is a cocktail that will make the Valentine’s Day sun come out. But remember that the ingredient that makes every cocktail the sweetest is love.
My Muddy Valentine
2 ounces New Deal Mudpuddle Vodka
¼ ounce Port (we suggest Barnard Griffin 2007 Syrah Port)
1 ounce Fresh Lemon-Lime Juice
1 ounce Simple Syrup
2 tablespoons Raspberry Puree (see recipe below)
Ice cubes for shaking
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the Mudpuddle vodka, port, lemon-lime juice, simple syrup and raspberry puree. Cap the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain the drink into a martini glass. Serve immediately. Makes one cocktail.
Raspberry Puree
1 cup fresh raspberries
3 tablespoons water plus more if needed
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Combine the fruit, water, 2 tablespoons sugar and ¼ teaspoon lemon juice in a blender and pulse until completely chopped. Puree until smooth. Use immediately.
Full disclosure: The writer of this cocktail recipe dates a distiller and co-owner of New Deal Vodka. She did however pay for her own bottle of MudPuddle Vodka – in fact, she purchased three bottles in total – one for her and two for gifts. She also co-authored the cocktail cookbook: Hip Sips, Chronicle Books 2007.
