Linda's Pink Ginger Minx Cocktail and Curing the Winter Blahs

by Linda

"In the midst of winter, she found a perfect summer in sipping ginger vodka, Cointreau, citrus fruits and the magical elixir that we call honey." Linda T.

   It happens every year in spite of my most fortified optimism. Does a girl from California have the right to bitch about winter? The answer to that is a resounding "NO!" from the rest of the country except for Hawaii and Arizona, but nevertheless—long about February—I am tired of bare branches and the fear of frost ravaging my succulents and citrus. Snicker away if you must...

   So here I am on my Monday off—another reason to be glum, since I will be pricking my fingers and shedding my own blood this coming Saturday, which we all know is Valentine's Day—wrapping dozen upon dozens of roses and adorning them with a ribbon for other's people's Valentine's Day tokens of love. To perk me up and fortify me for the long week ahead, I decided to find a recipe for a cocktail worthy of opening the bottle of locally made and organic ginger vodka that I have had in my cupboard for some months now—meanwhile kicking myself that I never infused my own organic ginger in vodka when the ginger looked amazing this past summer.

Linda's Pink Ginger Minx Cocktail

My Internet search yielded a recipe from an Adam Wilson of Beretta in San Francisco (Hello, Homie!), and I just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand to give it a stir, including my perfect "Don Draper Vintage Glasses", which I purchased at my favorite vintage store in downtown Petaluma—Vintage Style.  With the addition of pink grapefruit juice and the addition of Peychaud bitters (good to have another cocktail to use these in than just the Sazerac, right?) the delicious cocktail is a lovely pale pink, and it definitely made my cocktail hour more minxy and spring seem less far away. Cheers!

Ingredients:
Makes one large cocktail
4 ounces Hanson of Sonoma Organic Ginger Vodka
1.5 ounces Cointreau
2 ounces fresh lime juice
1 ounce fresh pink grapefruit juice
1 ounce honey simple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud bitters
ice

Procedure:
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker or a small pitcher. Stir and serve over ice. Garnish as desired and sip while fantasizing of a tropical island or favorite getaway spot.