Pink or Red Drink Suggestions

[jello]

Our monthly dinner club is meeting on Saturday night and I have to bring the beverages for 10 people. Our theme is Red or Pink (for Valentines Day) foods and drink. Probably should be vodka based since that is what most of us drink. Thanks so much!

[jello]

I have to say that these Blood Orange Margaritas were a huge hit! Everyone loved them and asked for the recipe. They were worth all of the squeezing I did!! Delicious.

[jello]

Thanks so much everyone.....I actually decided on a Blood Orange Margarita. I just finished squeezing about 24 blood oranges. Going to mix it with some Cointreau, Silver Tequila and fresh squeezed lime juice.
Loved the comment about the "jello shots"....I actually got the nickname in high school.....I should have thought about doing some jello shots too!

[TheHuntress]

Sounds delicious! Blood orange is fantastic.

[TroyTempest]

surprised that no one has suggested a cape codder

[zin1953]

. . . and given the OP's nickname, I'm surprised no one has suggested "Jello Shots"!

[nickls]

I just made myself a Bitter Elder and I highly recommend it as well. If you really want to stick with vodka you could make Greyhounds: fresh squeezed red grapefruit juice and vodka would be quite tasty I think. Actually the Bitter Elder tastes just like grapefruit at the end. Clover Clubs are great and perfect for people who don't like to taste their booze too much. Another pink drink I like that is a good cocktail for the uninitiated is a Daiquiri with grenadine (AKA Bacardi cocktail). Using grenadine with actual pomegranate juice is key, and make sure to add some simple syrup to give it wide appeal.

[TheHuntress]

If going for red/pink cocktails I'd be getting stuck into the Chambord. If you're looking for something vodka based you could try the following:

1 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. Chambord
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1 1/4 oz. cranberry juice
1/4 oz. Lime juice

Basically a bastardised cosmopolitan, but the colour would be a deep pink/red hue. Or Chambord and champagne is delicious, pink and completely in keeping with a romantic theme ;)

Other Chambord recipes can be found here:

http://www.chambordonline.com/recipe....

[yarm]

There was just a post today about pink drinks in the Citysips blog. Of Sam's top 5 picks, the El Presidente would work best for a vodka fan:

http://citysip.com/sippin-5/drink-pin...

(although my preferred El Presidente is 2 oz white rum, 1/2 oz orange liqueur, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, and a barspoon (1/8 oz) grenadine

)

Also, one of the king pink drinks is the Clover Club made with raspberry syrup instead of grenadine (better than the Pink Lady). But neither of these two will fly if you don't want to shake that many egg drinks.

[davis_sq_pro]

On the topic of drinks with rum and raspberry syrup, how about the Knickerbocker a la Monsieur? I think that's an extremely accessible drink, even for vodka fans.

http://sloshed.hyperkinetic.org/2006/...

Although vodka fans might prefer white rum, personally I like El Presidente with an amber. But that might be due to the fact that last time I tried making one with white rum I used a really low-end choice, resulting in a drink that tasted like lighter fluid... kind of like most vodka drinks :-)

[Chowbird]

You could always try a Poinsettia . . . half champagne, half cranberry juice.

[lavaca]

It's not a vodka cocktail, but a Jack Rose is certainly a red drink. 3-4 parts Applejack or other apple brandy, 2 parts lime juice, and 1 part grenadine.

[yarm]

Laird's Applejack is pretty much 65% vodka anyways...

[jaykayen]

Sloe gin fizz.

Ramos gin (substitute vodka) fizz with grenadine for sweetener. Nice pink color.

[davis_sq_pro]

Good call on the sloe gin. How about the Wibble? Fantastic cocktail.

http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/200...

[EvergreenDan]

Good call on the Wibble. I'm not sure I'd want to shake the egg white in Sloe Gin Fizz for 10 people, much less a Ramos gin fizz. My arms ache and fingers burn from frostbite just thinking about it. ;-)

The only prob lem with the Wibble is that you must find good Sloe Gin. Plymouth is available around Boston, but not everywhere you look.

[EvergreenDan]

If you are open to flavored vodka (aka gin) and complex, interesting flavors (Campari), I highly recommend the Bitter Elder:

1 1⁄2 oz Gin
3⁄4 oz Elderflower liqueur, St. Germain
3⁄4 oz Campari
1⁄2 oz Lemon

It has a lovely pink flavor, the Campari is in the background, just enough to make it interesting. The gin and citrus flavors are prominent. The St Germain adds lovely lychee-like tones. It is a magical cocktail.

Many other Campari recipes may be found here:
http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail?index_type=0&ingredient=Campari

If you aren't open to Campari for the red color, then a red wine sangria would be done. If straight vodka is your thing, then I'd just add a drop of red food coloring. You could make a Cosmo with homemade cranberry syrup, depending upon your dinner club's feelings about such "girlie" cocktails.

A local restaurant, Flora, Arlington, MA, has a lovely cocktail with grapefruit and a touch of Campari, called Love Lies Bleeding (but in French, which I don't speak or recall). http://florarestaurant.com/. If you were interested, I'd be willing to call and try to get the recipe.

You could also use Plymouth Sloe Gin for the redish color. It is a a very high quality ingredient, unrelated to what young girls might drink. I personally would not use Chambord, and Cherry Heering, while lovely and complex, is a bit brownish. There are other good cherry liqueurs, but you would have to find an interesting cocktail as it is one-note by itself.

[invinotheresverde]

Yum on the Bitter Elder.

Once this kid comes out, we'll have to knock back some delicious amaro, ED. ;)

[thew]

i like to replace campari with aperol. it almost always wrks beautifully

[EvergreenDan]

I love Aperol too, but it's orange. I think the OP is looking for a red/pink cocktail.

[thew]

it mixes redish/pinkish in my experience.