Fruits, when chosen and treated the right way, can make for an excellent combination with alcohol. From adding chopped pieces of fresh fruits, to a pureed version or even in a grilled form, there are myriad ways to create a winning combination of fruits and spirits.
Fruits always add a delightful touch to the palate. The presence of fruits in any form in my drink often allows me to enjoy it better.
Muddling is one bartending technique I love to see being used in my fruity cocktails. It helps release the flavour of the fruit into the drink. Recently, I tried blueberries with ginger and lemon in my Bellini and it was sheer magic. I have always loved my Prosecco with fruits — that just makes it so light and refreshing.
Fruits lend themselves to wines beautifully. Vodka, limejuice, lemon grass syrup and sparkling wine make a good blend. Add to this, chopped cranberries and strawberries and watch this concoction come alive. Sangrias, of course we all enjoy at an alfresco lunch. Of course, fruits needn’t be added to wines, one can simply relish the fruity wines. I was gifted a bottle each of the recently launched Kiwi and Plum wines on Diwali and gingerly opened my prized possession last weekend. This fruit wine from Rhythm Winery made from grapes and blended with kiwis is an off-dry wine with about 12 per cent alcohol content. The first sip is slightly sweet, and you get a taste of that ripe fruitiness. But the mid palate is ambrosial and reveals a hint of tartness through the ripe fruit. The end is clean, fruity and fresh.
The plum wine is a complete surprise, unusual in every sense. Procured from the chilly regions of North India, this tangy off-dry wine with 10 per cent alcohol content, is apt for the ladies and for beginners too.
Those not really keen on wine alone, go for this heady mixture of tequila, sugar syrup, limejuice, mint and seedless chunks of watermelon pureed. Trust me, it’s a party winner.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a bartender using fruits with bourbon — he made a bourbon pear punch. Using a ripe pear muddled with a simple syrup, he added to that some ice, bourbon and gently stirred it, finally topping it with a dash of Angostura bitters. One could even try other ways to add fruits to a cocktail, such as grilling a fruit to impart a smoky, dense flavour that comes from the caramalisation. Bananas, peaches and pineapple take grilling rather well.
One should keep in mind the nature of the spirit while choosing a fruit to combine it with. And it’s always better to opt for seasonal fruits.
Mini Ribeiro is a food writer
