Cranberry cocktail in September

[basil]

I''ve been tossing around the idea of a "signature cocktail", though I don''t think it''s necessary. My brother is making us his beer to serve, so that will be our unique thing, and we''ll have the ingredients for all the other classic cocktails.

But there''s this cranberry vodka that we have made the past few years, usually around the holidays. It''s basically vodka marinated for several weeks with boiled and mushed up cranberries and sugar, which is then strained, and served with tonic and a lime wedge. It''s a pretty pink color and it''s really tasty.

But do you think September is too early to be serving a cranberry cocktail? It seems kind of holiday-ish to me, but that may be because that''s when we''ve usually had it. If we decide to do it, we''ll probably have to purchase the cranberries this fall and freeze them, since I''m not sure fresh are easily available that early in the fall.

 

[largirl]

I''ve been trying to come up with a signature cocktail too! I''ve usually seen them either match the colors of the wedding (i.e. my friend''s pink and black wedding is having pink lemonade) or the theme (i.e. another friend served eggnog at her Christmas wedding). I''m kind of leaning towards a hard apple cider right now for early October, but I don''t know! I''m excited to see what others come up with for suggestions.

 

[sap483]

I don''t really associate cranberry to the holidays. I think it''s very "New England" with all of our cranberry bogs- very appropriate in my opinion.

 

[shigidigi]

I agree with sap on this one! And it sounds so yummy!! Do you mind sharing your recipe? I have been toying with the idea of infusing vodka for ages but havent found a recipe I am in love with yet!


Keep in mind you shouldnt feel obligated to do a signature drink (sounds like you know this already) and I think having your brother''s beer is special enough, but if you would like to share your Cranberry vodka with guests at your reception then I say go for it!!

 

[basil]

Here is the recipe: Foodtv.com

It''s from Michael Chiarello - I love that guy! The recipe doesn''t specify how much vodka to use, but we use a standard size bottle of vodka (not the jumbo size). Straining it can be kind of a pain, but my mom has some sort of jelly strainer that works pretty well.

Ok, I''m reading through the reviews and I''m pretty sure this is my mom. Ha!

"Yummy
11/16/2005 at 11:32am
User: Anonymous User Rating: [4 stars]
Made this recipe with the intention of serving it at Thanksgiving. Of course we had to try it beforehand to make sure it was drinkable. My kids (adults) thought it was yummy and unfortunately drank it all up. Now we are making a double batch. We used a fifth of vodka per batch."

 

[Selkie]

Yum, I''m going to have to try that! I drink cranberry juice year-round, and associate it with New England in general rather than the holidays. I''d say go for it!

 

[anchor31]

I don''t associate cranberry with the holidays. I enjoy it year-round! It really sounds yummy, go for it!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Hey, Basil,

Our wedding was in September and cranberries were a big part of the day. They harvest the bogs in late September, so I wanted to incorporate that. We had vodka cranberry as a signature drink and everybody loved it. We also had cranberries as the centerpieces.

You''ll notice that not a single leaf on any of the trees was even slightly orange or red, haha. I thought we''d have fall colors, but it was so warm this fall that the leaves didn''t change until late October! Still, the deep reds look really nice in photos.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh, and I meant to tell you that getting fresh cranberries that early in the season is difficult. Because they don''t start harvesting until late September, most grocery stores didn''t have them until November. I was able to get mine 3 (!!) days before the wedding. I called many local bogs and was going to go that route, but finally saw them in a Stop & Shop. Depending on the season, you might be able to get them, but you might want to get some frozen just in case.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

We decided agianst a signature cocktail but were having trouble deciding what to do with me because I don''t like straight champagne or red wine. My favorites are belinis which are peach nectar and champagne but thought that would be too specialized for our wedding. The best idea we have found is from martha stewart. She had sugar cubes soaked in different fruit juices that could be dropped in the champagne which I think sounds divine without the expense of a signature cocktail.

 

[Trelala]

I had a signature cocktail at my June wedding in California. It was cranberry juice with champagne and Grand Marnier. So I think having cranberry cocktails in September is totally fine. I''m sure it''ll photography beautifully.

 

[FacetFire]

I love the idea of a cranberry signature cocktail any time of the year! I LOVE cranberry anything, and though I know they are incorporated into holiday decor, they also seem like a warm weather thing to me because they are so refreshing. I don''t think you can go wrong with cranberries!

 

[largirl]

This is an interesting thread - I''ve always associated cranberries with Thanksgiving and Xmas, but that might be because I''m a midwesterner. Regardless, I think it''s a great idea!

 

[Fancy605]

I''ve always associated cranberries as in the berries themselves as decorations with Fall/Christmas/the holidays, BUT to me cranberry DRINKS are good all year round. Yum!

 

[Heidi]

no way, think of how popular cosmopolitan drinks are!!! It sounds delicious and I think it would be great!