LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2017

ENTERTAINING HOLIDAY REMIX

VODKA SODA

TRY THIS For a hint of mint, bring 1 cup

(250 mL) sugar and 1 cup (250 mL) wa- ter to a boil in a small saucepan and add 6 big sprigs of fresh mint;

stir and reduce to simmer for 1 minute. Cool for 30 minutes. Strain. Add 1 tsp (5 mL) mint syrup to each drink; mix gently and garnish with fresh mint. Refriger- ate syrup up to 2 weeks.

DID YOU KNOW? The Horse’s Neck cocktail is named for its long, lemon-zest garnish, an easy upgrade from a lime wedge. Using a channel knife (find it at kitchen or gourmet stores), start near the top of a firm lemon, gently pressing knife into the peel (not the white pith) while rotating the fruit; about four rotations creates a nice long peel. Hook one end over rim of a Highball glass and let the rest spiral inside; add ice and spirit, and mix.

f a o r t i t Upgrade your club soda with exotic flavours; choose barely sweet, clear DRY Sparkling Cucumber Soda or your fave flavour of sparkling water. Add colour with Sanpellegrino’s vibrant Melograno e Arancia (pomegranate and orange) soda, or a floral blush with Fentimans Rose Lemonade.

BUBBLES . Substitute soda with sparkling wine (look for “extra-dry” or “dry” on the label, or sweetness level of 0 or 1). Top o 1 oz of vodka with bubbly in a flute, or make a tall spritz with 1 oz of vodka, 2 oz of bubbly and 2 oz of club soda in a wine glass with ice.

It’s a matter of taste; vodka is by definition without flavour or colour but, depending on what it’s dis- tilled from, vodka can indeed have di erent, subtle characteristics. Use delicate corn vodka (like Tito’s Handmade Vodka, LCBO 597559, $34.95) or wheat vodka (such as Grey Goose, LCBO 95935, $49.95) for fruit-inflected vodka soda variations. A rye-based vodka like Belvedere (LCBO 437772, $49.95) is a good complement to savoury or herbaceous accents.

FOOD & DRI NK HOLIDAY