The Freshmaker

Eric Grenier, Honor Kitchen & Cocktails, Oakland, CA, USA

“Very refreshing and reminds me of those goofy Mentos commercials. This is a Fernet gateway cocktail.” Eric Grenier.

Ingredients

  • 45 ml (1.5 oz) Strawberry-Infused Rum*
  • 22.5 ml (.75 oz) fresh lemon juice
  • 22.5 ml (.75 oz) Black Pepper Syrup**
  • 15 ml (.5 oz) Fernet Branca
  • Cream soda (preferably Hank’s Vanilla Cream)
  • 1 mint sprig, as garnish

Method

Shake over ice and strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top with cream soda and add the garnish.

*Strawberry-Infused Rum: Remove stems and chop 2 pints of ripe strawberries. Place fruit in a wide-mouth mason jar and fill with enough rum (I use El Dorado 3 Year Old) to cover the fruit. Macerate for 3 to 4 days, or to taste. Strain out the solids, being careful not to press on the fruit, and bottle.

**Black Pepper Syrup: Dissolve 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar into 360 ml (1.5 cups) of water over medium heat. When dissolved, add 10 g (1 tablespoon) cracked black peppercorns and 10 g (1 tablespoon) whole black peppercorns. Let syrup simmer for 20 minutes. Cool and bottle. May be kept up to one month.

DrinksDarren QuinnComment