Crowberry cosmo

This recipe was entered in Tundra Telegraph's Great Alaskan Recipes contest.

After living in Alaska for the last two years, our friends turned us on to the small little jewel of the dwarf evergreen shrub, the crowberry. This fall we set out on our first trip to fill our buckets with crowberries, and fill them we did! We picked so many in our first outing, we weren’t sure of what to do with them all. While we have enjoyed our crowberries in jellies and syrups, we set out on Christmas day to create a distinctly Alaskan drink, the crowberry cosmopolitan.

In our quest to make this distinct drink we feel will put us into Alaskan lore, we hit a couple of snags along the way. We forgot most cosmopolitans require cranberry juice, and with it being Christmas day and all, the majority of stores were closed. After a few trips around the block, we found the Holiday on DeBarr open -- thank you Holiday!  We soon discovered missing from our barware was a cocktail shaker; however, a large (very large) mason jar with a lid was a good substitute.  And, oh yeah, we forgot to write the recipe down, but we have enjoyed recreating it ever since to get it perfect!

We hope you enjoy our Alaskan cocktail and remember to tell everyone who created it.  We really want to secure that spot in Alaskan lore.

Crowberry cosmopolitan

Serves two

2 shots Absolut Mandarin
1 shot Skyy Vodka
1 shot lime sour
1 shot crowberry syrup
4 shots white cranberry juice
Sugared rim
Crowberries for garnish

Combine ingredients in your favorite shaker with a couple of handfuls of ice; again, if you don’t have one of those fancy shakers a large mason jar works really well.   Dip the rim of your glasses in lime juice then sugar to rim it, and pour your crowberry cosmo; and most importantly, enjoy!

Amy Timms, Anchorage

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