food is my nish

From blending smoothies to perfecting foam, my choice of high school employment made it clear that one day I would dabble in mixology... and drinking. In the coming year, I hope to pursue professional bartending courses, but that won't stop me from entering Drago Centro's People's Cocktail Contest!

How to Enter:
1. make a cocktail using an ingredient picked by Michael Shearin, Drago Centro's Beverage Director & Sommelier
2. tweet your drink recipe to @dragocentro with the hashtag #pplscocktail
3. follow @dragocentro & @michaelshearin for ingredients & winners

Read extensive details about the contest from the "mayor" of Drago Centro, the Minty.

I let the ingredients dictate my beverage and not the other way around. Earlier today, I picked up some decent blueberries and the mintiest mint known to mankind. In my very honest opinion, it's hard to find good blueberries.. I've tried. I should have used frozen blueberries (thank you Stephanie for pointing that out) which retains flavor much better.

Since my basket included the mintiest of mint leaves, I decided to put an Italian spin on the mojito. I tried very hard to emulate the smokiness of the arancia meccanicca and the layers of flavors achieved by the maracana. In true Drago Centro fashion, I named the cocktail "tramonto blu" or "blue sunset." Let's see how it fares...



Ingredients:
   2.5 oz blueberries
   1.5 oz Amaretto Disaronno
   2.25 oz Sailor Jerry
   juice of one lime
   two large sprigs of mint
   1 tsp. agave nectar

Garnish:
   demerara/turbinado sugar (clearly, couldn't find my box)
   one mint leaf
   skewer of three blueberries
   slice of lime

My Tweets:

@dragocentro 2.5 oz blueberries, 2.25 oz Sailor Jerry, 1.5 oz Disaronno, 2 sprigs mint, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp. agave nectar #pplscocktail

@dragocentro Muddle BBs, mint, lime juice, & agave. Shake w/ Disaronno & Sailors. Strain. Rim w/ sugar, lime, mint, BB skewer #pplscocktail

@dragocentro Serve on the rocks. Named "tramonto blu" or "blue sunset" -- here's a picture: http://bit.ly/drA9is #pplscocktail


Yes, the drink looks a bit watered down. No, it shouldn't taste that way with the right ice. I ran out of fresh cubed ice and ended up using crushed ice    never again! Better yet, just use Névé!